Avenger Read Online Free PDF Page A

you mean. This is just one room, one way in and out, so however you got down here, you need to leave the same way.”
    “If you’re going to be the self-proclaimed tunnel guard, you probably shouldn’t tell people there’s one way in and out, then tell them to leave however they got in.”
    Dane’s eyes grew troubled. Black-rimmed frames slid down his nose a bit. “Greta’s been gone awhile. Oh, my brother will know how to help you. He knows everything.”
    The boy materialized, all four feet of him. He ran to Raven and grabbed his hand. “Come on. I’ll take you to him. He knows everybody. He knows everything about the tunnels.”
    “Idolize much?” Raven mumbled, then threw a pleading look to Nikki. He tried to pull away from the kid, but Dane would have none of it. By the looks of his small hand navigating Raven’s larger one, he was used to leading unwilling people.
    The boy walked them through a series of spaces that could be considered rooms, each containing walls of some unknown material. It could be concrete, or maybe very smooth rock, or even dirt rubbed slick from years of wear. Nikki fought the urge to reach out and touch. Whatever the rooms were made of, they were a spider’s heaven, no doubt. She ran her hands over her hair again … just to make sure.
    “Do people actually live down here?” she whispered to Raven, hoping his new appendage wouldn’t hear.
    “Some,” Raven said.
    Nikki shuddered and couldn’t imagine calling this home. She needed sunlight, fresh air, trees. Then they crossed a larger space littered with people, and a woman reached to lift a child into her arms. Pain pierced Nikki’s heart. Home was where your family dwelt. Underground or otherwise. At least Dane had a home; she couldn’t say the same anymore. “They don’t have a choice, do they?”
    Raven stopped to look at her, the bespectacled boy danglingat the end of his arm. “Most of them don’t,” he said in a whisper. “A few are fugitives, others are homeless. None of them want to be found. It’s kind of a separate city down here. Believe it or not, they all watch out for each other.”
    Nikki’s eyes found Dane, and for the briefest of moments she saw him homeless on the streets of Paris. A bubble of emotion rose to her throat. She dropped to her haunches and reached out to grab the boy and hug him. “Thank you so much for your help, Dane.”
    Statue still, he stared straight ahead. One side of Dane’s face slowly broke into a lopsided smile when Nikki released him and stood up.
    Finally free of the boy, Raven sank his hands deep into his pockets.
    Dane blinked a few times, gauged Nikki with an unsure look, and reached to drag Raven’s hand from the safety of his jeans.
    Raven swatted at him with his other hand, but Dane wouldn’t be deterred. He grasped Raven’s wrist with all his fingers and tugged until the cloaked fist was free and back in his grip.
    “We’re almost there. My brother hangs out at the Cave.”
    The Cave, Nikki learned, was a dimly lit room that appeared to serve as a gathering place for anyone over sixteen. Several people mingled at a handful of tables, and some stood among a few pieces of inspired artwork — mostly chunks of shining metal twisted into abstract designs. She searched the space for a friendly face but found none. One table of girls stopped talking to turn around and glare at them. A man traversed the room walking so close that when he passed she was almost knocked down even though she stepped aside. None of it fazed Dane.But Nikki felt like she’d just stepped into a private party where she not only wasn’t invited, she certainly wasn’t welcome.
    Old movie posters dotted the walls, and music — a style she’d never heard before — filled the air, giving the place its own alternative vibe.
    “I’m liking the tunes,” Raven said to her as Dane dragged them toward a table of tough-looking guys in the corner.
    “It’s different. If Lenny Kravitz married