Eternity's Wheel Read Online Free PDF Page B

bedestroyed—than allow that to happen to even one more of us.
    I stepped through the door, stopping to let my eyes adjust. It had been dark outside, but it was darker in here; the only light that found its way in was through the windows, and most of those were covered with signs saying RENT THIS SPACE .
    The floor was marble, one of those nice-looking entryways that made you forget you were probably here to see a therapist or dentist. There were doors on either side of me, both closed and sporting tinted-glass windows, and the lobby stretched out into darkness ahead of me.
    Everything was silent as I moved, walking carefully across the pristine floor. I listened hard, alert for any sign that I wasn’t alone, and a subtle change in air pressure warned me a second before I heard a distinct click behind me.
    I whirled, going immediately into a crouch, only to discover the figure behind me doing the same.
    â€œDon’t move,” she hissed, and in her hands was a gun. It was pointed directly at me.

CHAPTER THREE
    N OW, I ’D SEEN ALL kinds of guns since I started training at InterWorld, from all worlds and times. Blasters, emitters, ray guns, laser guns with detachable Bluetooth scopes, plasma guns, you name it. This was a modern handgun, a Colt .45. Basic, easy, and still able to kill me twice before I hit the ground.
    â€œWhoa,” I said, holding my hands out in front of me.
    â€œDon’t move,” she repeated. The gun was leveled at me unwaveringly, and from the look on the face behind it, this wouldn’t be its maiden voyage. I wondered if that’s how I looked in my weapons training classes. I imagined it wasn’t far off, since we shared the same face.
    â€œJosephine,” I said, trying to make my voice as soothing as possible. “It’s okay. My name is Joe, I’m—”
    My words didn’t have the calming effect I was hoping for. “It’s you, ” she snarled, and her hands began to shake. “You’rethe one who was in my house that day!”
    â€œYes,” I said, but didn’t get any further. She started to stand. So did I, but she gestured me back down with an angry jerk of the gun.
    â€œYou ruined my life,” she spat, edging closer. I was well versed enough in weapons to know what a bullet from that gun would do to my head if she fired. She was still shaking, though it was obviously from anger rather than fear.
    â€œYou don’t want to fire that,” I said, trying to be reasonable. I hoped she couldn’t hear the panic that was threatening to shatter my calm. “The police station isn’t too far from here, they’ll hear the shots.” That was a guess, actually; I remembered that the police station was on a street of the same name as this one, but I had no idea how close or far it was from here.
    â€œI don’t care,” she said, standing just out of my reach. She was about my height, dressed in loose jeans and a baggy hoodie, both of which looked like they’d seen better days. Her frizzy red hair was short, barely touching her cheeks, and looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a while. Despite the baggy clothes, I could see that she was thinner than was healthy. All this added up to a desperation that made me believe her next words. “It’ll be worth it. Even if I go to jail, it’ll be worth it. They’ll finally stop coming after me.”
    I didn’t bother pointing out that if she killed me, it wouldn’t matter if she went to jail or not; she’d likely be deadeither way when FrostNight destroyed everything. There was something else I could use to make a far better point.
    â€œNo, they won’t. They aren’t after me! Well, they aren’t just after me. They’re after you.” The pieces had all fallen together. The HEX agents outside her house had been waiting for her to come home. The bad guys had found her because I’d Walked there