Jack Templar and the Monster Hunter Academy: The Templar Chronicles: Book 2 Read Online Free Page B

offload non-existent cargo sat perched at empty berths, slowly deteriorating from lack of use. There was a ship that had sunk in the harbor, just left there to rot.
    Eva stood beside Will and me as the crew prepared to dock.
    “Nice place,” I said.
    “It’s perfect for us,” Eva said. “No one will see us here.”
    “How about those guys?” Will asked, pointing to the hundreds of seagulls staring at us from the docks. “They’re just birds, right?”
    “Because they’re looking at us like they’re hungry,” said T-Rex.
    “Don’t worry,” Eva said. “No one knows we’re coming.”
    I couldn’t shake the feeling that Eva was wrong. I could feel the Creach’s eyes everywhere, as though they could see everything we did. I could tell by how Eva squinted at the gulls that she had her own doubts.
    “Come on,” she said. “Get your gear. We have a train to catch.”
    We gathered our things and thanked the captain and crew for their help. Since the Aquamorph, they had kept their distance from us. Sailors were a superstitious bunch to begin with and having their ship attacked by a fog monster had made it even worse. They were nice enough, but it was clear that they were happy to be rid of us.
    The four of us walked through the abandoned shipyard. I’ll be honest with you, it was super-creepy. The dilapidated buildings all had shadowy openings that could hide monsters ready to attack us. I noticed that Eva had unscrewed the regular grasping hook she used for her missing hand and replaced it with a dagger. She had felt it too. Something was wrong. I followed her lead and put my hand on my sword.
    “Don’t,” she whispered. “Just keep walking. Don’t draw attention.”
    “What’s going on?” Will whispered back.
    “We’re being followed,” Eva replied. Will, T-Rex and I immediately scanned the buildings around us. Eva hissed at us under her breath. “You daft idiots. I said don’t draw attention.”
    I faced forward, a little embarrassed. “What now?” I asked.
    “Now we find out who it is,” Eva said. She smashed her foot onto a glass bottle on the ground and spread out the pieces with her toe. We turned a corner and Eva shoved us into the empty doorway of one of the buildings. Then she crouched to the ground and waited.
    In less than a minute, we heard footsteps approach us—soft at first, barely discernible. Then a loud crunch followed as whoever was stalking us stepped onto the glass. Eva whipped around the corner and Will, T-Rex and I followed right behind.
    There was no one there.
    Eva glanced around, searching the closest possible hiding spaces. A little rock pinged off the top of her head. We all spun around and looked up at the roofline.
    There was a boy, probably sixteen, with stiff, spiky hair and intense blue eyes, standing on the roof, making no effort to hide. He was dressed in a black outfit similar to Eva’s, but this one was more tight-fitting and showed off a muscular physique. The boy broke out into a wide smile. Eva shook her head and slid her sword back into its sheath.
    “Daniel, you’re lucky you didn’t get killed,” Eva said.
    “Are you kidding? Your vacation has made you soft,” Daniel replied.
    “You want to play it out?” Eva asked. “See how the actual fight would go?”
    The boy jumped down from the roof and landed lightly in front of us, clearly pleased with himself. “No thanks. I know when to stop. I’m not stupid.”
    “The self-control is new,” Eva said. “But the self-awareness is about the same as when I left.”
    Daniel leaned in to hug Eva, but she turned her body away from him. “Let me introduce you to the new recruits,” she said.
    This wiped the grin off his face. He looked like he wanted to say more but turned self-conscious when he saw Will, T-Rex and I watching him. He turned toward Will. “So, you’re the great hope for the Black Guard. I’m Daniel. One of the instructors at the Academy.” He shook Will’s hand.
    “Good to