Free Vision of Seduction by Cassie Ryan

parents."

    Katelyn sipped at her own tea, still trying to breathe through the physical
    reactions surging through her. "You said 'tried'—I assume the ... the Cunts
    were unsuccessful?"
    The queen nodded, but her lips thinned, and her eyes narrowed. "They
    may not have been entirely successful, but they did a lot of damage. When
    they lost, they fled to Earth to hide, but not before they kidnapped me and
    my nanny."
    Alyssa's energy snapped and sizzled in the air around them and caused
    Katelyn to gasp. The queen was a powerful practitioner and wielded more
    energy than Katelyn had ever seen in one person. Because Alyssa
    concealed it so effortlessly, Katelyn assumed that, like most people, the
    energy bled through only when strong emotions threatened.
    I wouldn't want to be one of the Cunts if she gets ahold of them.
    Alyssa blew out a slow breath and smiled at Katelyn. "Sorry, there's a lot of
    history there, and it still makes me want to tear a few of them limb from
    limb." Her smile was self-deprecating. "Not a very queenlike attitude, I'm
    afraid."
    The queen pulled off another small piece of the pastry on her plate and
    popped it into her mouth. "Anyway, they raised me but never let me know
    my true heritage. They planned to use me to overthrow the planet when I
    came of age. Luckily, Stone found me just before my twenty-fourth
    birthday, and last month I ascended the throne."
    "Wow." Katelyn couldn't imagine everything Alyssa had gone through. She
    didn't want to. "I'm glad it all worked out. But I don't see what that has to
    do with me and my shop."
    A flicker of a shadow crossed Alyssa's face and then disappeared, giving
    Katelyn the impression the queen still held something back. "We know
    they were looking for a Seer, but we weren't sure what they were going to
    do once they found one. Luckily, Grayson happened to be there and was
    able to keep them from taking you."

    "Is that why Grayson was hanging around my shop?"
    "Yes." The queen leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. "The
    Cunts are extremely dangerous. They view humans as cattle, purely
    existing to feed them sexual energy." Alyssa's suddenly intense gaze rooted
    Katelyn to her chair. "They are also a very sexual society, but they don't
    have the same moral code as the Klatch. They think nothing of rape,
    necrophilia, bestiality, pedophilia, torture, and several other things the
    Klatch would never dream of doing."
    A shudder ran through Alyssa, and she closed her eyes as though trying to
    chase away dark memories. Finally, her eyes opened, and she glanced over
    at Katelyn again. "It might be best for you to stay here a while. In the
    meantime, we will continue to search for more information on what the
    Cunts are up to."
    Holy hell. What have I fallen into?
    "Is Rita safe?" Katelyn blurted out the words. "Should I bring her here with
    me until whatever danger this is passes?"
    Alyssa pursed her lips, considering. "We can, but do you think she'll
    come?"
    Katelyn studied her hands for a long moment. "No. For a woman who
    owns half a new-age shop, she doesn't believe in anything supernatural or
    new-agey."
    The queen nodded. "As I said, we have Klatch guards watching over Rita
    and your shop. No one will harm her."
    Reluctantly, Katelyn agreed. Her first instinct was to tell them to thump
    Rita on the head and drag her cynical, skinny ass back here and out of
    danger. But how much did Katelyn really know about "here" yet? She
    didn't sense any immediate threat, and her internal alarms were blissfully
    silent, but what if Tador wasn't the right place for Rita right now? Katelyn
    knew better than most that everyone's individual path had a purpose in the
    greater scheme of things.
    Besides, Rita was one tough lady. She would be all right, especially with
    some hunky Klatch hanging around. Maybe Rita would even drop that
    loser boyfriend after seeing some hot Klatch guys.
    One could only hope.
    "So, now that we've gotten through that, what exactly