Read Online Solatium (Emanations, an urban fantasy series Book 2) by Becca Mills - Free Book Online

taken Cordus to kill it. Just containing the thing had been the best we Nolanders could do, and even that had been a stretch.
    I really hoped Gwen’s assessment of this new one was accurate.
    “Seems like we’re getting these incursions constantly, doesn’t it?”
    Andy stood and headed for the fridge. “Yep. That’s ’cause we are. Word’s gotten out that no one’s minding the store. When the cat’s away, the mice will play, and all that.”
    “Green men aren’t mice, that’s for sure.”
    He shrugged. “Whatever. Still gotta catch ’em.”
    “Ah. The patented Andy Duff don’t-worry-’til-you-can-see-the-food-stuck-in-their-teeth approach to monsters.”
    He grinned and shrugged again.
    Andy’s suite was quite a bit bigger than mine — more of an apartment, really. He got busy in the kitchenette and made a couple sandwiches.
    “Drink?”
    “Just water.”
    He brought me my food. I balanced the plate on my knee and took a big bite of sandwich.
    “Wow, this is great. What’s in here?”
    “Prosciutto and roasted zucchini with camembert and arugula.”
    I wasn’t the same small-town girl I’d been four months ago, but people still pretty regularly said things that sounded like Greek to me. Andy hardly ever made me feel like a rube, but when he did, it was always over a meal. The man was the world’s biggest foodie.
    I looked up and saw he was grinning at me.
    “Ham and cheese with veggies.”
    “Thanks for the translation. I know what zucchini is. Jerk.”
    “They have vegetables in Wisconsin, huh?”
    “Only at the best places.”
    There was a light knock. Theo opened the door and came in.
    “Hey, what’s the crisis?”
    Andy waved his brother toward the couch. “Want a sandwich?”
    “Naw, already ate.”
    I got up and pushed the couch in, so Andy’s sound-proof barrier wouldn’t have to be so big. His capacity was probably low from the attack in the sewer. Duncan’s healing wouldn’t have helped with that.
    We settled in, and Andy repeated the story we’d just told Yellin. Then he described Yellin’s reaction.
    By the time we were done, Theo looked worried.
    “So you think the thing that attacked you was a Thirsting Ground, whatever that is?”
    “Yeah,” Andy said. “A strong enough gravity-working could liquefy a human body, break it down to the molecular level, even.”
    Theo nodded, thoughtful.
    “So this is bad, right?” I asked. “Having this thing loose in the city? Yellin told me that killing is what these Thirsting Ground things do. Who knows what kind of body count it’s racking up. So why is he putting off doing something about it?”
    Theo shook his head. “Beth, I think you’re missing something.”
    Suddenly, I felt a lot more worried.
    “What? What am I missing?”
    “Sturluson gives you the info about the dead kid, and the very next day you encounter the entity that did it? Out of all the tens of millions of people in this area, it attacks you?”
    “She didn’t give me the info. She gave Yellin the info. I just happened to be there. And today in the tunnel, it was targeting all of us.”
    But even as I said it, I remembered Sturluson’s odd interest in me.
    “Shit,” Andy said. “I bet that’s why Yellin’s delaying. You’re Lord Cordus’s new prize. Yellin has to keep you safe. I mean, really has to. To do that, he needs to know what the hell is going on.”
    The rest of my sandwich wasn’t looking so appealing.
    “So this is about me?”
    “I think it’s got to be, at least in part,” Theo said. “Maybe it’s about something else, in the final analysis, but it has to have something to do with you.”
    “So what should I do?”
    Andy grinned. “You mean ‘what should we do,’ right?”
    Andy and Theo were the best.
    “It’s hard to know,” Theo said. “We’re really working in the dark, here.”
    “I know who could enlighten us,” Andy said.
    “Sturluson?”
    “Yup.” 
    “But what if running to her is just what she wants