Bared Blade Read Online Free PDF Page A

moment I really didn’t care. The effort of getting to my feet had left me shaking and sweating. I
needed
that drink.
    It was harsh and warm, the cheapest stuff imaginable, and it went down like a shot of liquid silk—sleek and soft and oh-so-soothing. Not as effective as a hot cup of efik, or even a few of the fresh roasted beans that wonder brew came from, but I’d turned my back on the Blade’s drug of choice long ago. Almost against my will, I thought about all the bottles sitting behind the bar, even half turned that way. But I knew what following the impulse would make me, and I forced myself to head for the women instead.
    Vala was sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing awayfrom me, with Stel’s head cradled in her lap. She was doing some sort of intricate spellwork, healing magic well beyond my meager training in that direction. The details of the spell were far less interesting than the fact that she was doing it without a familiar anywhere in sight. I’d been watching her and her companion rather closely all night, and I’d never seen even the hint of a familiar. Nor did I now. The obvious answer to that puzzle was that she’d partnered an air spirit like a qamasiin, or some other invisible creature, but I was beginning to suspect a very different solution.
    I took another silent step closer just as Stel’s eyes flickered open, meeting mine. Though Stel didn’t move her lips or even twitch, I saw Vala go suddenly still, and I froze. She couldn’t know I was there, and yet, she did. Moving carefully and deliberately, I opened my hands and extended them out to the sides, palms toward the two women to show that they were empty. If I was right, I was on very dangerous ground. If I was wrong, the worst that would happen is that I’d make myself look the fool.
    “I’m not your enemy,” I said quietly. “There’s no need to start up the bloodletting again.”
    Though she kept looking in the other direction, Vala half turned toward me, lifting her right arm away from her body. Revealed in the gap between elbow and ribs was the tip of one of her battle wands. She was pointing it squarely at my chest with her hidden hand. Stel’s eyes never left mine.
    “Can you give me a good reason not to use this?” asked Vala, still looking away. Her voice sounded tight and clipped.
    “I killed that third Elite, the captain. If I hadn’t, your pairmate would be dead now, and so would you …Dyad.”
    Vala nodded. “So you know what I am.”
    “I do.” Though I hadn’t been sure until that moment.
    “All the more reason to kill you.” This time the voice came from Stel’s lips.
    But it was the same entity speaking, the Dyad. Two bodies, two brains, one creature. A single being with three distinct minds and personalities. Stel, Vala, the motes, and theirMeld, the master entity formed from their conjoined souls—together, a Dyad, and about as far away from the familiar partnership Triss and I had as you could get. On a personal level the thought of Dyads had always struck me as a little creepy, and I found myself wondering how I could have compared one of them to Jax. On the other hand, there were the fallen Elite to consider. I couldn’t argue with their deadliness, and right at the moment, with Triss incommunicado, I almost envied their ability to read each other’s thoughts.
    “Aren’t you going to bolt, or at least try to convince me not to kill you?” the Vala half of the Dyad asked after the silence had stretched out between us.
    “No,” I replied. “I don’t need to. If you were going to make the attempt out of hand you’d already have attacked. Since you haven’t …” I bowed my head lightly, indicating it was still her move.
    The Dyad made a little growling noise in the back of both her throats, but nodded the Vala head. “Stel took a solid hit from one of the stone dogs. It broke a half dozen ribs and she’s barely up to walking. Under the circumstances, I’d rather not start a fight