Read Online The Radical (Unity Vol.1) by S.M. Lynch - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: S.M. Lynch
Ads: Link
assessed me with an air of cool. ‘I keep up with your reports, you know… some of them are very interesting, but this job must take up a lot of your time and energy?’
Eve motioned for me to join her for some tea at a terrace outside, and we sat at a white garden table with matching chairs. All around were tubs of fake conifers and dwarf rose bushes, amid a background of smog, traffic and the bustling park.
‘Yeah, I’m kept pretty busy, but that’s the way I like it… and I don’t need a lecture on that subject.’
I had too many piles of shit to shovel though I wasn’t going to admit that.
‘What is currently occupying you? I only ask, because, well…’ she trailed off, and my curiosity over her interest got the better of me.
‘Just say it,’ I urged her.
‘You look exhausted, darling,’ she told me.
‘Thanks, thanks a bunch.’ I rested my head back against the chair and could have taken a quick nap. My head was thick with foggy exhaustion that made me dizzy easily and required perpetual use of aspirin to keep my headache at bay. I was barely sleeping.
‘Come on, you can tell me,’ she encouraged. ‘There must be something, something gnawing away at you. I can see it. One thing in particular…?’
I took some deep breaths and a few sips of the Earl Grey she had already poured for me without asking whether I wanted coffee.
I told her all about Reiniger. His look. His way of being. Aloof and untouchable, unapproachable but there. Always alone. I explained that there was just something about him that didn’t look right, something odd. More than physically odd. He was an unsettling presence.
She absorbed my words before giving me her opinion on the matter.
‘Assets… my first thought is a secret. That is the world in which we live. He is either trying to protect one or explode one.’
‘Okay…?’ I tried to follow her train of thought though I had no faith it would lead anywhere. I had been trying to figure him out for weeks.
‘ Tweed suits, you say?’
‘Yeah,’ I told her.
‘Only one place still produces custom-made tweed. In Edinburgh. Let me ask my friend…’
She fired off a message on her gadget, which she kept on her lap so I couldn’t see it. I sensed her protectiveness of the thing, but right then, I didn’t comprehend it.
A ding announced a return message. She pursed her lips, ‘As I thought. They have one foreign customer who fits the bill, spectacles and all. He orders the suits in store, but has them shipped to his house on Park Av. He… wait… she thinks he has a glass eye lurking behind that eyewear.’
She looked up, clearly something had occurred to her. She gazed at the sky briefly before returning her attention to the xGen.
‘Goddam, what?’ I begged. I was shattered.
I watched her expression darken. There was some thought she had that she didn’t want to divulge immediately.
‘Seraph, there is something…’ she trailed off.
‘Yes…?’
‘My assistant Camille once told me a story about a man with a marble eye. I never forget a tale,’ she assured me, ‘nor the details.’
‘That is why he wears the glasses? Makes him seem less… disabled. Just peculiar.’
‘Must be,’ she said.
I knew there was more.
‘Camille told me he was known for recruiting, or should that be trafficking, fighters. For Officium’s force of emissaries, of course.’
‘How would she know?’ I begged.
‘Oh, she traveled, you know. She got about in her student days… hearsay… that sort of thing.’
‘Great, another rumor for me to work with!’
I could have sworn Eve was typing away on her xGen under the table but her eyes were fixed on me. She was either prattling or able to touch type with great accuracy, which was something on those damn small things.
‘Is he dangerous? Did she mention that?’
‘I think he is,’ Eve told me gravely.
‘Fill me in on the blanks,’ I demanded.
‘Have you heard of UNITY?’ Eve asked.
‘Vaguely. One of
Eve motioned for me to join her for some tea at a terrace outside, and we sat at a white garden table with matching chairs. All around were tubs of fake conifers and dwarf rose bushes, amid a background of smog, traffic and the bustling park.
‘Yeah, I’m kept pretty busy, but that’s the way I like it… and I don’t need a lecture on that subject.’
I had too many piles of shit to shovel though I wasn’t going to admit that.
‘What is currently occupying you? I only ask, because, well…’ she trailed off, and my curiosity over her interest got the better of me.
‘Just say it,’ I urged her.
‘You look exhausted, darling,’ she told me.
‘Thanks, thanks a bunch.’ I rested my head back against the chair and could have taken a quick nap. My head was thick with foggy exhaustion that made me dizzy easily and required perpetual use of aspirin to keep my headache at bay. I was barely sleeping.
‘Come on, you can tell me,’ she encouraged. ‘There must be something, something gnawing away at you. I can see it. One thing in particular…?’
I took some deep breaths and a few sips of the Earl Grey she had already poured for me without asking whether I wanted coffee.
I told her all about Reiniger. His look. His way of being. Aloof and untouchable, unapproachable but there. Always alone. I explained that there was just something about him that didn’t look right, something odd. More than physically odd. He was an unsettling presence.
She absorbed my words before giving me her opinion on the matter.
‘Assets… my first thought is a secret. That is the world in which we live. He is either trying to protect one or explode one.’
‘Okay…?’ I tried to follow her train of thought though I had no faith it would lead anywhere. I had been trying to figure him out for weeks.
‘ Tweed suits, you say?’
‘Yeah,’ I told her.
‘Only one place still produces custom-made tweed. In Edinburgh. Let me ask my friend…’
She fired off a message on her gadget, which she kept on her lap so I couldn’t see it. I sensed her protectiveness of the thing, but right then, I didn’t comprehend it.
A ding announced a return message. She pursed her lips, ‘As I thought. They have one foreign customer who fits the bill, spectacles and all. He orders the suits in store, but has them shipped to his house on Park Av. He… wait… she thinks he has a glass eye lurking behind that eyewear.’
She looked up, clearly something had occurred to her. She gazed at the sky briefly before returning her attention to the xGen.
‘Goddam, what?’ I begged. I was shattered.
I watched her expression darken. There was some thought she had that she didn’t want to divulge immediately.
‘Seraph, there is something…’ she trailed off.
‘Yes…?’
‘My assistant Camille once told me a story about a man with a marble eye. I never forget a tale,’ she assured me, ‘nor the details.’
‘That is why he wears the glasses? Makes him seem less… disabled. Just peculiar.’
‘Must be,’ she said.
I knew there was more.
‘Camille told me he was known for recruiting, or should that be trafficking, fighters. For Officium’s force of emissaries, of course.’
‘How would she know?’ I begged.
‘Oh, she traveled, you know. She got about in her student days… hearsay… that sort of thing.’
‘Great, another rumor for me to work with!’
I could have sworn Eve was typing away on her xGen under the table but her eyes were fixed on me. She was either prattling or able to touch type with great accuracy, which was something on those damn small things.
‘Is he dangerous? Did she mention that?’
‘I think he is,’ Eve told me gravely.
‘Fill me in on the blanks,’ I demanded.
‘Have you heard of UNITY?’ Eve asked.
‘Vaguely. One of
Similar Books
