Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) Read Online Free PDF

maybe even put myself in situations where he’d think he saved the day.
    My thoughts were momentarily interrupted as I ducked a branch that swung back at me when Drake pushed past it. We were outside the Gates, picking our way through the forest to where this cave was. The path evened out, and I slipped back into my thoughts.
    “Hey!” I exclaimed. “That could’ve hurt me!”
    Drake turned, looking alarmed. Then he saw the branch still swaying back and forth. He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. You okay?”
    I nodded, giving him a playful glare.
    If I made him feel strongly enough that he constantly needed to protect me, maybe he wouldn’t be gone so much. You know, give him more of a reason to stay.
    I needed a little excitement in my life. What better way to get it than with Drake? Maybe an adventure would help clean out the pent-up emotions that seemed to be overflowing lately.
    I started to form a plan. Something simple. I might not even have to implement it. Maybe I wouldn’t need to. Maybe I would have the perfect opportunity for him to save the day.
    “It’s just through here,” Drake said, pulling back a bush to allow me to go ahead. “The opening to the cave should be to your right in a few meters.” He paused and looked around, making sure we were alone.
    I searched around for a second, finding a small dark opening on the right. “Found it,” I said, my voice muffled from sticking my head in the small opening. “I can’t believe you found this in the dark. It’s tiny. I almost missed seeing it in daylight!” I exclaimed.
    “Yeah, well, I run for my life quite often, so I tend to notice escapes easily. A survival-instinct kind of thing.”
    “The Cave Finder,” I said, giggling. My voiced echoed off the walls of the tunnel as I crawled in. “Has a ring to it. You should add it to your portfolio. Something like ‘ I’ll find your hole ’ or something corny like that.”
    “Haha. You’re hilarious.”
    Drake followed me into the tunnel. We had to crawl. Luckily, Drake had brought us both head-lights so we could see.
    “It’s weird being able to see the tunnel now, as opposed to last night. In the dark, I formed a picture of what the tunnel looked like. Now, with light, it’s completely different. Like, it’s made of dirt. Weird. I thought it would have been shale or rock.”
    “Yeah. It’s probably old,” I said. I paused for a second, grimacing. I brushed my hand at chunks of dirt and sharp gravel that had dug into the skin of my knees. I took that moment to regret my clothing choice.
    The tunnel started widening after a few more minutes of crawling. Drake spoke up. “Hey, so we should be getting close. Be careful or you might fall into the pit like I did. Wouldn’t want you breaking something.”
    I turned my head over my shoulder and started to reply when the ground in front of me was gone and I dropped into the dark. A second later I hit the bottom with a thud and a girly squeak.
    “You all right?” Drake called down.
    I sat up, brushing myself off and checking for injuries. Looking around, I snatched up my light that had been knocked off my head from the fall. I scowled when I saw how dirty I now was. “Yeah. I’m fine. Get down here. It stinks.”
    I looked up at the edge of the pit. I saw Drake stand and remove a small pack from his back, pulling out a rope and anchor stake. He took a mini sledge and drove the stake in as far as he could.
    He tied one end of the rope to the stake and drew back to throw the other end around the corner, calling out, “Hey, move away, I’m throwing down the rope.” With that, he tossed the rope, and it plopped down on the ground next to me.
    He grinned, saying, “It’s way easier to take the rope down, you know.”
    I scowled at him, rolling my eyes. “Naw, it was pretty damn easy falling on my ass.” I looked around. “So, where are the skulls and bones at?”
    Drake raised his eyebrows in question. “They’re everywhere. You’re