Read Online Pack of Strays (The Fangborn Series Book 2) by Dana Cameron - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dana Cameron
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a hand, and he cautiously withdrew, waiting for me to recover.
“It’s … okay,” I gasped finally. “I … I think … it’s the last of the hellebore working its way out of my system.”
His concern was obvious. “Is there anything I can—?”
“No! No, thank you. I … I just need some sleep.”
Adam was exhausted from the day’s events, but I wouldn’t have bet that he could fall asleep so fast. Must be his easy conscience.
I sat up for a moment; then, clammy cold, I crawled into bed, giving a rough tug to the blanket Adam had stolen. I got my fair share; he didn’t even stir.
I tried to think of the day as a net positive: I’d found the asylum . I had a destination. And whatever the bracelet was doing, at least now I had another destination, courtesy of the visions.
On the negative side, my journey wasn’t moving me toward my friends, but away from them, and it didn’t seem as if I had any choice in the matter.
I was changing. The bracelet was changing me.
Profound snores from the other side of the bed.
“Adam, roll over,” I said dully, a habit now deeply ingrained. All the familiarity of an intimate relationship, with none of the comfort.
Obediently, he rolled over, muttering something. I was left alone in the dark and quiet.
The next morning at breakfast, it all seemed crazy to me. “I know it’s not a lot. But I saw the airport, I saw the train, I saw too much, like a whipsaw trip through history. I saw the name, ‘Roskilde.’ I don’t know what it means, but I have to go to Denmark.” I shivered. “I don’t dare not go.”
Surprisingly, Adam was more supportive of the idea than I was. “Yeah, but … if something like that is calling you, better you should answer, right? I mean, as soon as you figured it out, the pain stopped, right? You go, maybe you keep Knight or the Order from getting there first. Win–win–win, as far as I can tell.”
“Okay. I guess I put off looking for the others. The bracelet wins. I’ll go.”
“We both go.” He nodded. “And we both need new papers. We’ll drive to Manhattan. I have a friend who might be able to help us.”
Adam was quiet a long time. I finished the rest of my eggs and thought about more bacon. It was good to have my appetite back. I felt nearly 90 percent, which, considering how I’d felt yesterday, was like feeling 600 percent.
“Okay,” I said finally. “We get the papers, we get a plane.”
It wasn’t a long drive into the city from outside Princeton. It was much harder trying to find a parking place on the Upper West Side.
“Let’s splurge on a lot,” I said.
He shook his head. “I don’t like parking structures. Too easy to be trapped.”
Finally, Adam made his own parking space. He pulled into a side street that was “residents only” and pulled out a sheaf of parking tickets. He stuck one under the windshield.
“If you don’t like getting trapped,” I said, “how are you going to feel about being towed?”
He put the rest of the tickets away and locked up. “At least if someone comes at me out here, in the open, I’ll see them coming. We can walk from here.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of meeting someone who forged papers, the dark underside of the city, the criminal element. Despite the fact that I was something of the criminal element myself . “Shall I get lost for an hour or two?”
“No, you should come with me. You’ll like Jean.”
We walked uptown a few more blocks. We were near the Museum of Natural History when we turned and walked down another one.
We went up the stairs of a tidy brownstone in a quiet neighborhood. The noise was muffled from the nearby busy streets, and it was hard to envision that the woods of Princeville Township were even in the same galaxy. Geraniums bloomed in the window boxes, impatiens around the tree bases, and there was a carefully lettered sign requesting that I clean up after my dog. It was a nineteenth-century
“It’s … okay,” I gasped finally. “I … I think … it’s the last of the hellebore working its way out of my system.”
His concern was obvious. “Is there anything I can—?”
“No! No, thank you. I … I just need some sleep.”
Adam was exhausted from the day’s events, but I wouldn’t have bet that he could fall asleep so fast. Must be his easy conscience.
I sat up for a moment; then, clammy cold, I crawled into bed, giving a rough tug to the blanket Adam had stolen. I got my fair share; he didn’t even stir.
I tried to think of the day as a net positive: I’d found the asylum . I had a destination. And whatever the bracelet was doing, at least now I had another destination, courtesy of the visions.
On the negative side, my journey wasn’t moving me toward my friends, but away from them, and it didn’t seem as if I had any choice in the matter.
I was changing. The bracelet was changing me.
Profound snores from the other side of the bed.
“Adam, roll over,” I said dully, a habit now deeply ingrained. All the familiarity of an intimate relationship, with none of the comfort.
Obediently, he rolled over, muttering something. I was left alone in the dark and quiet.
The next morning at breakfast, it all seemed crazy to me. “I know it’s not a lot. But I saw the airport, I saw the train, I saw too much, like a whipsaw trip through history. I saw the name, ‘Roskilde.’ I don’t know what it means, but I have to go to Denmark.” I shivered. “I don’t dare not go.”
Surprisingly, Adam was more supportive of the idea than I was. “Yeah, but … if something like that is calling you, better you should answer, right? I mean, as soon as you figured it out, the pain stopped, right? You go, maybe you keep Knight or the Order from getting there first. Win–win–win, as far as I can tell.”
“Okay. I guess I put off looking for the others. The bracelet wins. I’ll go.”
“We both go.” He nodded. “And we both need new papers. We’ll drive to Manhattan. I have a friend who might be able to help us.”
Adam was quiet a long time. I finished the rest of my eggs and thought about more bacon. It was good to have my appetite back. I felt nearly 90 percent, which, considering how I’d felt yesterday, was like feeling 600 percent.
“Okay,” I said finally. “We get the papers, we get a plane.”
It wasn’t a long drive into the city from outside Princeton. It was much harder trying to find a parking place on the Upper West Side.
“Let’s splurge on a lot,” I said.
He shook his head. “I don’t like parking structures. Too easy to be trapped.”
Finally, Adam made his own parking space. He pulled into a side street that was “residents only” and pulled out a sheaf of parking tickets. He stuck one under the windshield.
“If you don’t like getting trapped,” I said, “how are you going to feel about being towed?”
He put the rest of the tickets away and locked up. “At least if someone comes at me out here, in the open, I’ll see them coming. We can walk from here.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of meeting someone who forged papers, the dark underside of the city, the criminal element. Despite the fact that I was something of the criminal element myself . “Shall I get lost for an hour or two?”
“No, you should come with me. You’ll like Jean.”
We walked uptown a few more blocks. We were near the Museum of Natural History when we turned and walked down another one.
We went up the stairs of a tidy brownstone in a quiet neighborhood. The noise was muffled from the nearby busy streets, and it was hard to envision that the woods of Princeville Township were even in the same galaxy. Geraniums bloomed in the window boxes, impatiens around the tree bases, and there was a carefully lettered sign requesting that I clean up after my dog. It was a nineteenth-century
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