Read Online The Watcher's Eyes (The Binders Game Book 2) by D.K. Holmberg - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: D.K. Holmberg
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then I’d never been one to believe in such superstition. It was probably the reason I had such terrible luck.
Darting across the street, I checked my pouch, making certain I could reach inside quickly if needed. The supplies were from Carth, ironic given that I might need to use them to find out why she used me.
Vines grew along the side of the stacked stone wall and I lumbered toward it, trying not to appear like I ran so that I drew attention to myself, but not wanting to linger. At the wall, I grabbed at the vines and flipped myself over.
Once inside, I paused, crouched against the rock. If anyone had seen me, the next few moments would reveal their presence. I didn’t hear the sound of anyone running and nothing moved. For now, I had escaped notice.
The garden hadn’t changed since the last time I was here, but what had changed was the urgency which drove me. It had been personal the last time and although this time was personal this time, too, there was a different reason for it. That changed things.
I drifted into the shadows of the garden, pulling my dark cloak around me. My Sight allowed me to see the darkest of shadows, and I used that to help me find the best way to move unnoticed. Manicured hedges rose on either side of the path, and I squeezed through an opening between them. Better to move within the garden itself than along the path. Besides, this time I had no interest or need to enter the house.
This was to be scouting only.
Unfortunately, scouting missions often didn’t work out as I hoped. This was no different.
The other side of the hedge was a wide, open grassy space. A young man sat bent over a bowl, a streamer of smoke rising from it. He looked up, alarmed, and his bowl clattered to the ground.
Damn. One of the security, or was this family? Hell, I still didn’t even know who controlled the estate. I assumed it was Benahg’s son, but that didn’t mean I was right.
It didn’t matter. I had to reach the man before he made any noise.
I flicked the dart in my left hand at him. Tipped in coxberry, it would drop him, but not kill. Killing was often necessary—and the job—but I wouldn’t do it if it were not. That was the reason I went stretches without getting hired. It was also the reason I sometimes forced myself into jobs where I hadn’t been hired.
The man started to fall by the time I reached him. I caught him and lowered him to the ground. The grass smoldered where his bowl had fallen, and I stamped it out. No use lighting the estate on fire.
I searched the man and found a single knife but nothing else. Pocketing the knife, I dragged the man toward the hedges and pulled the dart out of his arm. Darts could be reused; even after what Carth had given me, I didn’t have so many that I could afford to waste them. More than I usually had, and well made at that, but a time would come when that supply dwindled.
With only a knife on him, that meant he wasn’t one of the guards. Family, then.
A soft gasp came from behind me.
I rolled, coming to my feet with a dart in hand and ready to throw, but hesitated.
The reason I had come here stood across the small green watching me. Her eyes widened in recognition and then flicked down to the man. She reached for the pockets of her dress but I shook my head and motioned her to the middle of the small clearing.
She started to open her mouth, but I raised a finger to my lips.
If the woman was here, then others would have come with her.
I pointed to the ground and mouthed the word, “Stay.”
Slipping between the hedges, I noticed two men waiting. With two coxberry darts, I left them unmoving. Then I returned to the girl.
It didn’t matter if anyone discovered I’d returned. She was the reason I had, and I did not intend to return a third time.
She stood with her hands clasped in front of her and fixed me with a serene expression. She stood in front of a known assassin, one who had taken down three men with darts, and she remained
Darting across the street, I checked my pouch, making certain I could reach inside quickly if needed. The supplies were from Carth, ironic given that I might need to use them to find out why she used me.
Vines grew along the side of the stacked stone wall and I lumbered toward it, trying not to appear like I ran so that I drew attention to myself, but not wanting to linger. At the wall, I grabbed at the vines and flipped myself over.
Once inside, I paused, crouched against the rock. If anyone had seen me, the next few moments would reveal their presence. I didn’t hear the sound of anyone running and nothing moved. For now, I had escaped notice.
The garden hadn’t changed since the last time I was here, but what had changed was the urgency which drove me. It had been personal the last time and although this time was personal this time, too, there was a different reason for it. That changed things.
I drifted into the shadows of the garden, pulling my dark cloak around me. My Sight allowed me to see the darkest of shadows, and I used that to help me find the best way to move unnoticed. Manicured hedges rose on either side of the path, and I squeezed through an opening between them. Better to move within the garden itself than along the path. Besides, this time I had no interest or need to enter the house.
This was to be scouting only.
Unfortunately, scouting missions often didn’t work out as I hoped. This was no different.
The other side of the hedge was a wide, open grassy space. A young man sat bent over a bowl, a streamer of smoke rising from it. He looked up, alarmed, and his bowl clattered to the ground.
Damn. One of the security, or was this family? Hell, I still didn’t even know who controlled the estate. I assumed it was Benahg’s son, but that didn’t mean I was right.
It didn’t matter. I had to reach the man before he made any noise.
I flicked the dart in my left hand at him. Tipped in coxberry, it would drop him, but not kill. Killing was often necessary—and the job—but I wouldn’t do it if it were not. That was the reason I went stretches without getting hired. It was also the reason I sometimes forced myself into jobs where I hadn’t been hired.
The man started to fall by the time I reached him. I caught him and lowered him to the ground. The grass smoldered where his bowl had fallen, and I stamped it out. No use lighting the estate on fire.
I searched the man and found a single knife but nothing else. Pocketing the knife, I dragged the man toward the hedges and pulled the dart out of his arm. Darts could be reused; even after what Carth had given me, I didn’t have so many that I could afford to waste them. More than I usually had, and well made at that, but a time would come when that supply dwindled.
With only a knife on him, that meant he wasn’t one of the guards. Family, then.
A soft gasp came from behind me.
I rolled, coming to my feet with a dart in hand and ready to throw, but hesitated.
The reason I had come here stood across the small green watching me. Her eyes widened in recognition and then flicked down to the man. She reached for the pockets of her dress but I shook my head and motioned her to the middle of the small clearing.
She started to open her mouth, but I raised a finger to my lips.
If the woman was here, then others would have come with her.
I pointed to the ground and mouthed the word, “Stay.”
Slipping between the hedges, I noticed two men waiting. With two coxberry darts, I left them unmoving. Then I returned to the girl.
It didn’t matter if anyone discovered I’d returned. She was the reason I had, and I did not intend to return a third time.
She stood with her hands clasped in front of her and fixed me with a serene expression. She stood in front of a known assassin, one who had taken down three men with darts, and she remained
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