Beloved Beast Read Online Free PDF Page A

here?” he asked, voice jovial and a little too loud.
    “This bloke here says he wants to talk to Cryton. I says I don’t know no one by that name.”
    The man in the top hat shifted his gaze to Mackay and smiled. “Brother Brenan,” he said. “You have to forgive Kerry here. He don’t have no good memory. ‘Tis a pleasure to see you again.”
    Mackay remained as he was. He was a man of peace, but at times such as these it was difficult to remember why. “I’ve come for a boy,” he said.
    The man called Cryton stared at him for a moment, then threw back his head and guffawed at the murky sky. “Ahh, you wouldn’t know it to look at him would you, luv?” he said, addressing the girl at his side. “But the big beast of a Highlander here has a weakness for the lads.”
    The girl turned her eyes toward Mackay, but they were all but dead to the world. Too far gone to save. He had seen it a hundred times.
    “I heard you have a child called Burch.”
    “Burch?” Cryton grinned again. His teeth were straight and unstained. His soul was not. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brother. We’re good-hearted people here. But we ain’t running no foundry.”
    “Nay, you’re--” Mackay began, but stopped himself carefully. “I’ve coin for his release, same as the last time.”
    “Release! You make it sound as if we’ve got children chained to the walls. That’s not the case a’tall, is it, Sil?”
    The tall fellow shook his head.
    “Sure we stumble across the odd orphan now and again, but we do the godly thing. Give them a place to sleep, maybe a loaf of bread to keep ‘em from death’s yawning door.”
    Anger rumbled ominously in Mackay’s innards. “You make them steal and beat them senseless if they fail to produce--” He stopped himself again. “As I said at the outset, I’m a man of peace and willing to pay for the child.”
    Cryton canted his head. “Wear out the last lad so soon, did you?”
    Mackay felt his hands grind into fists. “There are brothels and rum houses on half the streets in this burg. Bring the boy out now or I’ll take me coin elsewhere.”
    “I’m telling you, I don’t have no spare lads lying about.”
    Mackay stared at him a long moment, then nodded once and turned away, but Cryton caught his arm. Mackay stared at the hand on his biceps, kept his emotions in careful check, then slowly glanced over his shoulder at the offender.
    The younger man dropped his hand and took a cautious step back. “All the lads are out earning their keep.” He grinned, but his cockiness had frayed a bit. “Delivering milk and whatnot. Ain’t that right, Annie, luv?” he asked. She nodded vaguely, eyes bruised and ancient.
    “Why don’t you come in and sit for a bit?” Cryton invited. “They’re certain to be back soon.”
    “Aye.” The shorter of the two guards pushed the door wide. It moaned like a tortured ghost. “Aye, come on in. We’ll fetch you some tea and crumpets.”
    Mackay knew better than to comply. Knew a serpent when he heard its hiss, but according to his sources the boy named Burch had just arrived there two days before. Not too long to bring him back from the brink. Not too long to find his soul.
    He took a long step across the broken threshold.
    Inside, it was dark and musty. Debris was scattered across the bare wood floor. He scanned it briefly. No children were in sight, but a slim woman stood against the far wall with her back toward them. She was dressed in a ragged, gray frock facing a window that had long ago lost its panes.
    “Here we are. Home sweet home. It looks a bit rough now, but… Swift!” His tone took on a bright menace. “I believe I told you to clean up this mess.”
    Mackay’s heart thumped at the sound of the name, stopped as she turned toward them.
    It was her in flesh and blood. The lass who had struck him unconscious. The lass who had stolen the kirk’s alms. But what had they done to her? There was a welt on her temple