Unperfect Souls Read Online Free PDF

and nodded. “Of course, you will. That’s exactly what I want. You may not do what I want, but you will do what you think needs doing. So far, that’s worked in my favor.”
    “Really? How?”
    He laughed, low and raspy. “Because we’re not all dead, are we?”
    I chuckled. “I guess that’s as good an answer as any.”
    “Damn right. Tibbet will give you a way to reach me.”
    “What if I decide not to do it?” I asked.
    Eagan shrugged. “Then you don’t. Part of what I’m relying on is your judgment, Grey. It’s an issue of trust for both of us.”
    I nodded. “Okay.”
    Eagan’s smile broadened. “It was a pleasure to see you.”
    I bowed cordially. “And you, sir.”
    I walked the wide expanse of carpet to the door. Eagan called my name, and I paused at the door. He fussed with the covers on the bed, not looking at me. “When you see your friend Murdock, you should ask him with whom he’s been sleeping,” he said.

3
     
     
     
     
    House staff threw me curious looks as I paused outside the Guildmaster’s door. Whatever his intention, Eagan’s comment amused more than angered me. Implying anything about Murdock didn’t cut much ice with me. I knew where I stood with him. He told me what he wanted to tell me, and we were comfortable with that. Occasionally, my curiosity got the better of me, and I pried. Murdock was a big boy. He ignored it.
    I descended the stairs into the shadowed grand hall. Maeve glared from her portrait, influencing events from across the ocean. She was like one of those giant planets that smaller satellites scurried around. Most large planets were big balls of gas if I remembered rightly.
    On the bottom step, movement near the fireplace caught my eye. Moira Cashel strolled across the hall, the provocative smile she’d worn in Eagan’s bedroom still on her face. “Will you be coming to the Solstice party?”
    The major highlight of the fey social calendar was Eagan’s Winter Solstice celebration. When I was a top agent for the Guild, my attendance was a given. The last couple of years, my invitation seemed to have been lost in the mail. “The hall doesn’t look like a party’s going to happen.”
    She stopped a few feet away, her hands clasped behind her back. “Oh, I heard the staff talking. It’s planned. Will you be coming?”
    I smiled politely. “I’ll have to see.”
    She moved closer and ran her hand along the lapel of my coat. “I seem to remember a young man who liked parties.”
    I glanced down at the hand on my coat. “Excuse me?”
    Her eyes shone with amusement. “Oh, come now, Connor. Don’t tell me you don’t sense me in your memory.”
    With closed eyes, she rose on her toes and kissed me. Surprised, I stumbled back against the elephant. “What the hell, lady?” I said.
    She threw her head back and laughed. A chill went up my spine as the sound stirred an old memory. Her face blurred and shifted, her dark hair lightening to a pale brunette, and her face narrowed. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember Amy, Connor.”
    She held her hands on her hips, an old familiar smile twisted into a smirk.
    I wasn’t buying it. “What kind of game is this? Who the hell are you?”
    She released the glamour and resumed her real face and former dark hair color. Cashel chuckled. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d get a kick out of the surprise. It really is me, Connor, Amy Sullivan. Actually, Amy Sullivan was really me. I couldn’t believe it when you walked into that room.”
    I frowned. “Forgive me, but you don’t think I believe for a minute that Amy Sullivan was the Queen’s Herbalist.”
    She giggled. “I wouldn’t believe that either, now that you mention it. I wasn’t the Queen’s Herbalist back then, silly. What can I do to prove it to you?”
    I shrugged. “Nothing. This is some game Maeve is playing.”
    A crease formed on her forehead. “What interest would Maeve have in you?”
    I moved toward the door. “Now I’m really not