The Seer (Tellaran Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him to understand. “She came into that alley after we did. She could have kept going, even slipped back out and left me to die, but she didn’t. A Seer, subject to termination on discovery, and she still didn’t walk away. She almost got herself killed in that alley tonight—for my sake. She’s the only reason I’m standing here now. She saved me, Dacel, and risked her life twice over to do it.”
    “This man, the Utavian, he knew you by name?”
    “And I can’t remember the last time I went to that section of Xan-Tellar. Which also means he knew where I would be and when.”
    Dacel’s mouth tightened. “Who else knew you would be there?”
    “Half the staff near my office knew I was meeting Tasan for a drink tonight before he shipped out,” Jolar said shortly. “That’s not counting anyone who could have sliced in to my files and checked my calendar.”
    Dacel shook his head. “I hope Tasan didn’t have a hand in it. I know he’s a friend.”
    “Tasan’s not that careless,” Jolar said dryly. “Once he has a job to do, he follows through. Tasan would double check to make sure I was dead and, if I wasn’t, he’d take care of it personally.”
    “Maybe sending you to Sertar is too dangerous now,” Dacel murmured. “If someone knows where I’m sending you and why . . .”
    “She can help me.” Jolar leaned forward, his hands splayed on the surface of the desk. “She’s a godsdamned Seer , Dacel! If Kav had her with him he might still be alive. Think of the advantage I’ll have!”
    Dacel raised his eyebrows. “You sure she’ll be willing to help you?”
    “She doesn’t have much choice, does she?” Jolar wet his lips. “If I can offer her an ID, a non-telepath one in exchange . . .”
    Dacel slumped back in his chair. “I’m having trouble keeping track of just how many laws we’d be breaking. Concealing a Seer from the proper authorities, forging an ID, deleting official records . . . I’m not even sure I have the resources to make this happen.”
    “I can help with that,” Jolar said grimly, straightening. “I’ll pull in every favor I’m owed to put this together.” His stomach wrenched as he regarded the Zartani Councilor. Dacel was more than a mentor; the man was almost a second father to him. “I know asking this of you strains the limits of friendship.”
    Dacel waved it away. “Our friendship isn’t on the line here. But I wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t remind you of the very real danger to you.”
    Jolar gave a short laugh. “That she’ll fuck with my brain, scramble me so I don’t know what’s what.”
    “It’s not a joke.”
    His life debt to her made it an imperative he help her. Tradition—and sacred honor—demanded her life for his and his debt wouldn’t be satisfied till he knew for certain she was safe. Everything in him was screaming at him to protect her.
    He could almost still feel the soft skin of her cheek under his fingers . . .
    Jolar sank into one of the chairs in front of Dacel’s desk, the leather creaking as he sat. “No,” he said quietly. “It’s not.”
    “The New Order eradicated the Seers for a reason. The damage they do to a person’s mind is serious, Jolar. It can be irreversible.”
    He should be afraid. In the two hundred years since the fall of the Tellaran royal house the Seers had been portrayed as power hungry, ruthless, mind-devastating monsters—
    So why can’t I believe that of her?
    Jolar suddenly recalled sitting cradled at his father’s side as a boy, the comforting scent of his father’s study, of polished dalsawood and leather, around him, the weight of the ancient book of paper and binding spread across his lap. Zartan’s bright afternoon sun lit dust particles suspended in the air and, to his young eyes, at least, echoed the lost magic of the old Realm. Over and over Jolar would trace the smooth parchment under his chubby, child’s fingers, looking at the gilded illustrations, captivated as his