The Watcher's Eyes (The Binders Game Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

could see how the paper could have been coated with evanshaff, and could appreciate why the Binders would use it. Were one of their notes stolen, whoever had taken it wouldn’t get very far before the oil would penetrate the skin.
    “I can see that you’re familiar with it,” she said.
    I shrugged, and looked around. I wasn’t surprised that Carth had brought me to my home, or that she had somehow managed to get inside in spite of everything that I’d done to make just such a break-in difficult.
    “You have an interesting collection here, Galen of Elaeavn,” Carth said.
    She stood near the table I used to create my darts and mix the oils used in them. Three shallow shelves atop the table held my collection. Some I harvested on my own, while others were purchased from the local apothecary. It limited me to more creative uses for some common herbs, but then again, Isander had trained me well.
    “More interesting than it had been,” I said. Without Carth’s coin, I would have been even more limited. With her gold, I’d been able to order terad, my preferred powder, and one I could mix into water or oils and load my darts. Terad didn’t grow around Eban and importing it had proven expensive, but I hadn’t found a suitable alternative. It worked quickly and had only a few known antidotes.
    “Yes, I hear that you’ve been busy.”
    I breathed out and stretched. “Tell me, Carth, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
    She turned away from my table. Carth was a tall woman, and lean, and moved with strength and grace that was nearly animal-like. She smiled at me in a flash of teeth. “I think it was you who visited, Galen of Elaeavn.”
    “I didn’t know where else to bring her.”
    Carth tipped her head. “And even with our healers, she would not have survived without your sacrifice. You continue to surprise me.”
    “She is a good woman,” I said.
    “Not a lover?”
    I shook my head. “Talia? No. She is only a friend.”
    “She knows what you do?” I nodded at the question. “Does she know that I am in the city?”
    I knew better than to lie to Carth. Likely she’d know if I did. “She knows.”
    “And how does our game go?”
    The sudden change of topic was dizzying, especially with the lingering effects of the evanshaff. “For now, you hold the advantage,” I said. I didn’t know how long Orly would allow that to remain. I suspected he worked to change that as quickly as he could.
    Carth chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. “Do you believe that, or is that what you think I want to hear?”
    I managed to stand and leaned on my knees for support. “Why are you still here?”
    “You object to my presence?”
    Carth was one of the few people in the city I’d met who had not struggled to stop me. When Orly had assigned me the task of capturing her, I had thought it a simple task. Only later did I learn how difficult that would truly be, and how much more skilled Carth was compared to me.
    “Let’s not call it an objection, only that I know better than to think you’re here for my benefit.”
    “I would not have you perish in the street.”
    I grunted and made it to the window and pushed it open. Fresh, cool air pressed out the stale air from inside the room and I took a deep breath, feeling somewhat more invigorated. “How is she?” I asked. I assumed that since Carth knew what happened to Talia, and assumed that in the time that I’d been out—especially if it was up to eight hours, as she said—that she would have learned whether Talia would recover. The blood should have helped by now.
    “She will survive.”
    I took another deep breath and nodded. “Why was she attacked?”
    “That is not of your concern,” Carth said.
    I turned to her. “No? She was carrying something given to her by a woman in the Brite Pot and was attacked moments after leaving me, left to die in the street. What would have happened had I not come across her?”
    Carth stood in front of me. She radiated