Read Lorelei for Free Online

imagined… He’d read the announcement from the Ruling Wardens. He’d even seen Whitney in the flesh and heard the words from the Ruling Warden Mate. Yet he hadn’t believed.
    He let his hand hover over Lorelei’s skin and desire bloomed in his chest as her power reached for him. Tendrils of light kissed his skin, wrapping around his fingers and seeming to draw him to her.
    Until another grip halted his progress. The fingers encircling his wrist glowed brighter than his mate, the throb of magic overwhelming Lorelei’s gentle tugs.
    “Maybe you didn’t understand. No. Touching.” Whitney spat the words through gritted teeth and then he noticed… It wasn’t anger that had her growling at him. No, it was fatigue and worry and… fear.
    “What’s happening, Whitney?” He withdrew his hand, fighting his mate’s beckoning power.
    “It’s too much, too fast. There’s a reason Tests of Proximity with Wardens are closely monitored. There’s a reason Warden Born are gently activated before the tests even begin. It’s so something like this doesn’t happen.” She sighed and her attention drifted to Lorelei. “It’s burning her from inside out, Dylan. The more contact, the more it hurts her. You gotta let my guys and Miles and Holden work on her before she comes out of it.”
    Miles and Holden, Dylan’s rage overtook him, the anger rising hard and fast. They were Wardens, males responsible for verifying a human female’s status as a Warden Born before they were introduced to other Wardens. He’d seen them meet with the humans drawn to the Gathering. Seen them touch the women.
    “No,” he snarled and Lorelei’s magic flared, the shimmering wisps stretching toward him.
    “Dylan,” Whitney sighed. “What’s more important to you? Healing Lorelei or losing her. That’s what we’re faced with right now. Choose.”
    He swallowed past the lump in his throat. Choose? Wasn’t there a door number three? Apparently not. “Heal her.”
    Whitney jerked her head in a quick nod. “Okay, the teleporting thing is new to me, but I can get us there. I’m gonna hold on to her, you’re gonna hold on to me.” She gave him a rueful grin. “A little power boost would be great, but be prepared to get a punch to the jaw from one of my mates for your trouble. The good thing is, the other one is getting better at healing.”
    Dylan grabbed Whitney without question. Teleportation wasn’t one of his skills, but he was thankful the Ruling Warden Mate had the ability.
    “Ready?” Whitney raised her eyebrows.
    “Yeah.”
    “Hold on tight.” With that, the woman grasped Lorelei’s wrist and closed her eyes.
    A second ticked past, and then two, and he wondered if Whitney truly could accomplish her goal.
    He shouldn’t have doubted her. Not when the dim glow in the room flared to life and encompassed them in a wall of pure white. That brightness was immediately followed by darkness. Not the nothingness of midnight, but a deeper, blacker existence. Air rushed from his lungs and he couldn’t draw in another breath. His body betrayed him, heart refusing to beat and muscles refusing to tense. He was frozen and yet… moving? The rush of the wind was unmistakable, the noise filling his ears. But his hair wasn’t stirred by the breeze.
    The gloom continued, remaining in place as second after second passed and he wondered if it’d ever end, if they’d ever reach their destination.
    Then… then midnight slowly receded, the delicate light of the hotel room gradually appearing and replacing the black. It was slow and a new tremor wracked him, the vibration shaking his body. No, it was Whitney shaking, trembles overtaking her small frame.
    Then more sound reached him… Lorelei’s whimpers and whines coming on the heels of Whitney’s hoarse cries.
    “No. Wrong. Stop it.” The brightness increased, finally giving him a clear look at the Ruling Warden Mate, and shock and fear held him captive.
    The woman always had a gentle