Hex Read Online Free

too low for Kez to hear.
    â€œAccept the offer, brother. The sooner you find a place, the sooner I can meet you.”
    â€œOK,” Wraith said, in response to both his sister and Kez. “Where to?”
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    The place Kez directed him to was a shabby flophouse deep within the slum district but not part of gangland. It was a dismal area, most of the buildings derelict. The room Wraith and Kez were given was probably better than most. It possessed three beds, made up with grubby sheets, a rickety table and chairs, and a computer unit with a vidscreen. Its only window was boarded up and a second door led to a small bathroom. Wraith dumped his bag by one of the beds and Kez seated himself on another.
    â€œHow come you asked for three beds?” he asked, and Wraith looked at him sharply.
    â€œI’m meeting my sister,” he said shortly.
    â€œYou going to call her and tell her where you are?” Kez asked, and Wraith shook his head quickly.
    â€œNo need. I have a tracking device so she can find me.” He pulled out a cred card from his jacket and held it out to Kez. “Why don’t you go get something for us to eat?” he suggested, hoping to be able to avoid the boy’s questions for a while. “Get enough for three.”
    â€œOK.” Kez took the card. “What do you want?”
    â€œAnything.” Wraith shrugged. “No, wait a minute.” He thought for a second. “My sister likes Chinese food.”
    â€œSure thing.” Kez grinned and was gone. Wraith wondered for a moment if he had been wise to give the boy the card, which had about eight hundred credits on it. But since Kez seemed so eager to hang around with him, he was unlikely to do a flit. He lay back on his bed to wait.
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    Twenty minutes later there was a knock at the door, and without waiting for an answer, someone swung it open. Wraith sat up and then leaped to his feet as he saw his sister. She was carrying a duffel bag and dressed in black combat gear and a fringed suede jacket. Her black hair was wet and straggled into her dark eyes but she was grinning as she hugged him. Wraith hadn’t seen her since they had arrived in England three days ago. They had separated then, nominally in order to attract less attention but in actuality because Raven was used to independence.
    Wraith, Raven, and Rachel had been placed in an asylum blockhouse when their parents died. Wraith had been fifteen, Raven nine, and Rachel five. Blockhouses were safe but dreary and unpleasant, and those children unfortunate enough to end up in one dedicated all their energies to escaping. Wraith had achieved this by joining a gang, the Kali, as an enforcer. Shortly afterward Raven had also escaped. Her determination to do so had become a necessity when Raven had discovered that she was a Hex. Mutants who possessed the Hex gene were no more welcome in Denver than anywhere else in the world. Regular sweeps were made of the asylums to detect anyone who showed signs of mutant abilities. If Raven had been discovered she would have been turned over to the government for extermination. At the first opportunity Raven had made herself scarce and entered the ganglands, working as a highly efficient computer hacker.
    But neither of them was able to take care of Rachel. According to Raven she had never shown any signs of being a Hex and was therefore safe enough in the asylum for the time being. Later Wraith was relieved when a couple had requested to adopt her. He hadn’t imagined that they would abscond with Rachel. Their disappearance had impelled Wraith to take action to find them. If Rachel did turn out to be a Hex she would be in danger and he considered himself responsible for her safety. But it was not until she had been gone for two years that Wraith had had any leads about her whereabouts.
    Raven had been uninterested in his search. The fact that her life had