Welsh Road (The Depravity Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that Jena decided not to search for her badge. She
didn’t need to know the lady’s name that badly, so she mentally referred to her
as Busty.
    “It’s unlikely
that there is a trigger in this situation, Cindy,” Anish observed.
    Ah, so Cindy was
her name. Jena figured she’d stick with her new name. Busty.
    Officer Mullins
nodded, as if Anish’s statement closed the door on their investigation. At
least for tonight. Jena wondered how Anish had this kind of sway. Who was this
mysterious man? Just as she asked herself these questions, Anish winked at her.
    Oh, crap. He
reads minds, too? she
assumed anxiously. What other special powers does this guy have? She
found that she didn’t want to spend much time thinking about that. Moving on.
    “…any kind of
certain detail can let loose the floodgate,” Busty was saying. God, she was
like a dog with a bone. Jena tried to ignore her. As she focused on the officer
keeping quiet, Busty began clearing her throat. The more intensely Jena focused
on Busty being unable to speak, the worse the coughing became. At first it was subtle;
she continued to discuss the overrated floodgates. But then, after another
thirty seconds or so, the violent coughing fits began.
    Another minute
passed. Officer Busty was now coughing blood into the palm of her hand. Jena
felt a strange sensation in her head. It wasn’t a headache exactly. It was more
like her brain was tired. Somehow she knew she was responsible for Busty’s
incessant coughing. Panic swam through Jena’s stomach.
    God, you’re an
idiot, she
scolded herself. You don’t have magical powers . This whole night had
just been too surreal. And scary.
    Anish gave Jena
a severe look, almost as if he was scolding her. Stop telepathically messing
with the cop, young lady , he seemed to say. He quickly walked the stricken
officer out of the room. Everyone waited in tense silence as they overheard Busty’s
continued hacking. As strangely as the coughing fits had arrived, they exited
stage right just as quickly. When they came back into the room, Busty’s face
was red.
    “Sorry about the
interruption,” she said, obviously embarrassed and frustrated. She was lightly
caressing her throat with her fingers. She stood over Jena to bring home her
point. “I am not pleased with our conversation.”
    “Well I am not
pleased with your presumptiveness,” Jena’s father Hank said. She could tell he
had slipped into lawyer speak, being the successful assistant district attorney
that he was. “I think she’s had enough for one night. Besides, aren’t you from
Crimson Falls? This is out of your jurisdiction.”
    “That’s enough
for tonight,” Officer Mullins interjected, standing up from his chair. He gave
a firm nod to Busty. “We’ll be back in the morning,” he said flatly. Clearly,
he was disappointed. Jena couldn’t blame him. They were leaving with the same
information they had before they arrived: nothing. She had to protect herself.
It wouldn’t take them long to sedate her if she started babbling about a demented
birdman. They’d transfer her to the loony bin if she so much as mentioned Welsh
Road. She seriously doubted that the cops could do something about that kind of
thing anyway. If it was even real, of course, and not some random
hallucination. Little did she know, the police force in Crimson Falls had
learned the hard way about what happens when you ignore clues, especially if
they point in supernatural directions.
    Jena waited
until Officers Mullins and Busty were long gone before she addressed the matter
that was burning a hole in her brain. The proverbial million dollar question. She
looked solemnly at Anish. “The blood…the blood you said I was covered in?”
    Anish nodded. He
appeared more tired than he had before he escorted Busty out of the room during
her “episode.” Jena’s parents were huddled together in one of the chairs beside
her bed, distant and withdrawn.
    “Nicholas…was
the blood on me his?