Infernal Ties Read Online Free

at me in my bedraggled and pissed-off state. I set about making some food; it was going to be a long day. I needed my strength, and my sleep.  

    I woke up just before dawn. I’d told myself that I wouldn’t see much of anything in the dark; the truth was, I was exhausted and lost. I needed to calm my mind and pull myself together. The panic and fear over Quin was threatening to overwhelm me. The storm hadn’t come to much; it had built into a great wall of dark cloud and then dissipated. The feeling that it represented something clung to the back of my mind; I bit viciously into my pastry and told myself to stop being so stupid. Quin had been gone for a day, and I was unravelling. It was pathetic.  
    I pulled up a mental map of the city in my mind as I rummaged around the kitchen looking for more food; I couldn’t afford to be weak and hungry. A glance at the clock told me that the metro would be open again; a screech of tyres cut through my thoughts. As much as I hated public transport, it was still better than trying to drive around the city. The drivers were aggressive, verging on reckless, not that the pedestrians were much better half of the time. It was an antagonistic system.  
    Quin’s little alchemical box of miracles caught my eye. I still had some iron filings left. I wanted some of his energy-dispersing powder, but I didn’t know which that was or if he even had any left. I shoved the box in a cupboard out of sight. It wasn’t going to do me any good. I almost dropped the pouch of iron filings in my bad mood as I pulled on my belt. With a sigh, I carefully slipped my knives into their sheathes. I tucked my throwing knives away, just in case. My leather jacket gave me some protection and kept things out of sight; blades may be legal in the city but that didn’t mean I wanted to draw too much attention.  

CHAPTER SIX

    I leaned back against the square pillar and gazed absent-mindedly at the far side of the tracks with the inverted blue bubbles. It looked like I was inside a dalek; I didn’t know who had designed the metro station, but it was certainly memorable. People milled around me, and I couldn’t help but wonder why there were so many people down there; the businesses didn’t open for another three hours, yet they were all in office clothing. Or as close to it as Prague ever got.  
    Silent battles for seats occurred as everyone pushed into the train; I stood back and held onto the vertical bar in the middle of the carriage. I was only going a couple of stops. I saw no reason to incur the wrath of a local who felt that they were more deserving. Quin’s face flashed into my mind, with his broad smile and sparkling eyes. He always found amusement at my foul moods, moods that were increasingly dark in his absence. I made a note to myself to try and relax a little more when he returned. I did it for us; I needed to protect us. I had to keep him safe. He told me he understood, but I wasn’t convinced.  
    I pushed through the people to get out into the station. They milled around me, their minds somewhere else entirely. I took a deep breath and slipped around them when they cut me off or stopped dead in their tracks, absorbed in their phones. Quin saw it as a game, a dance of sorts. I found myself almost smiling as I successfully navigated my way to the escalator without bumping into someone. He had a bright way of looking at things; I envied him that.  
    The pale morning light made me flinch as I stepped out into the small courtyard; the hotdog vendor was already there, ready for the tourists. I held back a yelp as someone elbowed my injured ribs; I gave them a dark look, not that they noticed. The walk up to the castle was reasonably peaceful, once I got away from the people. I maintained my little ritual of refusing to look back until I got to the very top of the hill, where I could pause for a moment and take in the breathtaking views. The city stretched out before me. The sky still carried