The Broken Lands Read Online Free PDF

about going to see
him
?” Bones asked.
    Walker’s wary look shifted into a red-eyed glare. “Who.” It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t wait for an answer. “Christophel.”
    â€œObviously.”
    â€œWhy would we talk about going to see him, Bones?” Walker bit the words off sharply.
    â€œOh, I don’t know, remind me again why we got here with only a couple days to spare?” Bones’s gray eyes hardened. “If there was ever a time for the two of you to put your grudges aside, this is it. We need to find ten people, fast. He probably knows exactly who we’re looking for.”
    Walker adjusted his immaculate shirt cuffs. “Neither Basile Christophel nor I consider what you are referring to as a mere
grudge
.”
    â€œYour pigheaded mutual stupidity, then.” Bones rolled his shoulders under the heavy coat, wincing at the grit. “He has . . . tools at his disposal. We should take advantage of them.”
    â€œI don’t know what he has at his disposal, and neither do you. Nobody does.” Walker folded his arms. “And I can’t imagine, even if I did know, that it would make up for the fact that he’s a conjure-thieving maniac without the sense to be afraid of anything.”
    â€œWhat’s he got to be afraid of?”
    â€œThose things he calls up.” Now Walker rolled his shoulders, a motion more like a shudder than he would’ve liked to admit. “What
are
they, even?”
    â€œAs long as they do what he tells them, who cares?” Bones laughed, then coughed up sand. “As long as they get the job done, isn’t that what matters?”
    â€œYou ever consider that maybe he might not think helping us is in his best interests? He
lives
here, after all, and he and Jack aren’t precisely blood brothers.” Walker shuddered again. “Blood. I had to get
that
image going in my head.”
    â€œHe’ll help us if we pay him,” Bones said coldly. “And we can. As for whether he thinks giving the place to Jack is in his best interests, my guess is he won’t care. It isn’t as if he’ll see it as Jack taking charge of
him
.” The bald man regarded his colleague for a moment. Then he ripped one of the gold buttons from his coat and held it in his fist. When he opened his hand, a coin lay in his palm. “Shall we?”
    Walker’s red-rimmed eyes sharpened. “All right,” he said casually.
    â€œCall it, then,” Bones said curtly. “But if you win, you’d better have an alternative plan.” He balanced the coin on his thumb and flipped it.
    â€œTails,” Walker murmured.
    Both men watched it tumble over and over, catching the lights of Brooklyn as it rose and fell and bounced on the cobblestone street. Walker waited patiently until it came to rest, then crouched and swore.
    â€œMy, my,” Bones said mildly. “Did I win?”
    Walker plucked the coin from the street and handed it back to Bones. Then he sighed expansively. “Fine. Let’s go see Doc Rawhead.”

THREE
The Broken Land Hotel
    S LOW MORNING .”
    â€œTelling me.” Sam flipped a card and rolled his eyes. He sighed, leaned back with his hands folded behind his head, and watched gulls circling in Culver Plaza’s cloudless sky. “Yours again. Thank God we’re playing for shells.”
    â€œIf we weren’t, would I be winning?” Constantine threw down his hand, a very respectable three of a kind. “Hang on. How did you know I won that hand before I showed it?”
    â€œCon, just because I’m not cheating you doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m dealing you. It’s hard to turn all the instincts off.” Sam collected the cards and shuffled them. “This is just the kind of thing you’re always taking credit for having taught me. Why so surprised?”
    â€œYeah, well, maybe I’m flattering