Read Online No Rest for the Witches by Karina Cooper - Free Book Online Page B

I’m okay now.”
    â€œYou sure?” When she nodded, he let her go, but stayed close enough to catch her just in case.
    â€œWhere are they?”
    â€œSomewhere in the lows,” Phin said. “Matilda told me.” And for the first time, his eyes darkened.
    Jessie’s brow furrowed, but she didn’t probe farther. Maybe Naomi was playing at some kind of game. Maybe there was trouble in paradise.
    But whatever the case, she didn’t know Phin well enough to pry, and she didn’t think he’d appreciate the gesture. She drew her knees up, draped her arms over them. “How far in?”
    â€œThe old industrial quarter,” Phin replied. “Thing is, I’m not trained like they are. So even if I wanted to go, I’d just be in the way.”
    She stared at him as the glow from the old-fashioned lantern danced over the sculpted planes and angles of his face.
    How did he do that? Just . . . vocalized so matter-of-factly what she’d been struggling with for weeks, now.
    He caught her staring, raised his eyebrow with a self-effacing kind of smile that tweaked that corner of her heart again. Damn. The man had charm. In spades. “Do I have something in my teeth?”
    â€œA little bit of common sense,” she said. “How do you do it?”
    His lips twitched. “Do what?”
    â€œBe useless.”
    He sat back, his expression turning thoughtful. “Is that what you think you are?”
    Jessie looked away.
    â€œI love Naomi,” he told her, surprisingly candid for all Jessie was as much a stranger as anything else. “I fell in love with the woman she is, and that means all of it.” He braced his weight on his good hand, bed springs creaking. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
    She shook her head. “Even knowing she could be somewhere bleeding right now?”
    â€œEven knowing that.” But he didn’t try to hide the pain that thought caused him. “We all have a part to play. The least I can do is play mine.”
    â€œJesus,” Jessie whispered, and dropped her forehead to her knees.
    â€œIt doesn’t make it easier,” he added, and rose. “Not for us. But I like to think it makes it easier for them out there. Knowing we’re holding down our part, that they don’t have to worry about us, too.”
    â€œCommon sense,” Jessie repeated, muffled against her knees.
    Phin’s chuckle eased some of that tension. Just some. “Hang in there,” he said. “I’ll go let Matilda know you’re up.” He hesitated at the door, and she raised her head. “You’ve got your friends scared, you know. Be careful.”
    â€œI will,” she said, and wasn’t quite sure if it tasted like a lie.
    Her head ached, everything felt unsettled. She’d do her best to be careful, but as the door closed on Phin’s friendly concern, Jessie wasn’t sure she’d have much choice.
    ***
    Neck gristle stretched, ground. Joints locked. With a savage wrench, the guard’s head jerked halfway around on his suddenly much-more-flexible neck. Silas caught his limp body in one arm and set him down as lightly as he could.
    His heart pounding, he turned and offered cupped hands for Naomi to step into.
    Her eyes gleamed back at him, reflected pools of . . . nothing.
    Worry flickered somewhere in all the adrenaline slamming his system, but he gritted his teeth and helped her down into the dark.
    Later, after they’d gotten out of this alive and with Lillian Clarke, he’d see what he could do about her. Right now, they had a job to do.
    The fact that this motto had followed him from Mission employ was an irony not lost on him.
    Naomi bent, searching the body. When her fingers found the smooth plates of his plasteel body armor, she jerked her gaze to Silas.
    He shrugged.
    It didn’t make sense to him, either. Matilda had assured them that a witch