Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa by JG Cully Read Free Book Online Page A

Malak himself apparently
hailed from 'up north' and had a certain twang to his voice, emphasising
certain words without meaning to and using the word proper to emphasise
pretty much anything.
    He had been
hired by the Council of Peace originally purely as military muscle, but his
keen intelligence and sharp mind had brought him into the investigative
department as a full time employee.  What he initially lacked in investigative
skills he more than made up for in his ability to learn and look at situations
from a different angle.
    Though to
Victoria, he was still an idiot sometimes.  He was a man after all.
    He was a skinny
twenty four year old but tough, with darting brown eyes and the stereotypical
shaved hair of the Tornar military.  Victoria had yet to discover what its
original colour was for he always ensured it was nothing but stubble on his
scalp.  He had hawk like features with a shrewd smile and white, clean teeth.
    Handsome devil
was the best way Victoria could describe him, though never to his face.  She
didn't want to give him any ideas as she wasn't interested in a relationship. 
She had commitments to the job and couldn't allow herself to be distracted by
that certain charm he seemed to have despite being an eejit half the
time.  Or that little smile he sometimes had on when he...
    She blinked,
quickly dispelling such foolish thoughts.
    Malak favoured
her with a grin, having poked his head in through the door.
    “Bored yet?” he
asked, having seen her distracted expression.  It was a cruel question
considering he already knew the answer.
    “Get in here you
ass.” she said, casting him a pitying look.  “You look like a little lost
schoolboy.”
    “I live in the
Argon capital,” he replied, moving on into the room.  “I am lost.”
    Malak kept his
utility battle armour plate on at all times, even now in the Council of Peace
compound. Today was no exception Victoria noted as Malak entered, the leather
armour secured round his chest with a variety of straps and covered in pouches
for any amount of equipment that Victoria saw little need for.  The thick
leather belt round his middle was adorned with a Tornar punch dagger and
crossbow bolts for his favoured weapon, a K-12 repeater.  Dark green shirt and
leggings, as well as leather grieves, completed his appearance.  The only
indication that he even worked for the Council of Peace was a metal clasp
hanging from one shoulder, with the same symbol emblazoned on it as that on
Victoria's belt badge.
    He handed her a
rolled up parchment as he passed her desk.  A parchment marked with the Council
of Peace wax mark, a stylized 'CoP'.
    Victoria rolled
her eyes.  She had not even heard of the word acronym when she had joined the
organisation, let alone agreed to use it.  Why on earth did you have to call
something by its supposed acronym instead of just using its name?  Why use
'CoP' when you could just say Council of Peace? Apparently it was something
modern.  Modern rubbish to her mind.
            
    She snapped the
wax mark as Malak took a seat at his desk and started sorting through his own
paper work.  As usual Victoria's zeal put him to shame and he had work to catch
up on.
    “This is
something new,” she mused with an accompanying frown after a few moments of
speed reading.  Whilst smiling was unusual for Victoria, frowning was not.  She
was considered an expert in its application.
    “Oh?” queried
Malak, carefully signing another request for flechette crossbow bolts.  He'd
used more than a few on the last mission.
    “Suspected
vampire.”
    She looked up to
meet his look of surprise.
    “Vampire?”
    She held up the
parchment
    “It's what it
says.”
    She rolled up
the paper again and tossed it across the room to him.  He likewise digested the
information on the paper, using his own frown to indicate his distrust of the
information.  He still had to work on it but Victoria thought it was getting
better.
    “Somebody's
taking