Infinity Bell: A House Immortal Novel by Devon Monk Read Free Book Online Page A

filled a plate and bowl with food. “Family recipe,” he said, lifting the sandwich up to his mouth. “Experimental, secret, and all that.”
    “Just like everything else about your family,” she said. “Experimental, secret. And all that.”
    He chewed and tipped his hand side to side, shrugging one shoulder. Gloria just gave him a small, intimate smile.
    I took my place at the end of the table, my back to the door, and dished out my food.
    Quinten wasn’t the only one who was starving. Other than a few sips of thermos coffee, I hadn’t eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours.
    I dug in, and the conversation fell silent while Quinten and I polished off the rest of the food.
    Neds put cups down for all of us and filled them with thick black coffee.
    “Fresh cream in the icebox,” Gloria said, pointing.
    Neds retrieved that and gave us each a dollop.
    Like I’ve said, coffee isn’t my drink of choice, but the heat and caffeine was a welcome chaser to the meal.
    Neds stood near the stove, passing one cup of coffee between his hands as both Right Ned and Left Ned took turns drinking from the cup.
    “What’s the bunk situation?” Left Ned asked.
    “There are beds upstairs.” Gloria sat back in her chair with her coffee and tucked one foot up under her leg. “Plenty of room. Not a lot of privacy, I’m afraid, but clean sheets and warm blankets.”
    “A king’s accommodation, if you ask me,” Right Ned said. “Thank you. I’m turning in. Are we taking shifts to watch Abraham?”
    “I’ll do it,” I said.
    “There’s no need.” Quinten rubbed at the bridge of his nose, as if the food had reminded him of how tired he was. “He won’t wake. He won’t move until morning at least. And by then we’ll need to travel. No matter his condition. If he can’t travel, we need to find him a place to recover.”
    He paused to give me a look. I didn’t know if he meant here with Gloria or somewhere else in the city, but I had only one answer for him.
    “No. We aren’t leaving him behind. Anywhere. If Gloria is found with him, she’ll be thrown in jail. I don’t want that; you don’t want that; and I’m sure she doesn’t want that.”
    “I understand the risks,” she said.
    “No,” I said. “I won’t risk you, nor will I risk losing HouseBrown’s valuable medical resource you have here. This is too important for too many people.”
    Quinten narrowed his eyes.
    Yeah, well, he wasn’t the only person who could use logic to his advantage. And I was not wrong on this matter.
    “All right,” he said. “We’ll find a way to keep Abraham with us if we can.” He lifted one finger from around his cup to stop me from saying anything. “And we’ll make every effort to see that he heals enough to travel so we can keep him safe.”
    Left Ned grunted as he pushed off the counter and walked toward the door. “Good luck with that,” he muttered. “Ain’t any part of this world not looking to take him out. Lost cause, if you ask me.”
    “We didn’t ask,” I said after the door swung closed behind him.
    “He’s your friend?” Gloria asked me.
    “Right now he’s a man who sees a storm in every drop of rain,” I said. “Don’t mind him—he gets cranky when he doesn’t get his beauty sleep.”
    I pushed up away from the table and yawned. “I think I’d better get some sleep too. Down the hall to the stairs?”
    “Yes, it will be on your left.” Gloria said.
    “Thank you. For all you’ve done today. I appreciate your putting yourself out for us. And I’m sorry for back there, when I interrupted that kissing you two were in the middle of.”
    There was a beat of silence. One more.
    Finally Gloria chuckled, a soft, musical sound, and Quinten sighed heavily.
    “I should apologize for my sister. She seems to need to be a child about this.”
    “What?” I said with mock anger. “I wasn’t being childish. I was offering a proper apology.”
    “It’s fine,” Gloria said. “I