Read Online Jumlin's Spawn by Evernight Publishing - Free Book Online Page B

saw those creatures,” Elfie
shot back, “but right now, I'm inclined to listen.”
    Oliver looked up from silently studying his hands.
“Okay, how do we fight them? What can you tell us about them?”
    “They look very different, from the young to the
old,” Molly said. “Elfie's seen the young ones. They suckle from
cave milk. The older ones feed on buffalo blood. And human blood,
too, when they attack older people.”
    “What do they do to the young people?” Oliver
asked.
    “They abduct the young men, to make them into what
they are. Young women are impregnated by them. They give birth to
the creatures Elfie saw. The small ones are less dangerous. The
older ones look like black-feathered angels and are almost
impossible to kill.”
    “Almost impossible?” Elfie asked.
    “Light kills them all,” Molly said. “Even the mature
ones, the black-feathered angels. They are much harder to kill, but
some form of light can kill them. You three are the thunder beings
who are the bringers of lightning. It clears the darkness and
destroys the wicked.”
    “What kind of lightning do we bring?” Yancey asked.
“What’s the source?”
    “The prophecy doesn't say.”
    “Of course,” Yancey said wryly. “They never do.”
    “You'll find the source. As for tonight, you should
stay at the springs,” Molly said, rising. “Stay in the guest house
here. The spawn and the elders can't enter the cottage. You can
bathe, relax, sleep, and rejuvenate yourselves. I'll send Severin
along with your journey. I'm too old to walk the caves now. But, he
knows them just as well.”
    “Okay,” Yancey said. “We can do with a cave guide.
And I appreciate the offer of the springs. We can all definitely
use a hot bath.”
     
    ****
     
    The spring garden felt small but roomy, with a dirt
area dotted with native plants. Beyond the springs lay a guest
cottage with three rooms. The small bedroom was filled with a
king-size daybed and two smaller beds. The other rooms included a
bathroom and a galley. As with everything on the res, the springs
belonged to the tribe. It was apart from the grasslands and the
middle part of the unit, but it was still Sioux territory. As such,
the items there had been well-cared for and undisturbed.
    Elfie stood at the front wall, thinking warily of all
the samples to card and all the cards to catalog, to say nothing of
a thorough laser cleaning of the tools, as she looked upon the
tools Yancey had just toted in for her use. He set the cases on the
big dining table.
    “You're working, right? You mind if I borrow your
e-reader?”
    Elfie uncapped the hooding from the carousel portion
of the sterilizer. She grinned over in his direction. “You're
really into reading that novel, aren't you?
    “I’d like a peek into your fantasy life, yeah.
Anyway, I'm crawling out of my skin about tomorrow. You're working.
Oliver is soaking in the spring. I'm bored out of my mind.”
    Elfie cast him a knowing glance. “I thought you said
nothing is going to happen.”
    “Nothing is going to happen,” he said firmly, “but
until something doesn't happen, I'm going to be stressed out, so
can I?”
    She shook her head and laughed a little. She reached
for her bag and pulled out gym clothes. She handed him the rest of
the bag. “I'm taking a shower after I compile all this stuff. You
have custody of my bag till I'm done.”
    Yancey looked into the bag. “Where is the
e-reader?”
    “In one of the side compartments,” she said. “I hope
you have fun with the Captive Bride .”
    Elfie commenced the exacting feat of cataloging her
samples and slides. After she finished the cataloging, she slid
each instrument used into the carousel within the argon laser
portable sterilizer.
    While she worked, she had the weird, crawly feeling
that she had made a mistake. A big one. She kept trying to
backtrack through her notes and procedures, to see what it might be
but found nothing.
    It took her an hour but, finally, she slid in