The Lostkind Read Online Free Page B

richly.
    "What do they borrow?"
    "Everything. Have you ever misplaced your keys?"
    "Sure."
    "Ever find a jacket in the back of your closet? One that's been hanging there in the back so long, you forgot you still had it?"
    "I… don't really look in the back of my closet that often."
    "Ever bring your washing in, and find that you're one sock short?"
    "Sure, everyone does that at one time or another."
    Silence. Yasi just smiled at him. "Just wait. It'll come to you."
    Vincent felt his jaw drop. "You guys steal stuff?"
    "Borrow. There's a difference. When we need people to go Above, they need to fit in. We… borrow things, to see what they look like, how they work, if we can copy them, if we can adapt it to our lives here. Then of course, we give the original back. It's our way. And if it's the sort of thing that won't be missed… Well; you'll see a lot of people down here wearing mismatched socks, Vincent."
    Vincent nodded, having seen it already. "I suppose that's where you guys get everything. The clothes, the bits and pieces on your shelves; the books…"
    She shrugged. "How many books get thrown away in this town? You lose a few pages, tear the cover, and you can buy a new copy. We repair them. This place is the second chance for all the garbage of your world. Clothes, books, machines, people. My world is made of the stuff that your world has cast off."
    One of the tall lanterns dimmed. Yasi went over to it and pressed on the base with her foot, and Vincent was able to see the foot pedal set into the lamp. She pumped it with her foot a few times, and the light brightened. The engineer in Vincent marveled. Kinetic torches were not a new idea, but these people had improvised them, and likely had done so for years. Even decades.
    Vincent shook his head in open wonder. "How is it possible that we never noticed you? That nobody ever noticed you?"
    Yasi did not show the slightest hint of sympathy on her face. "Let me ask you this." She said. "How many stairs are there out the front door of your apartment building, Vincent?"
    He blinked. He'd gone up and down those stairs to his apartment at least a thousand times. Probably more. "Um…" He racked his brains, before giving in and chuckling at his own foolishness. "I don't know."
    "Exactly. If you saw us, you'd think we were robbing the place, but you wouldn't wonder where we came from."
    "Plus it's New York. A woman wearing combat boots and a leather corset isn't even close to the weirdest thing I've seen on the subway." Vincent grinned.
    Yasi almost smiled at that.
    ~oo00oo~
    There were more stairs, then ladders. Vincent could tell when they were leaving the Underground and entering simply abandoned places. There was mess and debris all over the place, rusted refuse and heavy graffiti.
    "Don't think I haven't noticed. I'm not stupid." Yasi said after a while, without any real anger. "You're taking the long way."
    "Yasi, you know it takes a lot longer to go up than down." Archivist said patiently.
    "Yes it does. Especially if you go around in circles and take the long way." Yasi said. "We don't do that."
    "We can't ask him to save a place he's never seen." Archivist said sagely.
    "It's my job to protect our secrets." Yasi told him softly; mindful of Vincent right there.
    "Today it's his job too." Archivist returned earnestly; giving the final word on the matter.
    Yasi sighed, conceding it was true. "Fine. But you're telling Keep why we took so long."
    Archivist shivered. "Flip you for it. Two out of three falls."
    "Nope."
    Archivist sighed. "Then I'm going to need something to eat."
    "Eighth Level market. We showed him everything else this far." Yasi sighed.
    Vincent stayed very quiet.
    ~oo00oo~
    The room they were in looked like it had been a cafeteria once, but now it had been stripped out and turned into a marketplace. Neon lights had been bent around the corners, and over the stalls.
    The people were varied and organized. They gathered as people in New York did, gathered