Obsidian Eyes Read Online Free PDF

good at following someone.
    Never send a noble to do guild work.
    A slight nod and he veered off to the corner and sank into a sofa opposite his friend. Quiet conversation rose and fell between the two youths. Allie tried to return to Victor Frankenstein and his hilltop laboratory but she kept thinking of Eloise and the dead frog and rat, no doubt jerking and twitching in their bedroom by now.
    I need to find a laboratory for Eloise, somewhere she can keep her frogs and electrodes.
    The voices from the corner became louder. Papers rustled and a book thumped to the ground, followed by a scraping noise of sofa feet sliding on the floor. Allie looked up to see Zeb peering under the sofa while Jared held up one end.
    “It’s not there.” He sat back on his knees and Jared dropped the sofa to its original position.
    Curiosity aroused, she left the desk and headed to the nook. “Another problem, Zeb?”
    “Yes.” Jared flicked his pale gaze to her, an easy smile on his face. “A small mechanical one, if you have spare time to help us look for it.”
    She arched an eyebrow and waited for Jared to elaborate. Zeb cast around as he stood, spinning on his heel as his gaze scanned the mouldings and floor.
    “Zeb has misplaced an experiment.”
    “In the library?” The soldiers flitted through her mind and she wondered how closely they monitored Zeb’s experiments; and then she hoped the one lost in the library wasn’t his exploding problem.
    The youth looked sheepish and gestured to a worn and battered satchel lying on the sofa. “It climbed out while I was working. It was supposed to be deactivated but I must have bumped it and set it off. I must find it, before it chews something.”
    “What is this thing we are looking for?”
    Zeb spread his hands a span apart. “It’s kind of this big with teeth, claws, and shiny.”
    Sounds like Eloise’s rat with electrodes. Allie watched the random hand gestures and raised her gaze to Jared. “Is he always this vague?”
    “Yes,” Jared replied, laughter shining in his eyes. “Frustrating, isn’t it?”
    Allie arched a black eyebrow and gave Jared a steady gaze. “Try having a roommate who reanimates frogs on your desk. Twitching limbs keep me awake at night.”
    Zeb looked up, interest flared in his eyes. “Reanimating small amphibians? Fascinating, I never realised Eloise was so advanced in her work. Do you think she would show me?”
    “I’m sure she would show you anything, if you ask her nicely.” Allie tried not to laugh.
    Jared shook his head. “You think frogs are bad? Zeb built a wardrobe security system, which shot me when I opened the door.” He threw out his entry for the game of who had the weirdest roommate.
    Zeb looked up, a frown on his face. “That was a necessity. Our wardrobe needed defending from all the girls hiding in it.”
    Allie struggled to control her growing laughter. “Do tell, do you suffer many girls hiding in your furniture?”
    Jared shot his friend a look under dark brows. “I think we should find Zeb’s critter, don’t you? Zeb, check around the nook and under the furniture, we’ll check down the aisles.”
    Jared headed down a back row while Allie trailed behind, her gaze sweeping back and forth, looking for the glint of a mechanical creature.
    Halfway down the deserted stack, Jared stopped and spun, his gaze focused on her. “Give me something and I’ll stop following you around.” With all trace of laughter gone, his voice held a serious note.
    A shiver shot down her spine. Predator sounded in her brain whenever she met his pale eyes.
    “Have you considered I might prefer you behind me? If you have my back, I can keep my eyes to the front.”
    He took a step closer, his hand brushing the row of books to his left as he closed the gap between them.
    “Who are you aligned to?”
    So close she could smell sunshine, something earthy, and the faint tang of oil used to care for his blades. Her brain urged her to close her eyes