Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

struck quitting time, I was gone like the wind. I jogged the entire way home, not even caring if I got sweaty.
    I burst in the door of our house, throwing it open much too hard. I made my “oopsy” face out of habit, then burst out laughing as I saw Drake jump a foot off the counter where he’d been sitting when I slammed the door, startling him.
    “Dammit, Kelsie! Scared the crap out of me!” Drake exclaimed, holding his hand over his heart as if he could slow it down manually.
    I smirked mischievously. “I noticed. It was really funny.”
    I moved in past the door, shutting it behind me and kicking off my shoes. Pushing a hand towel out of the way, I hopped up on the counter, lightly pressing against Drake.
    “So, what’s the surprise? I’m dying, here.”
    His face took on mock concern. “Dying? Uh-oh. Guess I can’t tell you what I found. It might be too awesome for you to handle. Wouldn’t want that.” He shook his head solemnly, slipping off the counter and drawing a mug of water from the faucet.
    He kept his back to me while he took a drink, which I could only figure meant he was smiling and doing a poor job of hiding it.
    I took the moment to admire his shoulders. They were broad, really broad. I could see the taut muscles moving under his lightweight shirt as he lowered the arm that was holding the mug. It was so fascinating. I couldn’t decide if I was more fascinated by how the muscles worked, or the fact that they were connected to him and those wonderful shoulders.
    I didn’t say anything. I knew he would turn around eventually.
    “You’re not going to believe what I found last night while I was running for dear life,” Drake said.
    I forced my gaze from his shoulders, preparing for him to turn so he wouldn’t catch me. “I’ll bite,” I said in an overly dramatic voice. “Whatever did you find?”
    He whipped around, his eyes flashing in excitement. “Remains. Lots of remains.”
    “Like building remains?”
    He gave me a crooked grin. “Nope. Human.”
    I felt my eyes widen involuntarily. This could be bad. I mean, he said remains. Not skeletons. If it were skeletons, or something that showed the people had been dead a long time, I wouldn’t be all that interested. What with the war and harsh daily life, people used to die all the time. Many were buried in mass graves. All it took was a mudslide or heavy rain and the bones would be exposed. Still…
    Drake took my silence as amazement and continued, unprompted. “Yup. Real human remains. I found them in a cave. It was pitch-black, but it’s hard to mistake a human skull when it’s in your hands. So I want to go back today with lights. I was thinking you might want to tag along. You want to?”
    I didn’t want to seem too eager to escape the Gates. “Well…I dunno. I kinda wanted to hang out and do nothing. Maybe darn my socks.” I was just screwing with him and he saw right through it. He knew me so well.
    He gently smacked my shoulder. “That’s what you’re going with? Knitting? You abhor knitting. More than I do. So, you coming? I’ll go without you if you don’t want to.”
    I grinned. “Yeah, right. You can barely contain yourself. There’s no way you would go without taking someone to share it with! Let’s get going though. I want to get back before dark; you know how I get outdoors at night.”

    I must say I was shocked, and more than a little disappointed, by Drake’s big surprise when I’d gotten home. I’m not really sure what I had expected, but him saying that he’d found some sort of mass burial site was not exactly in the realm of anything that I had in mind. I was hoping maybe for him to say he was going to be home for the next couple of weeks or…I don’t know, something cooler than a bunch of decomposing bodies. But Drake had always been a curious one. Besides, to his knowledge, it had been ages since I had been outside the Gates. It would be a perfect opportunity for me to let him protect me –