Covenant's End by Ari Marmell Read Free Book Online Page B

city, they really should have thought of that themsel—”
    Olgun's silent squawk of warning froze her in place, a bit more than halfway. She pressed herself tight to the stone, willing herself to be a lump of rock. Above her, a bit of scraping and slow breath suggested that one of the guards had chosen almost that exact spot to lean against the parapet and stare out into the darkness. He had no cause to glance straight down—but if, by ill chance, he did, there was nothing even Widdershins's skills could do to hide.
    Her fingers and calves began to burn, then threatened to shake. She'd intended the various nooks and crannies and imperfections in the stone to support her just long enough to catch hold of the next. Now that she was trying to support her weight at a standstill, those niches weren't nearly as large or as secure as they had been.
    â€œOlgun…”
    The tension in her digits eased with the rush of additional strength, but she'd only bought herself moments. She was just about to ask the little god to do something a bit more dramatic—make the guy think he heard something elsewhere, perhaps, or set off a nearby firearm to draw attention—when the problem solved itself. The sentry heaved a phlegmy sigh, hawked up and spit something over the edge—missing Shins by about the distance of a housefly's sneeze—and wandered off to resume his patrol.
    â€œYou're getting too old for this,” Shins whispered. Then, at Olgun's protest, “Well, one of us clearly is! And it can't be me, because I'm younger than you are!
    â€œWhat? Don't be silly; of course gods age! If you didn't, you'd be too young for this, and you're clearly not.”
    At which point Olgun firmly decided that more important things than this conversation demanded his full attention.
    Another tense moment, as Shins waited for Olgun's “all clear,” then slowly peeked over the parapet. This stretch of walkway, startlingly dark behind the focused lanterns, indeed looked and sounded empty. The young woman scrambled over and across, quite steady despite the rain-slicked stone and occasional puddle collected earlier that day, and rolled over the barrier on the opposite side. Only then, once more affixed to the wall as if glued, did she look around to get her bearings.
    â€œWhat the hopping…?!”
    At the base of the wall, more of those focused lanterns shone into Davillon, illuminating the approaching thoroughfares. Fewer than their counterparts above, a small group of guards stood watch inside the main gate, just as alert as the others, despite facing what should have been a safer direction.
    â€œYou're supposed to be able to do the impossible, yes?” Shins whispered finally. “So do it. Tell me one way this could possibly indicate anything good .”
    Olgun, as she'd anticipated, had nothing.
    â€œFigured. All right, try this one. What do you think the odds are that this isn't related to the Guild hunting for me? Because I don't think numbers actually go that low.”
    Scurrying down the rest of the way and slipping unseen into the shadows across the road proved uncomplicated enough. Just as well, really, since Shins had proved utterly incapable of keeping her mind on the task. Even as she vanished into the winding streets, leaving the wall behind, she grumbled and fretted about the mysteries surrounding her, here in this city that was feeling ever more unfamiliar and ever less like home.

    Perched on a window ledge that might well have given a cat pause—or at least required cat paws—Shins watched the small squad move on down the street below, their boot heels shouting a peculiar sort of click-splash with every step. She was only vaguely aware of chewing a lock of her hair, a habit she thought she'd shaken a year ago.
    â€œHow many patrols is that?”
    Olgun indicated there had been six.
    â€œReally?” Shins began idly peeling splinters off the edge of the rough wood