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

standing on a femur.” Drake pointed at my right foot.
    I looked around, lifting my foot and setting it back down. I’m sure I looked confused, since I was. “What are you playing at? Is this some kind of joke? There are no bones down here, Drake. None.”
    He laughed. “Ha, you’re funny. They’re everywhere. See? Here’s a skull.” Drake reached down and picked up something by his feet. He held his empty hand up for me to see, palm upward and fingertips bent up like he actually thought he was holding something. “See? The skull in my hand?”
    “I think you maybe hit your head last night when you fell. Or you need more sleep. Cuz, you’re holding air.”
    I looked at him in concern. There was absolutely nothing there. I put my hand on his arm, trying to be reassuring.
    “Stop screwing with me, Kelsie. It’s right here. In my hand. I can see them everywhere.” Drake glared at me. He took my hand and set it on his.
    My hand landed on top of his palm. Nothing between our skin. Just my hand on his. I looked at him and sighed, wrapping my fingers through his and squeezing.
    “Drake. I know you don’t get along with the herbalist, but I think you should pay her a visit, for my sake.” I made eye contact with him, trying to plead with him.
    He pulled his hand from mine. “I don’t get it. I can see them. I can feel them: touch, weight, texture. Hell, I can smell them! Why can’t you?”
    He turned and walked to the other side of the pit. “It’s so real. I don’t see any way that I could be imagining this.” He ran his hands through his wavy hair in exasperation.
    He looked up at me, making eye contact. “Okay, I have one last idea. Here, pay attention.”
    I nodded assent. Might as well humor him, I figured. Maybe then he would figure out he was imagining things.
    Drake bent over and picked up another imaginary item. He drew back his arm and threw whatever he thought was in his hand at the wall of the pit.
    I thought maybe I heard something. But wasn’t sure. I stepped over to the wall in front of Drake and saw a small indention. For all I knew, it had already been there. But Drake took it as a sign that I had seen it.
    “See? I’m not crazy.” He looked relieved. Then bent down and picked up another invisible item.
    I wasn’t convinced. Honestly, I just wanted out of there. I’d agree with him simply to get him to leave.
    I watched him turn his hands over, looking intently at whatever he could see. His eyes grew big. He tossed the object in his hands and picked something else up. Repeating it. His eyes grew to the point they no longer looked human.
    “What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a phantom,” I said.
    “You have no idea,” he replied, turning to climb out of the hole. He paused and looked back around the pit. I took the opportunity to head for the rope.
    “Hey, Kelsie.”
    I turned around to answer him. “Yeah?”
    “See that hole in the roof over there?” He pointed his hand off into the darkness. I was able to get the general direction from the way his arm was pointed. I could make out a faint circle slightly lighter in hue than the rest of the roof. I had to lean out precariously to see around the corner of the tunnel.
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Do you have any idea where it comes out, in relation to the top side? I’d like to find it if we can.”
    I thought about it for a second, tracing the tunnel into where we were, using my memory. “Well, the tunnel curves a bit. But then it curves back, I think. For the most part I think it’s a straight line. I guess we could get a rough distance on the way back out. That would help give us an area to check.”
    He snapped his fingers. “Great. Good idea. That’s why you’re in Developing and I’m an Acquisitions Specialist. Now, excuse me so I can get out of this graveyard.”
    I felt myself flush at his praise. Luckily in the dark he couldn’t see it. I obliged his request, stepping back to allow him up. I started crawling back down