Read Online Nightside 01 - Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green - Free Book Online
Authors: Simon R. Green
Ads: Link
found your daughter and be long gone before anyone can catch up to us."
"If people are always looking for you here... why don't you just stay out of the Nightside?"
I did her the courtesy of considering the matter for a few moments. It was a serious question, and deserved a serious answer. "I tried, for five long years. But the Nightside is seductive. There's nothing in
everyday London to match it. It s like living in colour, instead of black and white. Everything's more intense here, more primal. Things matter more, here. Beliefs, actions, lives ... can have more significance, in the great scheme of things. But in the end, it all comes down to the fact that I can make a much better living here, than I can in London. My gift only works in the Nightside. I'm somebody, here, even if 1 don't always like who that person is. Besides, you can't let anyone tell you where you can and can't go. It's bad for business."
"Alex said this was your home. Where you belong."
"Home is where the heart is," I said. "And most people don't dare reveal their heart here. Someone would eat it."
"Eddie said they were bad people," Joanna said stubbornly. "And he looked like the kind who would know bad. Be honest with me. Are we in any immediate danger?"
"Always, in the Nightside. All kinds of people end up here, drawn and driven by passions and needs that can't properly be expressed or satisfied anywhere else. And a lot of them like to play rough. But most of them know better than to mess with me."
She looked at me, amused. "Hard man."
"Only when I have to be."
"Are you armed?"
"I don't carry a gun," I said. "I've never felt the need."
"I can look after myself too," she said suddenly.
"I don't doubt it," I assured her. "Or I would never have let you come with me."
"So, who's this Suzie, that Eddie said we'd meet at the Fortress?"
I looked straight ahead. "Ask a lot of questions, don't you?"
"I believe in getting my money's worth. Who is she? An old flame? An old enemy?"
"Yes."
"Is she going to be a problem?"
"Perhaps. We have a history."
Joanna was smiling. Women like to know things like that. "Does she owe you a favour too?"
I sighed, reluctantly realising that Joanna wasn't going to be put off by curt, monosyllabic answers. Some women just have to know everything, even when it's patently none of their business.
"Not so much a favour; more like a bullet in the back of the head. So ... Suzie Shooter. Also known as Shotgun Suzie, also known as Oh God, it's her, run! The only woman ever thrown out of the SAS for unacceptable brutality. Works as a bounty hunter, in and around the Nightside. Probably got paper on someone hiding out in the Fortress."
Joanna was looking at me closely, but I kept on looking straight ahead, my face carefully calm. "All
right," she said finally. "Would she be willing to help us?"
"She might. If you can afford her."
"Money is no object, where my daughter is concerned."
I looked at her. "If I'd known that, I'd have charged you more."
She started to laugh, and then it turned into a cough, as she hugged herself hard again. "Damn, it's cold! I can hardly feel my fingers. I'll be glad to get back into the light again. Maybe it'll be warmer, out on the street."
I stopped abruptly, and she stopped with me. She was right. It was cold. Unnaturally cold. And we'd been walking for far too long still to be in the alley. We should have reached the street long before this. I looked behind me, and Strangefellow's small neon sign was just a glowing coal in the dark, far away. I looked back at the alley exit, and it was no nearer now than when we'd started. The alley had grown while I was distracted by Joanna's questions. Someone had been playing with the structure of space, stretching the alley ... the energy drain manifesting as the sudden cold ... I could feel the trap closing in around me. Now I was looking for it, I could sense magic in the air, crackling like static, stirring the hair on my arms. Everything
"If people are always looking for you here... why don't you just stay out of the Nightside?"
I did her the courtesy of considering the matter for a few moments. It was a serious question, and deserved a serious answer. "I tried, for five long years. But the Nightside is seductive. There's nothing in
everyday London to match it. It s like living in colour, instead of black and white. Everything's more intense here, more primal. Things matter more, here. Beliefs, actions, lives ... can have more significance, in the great scheme of things. But in the end, it all comes down to the fact that I can make a much better living here, than I can in London. My gift only works in the Nightside. I'm somebody, here, even if 1 don't always like who that person is. Besides, you can't let anyone tell you where you can and can't go. It's bad for business."
"Alex said this was your home. Where you belong."
"Home is where the heart is," I said. "And most people don't dare reveal their heart here. Someone would eat it."
"Eddie said they were bad people," Joanna said stubbornly. "And he looked like the kind who would know bad. Be honest with me. Are we in any immediate danger?"
"Always, in the Nightside. All kinds of people end up here, drawn and driven by passions and needs that can't properly be expressed or satisfied anywhere else. And a lot of them like to play rough. But most of them know better than to mess with me."
She looked at me, amused. "Hard man."
"Only when I have to be."
"Are you armed?"
"I don't carry a gun," I said. "I've never felt the need."
"I can look after myself too," she said suddenly.
"I don't doubt it," I assured her. "Or I would never have let you come with me."
"So, who's this Suzie, that Eddie said we'd meet at the Fortress?"
I looked straight ahead. "Ask a lot of questions, don't you?"
"I believe in getting my money's worth. Who is she? An old flame? An old enemy?"
"Yes."
"Is she going to be a problem?"
"Perhaps. We have a history."
Joanna was smiling. Women like to know things like that. "Does she owe you a favour too?"
I sighed, reluctantly realising that Joanna wasn't going to be put off by curt, monosyllabic answers. Some women just have to know everything, even when it's patently none of their business.
"Not so much a favour; more like a bullet in the back of the head. So ... Suzie Shooter. Also known as Shotgun Suzie, also known as Oh God, it's her, run! The only woman ever thrown out of the SAS for unacceptable brutality. Works as a bounty hunter, in and around the Nightside. Probably got paper on someone hiding out in the Fortress."
Joanna was looking at me closely, but I kept on looking straight ahead, my face carefully calm. "All
right," she said finally. "Would she be willing to help us?"
"She might. If you can afford her."
"Money is no object, where my daughter is concerned."
I looked at her. "If I'd known that, I'd have charged you more."
She started to laugh, and then it turned into a cough, as she hugged herself hard again. "Damn, it's cold! I can hardly feel my fingers. I'll be glad to get back into the light again. Maybe it'll be warmer, out on the street."
I stopped abruptly, and she stopped with me. She was right. It was cold. Unnaturally cold. And we'd been walking for far too long still to be in the alley. We should have reached the street long before this. I looked behind me, and Strangefellow's small neon sign was just a glowing coal in the dark, far away. I looked back at the alley exit, and it was no nearer now than when we'd started. The alley had grown while I was distracted by Joanna's questions. Someone had been playing with the structure of space, stretching the alley ... the energy drain manifesting as the sudden cold ... I could feel the trap closing in around me. Now I was looking for it, I could sense magic in the air, crackling like static, stirring the hair on my arms. Everything
Similar Books
