Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

but nothing too bad. She'd felt worse.
    Hey, as far as this went, these guys hadn't even bothered to call her names. Given her life, that was an improvement over what she would have expected.
     

Chapter two
     
    There would be no beatings in the library that day.
    It was a bit of a shame, but Gwen hadn't counted on it. Not once Bethany had gotten there. Not that her best friend wouldn't want to punish the men that had stabbed her. That idea was so silly that Gwen didn't even have to consider it for more than half a second. Beth would have killed them in the right circumstances.
    Just for hurting her. It was a shocking thing to think of, but she was certain of it, after all they'd been through together.
    That wasn't going to take place however. For one thing, they were in the locked pantry, not the library at all. It was where they kept the cheap liquor and expensive foods that people might steal to sell on the black market. Not that any of their people would do something like that.
    It hit her then that a lot of people in the room they entered would have done the same thing. They would have killed these men, to get revenge for her, if it came to it. Even the cops that came, two detectives from the local constabulary, might well have. Gwen understood that when one of them sneered, raising his right hand for a tremendous backhanded blow to the face of a footless man. Nothing landed however.
    Because Beth was there.
    "I believe we can question him in a more efficient fashion, Wilbur."
    The man, who was young still, being in his mid-twenties, and thinner than he had been when they'd met, a single year before, spun.
    "Bethany? I..." What he did was blush, and look away.
    Gwen knew the story there, so didn't have to ask, for once. It was a rare thing for her in this new world. Normally she was half in the dark, or more, floundering for an explanation as to what the hell was going on. Not in this case, for once.
    The last time that any of them had met Detective Wallace had tried to kill them both. More than that, since he'd been about to do something to Beth, who was tied up face down on the sofa when Gwen had gotten there to stop him.
    His pants had been down at the time, so even a person as isolated and naive as her had gotten the idea.
    That part actually would have been fine, if it hadn't been for Emma Forster being there, too. The girl had been the protégé of a psycho that had wanted to bring the Elder Gods into the real world. She'd also been mind controlling the young male Detective, which meant that no one blamed him for what he'd nearly done.
    Except, it was kind of clear in the moment, himself.
    Just to short circuit the apologies that were probably not needed anyway, Gwen raised her right hand, and then nearly doubled over in pain.
    " Fuck . Sorry." That apology was for the language . Even the hardened men in the room all glanced away from her use of it. Even the would be assassins did it. Like those pricks had a leg to stand on, as far as judging her like that. Then, as she looked down, she shut her lips, and didn't say that out loud.
    It was one of the major problems of this world. A girl couldn't express herself hardly at all without everyone acting like she was insane.
    Explaining, she tried to seem serious. It was hard, which shocked her a good bit. Really, she should have been so angry that her go to move involved killing some bastards, but she really wasn't. If anything she just felt a bit numb, inside. Not in her middle though.
    "Stuck, like a pig, so you know, ow . Anyway, you gentlemen were about to explain this? I really don't enjoy being woken up suddenly. Did I offend you in some way? You got that awful Kat Vernor song stuck in your head, and decided my early demise was the only way to get it out? If so speak up now, since it's the only thing that might save you." It wouldn't, but it was a horrible little tune. Part of a terrorism safety course.
    Billy, who was standing at the door of the small space,