The Shape Stealer Read Online Free PDF

aspect of all—that he had stolen my face.”
    “But you had just recently encountered another with your face—your dark angel. How did you know that the creature on the tower was not he?” Kepler asked with evident puzzlement.
    It was not a question that Will had considered up until now. “I don’t know,” he said at last, “I just knew. Such evil … it has an aura.”
    “And so you fought the creature?”
    “Yes, and thought I’d destroyed it. I cast it over the edge of the tower and then Garet used her timepiece to transport us through time to this present.”
    “And does she not still have this timepiece now?” Kepler asked.
    Will shook his head. “When we arrived here she found it was broken. Then, as we were going down the stairs of the tower, we saw Marduk’s bloody footsteps going up and we knew he’d been in the tower when we traveled in time. I hurried after him, following his footsteps out of the tower, and found them leading into an underground cavern which Garet calls ‘the Metro.’”
    “An underground transportation system,” Kepler replied. “I used it today—quite ingenious. Marduk is a creature of the dark, perhaps he has hidden underground while he recoups his strength. From what you have told me he is still weak from his centuries spent imprisoned by the fey. It is imperative that we find him before he regains all his strength. I must confess that I am surprised that you have been frittering away your time looking for an escape back in time while a monster is on the loose.”
    “But I have no idea how to find him,” Will objected, the blood rushing to his cheeks in shame.
    “And your friend, Garet? Is she out looking for this monster?”
    “I don’t know,” Will reluctantly admitted. “I’ve … misplaced her. The last place I saw her was at the bookstore next door.”
    “Ah,” Kepler said, “then we are in luck. I happen to know that this store is a message post for the fey community. No doubt your Garet has left a message for you.”
    Will looked downcast. “I already asked the clerk. There was no message. I’m afraid that Garet James has little use for me. She tells me that she is in love with my older self. She called me silly .”
    Kepler clapped him on the shoulder. “Cheer up. The messages are not left with the clerk, but upstairs on a most ingenious contraption … come, let us go look there now.” Kepler left a stack of coins on the table to settle their bill. Will was so overjoyed at the prospect of finding a note from Garet that he didn’t ask him how he had come by modern currency—but he made a note to ask him later as he followed him to the store. Inside they climbed a narrow stairway to the second floor to a small cubby that contained a red and white metal contraption that bore the alphabet printed on small round disks. It reminded Will vaguely of a machine he had once seen in a typesetter’s shop in London, but it was much smaller. On the wall above were an assortment of printed pages. His eyes were immediately drawn to Garet’s name.
    “You were right!” Will exclaimed. “She did leave me a note!” Strictly speaking the note was not addressed to him, but that must have been an oversight. “She’s gone to a place called the Institut Chronologique on the rue Saint-Jacques. I recall the street from my previous visit to Paris. It’s not far.” Will was already edging out of the narrow cubby, eager to find Garet, but Kepler placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.
    “Although I have known you only briefly, I wonder if you would not find it too forward of me to offer some advice.”
    “Certainly not,” Will readily exclaimed. “Your advice has already led me to Garet.”
    “Well then, if you find Garet now, how is your situation with her altered? As you described your interaction with her, it appears that she is … er … not entirely well disposed toward you.”
    Will had to admit that this was true.
    “But imagine how her opinion