Silence Read Online Free PDF

necessarily; it was more a question of
habits modeled on his lifelong mission to see dangers before they
were dangerous. Besides, if he was going to pay for this meal
with ‘hard-earned’ money, they better make him and Dorothi as comfortable as
they’d ever been.
    Then Sheikoh screwed up his face,
wondering who ‘they’ actually were. Did east siders own all the
businesses and factories in the west? If so, he felt a lot better
about his day-to-day.
    Dorothi misinterpreted the crinkle
between his eyebrows.
    “ Don’t pretend you don’t
like this place Sheek, I know you do.” She smiled, her eyes
sparkling with excitement. Sheikoh snapped back into focus, and his
face softened into a smile. “No, you’re right,” he admitted. “No
one can cook runaway Purmynxs like good old Primelight.” Dorothi
hit him in the arm, indignant. Sheikoh burst into
laughter.
    “ Purmynxs are pets! No one
would ever eat one!” Dorothi retorted vehemently.
    “ You’re pretty cute, but
I’m hungry enough to cook you up,” Sheikoh mock hissed to Dorothi,
twisting his face into creepy grimace.
    “ Well you’re big and ugly,
but I wouldn’t cook you,” Dorothi countered.
    “ That’s cause us big ugly
ones don’t taste so good. It’s the cute ones you go after. I’m so
proud, you’re already ahead of the curve, Princess,” Sheikoh
gushed. Then he ducked as Dorothi tried to punch him
again.
    “ You’re sick, Sheek,” she
informed him with disgust.
    Sheikoh opened his mouth to make some
reply, but something out of the corner of his eye unsettled him.
Something that the grey-haired man standing by the door had done
had tripped his sense of alarm...
    Sheikoh stared at the offender, noting
his khaki slacks and the blue suit and tie ensemble. Criminal, most
likely. He closed his eyes and searched his memory. Constant danger
had sharpened his mental recall until it was borderline
eidetic.
    Sheikoh focused his thoughts on that
one, weird instant of peripheral memory that had seemed… off. Just
before Dorothi had fallen into his arms, the man had glanced up
with an expression of… recognition? He cursed to himself. For
someone like him, recognition was rarely good news.
    Sheikoh shot a worried glance at
Dorothi. She was still glaring up at him from his arms. Whatever
this man was after, Sheikoh wasn’t going to let it touch the
innocent girl. His eyes tightened with resolve as he looked at
Dorothi’s porcelain, soft face, thus far unblemished by firsthand
knowledge of pain. Physical pain, at least. She wasn’t about to see
any scars in the mirror on his account.
    Sheikoh pulled Dorothi closer to him,
leaning forward so that the man couldn’t see what he was doing. He
leveled a serious stare into her fiery eyes. They sparked slightly
brighter with sudden curiosity. Dorothi knew him well enough to
make out the seriousness in his expression. She began to look
around, but Sheikoh clenched her wrist and imperceptibly shook his
head.
    “ Get out
of here. Go to the safe-house. Now . I’m not joking,” Sheikoh
muttered softly.
    Dorothi’s mouth shaped a ‘w’ sound,
but Sheikoh cut her off before she could get a single question
out.
    “ No. No time for
explanations. I’ll distract and you disappear.” Dorothi’s
expression was reluctant, but she nodded.
    Sheikoh’s eyes hardened with resolve.
He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. Dorothi’s nodding
sped up, and her own eyes were wide and anxious. She and Sheikoh
both stood up at the same time. Sheikoh faced the exit, and Dorothi
faced him, her expression uncertain. Sheikoh turned and walked
towards the doors. Dorothi scrambled after him and reached for his
hand, but Sheikoh shook her off.
    “ No . Get out of here and don’t look
back,” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth. “I’ll make sure no
one follows you.”
    Dorothi bit her lip and fixed an
anxious gaze up at him. Sheikoh stared forward determinedly. His
jaw clenched. Then two seconds later,