A Temporal Trust (The Temporal Book 2) by CJ Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

not verbal—it could not be. But the bird’s eyes spoke far more than mere words ever could.
    The edges of Kaileen’s lips turned downward. “The three were released.”
    The magnificent animal shifted its stance, locking its talons onto a thicker portion of the branch.
    “They spoke our secrets to the Temporal.”
    In a rush of fury, Kaileen flew back inside, her pace slowing to a trot when entering the room. She grabbed the lantern and immediately flung it at the three huddling together. There would be no appeal, no advocate for their lives.
    Through shards of broken glass, the flame consumed as if the Nephloc had been doused with gasoline. Fire instantly covered the three screaming figures. The dark cloaks were eaten up by the flames, revealing their naked bodies. The little skin wrinkled and turned black. They fell to the ground, resembling a dying spider pulling itself into a ball. Bone, falling and failing, was no stronger against the flame than cloth or flesh.
    It lasted only a few seconds before the last voice was silenced. A few additional seconds of silence later, the flame also died, taking every trace of the three Nephloc with it.
    All that remained were their shadows on the floor.
    She turned back to the fourth Nephloc. She saw it was smiling. “Come here.”
    The creature dropped the smile. In an instant, it had fallen to a embryonic position and was sobbing loudly.
    Again, her hand reached out with her fingers wide. As she drew them in, the Nephloc was pulled to her.
    “Stand up, you fool. I have something for you to do.”
    Her hand jerked, pulling the creature up as a puppet slaved to its invisible strings. It looked up at her face. Instead of pure anger, it saw something else. She even had a smile.
    “My poor, pitiable child,” she said as she moved to the still shaking—but now standing—Nephloc. “Do this for me and all will be forgiven. I will even make you Perazim.”
    The shaking stopped, but it kept its head low. “Lady, what isss required?”
    She leaned in. With both hands, she removed the Nephloc’s hood. Her hands moved forward, gently caressing an extant section of skin on its cheek. Before the creature could understand what was happening, she locked her lips onto what remained of its, kissing the terrified creature as passionately as lovers reunited after an extended absence.
    She stepped back; it just stood there.
    “You will return to the Temporal. There, you will befriend our enemies.”

Chapter Seven
    After leaving the president, the group was driven a few miles to an underground parking lot. They followed Dr. Bracker through a series of corridors and out to a service entrance. From there, they were escorted through a short but thorough security check that led to a nondescript elevator. Sam saw no indication of how many floors it served or even which floor the elevator was currently on.
    Dr. Bracker presented his credentials to the two guards in front of the elevator. Instead of going up, the down light lit. Seconds later, they were an unknown number of floors underground. The elevator stopped, but the doors didn’t open until Dr. Bracker swiped a card suspended from a retractable cord on his belt and then pressed a few buttons on a keypad attached to the wall panel.
    The elevator opened up to a room with a long table that could easily seat a dozen people on either side. As the president had promised, there were only four men waiting for them in the room. Sam recognized one man to be Lieutenant Harrison who had been instrumental in setting up the trap. The other three men were a mystery to him, but by their dress, they were all important men.
    A large man in full dress uniform next to the lieutenant stood up and approached Marcus, smiling with a hand extended.
    These were the men the president had handpicked to coordinate the operations, his most trusted military advisors. These also would soon represent the majority of humanity who knew of the Temporal’s existence.
    As