Read Online Bloody Acquisitions (Fred Book 3) by Drew Hayes - Free Book Online Page A

interest.
    “Blade of the Unlikely Champion,” Albert told her, slowly drawing his sword from its sheath. The weapon almost hummed as it moved through the air, more magic than steel, or so we’d been told. Given that I’d seen him cut through the very enchantment that held a chimera together, turning it back into its base animals, I had no reason to doubt the assessment of Albert’s blade.
    “That is a pretty one.” Sable walked across the room and reached behind one of the desks, pulling out a large single-bladed axe. It, too, was strapped into a harness, and she effortlessly pulled the weapon free from the straps and cover concealing its blade. “Mine is the Axe of the Forsaken Child. Obviously, it doesn’t have the gentlest of requirements to wield, but it packs a hell of a wallop.”
    She spun the weapon easily, her years of training visible in the fluid grace of her movements. Bringing it to a stop, the bone-white blade extended outward, she moved the head of her axe closer, bit by bit, to the humming steel of Albert’s sword. Carefully, she tapped the edge of his blade against her own, and a soft, melodic tone echoed around us.
    “Looks like these two get along.” Sable pulled back her axe and slipped it into its harness once more. “Sometimes they can be finicky, if the destiny of each wielder is in conflict. Good news, Albert. Looks like you and I aren’t meant to fight each other.”
    “I didn’t even realize that was a possibility,” Albert said.
    “All of these things are trying to drag their owners somewhere,” Sable replied. “How much we let them is on us, but there are many out there that are working toward different ends. When they touch, you don’t get a pretty chime, trust me.”
    “Now that everyone, animated and otherwise, has been introduced, what’s say we go get some grub?” Leeroy suggested.
    “Actually, I wouldn’t mind dropping off my bags and showering first,” Krystal interrupted. “I was sitting a little closer to Neil than the rest of us on that flight.”
    The necromancer’s face went flush and he lowered his head. “Sorry.”
    “Not a problem. I’ve gotten far worse on me in the line of duty. Still, wouldn’t say no to a good scrubbing.”
    “All right, we’ll go to the inn, let everyone unwind and unpack, and then off to the diner,” Leeroy acquiesced. “Tonight’s special is chicken fried steak, and I’d have to arrest myself for the crime of letting you folks miss it if they run out.”
    “It’s a CFS night? Hot damn, I’ll shower fast.” Krystal grabbed my hand and dragged me back out into the street, where she began shoveling the bags at me so fast that I didn’t get the chance to ask her why she was taking things
out
of the truck if we were about to leave the station.
     
     

3.
     
    As it turned out, the reason Krystal had dragged all our bags out of Leeroy’s truck was that there was no need to get back in the vehicle to reach the inn. The Bristle Inn, Boarback’s one and only place of lodging, was within walking distance of the station. In fact, everything within the town square was walkable. While cars were needed to reach some of the neighborhoods and single homes further away, once a traveler was on the main street—which I learned was actually called Sunshine Lane—they needed only shoe leather to make it to any other destination.
    The walk to the inn took around ten minutes, but it would have been five if Neil’s slower gait hadn’t caused everyone else to match his pace. Part of the comparative slowness was that he was one of the few humans in the group, magic-slinging skills notwithstanding, but it was also due to the fact that studying tomes of ancient magic wasn’t an activity that did much for cardio.
    I’d expected the Bristle Inn to be like Charlotte Manor, quaint and dated, but in fact, it turned out to be one of the more modern buildings in town. Once we got to our room, a spacious area with a king-sized bed and a