Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

Stores and get some supplies. We must keep up our professional appearance.” Cance undid her heavy cloak and let it fall across her chair back. Her muscled shoulders and upper arms had been hidden under the garment and now held Starnes’s regard. He shivered. “Lock up behind you,” Cance said then raised a hand for him to wait. “Oh, and Starnes, don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on that ailing father of yours while you’re away. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to the old man. Would we, Brandoff?”
    Brandoff headed toward the stairs leading to the second-level living quarters. “Far from it.” She piped, “I’ll be more than happy to tend him while you’re away.” She blew Starnes a kiss. “Dah and I will be waiting.”
    Cance motioned him to the door. “You heard her. Not long and only to the Commons and back.” She turned up the crystal, draining the final droplets onto her tongue. “And get some more of this Langus juice while you’re out. You keep running low for some reason. NOW GO!”
    Starnes locked the door behind him and leaned against it, pressing back his tormentor’s proximity as tears welled in his cinnamon eyes. How did he ever get himself in so deep? It had seemed simple at the time. Someone claiming to be with the Kinship had contacted him about temporary lodging for a pair of Taelachs. Taelachs were not welcome at Autlach inns and often appealed to local bar owners for lodging. Despite what others said, he found them to be a warm, friendly, peaceable people, quite charming in their politeness. This time, however, it had turned into a nightmare he couldn’t escape. He should have been suspicious when so much money had been offered, but business had been slow. It had simply been too tempting. Now they used his father’s illness to control him. “That’s all right,” Starnes muttered to no one. “It’ll end one way or another.” He pulled his wrap over his shoulders, using its frayed hemline to clear his eyes before setting out. The Commons were a short walk away and there, he hoped, lay the solution.
     
    “Auts are idiots.” Brandoff jumped the stair railing then scrambled to where her twin sat. “No more delays. How’d it go?”
    “Like you said, my sister, Autlachs are idiots.” Cance kicked off one boot, then the other, then settled confidently back in her seat. “Especially the rural dirt clodders here on Langus. They actually believe I’m going to help them get rid of the Sarian base.”
    “They bought your ‘preserve our farmlands’ line then?”
    Cance smiled broadly. “Completely and unquestionably. Fear spreads rapidly among the uninformed.”
    “Yeah.” Brandoff’s yawn accentuated her growing number of wrinkles. Life on Trimar aged one hard. “Spreads like flame on dry saw grass.”
    “Exactly. Now get upstairs and rest.” Cance cast quick disapproval of her twin’s gaunt face. “I’ll wait for Starnie.”
    “Nah, I’m fine. A hit will pick me right up.”
    “You haven’t slept in nine days. A hit won’t do you a bit of good. Don’t waste it. We may need it later.”
    “Dammit, Cance. You’re too damn tight sometimes.” Brandoff’s disappointment seemed genuine. “All right then. I’ll check the old man on my way up.” She clambered up the stairs. Just because she needed sleep didn’t mean she couldn’t take a small dose as well. Another rush and a little sleep were far preferable to a long rest and a crash. Brandoff patted the pocket containing her inhaler.
    “Throw me down some hair dye before you turn in. I’m beginning to fade.” Brandoff tossed Cance the package then settled into the upstairs apartment but not before inhaling a healthy dose of prock.
    In the bar’s small kitchen area, Cance filled the basin with warm water. The reflection in the basin’s backing caught her attention and she paused, considering it between inhaler puffs. The prock rushed through her, cresting then settling her into numbing alertness. She was