Marcii (The Dreadhunt Trilogy Book 1) by Ross Turner Read Free Book Online Page B

truth…”
                  “Thank you.” Marcii replied immediately, though she was unsure what else she could say.
                  “How did you find him there?” She asked next.
    Her violet eyes searched Marcii’s face as she spoke, looking for every subtle hint that they could find. Not that Malorie relied on her eyes all that much for such things.
                  “Vixen showed me.” Marcii replied immediately, as if that made perfect sense.
                  “Vixen?” Malorie questioned, raising one eyebrow behind her perfect black fringe.
                  “She’s an orphan…” Marcii tried to explain. “At least, I think she is…”
                  “You think?” Malorie pressed, wondering who in the world this Vixen character was, and how she had come to know such a terrible thing.
                  “She’s never spoken of parents…” Marcii attempted. “She’s only young. Eight? Nine? Something like that. I don’t know how she knew Midnight was in there…”
                  “Do you think she was involved?” Malorie asked, and quite directly at that.
                  “I should hope not!” Marcii replied, her words adamant once again.
                  “I doubt she would have been…” Malorie mused aloud.
                  “Why?” Marcii asked, seizing her chance to ask the questions.
                  “Midnight was the only survivor.” Malorie explained. “I doubt an orphan child would have stood much chance.”
                  “What chance would an elderly, deaf, dumb man stand?” Marcii questioned, and Malorie smiled in response.
                  “Good point.” She replied, inclining her head slightly. “What chance indeed?”
                  “What about you?” Marcii suddenly asked, and Malorie returned her gaze blankly for a moment.
                  “What about me?” She repeated.
                  “Do you have a family?” Marcii elaborated, realising all at once she’d been more than a little ambiguous in her question, and that her tenuous link from the mystery of Vixen’s parenthood had not been all that clear.
                  “I used to…” Malorie replied and her eyes wandered off into the distance for a moment or two, lost in a memory. “I had my mother, and my brother…” She continued.
    Marcii sat by in silence, intrigued by the mysterious woman’s words.
    She had never really asked Malorie such a direct question before, and she didn’t know why now, all of a sudden, she felt so obliged to do so.
    “But not anymore…” Malorie sighed. “All I have now is Reaper…”
    “Reaper?” Marcii breathed, admittedly a little afraid even at the name of which Malorie spoke.
    “He’s all I have left in the world…” She elaborated vaguely. “But even so, I haven’t seen him for so long…”
    “Why?” Marcii questioned, frowning slightly. “If he’s all you’ve got left, why don’t you see him?”
    Malorie didn’t speak for a moment, and instead only looked on at Marcii with her striking violet eyes, filled with pain and loss and regret.
    “I can’t.” She breathed, and her words were bathed in sadness. “It’s too dangerous…”

Chapter Nine
     
     
                  Things were getting desperately out of hand.
                  Marcii didn’t even need to look upon the solemn faces of their neighbours to see that, once again, something was dreadfully wrong.
                  There was organised chaos in the streets, but somehow also a silent agreement and understanding that emanated all around, as Marcii stepped out onto the cobblestoned ground and made her way nervously towards the square.
                  Townsfolk moved about with much more urgency than usual, but until she