Read Online Keystone (Gatewalkers) by Amanda Frederickson - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda Frederickson
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far end of the room. Dried and drying herbs of all colors and forms hung in bundles from the ceiling. Cabinets and bookshelves lined the walls, some holding books but most containing rows of neatly labeled bottles, vials, and jars of varying sizes.
Charlie still didn’t see anyone, but the place was so full of deep shadows they could hide the boogeyman. Come to think of it, where had Lallia disappeared to?
“Is anyone here?” she added to change things up. Charlie stepped into the room, peering into the spaces she couldn’t see as well. The fires were another indicator that someone was here, but unless he was invisible –
“What are you doing?” a voice growled out of the darkness behind her.
Charlie jumped and spun around, Tom’s startled squeal ringing in her ear. Pale hair, pale skin, pale shirt, a tall male figure emerged out of the shadows like a ghost. Even his eyes seemed colorless.
“You didn’t answer the door,” Charlie said.
“Really?” he said sardonically. The man – Rhys, she assumed – advanced until he loomed over her. Tom cowered into Charlie’s neck. The light still was not strong enough to show Rhys’ features. He leaned in less than a foot from her face. “Go back to the village brats and brag of how brave you are.”
Charlie refused to back down, keeping her expression coolly neutral. “I’m not here on some dare,” she said. “I am here to recruit you.”
“Recruit me?” Rhys snorted. He vanished back into the shadows. “For what? If this is a contract job, you may hire a free lance through the Alta Mercenary Guild. I do not do private jobs.”
Something about that last statement caught Charlie’s ear. Squinting, she spied his pale form in the darkness, bent over one of the tables.
“My source assures me that you would be interested in this particular private job, Rhys,” Charlie said, banking that 1) knowing his name would earn her points, and 2) that it actually was Rhys, not a random person living in his basement.
Rhys cocked his head, looking back at her, his posture subtly changing. She had his attention. “Who is your source?”
“Someone who knows you better than I do,” Charlie said honestly. She certainly was not about to mention that her source was a pixie. A missing pixie.
“Who would you be, then?” he said. “Since your source has told you of me.”
“Charlie,” she said, lifting her chin slightly, “of the Order of the Lady Dragons.” Of doom , she mentally added.
“Charlie?” he said. “A strange name to accompany your strange garb. Is that the crest of the Lady Dragons on your tunic?”
Charlie glanced down at the ‘cade logo on the front of her shirt. “No. It’s the crest of Lord Stinkwad.” She hoped to heaven Eliza wasn’t watching the monitors. The customers might be concerned for her sanity if she suddenly cracked up laughing.
There was a long pause in which Charlie seriously wished the lights were brighter so she could read Rhys’ face. “I know naught of such a lord, nor of the Lady Dragons,” he said, voice thick with suspicion.
“We aren’t exactly locals. You know, you could see better if you had more lights in here,” Charlie ventured.
“I like the dark,” Rhys replied.
Something acrid broke through the stifling floral smell. Charlie sniffed. “Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“Is something burning?”
Rhys made an odd strangled noise combined with a hiss. He slid past her to blow out the flame beneath what looked like a miniature cauldron propped up on three long, skinny legs.
“Tell me of this private job,” he said, measuring pale powder into the mini cauldron and stirring it in, “and what your mysterious source has said of me. I have already turned down contracts from landowners wanting to pad their personal security forces, fearful that a Great Gate to Ard Ri’s own realm will open in their gardens. If it is something of that nature, I decline.”
Charlie drifted over to one of
Charlie still didn’t see anyone, but the place was so full of deep shadows they could hide the boogeyman. Come to think of it, where had Lallia disappeared to?
“Is anyone here?” she added to change things up. Charlie stepped into the room, peering into the spaces she couldn’t see as well. The fires were another indicator that someone was here, but unless he was invisible –
“What are you doing?” a voice growled out of the darkness behind her.
Charlie jumped and spun around, Tom’s startled squeal ringing in her ear. Pale hair, pale skin, pale shirt, a tall male figure emerged out of the shadows like a ghost. Even his eyes seemed colorless.
“You didn’t answer the door,” Charlie said.
“Really?” he said sardonically. The man – Rhys, she assumed – advanced until he loomed over her. Tom cowered into Charlie’s neck. The light still was not strong enough to show Rhys’ features. He leaned in less than a foot from her face. “Go back to the village brats and brag of how brave you are.”
Charlie refused to back down, keeping her expression coolly neutral. “I’m not here on some dare,” she said. “I am here to recruit you.”
“Recruit me?” Rhys snorted. He vanished back into the shadows. “For what? If this is a contract job, you may hire a free lance through the Alta Mercenary Guild. I do not do private jobs.”
Something about that last statement caught Charlie’s ear. Squinting, she spied his pale form in the darkness, bent over one of the tables.
“My source assures me that you would be interested in this particular private job, Rhys,” Charlie said, banking that 1) knowing his name would earn her points, and 2) that it actually was Rhys, not a random person living in his basement.
Rhys cocked his head, looking back at her, his posture subtly changing. She had his attention. “Who is your source?”
“Someone who knows you better than I do,” Charlie said honestly. She certainly was not about to mention that her source was a pixie. A missing pixie.
“Who would you be, then?” he said. “Since your source has told you of me.”
“Charlie,” she said, lifting her chin slightly, “of the Order of the Lady Dragons.” Of doom , she mentally added.
“Charlie?” he said. “A strange name to accompany your strange garb. Is that the crest of the Lady Dragons on your tunic?”
Charlie glanced down at the ‘cade logo on the front of her shirt. “No. It’s the crest of Lord Stinkwad.” She hoped to heaven Eliza wasn’t watching the monitors. The customers might be concerned for her sanity if she suddenly cracked up laughing.
There was a long pause in which Charlie seriously wished the lights were brighter so she could read Rhys’ face. “I know naught of such a lord, nor of the Lady Dragons,” he said, voice thick with suspicion.
“We aren’t exactly locals. You know, you could see better if you had more lights in here,” Charlie ventured.
“I like the dark,” Rhys replied.
Something acrid broke through the stifling floral smell. Charlie sniffed. “Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“Is something burning?”
Rhys made an odd strangled noise combined with a hiss. He slid past her to blow out the flame beneath what looked like a miniature cauldron propped up on three long, skinny legs.
“Tell me of this private job,” he said, measuring pale powder into the mini cauldron and stirring it in, “and what your mysterious source has said of me. I have already turned down contracts from landowners wanting to pad their personal security forces, fearful that a Great Gate to Ard Ri’s own realm will open in their gardens. If it is something of that nature, I decline.”
Charlie drifted over to one of
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