Free The Bridge Beyond Her World (The Boy and the Beast Book 2) by Brandon Barr Page B

you.” His eyes almost looked remorseful as he ran a strong hand under her jawline and up the side of her cheek, brushing her ear. “One day, after our missions, I promise, I’ll wed you. You will be mine and I will be yours. We need to be patient.”
    Sometimes she wondered if he didn’t have her by the balls, and not the other way around. But he loved her. He said it every time they were alone. And devoted love was far better than mere sex, when it came to getting something from someone.
    “I found something for you. Something you’ve been wanting.” She retrieved a small device from a pocket in her uniform.
    “Impossible!” said Rueik. “How did you get it?”
    “Don’t ask,” she said with a smirk. “Now you can study the physician craft, without waiting another year to get approved. It’s the Physicians’ complete manual. Everything from brain wipes to broken arms. And it lists how to use the different devices.”
    Rueik took the screenbook and held it in front of him. “You’re amazing. You know what this means to me. I’m holding a dream in my hands.”
    “I know how much you want to make a difference in people’s lives. You’ll make a wonderful Physician, Rueik. And I’ve been busy with other acquisitions today. Good things come in pairs.”
    He met her eyes at the hint. “You got the bug in?”
    She grinned. “Yes. Three months of searching, and finally I have something.”
    She saw the relief on Rueik’s face at her good news.
    Together they had been hunting for the killer of the three Emissaries for over three months. The murders had taken place at the Royals’ masquerade ball.
    Zoecara suppressed a wistful sigh. It had been fun creating a phantom murder plot so close to the truth that even Rueik was totally blind to the fact that the lips he kissed were the same lips that had delivered the poison to the three dead Emissaries. With wine in their stomachs, it had taken little persuasion to entice each Emissary to accompany her to the Royal garden for a walk outside, leaving the ball. An application of poisoned gloss on her lips, a short kiss, and then she’d held them tight as the exotic hallucinogen deadened them to the numbness spreading through their limbs. It had taken her entire life to build up an acclimation to the toxins, and the hallucinogen made each death its own euphoric thrill.
    She stabbed them through the heart the moment they died, just to throw off the authorities. But she knew this wouldn't fool Karience. And that was what she wanted. But for Rueik, there were so many suspects she had thrown at him. Together, they’d narrowed it down to a select few, Prince Damien being the key.
    “What did you find?” he asked impatiently. “Did you grid any documents?”
    “I did. Three docs with big names. Princess Kyrnae of the Second Quorum. Queen Lani of the Second Quorum, King Drakenhaur of the First Quorum, Prince Damien—no surprise there. And also Chancellor Geraldus, the man I saw in the shadows, but now I have a name to his face. And of course, as we suspected, Detective Slee. Look for yourself.” She gave Rueik a curt smile and from across the room, pulled a screen from under her bed sheets, then handed it to Rueik. “Slee’s being paid a Royal purse to do the dirty work, or as they put it, twist things . There are some other names, but what I find especially interesting is that all five court astronomers seem to be pushing this. And there is a cryptic reference to the foreign contact or just the contact . That leads me to think that somehow they’re in-touch with an upworld, perhaps mercenaries, why else are the astronomers involved?”
    She watched his eyes twitch back and forth as he soaked in her lies and filled in the missing pieces.
    “A ship,” said Rueik. “Nephitus has the portal on lock. Any upworld has to come from space.”
    “I think you’re right. The only question in my mind is…”
    He finished her open-ended thought. “Is it from a Beast