The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak and Holly Cycle #1) Read Online K.A. Linde

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Tags Authors: Series: The Oak and Holly Cycle Series by K.A. Linde
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Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
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She knocked twice, and a petite blonde opened the door. Her eyes were hollow and cheeks sallow, but there was a fever in her expression that Kierse had seen on Amberdash’s other willing victims. Wraiths could feed off a soul for years if they were careful. Some even found it more enjoyable to watch the life slowly drain out of their victim one increment at a time. Like any other office job.

“Miss McKenna,” she said, recognizing her at once. “I’ll let Mr. Amberdash know you’ve arrived. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”

Kierse stepped over the threshold as the blonde moved languidly across the room to another closed door that led to the living quarters. Kierse crossed her arms and remained standing, waiting to get this thing over with.

Five minutes turned to ten, and she eyed the leather sofa with interest. She wasn’t going to let her guard down, but she hated the mind games. Wraiths didn’t sleep at night. In fact, she wasn’t sure they slept at all when they were feeding regularly. The only reason he was making her wait was because he could.

Just when she was beginning to think that Ethan was right and she should have gotten rid of the ring tomorrow, a voice spoke into her left ear.

“So,” Amberdash said.

She shivered and turned to face him. “Amberdash.”

The wraith smiled, and she tried not to shudder. Wraiths could almost pass as human except for the general sense of death that emanated from them as they approached. They typically had distinctive sallow skin, grim expressions, and shadows clinging to them. Basically, no one wanted to be caught alone with one in a darkened room.

“Hello, Kierse.” He slid past her, not quite walking, not quite gliding, behind his desk. “I assume you’re here for a reason.”

She fished the ring out of her pocket and dropped it onto the desk with a thunk.

Amberdash’s face was recessed, and his clothes draped delicately on his tall, thin frame. “Your talents are, as ever, not exaggerated.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“As you should,” he said, reaching across the desk for the ring.

She dropped her hand over it and arched an eyebrow. “What exactly are you playing at, Amberdash?”

His eyes flashed at her audacity. His fingers were inches from her wrist. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You sent me to a monster’s house without adequate information. I could have been killed.”

“I am merely the middleman,” he said, his hand brushing through shadows as if that were an answer. “You agreed to the job regardless. It is why I pay you so well. You get the job done. As you did tonight, I see.”

She switched tactics, removing her hand from the ring and leaving it unattended. His eyes flickered down to it and then back up at her.

“You know I love the jobs that you give me. I want us to keep working together. I also want to live to see another day. I thought you valued the work that I did for you.” She sighed and ran a nervous hand back through her hair, revealing the bruising from her tussle with Graves.

Amberdash tilted his head. “Don’t often see you banged up.”

“I’d really like to keep it that way.” Her dark hair fell back over the cut. “I’m more valuable to you with all my limbs intact.”

“Fine. I’ll pay you for the expense, if that’s what you’re after.” Amberdash pocketed the ring swiftly and then punched in a code on his desk that opened a drawer underneath. Kierse had broken the code lock once while she waited just to see if she could. She wasn’t stupid enough to steal anything. Amberdash would hunt her down and kill her himself if she betrayed him.

“No more monsters without forewarning,” she added as he doled out a stack of hundreds. When he was done, he pushed them across the desk, and she hid them in her right jacket pocket before turning to go. She debated telling him about taking another job, but she liked to keep her options open.

“I’d watch your back.”

Kierse stilled at those words. When she faced him, he steepled his fingers in front of him.

“Is that a threat?”

“Certainly not from me.”

Kierse forced herself not to react. “What do you know?”

“Only that talents like yours are in high demand,” he said as he drifted back into the darkness of his office. “So . . . watch your back.”

She shivered at the cautionary advice. Gregory Amberdash didn’t issue them lightly. She waited until he was out of sight and then hastened from the Amberdash building, glad to be beyond his reach and that ominous warning.

Chapter Six

The bus dropped Kierse off a few blocks from home. Despite the night she’d had, she was still wired. Normally when she finished a mission, Ethan’s comforting presence let her drift off no matter what manner of monster or human was nearby. The bus was one of the last vestiges of the old Manhattan. No one fucked with bus drivers.



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