Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) (10 page)

Only then did I finally let out a breath that I’d seemed to be holding since the Gate. I wiped mud out of my face and headed for the house to take another hot shower. This time, I hoped without any visitors.

During the shower, I decided to cook something great for dinner. One of the best ways to make something up to Drake was through food. It seemed like the way to make him happy was through his stomach. It would be a perfect night to try out one of the new products from the Development facility. If it went all right, that is. If it came out awful, then he would likely still be mad at me.

I hurried over there and picked up some of the meat substitute that I had helped develop. Then I headed to Supply to get the other ingredients that I was lacking – just some rice and whatnot. Drake was really good at keeping a stock of spices at the house, so I didn’t have to worry about those.

In the back of the Supply building there was a small eatery. Seated at a table alone was the man from earlier, in the woods. Jonathan, I thought. I’d never really minded him. Drake had had to use all of his pull as an Acquisitions Specialist prodigy to get the Magistrate to let me stay when I was young, but he’d said Jonathan had been supportive of me joining the Guild.

I walked over to a shelf and grabbed the rice that I needed. Then I walked over to the counter and counted out the correct amount of our currency stones and dropped them into the slot, noting what I had picked up on the ledger. It helped them keep track of inventory.

I turned to leave when I became aware of a low growling sound. I looked around, curious. There was nobody in the store except Jonathan. I looked at him and instantly felt a shiver. The man and I made eye contact; I was glad that looks can’t literally kill because with the look the Council member was shooting at me, he was trying very hard to accomplish just that.

His cheeks were vibrating with the feral growl escaping his lips. Slobber dripped out of the corners of his mouth and down his chin.

“You!” he said.

I got a good look at his eyes. They were extremely dark and predatory. In fact, as he stared at me, they were getting darker.

“Wha-What’s wrong with you?” I demanded.

He didn’t seem capable of words any longer, but continued drooling spittle.

Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out. I looked around, there was no one else in the store, and the clerk must’ve been in the back. I started backing up. When I looked back at the man, he was menacingly holding one of the sharp knives from the table and seemed to be tripping over his own legs in his haste to get up from the bench.

I knew I could take him, but he was the right hand to the Magistrate. If I killed him or wounded him or someone walked in on us fighting, I would be banished, or worse. Everyone would believe him over me. Seriously, what would I say?
Uh. Yeah, the Council member just attacked me with a knife, so I killed him.
Yes, that would fly real far to establish my credibility.

He reestablished his muscle coordination and freed himself, starting towards me. That was all I needed. I was left with pretty much one option. I spun around and fled.

I didn’t stop running until I got home. I locked the doors and hid out in Drake’s room since he still wasn’t back. It was clear to me that I couldn’t tell anyone except Drake because no one else would believe me. Jonathan was the Magistrate’s main man after all. I knew he would deny it ever happened. He would use it to his advantage, making it seem like I was crazy and couldn’t be trusted. The Magistrate would jump at the opportunity to twist this and get me kicked out of the Guild, like he’d been trying to ever since I got here.

I took shelter on the back side of the bed, sitting down on the floor and leaning against it, feeling safer with it behind me.

Why did Jonathan hate me so much all of the sudden? Not wanting to jeopardize his position as the top Council member below the Magistrate, Jonathan had never gone out of his way to show his support for me publicly. Drake had always been the one to let me know of Jonathan’s behind-the-scenes support. Even with Jonathan’s brevity towards me in public, he’d most definitely never shown hostility towards me – nothing to justify his behavior at the Supply.

Where was Drake? Why was he gone when I needed him? Sometimes I hated him being so good at his job. It seemed like he was always getting jobs that took him away. He was just too good.

I sat there for a few more minutes. Then I told myself it was time to suck it up and get to preparing dinner. I stood and shrugged it off, feeling my tense muscles loosen.

On my way to the kitchen to get started on plan “apologize to Drake,” I thought to look in his footlocker, see if he’d taken any of his gear with him. Aside from the stuff he nearly always had with him, knife and light, his moccasins were gone.

He only wore those when he needed to practice the highest stealth. He wouldn’t wear them if he was planning on running from or chasing something. They were too thin for that; it was a recipe to slip a lot or jam something through the thin leather sole into his foot.

Closing the locker, I continued on to the kitchen, snatching up the rice off the bed along the way. I turned on the stove, watching the burner light-up blue as it heated.

So, that meant that he was following something. Or sneaking up on something. But what? He always told me when he left for a mission. None of his long-trip gear was missing, so he wouldn’t be gone long. Maybe he’d taken a quick job.

Every Acquisitions Specialist was able to side-contract when not doing specific jobs for the Guild. Like, make specific trips to faraway places to get luxuries from the big cities. Only the most prominent could afford that, of course. Most Ackspecs were only used for the things that Drake didn’t accept. He was extremely expensive, more than most could afford. It was said he could get anything, from anywhere, from anyone. He could get in and out without anyone knowing he was there. Also, he got results. He had only once returned without what he was sent for. That had been six months ago.

He’d been sent to what used to be Seattle, now a huge crater, to get some glass for one of the Council member’s wives. It had to be a specific type, color, etc. It was a two-day trip by foot each way. He had been gone for nearly two weeks. He said he’d scoured the city. Every inch. He hadn’t brought back anything. In fact, he was really withdrawn and distant when he first got back. I’d had to cover for him with the Council member’s wife; he’d been in no mood for public relations.

When he’d stepped into the house that day, I’d given him my customary hug. He had pushed me away almost instantly, gruffly saying, “Hey,” and then locking himself in the bathroom. I didn’t see him for a while after that.

It was weeks before there was any semblance of normality in his actions. Still, ever since, I would often turn around and catch him looking at me with an intense look on his face, his pupils dilated and his face flushing. Or, when I gave him a big hug, he would let go quickly and make some excuse to leave.

Whenever I asked him what was up, what had happened in the city, he would dodge the question, very tactfully. I’d barely notice that he had changed the subject.

Smoke drifted into my thoughts. I was pulled back to the present and realized that I’d turned on the wrong burner and the wooden handle of the pan was scorching, smoke curling up into the air.

I corrected my mistake, mentally chastising myself, and started adding the ingredients. Not wanting to burn the meal, I made myself focus on cooking and forget my curiosity for now.

I STOOD ON MY doorstep after tailing the Magistrate, waiting to go in. My hand was on the handle, fingers turning white from squeezing it. I could turn it at any moment, but something held me back. Earlier, Kelsie and I had fought, a real-fight. We never real-fight. I could only remember maybe one or two actual fights in the years we had known each other. It was always play fights. That had been how we’d hit it off at first. We had our very first play fight right outside the Gate the day she showed up. We had argued about whether the Guard would have actually shot her and if I had saved her life.

The memory brought a lighter feeling to my chest, the corners of my mouth edging up in a smile. I took a deep breath, let it out and walked in.

I don’t know if I expected her to still be upset about the fight, or a heavy darkness to be hanging over the room when I walked in. But there was none of that. In fact, I walked in to a well-lit room filled with the wonderful smells of food cooking.

I headed to the kitchen and saw Kelsie standing over the stove, steam tussling her now-frizzed hair. She turned and gave me a cautious grin. When I smiled back, her half-smile lost all restraint with the corners of her mouth threatening to touch her ears.

“I hope you’re hungry,” she said, turning back to the pan on the stove.

As if on cue my stomach rumbled, answering for me.

She smirked over her shoulder. “I guess you are. Sit down; I’ll bring it to you.”

I did as she ordered and sat there for a few minutes while she dished up the food and brought it over. She explained that it was some sort of new “meat-substitute” and I was the tester. Yay for me.

I was pleasantly surprised at the texture of the product. It had a little bit of an odd taste that took a few bites to get used to. Then it was all-in. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I had devoured my plate and part of hers.

We ate in silence until we finished the meal. Then I started. “Guess what happened this evening.”

“He what? Are you sure?” Kelsie asked, incredulously.

“Yeah, I’m sure, Kelsie. He took a hidden tunnel right under their Gate. When he came up on the inside, they acted like he was supposed to be there.” I let out an exasperated sound and hopped up on the kitchen counter.

“Why would he be going there? The whole time I was growing up, I heard of the Sven Magistrate visiting once for diplomatic reasons. It didn’t go well, so they never did it again.”

“I don’t have a clue. I don’t think it’s for political reasons, though. If it were, I’m pretty sure he would have told his wife and had a guard or two. Also, why would he be going twice a week and have to use an underground tunnel if it was for something legitimate. It’s not like he’s discussing a takeover by the Briln.” I laughed, which drew a questioning look from Kelsie. “I bet it would have been hysterical seeing that fat-ass crawling down that tunnel.” I laughed again at the thought.

I got up to do the dishes, and now it was her turn to sit on the counter and watch. That was our standing arrangement. The one that cooked didn’t clean. It worked out well.

I looked over my shoulder as I scrubbed a pan. “I’m going back day after tomorrow. That’s when the Magistrate’s wife said he’s going next. You wanna go?”

Her face clouded over. “Maybe. I need to tell you something that happened earlier. It involves a Council member.”

She told me that he’d made threatening gestures at her and started coming after her with a knife and that she was pretty sure his name was Jonathan. I didn’t really know what to say to that. Why would he be going after her? As much as it pained me to not be able to help, all I could really do was tell her to stay away from him. At least until we figured out why the Magistrate was also acting so weird: yelling at me in public, calling me crazy, and leaving town through a hidden tunnel, going to Briln land. All I could say is that it was weird. In the end, I had to settle for giving her a hug and trying to reassure her that we would figure this out.

“Are you sure it was Jonathan? Kinda hard for me to believe. I mean, Jonathan is seriously nice.”

Kelsie punched my shoulder a lot harder than I realized she could. I was spun halfway around from the force. When I came back around to bear, rubbing my shoulder, Kelsie was glaring holes through me.

“Seriously, Drake? Did you honestly just doubt me about whether or not it was Jonathan when you’re asking me to believe you about a bunch of invisible bodies that only you can see?”

I grinned sheepishly and cleared my throat awkwardly. “Didn’t really think that through. Sorry.”

She gave me one last glare before shaking her head in exasperation and wandering off.

That night Kelsie joined me in bed, again. Platonically, still. Just like all the other times. It was getting harder and harder for me to keep it that way. I didn’t get how she could be so oblivious to it, to the feeling of us. The sensation of her head on my chest and my arms around her, the combined warmth and comfort and closeness felt so right. I considered lying like that, together, forever. I even forced myself to stay awake longer to enjoy it more fully.

“Drake. Drake, you awake?” Kelsie’s melodious voice cut through the darkness in the room.

“Uh huh.” I was sad to admit it, but yes, I was.

“Okay, so, earlier I overheard the Magistrate buy over two kilograms of coffee from a trader that just got to the Guild today. Not only did he buy a fortune in coffee, he also bought all the coffee the trader had. Which means none for us.”

I was scowling in the dark. “Well, that sucks.”

“My thoughts exactly. So, I can’t sleep. Do you want to maybe, I dunno, sneak into his house and grab some?” Her voice had taken on a very mischievous tone.

I thought about it. It wouldn’t do to get caught breaking into the Magistrate’s house. Especially after his wife had hired me. “So, you want to steal coffee from the Magistrate. You’re crazy.”

“Not steal, liberate. You know, since he bought it all before anyone else could get any. The selfish jerk. This would be a kind of justice for us.”

I snorted. “Liberate? Are we planning on dividing up the coffee between everyone? Because it wouldn’t go very far if we did.”

“No! I’m not in the mood to be magnanimous. I just want some coffee, and we’re almost out! Come on, Drake. I can’t do it without you!”

I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow. Kelsie grabbed my shoulder and shook it. Reluctantly I pushed myself up on an elbow. “So, am I to get that you’re going to do this whether I come or not?”