The Death Seer (Skeleton Key) Read Online Free PDF

onto the sidewalk. “I live a few blocks away. Listen, you don’t have to hold my hand right now, but it’s best going forward. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
    “What happens if I get lost?”
    He shook his head. “There’s creatures along the edges. Scavengers of a sort. It’s best to stay on the established paths.”
    I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t want to find out. I slipped my hand in his and allowed him to lead me toward his apartment.  

We sat at a round table. The wood finish was chipped. He said he found it on the sidewalk. The chairs didn’t match. The apartment was a studio, so across the room was a full-sized bed with the blankets all a mess. Socks on the floor. A weird smell coming from the refrigerator. All-in-all a typical slovenly bachelor pad.
    Kord had a map spread out on the table. I don’t know what I’d expected. Perhaps something digital. Maybe a current atlas. This was a yellowed map with words in languages I didn’t know. The edges were tattered and singed. The paper was more of a fabric. Everything one might expect in a pirate map.  
    Kord had taken his sunglasses off, and I was torn between staring at the map and staring at his eyes. “I think the fastest we could get there is tomorrow night. But I sure as hell don’t want to see her at night. So we’re looking at two nights on the road. We can spend tonight in King’s Hall, you’ll like that.” He cast a grin up at me before returning his focus to the map. “Great tourist place. Then I don’t know, we might have to sleep in the car tomorrow night. Oh, wait…maybe the Weird Sisters will put us up. Yeah, that would be better.”  
    I didn’t know what any of it meant, but he seemed satisfied with his plan and began folding the map. He put his glasses back on and tucked the map into a leather folder, tied a leather chord around it, and tucked it into his backpack. He stood and went to his dresser. He shoved some clothes into his backpack before going into the bathroom, I assumed to gather any toiletries he might need on the road.
    Someone knocked on the front door.  
    He came out, crossed the room, and opened the door without checking the peephole. Two women stood there, arms around each other’s waists. “Hey, Kord,” they said in unison.
    Kord smiled as he dropped his head forward, like a man defeated who didn’t really mind being defeated. “Jenny. Elizabeth. I’m just about to go on a trip.”
    The women stuck out their bottom lips and moaned. “Can’t you give us just a few minutes?” the darker of the two asked.
    Kord glanced back at me. “Brenna, these are my neighbors. Girls, this is Brenna.”
    The women waved at me without malice. Given what I assumed they were here for, I’d have expected jealousy on their parts. But it wasn’t there. On my end, however, there was definitely something. If not jealousy, a deep, righteous indignation.  
    “We haven’t seen you in so long,” one of the women said.
    “Who knows when we’ll see you again,” said the other.
    Kord let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah. All right. Brenna, you might grab yourself something to eat. Make yourself at home. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    Before I could object, he slipped out the door. I heard the muffled sound of the women’s giggling before a door shut and there was nothing left but silence. I stood staring at the door for the longest time before giving myself a shake and checking the kitchen. We’d just eaten, but I was a little hungry again. Not hungry enough to eat the stuff growing in Kord’s refrigerator. I checked the pantry and found a spider and a tipped-over, open box of cereal.  
    I decided I wasn’t hungry after all. Kord had a bookshelf on the wall opposite his bed. The books were crammed and stacked in it haphazardly. Among them were several black, hardbound journals lined up neatly. ten of them, to be precise. One for each year since Kord had disappeared from that house as a little boy.