Indigo Rain Read Online Free PDF

haphazard maze, rooms and hallways carved out by thin wooden walls that reached only two-thirds of the way to the high ceiling. As they spoke they walked past offices, storage rooms, bedrooms, even a cafeteria. “So. Roulette. You’re one of Lisha’s friends?”
    “No.” She shook her head quickly. “Not at all.”
    “One of her enemies?” His tone grew amused.
    “No,” she repeated. “I mean…” She sighed. “I’m—I’m in trouble that she knows about. She made me come here.”
    “Mmm. Trouble, involving Lisha.” He lowered his voice. “Tell me this. Do you think people are going to come here looking for you? Or does Lisha?”
    “She does,” she said softly.
    “And you need a place to stay, then. For how long?”
    “Just a day or two, I hope. I have things back at the boarding house I need to get. As soon as I can I’m leaving the country.”
    He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. “Well. I expect Lisha will appear this afternoon and give me whatever details about your situation she deems fit to share.”
    “So Lisha works here?”
    “She works with us part-time. She also works with other more activist groups.” He said activist as if he were tasting a spoiled anchovy.
    “What is it she does?”
    “She crusades,” he replied with a faint sigh. “Here, we’ve come to our best guest room.” He opened a door.
    They’d tried to make it nice, with a few wall hangings and matching pretty—if worn—blue calico covers on the small bed. It was smaller than the boarding house room, and more spartan, but far better than the cot in a shared room she’d expected. “If you stay longer than you expect, we’ll likely have to find you less posh accommodations, but—just for a few days—we can spare this one.”
    She smiled. “Thank you very much.”
    “Lunch is served at noon—we passed the cafeteria on the way here. You’re free to go anywhere outside of the little front office space. We have a nice reading room, too.”
    Roulette nodded.
    “If you need anything and can’t find me, just go to the receptionist. We’ll talk again soon.”
    “Thank you again.”
    He closed the door behind him. The door had no lock on this side, just a simple hook latch. She could have a modicum of privacy, but no security. Of course, it wasn’t as if the boarding house had been a fortress, and the warehouse as a whole might be more secure. She’d just never stopped to worry so much before.
    Hooking the door, she unpacked her clothes into the room’s dresser, smoothing them out as best she could, then tossed the knapsack on the floor and fell backward on the bed, staring up at the warehouse’s wooden ceiling. She could see birds in the rafters above the grid of pipework.
    “Welcome home, Roulette,” she muttered, closing her eyes.

She didn’t intend to fall asleep, and when she woke she wasn’t sure she even had. But the light and shadows in the rafters had changed position slightly. There were soft voices in the hallway outside, and footsteps.
    The raccoon held her breath until the footsteps passed, then grimaced.   A life of hiding in shadows and flinching at noises would in time do her in as well as any blade. Standing up, she smoothed out her clothes, unlatched the door and walked out into the hallway, retracing the path Tiran had taken to get here.
    A different side hallway led to a modest library, perhaps the “nice reading room” that the tabby had spoken of. The room could have held a thousand books, but she doubted there were more than a hundred shelved, and most didn’t look to be in good shape. Donations, no doubt, and ones that they hadn’t been able to turn around and sell. The room’s sole occupant was a young wolf who appeared to be playing chess with no partner.
    Roulette stepped inside. Standing, the L’rovri would be just about six feet high, a touch short for his kind. The longer she looked at him the less sure of his age she was; he looked her age, but moved like someone