Zoe Archer - [Ether Chronicles 03] Read Online Free

corona of light pushed back the darkness.
    The island was uninhabited. She knew this. Campbell and everyone on South Uist had sworn it to be so. They’d no reason to lie.
    Then what the hell is that ?
    Two impulses warred in her. Part of her wanted to run and hide beneath her bed. The other part wanted to race across the island and investigate. She had a weapon. Knew how to use it. But what awaited her? And could she cross the island’s rugged terrain in the dark? She could carry her lantern, but only a fool ran around in her nightgown carrying a lantern, like some grease-brained girl in a Gothic novel. Why not simply scream out into the night, “Vulnerable target!”
    No matter what it was out there, she had no way off this island. Campbell wasn’t coming back for a month.
    So either she hid in terror for four weeks, or she learned what it was that made the sinister noise and gave off that unsettling light.
    She crept back into her cottage. Doused her lantern and huddled in her bed, her gun across her lap. It had been a long, exhausting day. But sleep kept itself hidden. When the sun rose, she’d have to go investigate.
    T he owls stopped their infernal chorus at some point during the night, and in the silence, she must’ve dropped into a fatigued sleep. She woke with a start, a knot in her neck, and a revolver in her lap. For a moment, she stared at the rough stone walls surrounding her, grayish light coming through clumsily patched windows. This wasn’t her flat, not even the temporary shelter set up for survivors and refugees. And there was that silence, encompassing everything.
    But the gun across her legs and the distant crash of waves upon a pebbled shore reminded her. Eilean Comhachag. And the lonely cottage that was her birthright.
    But perhaps the cottage wasn’t as alone as she’d thought. There’d been that odd metallic humming and light last night. Something else was on this island besides herself.
    Rising from bed, she massaged her left thigh, easing out the kinks in the muscles. She’d need all her mobility today. She set her cook-apparatus to brew her some tea, and as it prepared her beverage, she put on a heavy wool dress, one that could suitably face bogs and brambles. Her boots were sturdy, too. Fashionable little kid boots served no purpose out here. Quickly, she braided her hair, to keep it out of her face.
    After she bolted down cheese, bread, and tea, she strapped on a thick leather belt laden with pouches and tools. She tucked her revolver into her belt, then checked the barrels of her shotgun. They weren’t ether guns, but when she’d packed, she hadn’t expected more than a possible wild dog that might need scaring off. What she carried would have to suffice. She slung the shotgun’s strap across her shoulder.
    Please let me just meet with a hungry wild dog .
    But she hadn’t heard any howling last night. Only owls. And that strange humming. Wild dogs generally didn’t emit a peculiar light, either. Not in her limited experience. She’d read that there were some experiments being conducted, similar to what they’d done with Man O’ Wars, where they took animals and—
    Now you’re delaying.
    She was out the door before she could make any more excuses.
    Sometime in the night, a heavy mist had settled over the island. Everything appeared in hues of murk and ash. The field in which the cottage stood. The grassland and rocky hills beyond. Fifteen feet away from her doorway, and she could barely see the little stone house. A newcomer or someone unwary could get lost as a bolt in a scrap heap. Fortunately, she wore a leather gauntlet with a miniscope and compass mounted to it. Marking her position, she headed north, with her heartbeat keeping noisy company.
    She kept the ridge of hills to her left, using them as a guide as she carefully picked her way across the uneven terrain. More trees and scrub dotted the landscape. A rodent of some kind darted between the bushes, and she cursed