Message Bearer (The Auran Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

waited until the officer’s fingers alighted upon her wrist, and acted.
    Using the Weave in full
force was not an option; their Consensus would not allow a sudden change in
reality, so she used it subtly, as she’d been trained to. She channelled it to
her arms and legs, increasing strength and speed. She funnelled it to her mind,
enhancing synaptic function to the point that time slowed down compared to
those around her.
    She gripped the officer’s
wrist, twisting it hard, breaking bone, forcing him back as he howled in pain.
Without looking, she lashed out sideways with her other hand, the one that held
the knife in a reverse grip in her sleeve. The weapon flew like a dart,
embedding itself to the hilt in the other officer’s neck. The man sagged to his
knees choking on his own blood.
    The other two officers
raised their weapons, their minds sending instructions to their muscles to pull
the trigger, but they were slow, so slow, compared to her. She ripped the
pistol from the still falling officer’s holster, flicking off the safety and
bringing it to bear in one smooth action. She snapped off two shots, each
hitting their targets. The men were dead before they hit the ground.
    She rounded on the one
remaining officer. He kneeled before her, clutching his broken arm. He stared
at her through his visor, tear-filled eyes begging for mercy.
    ‘Please, don’t,’ he said.
    A shriek. A screech of
nightmares. It howled in her ears, making her wince. The wraith coalesced
behind the man, black eyes glinting across the Void.
    She aimed the gun at the
man.
    ‘No. Please, no!’
    ‘I’m sorry. I truly am.’
Her hand shook. The pistol wobbled.
    Confusion flashed across
his eyes. Then the change began, the sheol diving into a mind paralysed by fear.
His veins bulged as his hands raked against his helmet, nails breaking,
smearing the visor in blood. The man’s eyes scrunched shut as he let out a howl
that was part human, part daemon. His eye reopened. Pools of black stared back
at her.
    ‘Back you go,’ she said,
and fired.
    She shoved the pistol
into the back of her pants and retrieved her knife from its last known location
in the other officer’s throat. She wiped it on his shirt before shoving it back
into the sheath on her arm. She took a quick scan of the room, feeling no
satisfaction in the kills, trying to seek assurance in the fact that the fate
she’d given them was much better than the alternative.
    Without a second look,
her purpose served, Sylph left the mortuary, heading for home.

Chapter
4
     
    Consciousness came slowly to Seb, in random
fits and starts. It started with vague noises and half-formed words. Not quite
understandable, but there nonetheless. He heard the words condition and chances several times. They never sounded positive.
    One day, he opened his
eyes. Only fleetingly. Unconsciousness wasn’t quite ready to let him go just
yet. A white room. A bed with metal bars at the end. Something large and grey
by his side. A mask covered his mouth, pumping his chest with a cold and
metallic-tasting gas.
    He drifted back into
unconsciousness.
    Over time, the periods of
wakefulness became more frequent. His memory returned, allowing him to add
context to the sight before him. The room was in a hospital. Something large,
scary and no doubt keeping him alive was hooked into his body at various entry
points. The machine bleeped and whirred with reassuring frequency.
    The memory of that night
was never far from his mind. The girl – Sarah, was that her name? That thing.
That terrifying horror that killed her and gutted him. How he’d survived was beyond
him. Had someone called the police? Someone on the road it must’ve been,
although that was a surprise in itself. The people of that neighbourhood hated
authority in all its guises, the police being the top of the pile. Still, whatever
had happened, he owed someone his life, he was grateful for that.
    One morning, apparently
seven days after he was brought