Free The Scent (The Bryn and Sinjin Series Book 2) by H.P. Mallory Page A

any magical abilities, she’d probably spent most of her twenty-some-odd years being overlooked. I found it ironic, but amusing all the same, that prior to my stay at Kinloch Kirk, I never would have given Betta, or her situation, a second glance. Funny how circumstances can change you …
    But back to the subject at hand—as far as the tribe was concerned (well, according to Betta’s keen eavesdropping skills, anyway), I had been brainwashed to believe my sister’s lies, and consequently, I could no longer be trusted. Not only that, but I was also rumored to have gone far beyond the point of rehabilitation. Yep, apparently where I was concerned, there was no coming back and I was now considered a liability.
    I’d basically plummeted from being a glorified warrior to an enemy of my own people. And, as such, I’d become a prisoner where I’d once ruled the roost. But what struck me as strangest about my fall from grace, was how I couldn’t find it within myself to care. The truth of the matter was that it didn’t bother me that I was the talk of the compound, or that I was considered the Anti-Christ by pretty much everyone. What once might have devastated me, now didn’t really even seem to register with me. The more I analyzed why I felt the way I did, the more I arrived at the conclusion that I no longer cared about my reputation because I no longer considered myself to be one of my tribe.
    It was a thought that was freeing somehow, almost a source of relief in itself …
    At the sound of a strident knock on the door, I glanced up from where I was sitting at the kitchen table. I’d been attempting to eat my turkey sandwich, which Betta had just delivered. But my lunch, if that’s what you wanted to call it, looked about as appetizing as stucco and tasted surprisingly similar.
    The knock on the door sounded again, but before I could stand up to open it, or say, “Go F yourself,” the door swung open and Gus Williams showed himself in.
    Gus was an Elemental and one of our more esteemed soldiers. Even though he didn’t rank as highly as I did (or had), he was a well-respected tribe member all the same. Tall and solidly built, he had square shoulders that tapered down to a slim waist. A thick jaw, narrow eyes and a wide nose didn’t exactly make him a handsome guy, not that I’d ever concerned myself with his looks before, or anyone else’s here, for that matter.
    And even if you had, what man here or anywhere else could ever compete with Sinjin? I asked myself as my shoulders drooped immediately in response. I couldn’t help but wonder what the devilishly handsome cad was up to and if he … thought of me. What’s wrong with you? I yelled at myself. Sinjin is your past.
    I had to force thoughts of Sinjin out of my mind because they made me strangely homesick for Kinloch Kirk—a place I’d never even called home. “Gus, what a pleasant surprise,” I grumbled before glancing down at my still uneaten sandwich. “I was just sitting down to enjoy what I suspect is tree—but whether redwood or oak, I’m not exactly sure.” Then I faced him with a counterfeit smile. “I don’t suppose you’ve come bearing Chinese takeout?”
    Gus didn’t smile, but regarded me coldly, as if he were looking at an organism which had just sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea. I cocked a brow and frowned. “Or not.”
    “I was sent here,” he finally managed to say as he closed the door behind him. I noticed with concerned interest, but not quite alarm, that he also locked it.
    I pushed the woodwich away from me and studied Gus carefully before exhaling a pent-up breath as I tried to guess just why he’d been sent here. Aside from Betta and Luce, Gus was the only other visitor I’d ever had. And Gus’s visit was even more bizarre because he and I never had said more than a handful of words to one another.
    “Do you care to explain?” I asked. I tried to appear at ease, but inside, my heart was pounding and my