Waylaid Read Online Free PDF
Author: Kim Harrison
911 to Bill, and someone would be out here in five minutes. Problem solved.
But when her hand landed on Rachel’s shoulder, Peri froze, her vision wavering with a rainbow of red and blue. Hazed in the thick of it was a man sitting cross-legged opposite Rachel. He had wide shoulders and was wearing a vintage Victorian-green velvet suit, lace at his neck and wrists. Peri’s pulse raced as his eyes met hers and widened in surprise. They were red, the pupils slit like a goat’s. “Y-you’re . . .” Peri stammered, not sure if he was real or not. It felt as if she were rewriting time, but there was only one timeline playing out in her head. Only one.
The man’s cupped hands were extended, Rachel’s hands wrapping around them. “Curious,” he said, his cultured British voice echoing in Peri’s head as his thin lips moved, and then he faded away.
Peri let go and backed up, shocked when Rachel brought her cupped hands to her middle, her head down as she opened them up and whispered, “Jenks?”
Leaning forward, Peri saw a crumpled mass of gauze and glimmer. And then it moved.
“Holy pixy piss,” a tiny voice said as the glow faded into a four-inch man. “I feel worse than the time I tried to fly coach in a 747.”
Peri dropped to her knees beside Rachel, unable to look away from his sharply angled, tiny face, his tousled yellow curly hair, and his perfectly proportioned body dressed in a multicolored, tight-fitting body stocking. But that was nothing to her shock at his dragonfly wings carefully folded against Rachel’s cupped hands. “How did you do that?” Peri whispered, and the small winged man stood, wobbly on Rachel’s hands.
“I’m magic, babe,” he said, cocky as he stretched his wings. “I could fly through a keyhole backward, and that’s kind of what I feel like I did.” He cocked his head and frowned at Rachel’s huge smile. “I can’t smell anyone. You’re right. It’s all humans.”
“You’re okay?” Rachel gushed, an odd hunch to her as if she were afraid she might hurt him, but was trying to protect him all the same. “How’s the mystic population? Jenks, can you fly?”
Peri’s pulse was fast, as if she couldn’t seem to get enough air. Had someone hit her with a hallucinogenic dart? Maybe she’d finally snapped. This can’t be real.
Jenks put his hands on his hips, wings clattering even as he didn’t move. “The mystic population here is low, really low, and scattered. I don’t think they even know they’re a collective.”
“It’s a fairy!” Peri finally blurted, scrambling back as the winged man rose up into the air, trailing faint silver dust that pooled on Rachel’s hands.
“I’m a pixy!” he said, threatening to poke her. “Or Jenks, to you. Get it straight, lunker, or wake up dead.”
Peri stared, fascinated at the glimmer of silver that spilled from him like silk. But then he faltered, and Rachel reached out, giving him somewhere safe to fall to. “Whoa,” Jenks said as he picked himself up off Rachel’s palm. “It’s like there’s no oxygen. The mystic level is really low. These guys need to start talking to each other, or I’m never going to stay in the air.”
The click of a phone pulled Peri’s attention away. Rachel, too, noticed the growing crowd around them, drawn by a glimmer of dust and Jenks’s sarcastic, high-pitched voice. Hands curving around Jenks, Rachel smoothly got to her feet. “We have to go,” she said softly, and Peri rose as well.
“Where did you get it?” someone asked, and Peri grimaced at the video being taken. Opti would remove it, but she didn’t like it when they had to clean her image from the Web.
“Ah, Cincinnati,” Peri said, and Rachel seemed to start. “It works through your glass phone, but you need version eight. It’s a 3-D holo. You should see the one that looks like a unicorn.”
Rachel relaxed, but Peri could hear tiny complaints coming from her cupped and covered hands. Peri took
But when her hand landed on Rachel’s shoulder, Peri froze, her vision wavering with a rainbow of red and blue. Hazed in the thick of it was a man sitting cross-legged opposite Rachel. He had wide shoulders and was wearing a vintage Victorian-green velvet suit, lace at his neck and wrists. Peri’s pulse raced as his eyes met hers and widened in surprise. They were red, the pupils slit like a goat’s. “Y-you’re . . .” Peri stammered, not sure if he was real or not. It felt as if she were rewriting time, but there was only one timeline playing out in her head. Only one.
The man’s cupped hands were extended, Rachel’s hands wrapping around them. “Curious,” he said, his cultured British voice echoing in Peri’s head as his thin lips moved, and then he faded away.
Peri let go and backed up, shocked when Rachel brought her cupped hands to her middle, her head down as she opened them up and whispered, “Jenks?”
Leaning forward, Peri saw a crumpled mass of gauze and glimmer. And then it moved.
“Holy pixy piss,” a tiny voice said as the glow faded into a four-inch man. “I feel worse than the time I tried to fly coach in a 747.”
Peri dropped to her knees beside Rachel, unable to look away from his sharply angled, tiny face, his tousled yellow curly hair, and his perfectly proportioned body dressed in a multicolored, tight-fitting body stocking. But that was nothing to her shock at his dragonfly wings carefully folded against Rachel’s cupped hands. “How did you do that?” Peri whispered, and the small winged man stood, wobbly on Rachel’s hands.
“I’m magic, babe,” he said, cocky as he stretched his wings. “I could fly through a keyhole backward, and that’s kind of what I feel like I did.” He cocked his head and frowned at Rachel’s huge smile. “I can’t smell anyone. You’re right. It’s all humans.”
“You’re okay?” Rachel gushed, an odd hunch to her as if she were afraid she might hurt him, but was trying to protect him all the same. “How’s the mystic population? Jenks, can you fly?”
Peri’s pulse was fast, as if she couldn’t seem to get enough air. Had someone hit her with a hallucinogenic dart? Maybe she’d finally snapped. This can’t be real.
Jenks put his hands on his hips, wings clattering even as he didn’t move. “The mystic population here is low, really low, and scattered. I don’t think they even know they’re a collective.”
“It’s a fairy!” Peri finally blurted, scrambling back as the winged man rose up into the air, trailing faint silver dust that pooled on Rachel’s hands.
“I’m a pixy!” he said, threatening to poke her. “Or Jenks, to you. Get it straight, lunker, or wake up dead.”
Peri stared, fascinated at the glimmer of silver that spilled from him like silk. But then he faltered, and Rachel reached out, giving him somewhere safe to fall to. “Whoa,” Jenks said as he picked himself up off Rachel’s palm. “It’s like there’s no oxygen. The mystic level is really low. These guys need to start talking to each other, or I’m never going to stay in the air.”
The click of a phone pulled Peri’s attention away. Rachel, too, noticed the growing crowd around them, drawn by a glimmer of dust and Jenks’s sarcastic, high-pitched voice. Hands curving around Jenks, Rachel smoothly got to her feet. “We have to go,” she said softly, and Peri rose as well.
“Where did you get it?” someone asked, and Peri grimaced at the video being taken. Opti would remove it, but she didn’t like it when they had to clean her image from the Web.
“Ah, Cincinnati,” Peri said, and Rachel seemed to start. “It works through your glass phone, but you need version eight. It’s a 3-D holo. You should see the one that looks like a unicorn.”
Rachel relaxed, but Peri could hear tiny complaints coming from her cupped and covered hands. Peri took
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