Read Online Soldier of Fortune: A Gideon Quinn Adventure (Fortune Chronicles Book 1) by Kathleen McClure - Free Book Online
Authors: Kathleen McClure
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then turned her attention back to the inert head on her shoulder. "You better be all right," she said, giving him a massive shake and a thud on the chest, which she vaguely remembered seeing a riverman do to one of his mates who'd been pulled from the water after too long a spell.
* * *
When had Dani's voice gotten so high? Gideon thought. And why was she hitting him?
He opened his mouth to ask just that when a mouthful of brackish water erupted from his lungs and he coughed so violently he fell over on his right side.
"No, no! Not that way!" the voice that wasn't Dani's bounced around his ears.
"What way?" he asked or, rather, tried to ask. What came out was more a wet gurgle as his inhaled a mouthful of water. He thought he heard a 'nononono' but everything was muffled.
Why is it muffled? he asked himself. And why is not-Dani yanking at my arm?
Because, you idiot, you're drowning , his self replied.
Himself (selves?) thought he should probably do something about that, but they couldn't come to an agreement as to what.
Which made it almost a relief when a deep and tearing pain dug into his left shoulder, shredding the fog and galvanizing Gideon's body into spasmodic action.
Jerking out of the wet, and with the aid of a pair of fairly determined hands, he got himself upright enough to cough out the water he'd sucked in while not-Dani thumped him vigorously on the back.
"Bleeding Keepers," not-Dani ceased the thumping as his eyes opened, then she began to curse like an infantry drill sergeant.
Gideon appreciated the sentiment, and would have echoed it, but at the moment he was still working on basic respiration. He did manage to lift his head enough to see his savior, but closed his eyes again because it appeared there were three small fuzzy people next to the tub, along with an entire talon of dracos flying from one end of the bathroom to the other.
Life, it seemed, had wasted no time reverting to unpleasantly normal.
C HAPTER T EN
"OY, MISTER! YOU okay, then?"
The small person — girl , Gideon's slowly focusing mind told him — drove away the last whispers of the dream, though her voice still sounded muffled, like it came to him through a lake. Or fog. Or a foggy lake. A cold foggy lake.
He held up a 'just a minute' finger or three, then leaned over the bathtub's edge and shoved said finger(s?) down his throat until he could successfully puke up what had been mostly a very nice dinner, with the small exception of the Morph included somewhere in the meal.
"Oy! That's disgusting."
"I couldn't agree more," he croaked, falling back into the tub.
The girl’s head tilted inside the hood of her tunic. “Then why'd you do it?"
“Because unless you're under the surgeon's knife, Morpheus is better out than in.”
“And how d’ye know—” she began, then stopped herself. “Because you’ve been under a surgeon’s knife, before.”
“A time or three.” He reached out and grabbed the towel draped over the edge of the bathtub. Once he'd covered as much as possible, he leaned back again and closed his eyes because seeing was still an unpleasant proposition.
"You gonna die?"
He raised an eyebrow but didn't open the eye. "Not presently, I don't think."
A moment of expectant silence passed, but what the kid expected he couldn't say. He also couldn't say why there was a kid in the bathroom in the first place, or why a stiff, cold breeze shivered over his skin, or why he heard the steady sound of rain.
He should probably ask about that.
He didn't, not even when he heard the sound of water running from the sink's tap or felt a hot, damp cloth pressed to the talon marks in his shoulder.
Talon.
Draco.
Elvis!
If the window was open…
He was already starting to sit up when he felt the distinctive touch of the draco's head against his cheek and relaxed.
"He sure likes you," he heard the girl say.
"We've been through a lot together."
"Looks like you been through more," she
* * *
When had Dani's voice gotten so high? Gideon thought. And why was she hitting him?
He opened his mouth to ask just that when a mouthful of brackish water erupted from his lungs and he coughed so violently he fell over on his right side.
"No, no! Not that way!" the voice that wasn't Dani's bounced around his ears.
"What way?" he asked or, rather, tried to ask. What came out was more a wet gurgle as his inhaled a mouthful of water. He thought he heard a 'nononono' but everything was muffled.
Why is it muffled? he asked himself. And why is not-Dani yanking at my arm?
Because, you idiot, you're drowning , his self replied.
Himself (selves?) thought he should probably do something about that, but they couldn't come to an agreement as to what.
Which made it almost a relief when a deep and tearing pain dug into his left shoulder, shredding the fog and galvanizing Gideon's body into spasmodic action.
Jerking out of the wet, and with the aid of a pair of fairly determined hands, he got himself upright enough to cough out the water he'd sucked in while not-Dani thumped him vigorously on the back.
"Bleeding Keepers," not-Dani ceased the thumping as his eyes opened, then she began to curse like an infantry drill sergeant.
Gideon appreciated the sentiment, and would have echoed it, but at the moment he was still working on basic respiration. He did manage to lift his head enough to see his savior, but closed his eyes again because it appeared there were three small fuzzy people next to the tub, along with an entire talon of dracos flying from one end of the bathroom to the other.
Life, it seemed, had wasted no time reverting to unpleasantly normal.
C HAPTER T EN
"OY, MISTER! YOU okay, then?"
The small person — girl , Gideon's slowly focusing mind told him — drove away the last whispers of the dream, though her voice still sounded muffled, like it came to him through a lake. Or fog. Or a foggy lake. A cold foggy lake.
He held up a 'just a minute' finger or three, then leaned over the bathtub's edge and shoved said finger(s?) down his throat until he could successfully puke up what had been mostly a very nice dinner, with the small exception of the Morph included somewhere in the meal.
"Oy! That's disgusting."
"I couldn't agree more," he croaked, falling back into the tub.
The girl’s head tilted inside the hood of her tunic. “Then why'd you do it?"
“Because unless you're under the surgeon's knife, Morpheus is better out than in.”
“And how d’ye know—” she began, then stopped herself. “Because you’ve been under a surgeon’s knife, before.”
“A time or three.” He reached out and grabbed the towel draped over the edge of the bathtub. Once he'd covered as much as possible, he leaned back again and closed his eyes because seeing was still an unpleasant proposition.
"You gonna die?"
He raised an eyebrow but didn't open the eye. "Not presently, I don't think."
A moment of expectant silence passed, but what the kid expected he couldn't say. He also couldn't say why there was a kid in the bathroom in the first place, or why a stiff, cold breeze shivered over his skin, or why he heard the steady sound of rain.
He should probably ask about that.
He didn't, not even when he heard the sound of water running from the sink's tap or felt a hot, damp cloth pressed to the talon marks in his shoulder.
Talon.
Draco.
Elvis!
If the window was open…
He was already starting to sit up when he felt the distinctive touch of the draco's head against his cheek and relaxed.
"He sure likes you," he heard the girl say.
"We've been through a lot together."
"Looks like you been through more," she
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