Read Online Wolf in Shadow-eARC by John Lambshead - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Lambshead
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snarled, showing its teeth. Foxes had lost their fear of people since the government had introduced hunting bans. They stood their ground when confronted by a human where once they would have fled. They had even started to attack children, and Rhian, petite and slim, was little larger than a teenage girl.
She lifted her lips and growled, the deep rumble belying her small frame. The fox put its ears and tail down and slunk back into the cemetery. It vanished noiselessly into the dark.
Rhian turned into a narrow alley that curved between two buildings. Her foot slipped on something squishy on the paving, but she didn’t care to speculate about the nature of the squishiness.
She rounded a last corner onto the main road, and the London night assaulted her senses in all its glory. It was like a stage musical revealed by the lifting of the theater curtain. Brightly colored light spilled from all directions. Noise surrounded her, the hum of car engines and the murmur of voices sliding over each other in layers. Burning hydrocarbons stung acidly on her throat. People spilled out of a nearby tube station from one of the last trains to run that night. Two men argued listlessly as if neither really cared about the issue. Tires squealed and horns sounded as car drivers bickered over precedence.
She could not face running the gauntlet of the drunks racing each other down the dual carriageway of the Mile End Road, so she walked on a short distance to where a ramp dropped down to a subway. The local graffiti painters had been busy spraying tags on the white-tiled walls. Council workmen occasionally made a half-hearted attempt to clean the mess off, but they were only preparing an empty canvas for the next street artist. Unfortunately, they weren’t all Banksys.
The ramp was lit with white lights in strong plastic boxes placed high up on the walls. Enthusiastic stone throwers had cracked much of the Perspex. When she turned the right-angled bend down under the road, Rhian was dismayed to see that long stretches of the subway were in darkness. The few lights working seemed to be running on low voltage and, if anything, they added to the gloom.
She dithered about whether to go back up to the street and take the long walk out of her way to an above-ground pedestrian crossing. Muggers might lurk in the dark, and she was frightened of what might happen if she was attacked. Her feet ached, so she went ahead anyway.
Rhian strode quickly with the determined air of someone going to the dentist. The sound of her heels on the concrete preceded her up the tunnel, echoing off the tiled walls and ceiling. She was halfway along when she saw movement at the far end.
The street lighting behind the subway exit silhouetted two figures. Rhian paused, concealed in the dark, able to back out before the newcomers even realised she was there. The silhouettes moved slightly apart so that Rhian could see them more clearly. They were holding hands, and one had the unmistakable curves of a woman.
She relaxed and continued towards the couple. The closer she got, the more relaxed and happy she felt. A part of her mind was curious about that. Rhian was not normally a particularly relaxed and happy person.
The subway lights illuminated the tunnel in a friendly, pale light that swirled around her. She could not imagine why she had thought the tunnel dark and uninviting. She felt light-headed and warm, the night chill entirely dispelled.
Each breath slid in and out of her mouth like a strawberry-flavoured hallucinogenic drug. The air fizzed the way a carbonated drink sparkles on the tongue. Tension drained from her body and she felt truly content for the first time in, well, she couldn’t remember when. The wariness that was so much a part of her character evaporated like overnight frost in the morning sun.
The scent from the twisted posy in her buttonhole smelled of a summer’s herb garden. She hadn’t noticed that before. Enticing snatches of different
She lifted her lips and growled, the deep rumble belying her small frame. The fox put its ears and tail down and slunk back into the cemetery. It vanished noiselessly into the dark.
Rhian turned into a narrow alley that curved between two buildings. Her foot slipped on something squishy on the paving, but she didn’t care to speculate about the nature of the squishiness.
She rounded a last corner onto the main road, and the London night assaulted her senses in all its glory. It was like a stage musical revealed by the lifting of the theater curtain. Brightly colored light spilled from all directions. Noise surrounded her, the hum of car engines and the murmur of voices sliding over each other in layers. Burning hydrocarbons stung acidly on her throat. People spilled out of a nearby tube station from one of the last trains to run that night. Two men argued listlessly as if neither really cared about the issue. Tires squealed and horns sounded as car drivers bickered over precedence.
She could not face running the gauntlet of the drunks racing each other down the dual carriageway of the Mile End Road, so she walked on a short distance to where a ramp dropped down to a subway. The local graffiti painters had been busy spraying tags on the white-tiled walls. Council workmen occasionally made a half-hearted attempt to clean the mess off, but they were only preparing an empty canvas for the next street artist. Unfortunately, they weren’t all Banksys.
The ramp was lit with white lights in strong plastic boxes placed high up on the walls. Enthusiastic stone throwers had cracked much of the Perspex. When she turned the right-angled bend down under the road, Rhian was dismayed to see that long stretches of the subway were in darkness. The few lights working seemed to be running on low voltage and, if anything, they added to the gloom.
She dithered about whether to go back up to the street and take the long walk out of her way to an above-ground pedestrian crossing. Muggers might lurk in the dark, and she was frightened of what might happen if she was attacked. Her feet ached, so she went ahead anyway.
Rhian strode quickly with the determined air of someone going to the dentist. The sound of her heels on the concrete preceded her up the tunnel, echoing off the tiled walls and ceiling. She was halfway along when she saw movement at the far end.
The street lighting behind the subway exit silhouetted two figures. Rhian paused, concealed in the dark, able to back out before the newcomers even realised she was there. The silhouettes moved slightly apart so that Rhian could see them more clearly. They were holding hands, and one had the unmistakable curves of a woman.
She relaxed and continued towards the couple. The closer she got, the more relaxed and happy she felt. A part of her mind was curious about that. Rhian was not normally a particularly relaxed and happy person.
The subway lights illuminated the tunnel in a friendly, pale light that swirled around her. She could not imagine why she had thought the tunnel dark and uninviting. She felt light-headed and warm, the night chill entirely dispelled.
Each breath slid in and out of her mouth like a strawberry-flavoured hallucinogenic drug. The air fizzed the way a carbonated drink sparkles on the tongue. Tension drained from her body and she felt truly content for the first time in, well, she couldn’t remember when. The wariness that was so much a part of her character evaporated like overnight frost in the morning sun.
The scent from the twisted posy in her buttonhole smelled of a summer’s herb garden. She hadn’t noticed that before. Enticing snatches of different
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