Pariah #1: New Arrival: Perils of Azure City Read Online Free PDF Page A

strange motion. The blue glow in the air was brighter than it had been before, emanating out from her hands and around his restrained arm.
    He was hit with a sinking feeling that something very bad was about to happen.
    She lowered her face so that she spoke into the back of his ear, 'I wasn't here for you, miscreant, you weren't even on my radar. You could have walked away from this and we'd probably never meet again. But no, now I'll be keeping my eye out for you. If I catch you being anything less than the ideal citizen, I'll come back for you. All of you. Trust me, you don't want a repeat visit.' She rose back up above him, fierce blue light flashing from her eyes, 'I figure you're the type that forgets easily, so let me help you remember this...'
    The force around his arm increased massively and pushed in multiple directions as she focused it. The big ganger screamed as the sound of cracking bone filled the alley, and soon the pain became so much that the man simply passed out.
    Releasing her grip, she let him fall to the floor at her feet and turned to walk back towards Crowley. The blue light gradually dimmed from her eyes until there was nothing there at all when she scooped down to recollect her discarded cloak. In a swift motion she wrapped the cloak about herself and refastened the clasp to hold it in place, yanking the hood back over her head.
    The fight had been a rapid affair, with an awful lot happening in a small frame of time. Crowley had watched it all, trying to gather his senses and recover from his treatment at the hands of the snakes. He had reached the point where he felt able to run away, but something compelled him to stay. This woman had come for him, she had saved him, she had been fighting his fight - it felt uncomfortable to leave her. Upon the revelation that she was a meta, and a mean one to boot, Crowley felt good about the decision not to make her track him down again.
    She stepped over the fallen snakes and made her way towards him, her cool blue eyes locking with his and that hint of a smile that he saw earlier returned to her face. 'I'm impressed. I thought you'd run.'
    He bobbed his head, 'Thought about it.'
    She reached out her hand to bring him back to his feet, 'But?'
    'But I decided I was too comfortable sat here to bother moving,' he quipped as he took her hand and wearily climbed back to his feet, trying not to gaze at her curvy figure now that she was up close. She gave a soft chuckle and helped him to support himself against a wall. 'I have to admit, I have no idea why you would possibly come for me,' he mused. The thought suddenly alarmed him, 'Am I in trouble?' He gestured around at the unconscious gangers that, moments earlier, were going to torture him to death, 'More trouble, I mean.'
    She gave a slight shake of her head, 'No, not more trouble, anyways. Don't get me wrong, Crow; you're a thief, a dealer, a user, probably a murderer and certainly a jaywalker... perhaps in another city you would need to watch out for me, but in this city? You're small fish. I'm not interested in you.'
    'I guess that's a good thing,' he allowed, 'But for the record, I'm not a murderer.' She raised a dubious eyebrow at him but he pressed on, 'So what is it that you do want?'
    'I'm glad you ask, Crow. I'm after traffickers. From what I gather they do a bit of everything: drugs, weapons, people....,' her voice trailed off and her manner stiffened, 'Specifically people,' she glanced meaningfully at Crowley.
    He paled as he realised who she was talking about, 'You...you're after Underhaven?'
    She nodded, 'And you're going to help me, Crow.'
    His shoulders sagged as he weighed up his options. Underhaven were not enemies he wanted - they were exactly the opposite. On the other hand he felt like he kind of owed this stranger something in return for saving him. Besides that, he had the creeping sensation that this wasn't really his choice. She could force him to tell her what she wanted. She could probably