In this Night We Own (The Commander Book 6) Read Online Free Page A

else.”
    Enkidu bent down to the broken man, this shivering wild-eyed Crow, in terrible health and with seeping shackle-galls, and picked up one of the chains.  “I’m Enkidu, your new Master.”
    The Crow wet himself, a sharp odor to join the rich scents of the Hunter gathering.  Such a disgusting creature.  Enkidu suspected this Crow had been in the Shade’s care for quite a long time.
    “What’s your name?”
    “I’m called Orange.”
    Perfect.  Enkidu laughed loudly.  “Not anymore.  Your new name is Urine.”
    “Master,” Urine whispered.  “I will serve you under the Law.”
    “Oh, you shall,” Enkidu said, and smiled a carnivorous grin.
     
    Gilgamesh: August 7, 1968
    “How’d you get here so quick?” Sky said.  Gilgamesh had parked his car five blocks away from the Inferno household and Sky had corralled him half way there, in a neighborhood of expensive estates and ancient oaks.  The afternoon sun shone cheerily in a brilliant blue sky and the Boston summer heat was cool by Houston standards.
    “I was visiting Occum when I got the message.”  Gilgamesh studied his erstwhile pseudo-Guru.  The older Crow appeared settled, not overstressed as he had been in Houston after the Rogue Focus takedown.  The short, stocky Crow wore yellow plaid shorts and a bright orange golf shirt, loud enough to make Gilgamesh wince.  “Do we have an emergency?”
    They leisurely ambled down the shady sidewalks.  In the distance, Gilgamesh heard children playing kickball.  The latest kick had been foul.  Or maybe not.  The children were still arguing.  “Perhaps.  Lori’s been locked in her room for over a day, and she did something to me to make me forget where her room was.”  Sky chuckled.  “Which, by the way, is an excellent trick I’m still trying to figure out.”
    Gilgamesh did a quick scan of Sky and didn’t pick up any juice patterns on him.  “Did she send for me, then?”
    “No, but I can’t imagine her turning you down if you showed up,” Sky said.  “For one thing, I suspect the work I’ve been doing on the Commander’s suggestion may have something to do with it.”  Without warning Sky vanished from Gilgamesh’s metasense.  “I’ve got it to where I can cover two people if they’re standing close together.”
    “Great,” Gilgamesh said, twitchy.  It made him nervous for people to vanish out of his metasense, even if they were standing beside him when they did so, and he could still see them.
    Dealing with Sky and Lori always resembled an amusement park ride.  Inferno was just as bad, with their advanced training and extreme security consciousness.  Sky’s sudden and still unexplained decision to rename his Tiamat as ‘the Commander’ practically gave Gilgamesh vertigo.  The place made him feel inadequate, even with his extensive Arm experience.
    And there was Lori waving at him from inside her room, signaling for him to come up.  Even though he was well outside her metasense range.  Worse, Sky didn’t even notice, prattling on about the various missions he and Inferno were doing to further the Rizzari rebellion, interspersed with gossip about the fledgling Focus grabbed from a Chicago Clinic, supposedly by a low end Focus named Casso, on the orders of Focus Biggioni.  Inferno had bagged two ‘agents’ in the last week, both attempting to expose Transform job-holders in allied households, and one of Inferno’s spies in Philly had alibied Biggioni for the evening the Focus vanished.  Carol suspected the Focus had run off in fear given the confusing evidence left behind, including the ‘submit to me or die’ letter written on Focus Biggioni’s letterhead.  She thought the ‘Focus Casso’ story a likely fabrication by the Clinic workers to cover their asses.  Gilgamesh suspected worse.
    “I guess I’ll just have to see what I can do,” Gilgamesh said, gently leading Sky toward the Inferno household.  Ann Chiron met them at the door, as if she