Read Vengeance Born (The Light Blade #1) for Free Online Page A

corner of his eye to the bottom of his square jaw. He flinched but tolerated her touch.
    The wound was one he’d received when he’d killed one of the dungeon guards after he’d followed her to where he and the other Na’Chi lived outside the fortress. He’d once worn it like a badge of honor until others had seen it as a disfigurement, a flaw in what was otherwise a handsome face. Some Na’Reish prejudices influenced the Na’Chi . The memories of the child he had been and the man he was now merged. Despite his bitterness and cynicism, he cared for and protected the other Na’Chi . She was proud of the warrior he’d become.
    She sighed softly. It would likely be the last time she saw him. There would be a price to pay for helping Annika and the Na’Chi escape. Savyr would question her, and with her refusal to speak, he’d kill her. If it meant Annika and the Na’Chi would all get the chance at a new life, one free from the Na’Reish , then she would accept her destiny. In her heart she knew that the Lady would comfort her as she crossed over. Soon she’d be reunited with her own children.
    “I’ll continue to pray for you, for Annika, for all Na’Chi ,” she promised. “Once your journey begins, your future lies in the hands of the Lady .”
    “I put my faith in you, Hesia, mother of my heart.” His whispered words brought tears to her eyes. “We all do.”
    He pressed a kiss to her forehead then released her. She lifted a trembling hand to her lips as he returned to the tunnel from which he’d emerged. He halted, barely a shadow in the darkness, only his violet eyes visible.
    “You’ve saved us all, no matter what the future brings.”
    Then he was gone.
    Hesia closed her eyes, her heart aching as fiercely as it had when she’d farewelled Annika. She could only hope that the Lady would protect the Na’Chi now; trust and believe that all she’d done would save their lives as she’d been unable to do for her own half-blood children so many years ago.
    “YOU drink blood, just like the Na’Reish ?”
    Annika flinched at the hatred in Kalan’s voice. His emerald-colored gaze narrowed and his hand flexed. He’d have drawn a weapon had it been sheathed at his waist. The distance between them across the clearing seemed far too small. She tensed, preparing to flee if he lunged at her.
    “No, not just like the Na’Reish. ” She hated how her voice wavered. “I eat food just like you, but I need blood, too. I won’t survive if I don’t drink it.” Disgust flashed across his face. “Do you think I like it? I’d stop if I could. I’ve tried, believe me.”
    The face of a human boy rose like a specter in her mind, his mouth stretched wide in a silent scream. He’d had such vivid blue eyes, like the color of the sky on a sunny winter morning. Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around her waist.
    “I haven’t drunk human blood since I was a child.”
    She blinked and the image changed. The same beautiful eyes, no longer so vivid but glassy in death, his skin pale and waxy, one cheek smeared with a rivulet of blood. Saliva flooded her mouth.
    Annika swallowed hard and shoved the memory back into the darkness where it belonged. Twice she cleared her throat before she was able to speak. “The Na’Reish took great pleasure in locking me in a room with a human to watch me feed when hunger overwhelmed me. They thought it… amusing.”
    Disbelief and revulsion warred in the expression on Kalan’s face. The hot rush of familiar embarrassment streaked through her.
    “You promised to listen with an open mind.” With her heart pounding in her chest, it took every shred of strength she had to stand and face him instead of running away. “Do you think I liked what they did to me? They turned me into an animal. I hated them for it and I hated myself for letting them do that to me.”
    Unable to remember a time when she hadn’t had to justify her own existence, she avoided his gaze, too raw from the