Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) by Shayne Silvers Page A

not looking at me, and began stuffing a few more shirts into her suitcase distractedly. I knew how she felt, having recently lost my own parents. It was numbing to realize that the ones who raised you were, in fact, mortal
    “He didn’t book two tickets?” I asked softly. She hesitated, still not turning to face me. I propped myself to see her better, suddenly understanding. “You… don’t want me to go with you.”
    She threw up her hands with frustration. “It’s not that I don’t want you to. It’s… complicated. You have enough on your plate right now. You haven’t slept in how many days now? You look like death, and I don’t think I want death looking over my mom in the hospital.” Well, that was harsh. “Plus, I saw the news today…” Her tone was suddenly icy, shifting as adroitly as a figure skater performing a… well, whatever type of move figure skaters performed. All that mattered was that anger replaced her concern in the blink of an eye.
    “Oh?” I answered dumbly, hoping she was not referring to the blurb I had seen at the bar about my involvement with the dragon attack on the Eads Bridge a few months ago.
    Yeah, right.
    She stood, leaning against the closet door as she began to tap her foot. This wasn’t good. “I distinctly remember bathing your injuries around the time of that attack. You never mentioned it.”
    “Oh, you know how the news is. Always jiving for a story…” I answered lamely.
    “No, I don’t. You apparently didn’t trust me. You didn’t tell me you fought that dragon on the bridge.”
    I shrugged. “Allegedly. They never found the body, and the city thinks it was a hoax. They also think I killed a cop at Artemis’ Garter. Or that Gunnar did. Everyone is fighting for their 30 seconds of fame.”
    Her eyes weighed my soul. “Did. You. Fight. A. Dragon?”
    I shifted uneasily, finally giving in. “Yes.” I admitted.
    She looked hurt, and I felt like crap all over again. But her next response surprised me.
    “Thank you, Nate.” I tensed, waiting for the trap to close. But nothing happened. I finally looked up at her. She looked pleased. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” She said softly. I felt my shoulders loosening. She was right. It felt good . Almost as if I was the one who had placed so much pressure on the topic in the first place. Which was true. I had wanted to keep her safe, away from the truth so that she couldn’t turn into collateral damage later, but my answer hadn’t scared her at all. She was happy, relieved even. I let out a deep breath.
    “It’s dangerous to tell you these things-” I began.
    “You could tell the truth, you know, to the media. Prove yourself.” She answered, interrupting me.
    “Yeah. I could,” Her smile stretched a bit, slowly, surprised that she had gotten through to me so quickly. Before she could speak, I continued. “And confirm Alaric’s very public speech about me being a wizard and starting a coalition of freaks? No thanks. That would bring back another, more violent, remake of the Salem Witch Trials. Not even considering what the Academy would have done tonight if they had believed that the coalition talk was legitimate.”
    Indie watched me intently, no longer tapping her foot. “Tell me about this Academy.”
    I hesitated. “I really shouldn’t.” Her foot began tapping all over again, making up for lost time. “Indie, they’re dangerous. There were a lot of them tonight. They’re like the Russian secret police from back before the Iron Curtain fell. Immunity from almost anything they feel justified about. It was only quick thinking that got me out of their version of jail tonight.” I didn’t need to tell her about the curse they had put on me. Indie had enough to worry about. Then again, perhaps their curse would drain me of magic. I would become a Regular and none of this would matter anymore. No more secrets from Indie. I shivered at that. But what was I if not a wizard? Then I shook my