Read Online Night's Deep Hush: Reveler Series 4 by Erin Kellison - Free Book Online Page B

Plan B and risk going directly to Fawkes at Chimera, which would present all sorts of other problems.
    “Why don’t we get our business out of the way,” Vince said, “and then I’ll wake and wait for you so that Darren doesn’t get any ideas.”
    She didn’t want to sit here alone with only her thoughts—all of them bad—but she nodded.
    He looked down at the floor, chest expanding as he drew a deep breath. When he lifted his head again, he looked her straight in the eyes. “I mean you and Malcolm Rook no harm. I am no longer in business with Graeme or anyone else who might want to harm you. I want help you , in particular, because I deceived and endangered you before. And I want the name of my father’s killer so that I can do the same or worse to him. There. Do you feel the truth?”
    Dreamwater eddies carried his sincerity to her.
    “Yeah, I believe you now.” That didn’t mean he wouldn’t contact Chimera, but it was a start. He wasn’t playing for Lambert anymore.
    “Now you tell me who is behind the death of my father.”
    “Okay, sure.” This ought to be fun. “It’s Didier Lambert.” She gave the French accent for flair.
    Vince’s mouth curled. “This isn’t a game.”
    “I’m telling the truth, too.” It’s in the water, buddy. “My sister Maisie stabbed him in the throat in order to get away from him.”
    “Stabbed him in a Rêve?”
    She shook her head. “Stabbed him in the waking world. At the same time, another Chimera agent was busy fighting him in a dream, though.”
    “Didier Lambert,” Vince said. “The one who started this whole shared dreaming thing in the first place.”
    “The very same.” Jordan looked over the edge of the balcony again. Pretty scary.
    “That’s ridiculous. Lambert has everything already. Why would he do such a thing?”
    “I think he has some megalomaniacal fantasy of ruling the world Darkside.”
    “And he has people within Chimera?”
    “We believe so. Regardless, Lambert himself advised on the creation of the Agora back in the day, and he still serves as a consultant.”
    “But it’s not all corrupt.”
    She shrugged. “Corrupt enough.”
    “You have proof?”
    “We’re working on it.” Fawkes was supposed to be helping with that. She’d missed his report last night when she and Malcolm hadn’t shown up in Maze City.
    “So we get proof, then go public.” Vince made it sound easy.
    Jordan winced for him. “There’s one more small problem. You know the nightmares that live in the Scrape?”
    “Yes.” He’d braced, and the dreamwaters carried the muggy crackle of violence. She knew, like her, he’d had to fight his way out. He was still fighting, in a way.
    “Lambert—” she wouldn’t mention Steve Coll, not yet “—he’s one of those creatures. Or at least partly.”
    Vince’s face went red. For a moment, he seemed unable to speak, but then he shook his head and drew another, deeper, breath. “I’m not listening to you anymore. You may believe this…this… farce . But only because you’ve bought into some kind of delusion. Malcolm Rook has brainwashed you. You need help.”
    “I wish I was brainwashed,” she said. Then no one would be in danger. “Medication and a quiet retreat would be just the thing.”
    “It’s not a joke.” His voice was harsh.
    “I laugh to cope.”
    “You’re a Rêve addict is what you are. Sharing some fucked-up fantasy with Rook.”
    “That explanation works for me, too.” As long as Malcolm and Maisie were okay. Plus, the sex was good.
    He reached out to grab her shoulders, probably to shake some sense into her, but she dodged him as soon as she noticed the black goo on his hands. The more she examined it, the more she found him splattered with the stuff. Up his arms, smeared on his chin. Black, wet goo.
    He was still reaching toward her when he, too, saw the tacky, oily substance, and he cried out, his reach turning into a plea for help.
    A rush of movement and Vince was thrown