The Calm Before (Reign and Ruin novella) Read Online Free PDF Page A

light
tinkle. "You're not the only one. Look at me."
    "Lucan, you're
a Dream Catcher. A very noble profession."
    Lucan made a
show of snatching flies out of the air and threw back his head with
laughter. Marty shifted embarrassingly.
    "Yeah, very
noble Marty. Don't fucking deserve it, but here I am."
    "Don't say
things like that, Lucan."
    "They're true!
And you know what?" Lucan leaned forward and pulled Marty down to
his level. His eyes were dangerously close to crossing as he
attempted to center Marty's weathered face in his vision. "Neither
does he."
    "Who,
Cirrus?"
    "No, the
fucking Painter – yes, of course Cirrus! He eats power. Just
swallows it down his gullet like it's fine whiskey." Pushing Marty
away, he fell back in his chair and allowed the great weight of
sadness to settle down onto his shoulders like a coat. Wrapping
himself up in the misery, he looked to Marty like a giant, hopeless
grizzly bear. "I cannot even fathom what will happen if that
vulture ever gains more power."
    Marty moved
slowly around to stand in front of Lucan.
    "Do you think
he will? Soon?"
    Lucan shrugged
and closed his eyes. He was ready for sleep now. His anger and a
half liter of drink had done the job just right. But just as he
felt the numbness spread up his neck and into his brain, Marty's
hand was shaking him awake.
    "You hate your
brother, don't you Lucan?" Marty whispered.
    "You woke me up
to ask me a question as fucking obvious as that?" Marty took his
hand and held it tightly. Lucan pushed back against the chair and
eyed the addict in confusion. "Marty, are we having a tender moment
here?
    "If you could
assure that Cirrus never took power, either by force or by vote,
would you?"
    "If you knew
what was in my head right now, you wouldn't ask." Lucan stood up
tiredly and pointed to the door. "I need to sleep and you need to
leave, sorry Marty. Or I'll have to tell my brother you were in
here helping me drink his fancy-ass booze."
    Marty didn't
let go of Lucan's hand. His eyes flashed furiously in the firelight
and for a second the power that rose up between them had a heat, a
concrete feeling and flow. This man was always so weak, so
pathetic. And yet now, there was something in him that refused to
let go and Lucan couldn't look away.
    "You know why
you don't want me to know what is in your head? Because you’re
frightened. But I was too and then suddenly, all my doubts were
taken over by purpose. By passion and action! The people are
yearning for it, practically tearing their nails to the wick
struggling past the suffocation and murk of oppression, secrecy and
that ridiculous purple cloud. But there are those, Lucan, those who
can blow away the cobwebs and stick a sword straight up that
spider's ass."
    "You are
damning my own brother, Marty," Lucan breathed.
    "It won't be
long until you damn him yourself. You’ll be so ready to damn him
you’ll practically choke on it.”
    "What do you
know about me?" Lucan said.
    "I know that a
storm is brewing. I know that as the discontent of the people
grows, so will the fear. And we need to utilize that fear before
Cirrus does."
    Lucan dimly
felt Marty release his hand, leaving a soft object in his palm, and
watched him move quietly towards to the doorway.
    "Marty, wait!"
Marty turned back around, one foot in the hallway. "Who is 'we'?
You and me?"
    "If you even
remember this conversation in the morning, the Riders will come for
you. We'll know." Marty nodded towards the side tables before
turning back around to leave. "Drink your water."
    And thus it was
that when Lucan awoke a few hours later next to a cold fire, his
toes frozen in the chilly air and head banging like a concert
pianist, he remembered nothing. Of course, he didn't, not at first.
But he saw the broken glass in the fireplace and the spilled water
dripping into the rug and groaned.
    The curtains
around the office let in thin, icicle cracks of morning sunlight.
From beyond the glass windows Lucan could hear the sound