Read Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) for Free Online Page B

were ‘unworthy’. She was not evil.
    “Layna does not have an ounce of evil in
her,” Gryffon declared, echoing Layna’s own thoughts.
    Aileen was still staring at her, her eyes
searching, and Layna clenched her teeth together determinedly,
staring back at the woman in defiance.
    “No,” she agreed after a long pause, “I
believe you are correct. But I had to be sure. In which case, we
need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
    “We?” asked Gryffon incredulously.
    “Yes, we,” Aileen said firmly. “The barrier’s
magic has been altered so that no one can get through, as you found
today. You will need my help if you hope to pass.”
    Aileen’s demeanor was unusual to say the
least, and Layna wasn’t sure she believed her story about the
Bloodstone and the Sleeping God, and she was sure she was mad when
she said that Layna was one of the strongest mages in the world,
but she obviously did not approve of what was going on with
blood-magic and the King and she seemed to want them to get to
Treymayne to beg their assistance as well. If their end goal was
the same did it really matter if some of the woman’s beliefs were a
bit farfetched? Layna didn't know the answer, but they needed help
and here it was presenting itself to them. They would be foolish
not to accept it. I hope. I hope we are not being foolish to
accept it .
    “How do you plan to help us pass?” Gryffon
asked.
    Aileen was silent, rubbing her chin with a
gnarled finger. “We'll have to take it down,” she said definitively
after a long moment.
    “You can do that?” Gryffon asked.
    “Well of course,” she stated
matter-of-factly. “I helped put it up.” Gryffon and Layna
    exchanged a look.
     
    *
    Karl was still mulling over the mysterious
disappearance of his daughter and the events which were taking
place within the Order as he absently looked over the latest
reports from his business. And to top it all off, I've had this
string of bad luck . He tossed the papers into a drawer, and
thumped his fist on the table in annoyance.
    This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen
to him. He'd had his little pet visit a few people he had been sure
had been behind the accidents, but so far the bad luck had been
continuing. He had at first wondered if it was a sign, but the
priests assured him that he was still devout in the eyes of the
Sleeping God. Therefore, it must be earthly beings causing him such
trouble, and he fully intended to find out who it was so he could
crush them. He felt his tenuous control slipping through his
fingers.
    The events transpiring within the Order were
disturbing, and it was now evident that there were more people
orchestrating the assignments than there were supposed to be. He
wondered just how out of control it had really gotten. There was
much riding on the successful completion of their plans, and it
would be a horrible mess if it were to get out of hand. They had
carefully regulated experiments being conducted into some of the
old ways, but it was a precarious position to be in without the
support of the King and consequent propaganda to the commoners. If
they found out that simple forms of blood-magic were being used,
even in a small degree, it could cause a mass outrage. They could
potentially have a revolt on their hands, and that was something
that Karl and his peers were not wont to deal with.
    He'd gained an interesting, though
disturbing, piece of information while conducting his investigation
into Jezebel's disappearance, one that gave him further proof of a
mole within the Order's ranks: Jezebel had been raising a pack of
hellhounds on one of the country manors before she had disappeared
- On one of my manors! She must be trying to ruin me.
    After an extensive inquiry into the matter,
it was discovered that the orders to prevent Jezebel’s culling from
the herd of specimen, support her candidacy for the council, and
include her in the bloodbeast project had all come from a colleague
of his. Karl had