False Covenant (A Widdershins Adventure) Read Online Free PDF

“Did I miss a promotion ceremony, Constable? Am I supposed to explain myself to you now?”
    “Not at all, sir.” Paschal's tone, though thinned by the pain of his wound, was deliberate enough to suggest that he was choosing his words very carefully. “You needn't explain a thing to me. But, ah…you will have to explain yourself to command, sir.
    “That's not,” he added swiftly, “a threat, of course, sir. Merely a statement of fact.”
    “I know that, Constable.”
    “Just wanted to be sure, sir. You'll write your report as you see fit, of course, sir, but I've also got to write mine, and…Well, the operation was overall a success, sir, but I'm not sure this last incident casts you in all that flattering a light.” Paschal's face softened imperceptibly in the flickering lantern light. “I don't want to cause you any problems with command, sir. I really don't. But—”
    “Say nothing more about it,” Bouniard ordered, clapping a hand on Paschal's shoulder (on the uninjured side, of course). “You report the events exactly as you saw them. If there's any trouble coming my way, I brought it on myself. First lesson I learned from Major Chapelle, back when I joined up: You don't sacrifice your integrity for anyone, not even a colleague. You hear me, Constable?”
    “Loud and clear, sir.” Then, after a moment, “She's certainly a unique one, sir.”
    “She is that, Constable. You did note that she acted to assist us, didn't you?”
    “Of course, sir. And it'll be in my report, make no mistake.”
    “I was certain it would be, Paschal.”
    Julien Bouniard once more turned his face to the darkness; Paschal Sorelle turned his own toward his commander.
    “Come on, Constable,” Julien said finally, turning away from the door. “Let's get that arm looked at.”

     
    Aubert and Osanne Noury weren't stupid. No, really, they weren't, not normally. What they were, however, were newlyweds; Osanne had only been a Noury for about seventy-two hours, give or take. So when the couple found themselves up and alert less than an hour before the dawn, they perhaps cannot be blamed, in their distraction, for deciding to take a romantic stroll in the moonlight.
    It shouldn't have been all that great a risk, really. The new Noury couple dwelt in Rising Bend, one of Davillon's richer (and therefore, safer) neighborhoods. Nor were they planning to go too terribly far from home; the worst they could have expected to encounter, unless they were struck by a truly devious misfortune, would have been a desperate beggar or maybe a particularly brave robber. So…stupid, yes, but not very .
    Except that the misfortunes of that night were, indeed, truly devious.
    It began with a whisper, one that scythed clean through Aubert's and Osanne's soft giggles. They could make out no words at all, just a series of sounds beneath someone's breath, rasped at the very limits of human hearing. Once, the spooked couple might have dismissed it as a trick of the wind; twice, as the foraging of some feral animal digging in the refuse of an unseen alleyway.
    But when it continued—indeed, when the sound clearly began to creep closer, despite the lack of any visible movement in the feeble glow of the streetlights and the cloud-covered moon—they could no longer even pretend that its source could be anything so mundane.
    “Who…?” Aubert cleared his throat, tried again. “Who's out there?” To his credit, it must be noted that, though armed with nothing more than a small dagger—a utility tool more than a weapon—he did step in front of his unarmed wife, placing himself between her and whatever danger he couldn't quite perceive.
    And then the whispers crumbled, breaking apart into a throaty, guttural, liquid laughter. Osanne whimpered; Aubert's dagger twisted and fell from an abruptly sweat-soaked hand.
    The laughter grew—nearer, rather than louder—and finally, something moved in the darkness.
    It might have been human— could have been