The Keepers (The Alchemy Series) by Donna Augustine Read Free Book Online

cop-out. You always have a choice.” I looked at him now and hoped my disgust was as clear and evident as I felt it.
    His pale blue eyes looked back at me. I’d never seen eyes of such a pale blue. I also saw hardness, or perhaps cynicism, in them.
    “You see things in black and white because you’re young.”
    “Don’t you even try to lecture me. You just had someone try to kill me for doing nothing. If not understanding that is a fault of youth, then you can keep the wisdom you gained in that extra ten years, Mr. Older and Wiser. You’re a joke.”
    Any softness I thought I had glimpsed quickly disappeared. He stood and looked at me now with harshness. “I wish I had the option of making choices only for myself. I can’t be that selfish. Maybe when you grow up you’ll understand that.”
    “Yes, when I hit thirty and I know it all, I’m sure I’ll understand, then.”
    “Don’t you even want to know what you are? Or are you too stubborn to even admit that you ’re clueless?” he asked. He was staring at me intently and it was making every cell of my being feel more alive and intense than I’d ever felt in my life. That made me hate him even more.
    “I know exactly what I am.” I looked across the room, staring at the expanse of Vegas in its fully lit glory.
    “You have no idea. And what’s worse, you’ll sit here in ignorance rather than temper your pride,” he said scornfully, still watching me. “Your records before age eighteen are nonexistent. What’s your real name?”
    I started to fidget and stopped myself, but I couldn’t stop my palms from sweating or from breathing erratically. I’d always had nerves of steel, but I had just reached my maximum. “I’m not staying here all night with you. Either shoot me , again, or let me go. Since you people can’t even seem to kill a person correctly, it might be easier just to let me go. Unless of course you want to try bungling it a few more times?” I could feel my control slipping. I needed to get away from here before I lost it completely.
    The jerk had the nerve to laugh at my last comment.
    “I can’t just let you walk out of here. I can’t have you repeat what you saw.”
    “I won’t.” I jumped at the sliver of hope and was instantly annoyed with myself. He was probably just toying with me. I stood uneasily, and slowly made my way over to the window on shaky legs. I stared at the lights of Vegas that always called to me. I needed to get my nerves under control. My head was pounding so hard, it was difficult to think straight.
    “Perhaps you won’t. I have a feeling you don’t say much to anyone. I’m having your blood run now to confirm what I think you are. When that comes back, we’ll discuss what is going to happen.” He turned back to Buzz and Dodd who were still standing next to the computer on the other side of the large room. I didn’t know if they’d been listening, but I suspected they had.
    “Dodd, get the sample taken care of. Buzz, go make sure that the other issue is handled and make our apologies,” Hawking told them.
    I watched them leave, and I knew I was alone in the place with Hawking. I wasn’t sure if this improved my odds, or worsened them, because of all the people I’d ever met in my life, he rattled me worse than anyone. That said a lot. I’d met some pretty bad people.
    “Do you want to take a shower?” he asked now that we were alone.
    My knee jerk reaction was that he had just sexually propositioned me. Then I caught a glimpse of a bloodstain in the reflection of the window, and I realized what I looked like. I lifted my hand to my hair and felt clumps matted together. I looked down and saw that my blood had caked on the skin of my chest, and for the first time, I realized that they had really shot me. How was I even alive? I felt for a gash in my head, but there was nothing. I clearly remembered the shooting pain right before I blacked out. My hands started to tremble uncontrollably, and I