Death's Shadow Read Online Free PDF

know.
    “How have you two been?” Meera shouts, taking the stairs three at a time. She grabs Dervish hard, halfway up the giant staircase that forms the backbone of the house, and hugs him as if he was a teddy bear.
    “We’ve been fine,” Dervish replies, smiling warmly. He never smiles at me that way, but why should he? I’m an interpreter, not a friend.
    “Sorry I haven’t been by more. Busy, busy. It must be spring in Monsterland — demons are bursting out all over. Or trying to.”
    “I heard,” Dervish says. “Shark has been in touch. It sounds bad.”
    Meera shrugs. “Demons trying to invade are nothing new.”
    “But in such numbers . . .”
    She shrugs again, but this time jerks her head in my direction. Dervish frowns. Then it clicks — “Not in front of the girl. You might frighten her.” I see a small, unconscious sneer flicker across his lips. He doesn’t think of me as a girl, certainly not one who can be frightened by anything as mundane as talk of demons. But he respects Meera’s wishes.
    “Come on up,” he says. “We can discuss business in my study.”
    “To hell with business,” Meera laughs, pushing him away. “I’m here to let my hair down. I thought it was time me and Bec had a girls’ night in. I bought some lipstick, mascara, a few other bits and pieces I thought might suit you,” she says to me. “We can test them out later, discover what matches your eyes and gorgeous red hair. Unless you don’t want to?”
    “No.” I grin. “That would be coolio.”
    Dervish winces — that was one of Bill-E’s favorite words — but I don’t care. For the first time in months I have something to look forward to. I experience a feeling I haven’t known for ages, and it takes me a while to realize what it is — happiness.
    We eat dinner together, which is a rarity. I normally dine alone. Eating is one of the few pleasures I’ve been able to relish since my return. I love the tastes of the new world. I never imagined anything as delicious as fish and chips, pizza, sweet-and-sour chicken. The strange flavors baffled and repulsed me to begin with, but now I look forward to my meals as I never did before.
    After dinner Meera banishes Dervish to his study, and the two of us shut ourselves in my bedroom. Sitting on the edge of my huge four-poster bed, Meera teaches me the basic tricks of applying makeup. It’s harder than I imagined, requiring a subtle wrist and deft flicks of the fingers. We try different shades of lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and mascara. It all looks strange and out of place to me, but Meera likes the various effects.
    “Didn’t people wear makeup in your day?” she asks, working on my eyelashes for the fourth time.
    “Nothing like this. The warriors were the most intricately decorated. Many had tattoos, and some used to color their hair with blood and dung.”
    “Charming,” Meera says drily, and we laugh. She runs a hand through my hair and tuts. It’s longer and wirier than it’s ever been. “We must do something with this. And pierce your ears.”
    “I’d like that.” I smile. “I couldn’t grow my hair long or be pierced before.”
    “Why not?” Meera asks.
    “I was a priestess’s apprentice,” I explain. “Priestesses couldn’t marry, so we weren’t meant to make ourselves attractive.”
    “I bet that was a man’s idea!” Meera snorts.
    “Actually it was practical. Our magic worked best if we were unsullied.”
    “You mean you lost your powers if you made out with a guy?” Meera asks skeptically.
    “Yes.”
    “No way,” she snorts. “I’ve made out plenty and it hasn’t done me any harm.”
    “It’s true,” I insist. “Things were different. Magic was in the air, all around us. It wasn’t like when a window opens now. We were more powerful than modern mages, but we had to live a certain way to tap into the magic. Love of any kind was a weakening distraction.”
    “Hmm,” Meera says dubiously, brushing my hair from left to