The Man Who Walked in Darkness (Miles Franco #2) (Miles Franco Urban Fantasy) Read Online Free Page B

sixteen, for Christ’s sake. Everyone’s stupid at sixteen.”
    “I’m seventeen. My birthday was two months ago.” She sniffed and wrinkled up her nose. “You reek, Miles. How much have you had to drink?”
    I palmed the wooden circle and slipped it in my pocket. “Don’t go changing subjects on me.” I wiped my sleeve across my face and hoped the drink hadn’t made my nose look like Rudolph’s. “What are you doing here, kid?”
    “Practising,” she said. “We were supposed to have a lesson. Four hours ago.”
    “We were?”
    She narrowed her eyes so much I didn’t believe she could see anything at all.
    “All right,” I said, “I got held up. I had court.”
    “I’ve seen the news. You were out before midday.”
    “I had some other things I had to do as well.”
    “Yeah,” she said, disapproval painting her face. “I’m sure you did.”
    I massaged my forehead, then brushed past her and collapsed into the couch. “How many times I gotta tell you not to Tunnel without me around, huh? It’s dangerous, going round changing reality.”
    “Oh, please,” she said. “It was just a tiny Pin Hole. A bunch of flowers. It’s not like it was a Limbus Tunnel.”
    Limbus was what the bozos at Immigration had dubbed the new dimension I'd managed to stumble on last winter. Sounded like a stupid damn name to me, but I guess it fit better that Heaven did.
    It was a different sort of place entirely, or at least I guessed it must have been, since as far as I knew no one had actually managed to make it all the way there without being ambushed by any of the bizarre creatures that prowled around. I hadn't told anyone about the Tunnel I opened, but it was powerful enough that any half-decent Tunneler within a quarter mile would have been able to sense it. Some secrets were impossible to keep.
    “You can’t go around Tunneling on your own,” I said.
    “How else am I supposed to do it when you’re never around? You promised to teach me, Miles. So where have you been?”
    I shook my head, trying to keep the anger up in the face of overwhelming guilt. “Never mind me. If I’m not here, you don’t Tunnel. End of story. You're not ready yet, and I'm not cleaning your brains out of the carpet when you fuck up."
    Tania stomped away from me and snatched up her school backpack. "Miles, the only fuck-up around here is you."
    My gut twisted. "Where are you going?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
    "Home." She brushed past me and wrenched open the front door.
    “I’m trying to protect you, kid.”
    She shook her head. “You just don’t get it, do you?” She turned away, then paused. “By the way, the mayor’s assistant called when you were out.”
    I’ll be honest; I was grateful for the change of subject. “Huh? What the hell does she want now?”
    “You’re invited to a fundraiser tomorrow night. Address is over there.” She jerked her head toward the phone, then spun away. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. It’s an open bar.”
    She slammed the door so hard the apartment shook.
    I buried my face in my hands. I felt like a skeleton that’d forgotten to lie down. The look on Tania’s face….
    I opened my eyes and found Claudia’s ghost standing over me.
    “Oh Christ, don’t you give me that look too,” I said.
    She didn’t reply. Of course she didn’t. Not even a figment of my imagination wanted to stoop to talking with a loser like me.
    I sat there, damn near catatonic with Claudia standing in the corner watching me. Wouldn’t be so bad to just lie there forever. It’d save me from ruining anyone else’s lives.
    Tania deserved a real teacher, not some schlub like me. Seventeen, she said she was now. She’d be out of high school soon, then she could go do her training proper. Provided she didn’t get herself killed first. She was headstrong, stubborn. Maybe I could take away her Kemia. I just needed her to be safe. After all she’d been through—all I’d put her through—I couldn’t