Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant Read Free Book Online Page B

old, not much older. He wore a white hoodie and blue jeans.
    Messenger spotted him, drew what seemed to my ears to be a nervous breath, and sat back in the seat. He rolled down the window.
    The man in the hoodie ambled up, loose-limbed, thin and not very tall, but with that easy sense of command that spoke of great confidence and an absence of fear.
    “Daniel,” Messenger said.
    “Messenger. Mara.” Daniel leaned over, resting his forearms on the roof of the car but lowering his head enough to make eye contact with Messenger. From where I sat, I could see only the lower part of Daniel’s face.
    I was consumed by curiosity, wanting to ask Messenger just what he meant by Isthil. Had I even heard that correctly? But this new arrival—not to mention Messenger’s eternal taciturnity—made follow-up questions impossible.
    Daniel’s voice was like Messenger’s in that it seemed as if he, too, was whispering in my ear. But Messenger was serious and soft-spoken, while Daniel’s voice carried a hint that he might just possess a sense of humor.
    “Have you dealt with the Early matter yet?” Daniel asked.
    “We have begun,” Messenger said.
    “Ah, so you’re being nonlinear,” Daniel said. “I remember a time when you were a prisoner of Flatworld, Messenger.” That was perhaps some sort of joke, I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t understand it.
    Daniel’s voice grew more professional. The pleasantries were over. “Where is she in her progress?” The “she” was clearly me. Daniel indicated me with an outthrust chin.
    “She’s calmed,” Messenger said.
    “Memory?”
    “I don’t want to overload her.”
    “Ah,” Daniel said. He dropped to a squat, which let him look me in the eye. “So you have no real idea what’s going on. No idea why you’re here.”
    I shook my head.
    “And you are frightened, nervous, but also excited, I see.” He frowned and tilted his head sideways. “You are Messenger’s student, not mine, but I will tell you by way of reassurance that it will all become clear to you. In time.”
    Messenger stiffened a bit at this reassurance. I think he wanted me uncertain.
    “We had a visit,” Messenger said significantly.
    “Oh?”
    “Oriax,” Messenger said.
    The two of them exchanged hard looks at that. I would have expected a leer, a wink, a raised eyebrow, but there was none of that. No sense that they were referring to what had to be the most beautiful young woman either of them had ever or would ever encounter.
    “That’s very quick,” Daniel said. “Very quick. Who do you think she’s after?”
    “She came to us while we were on the Samantha Early matter.”
    “Oriax is not known for her directness,” Daniel said. “So it’s most likely something else. Someone else. Though, of course, she could be counting on us believing that.”
    “Can I ask a question?” I said. My voice sounded squeaky in my own ears.
    Messenger turned to look at me, and Daniel’s face went blank. He pulled back, making it clear that I was to speak only to Messenger.
    “You will have a great many questions,” Messenger said coldly. “But you will learn by observing. Later you will learn by doing. At this moment you will learn by remaining silent.”
    If I expected to find some sympathy from Daniel, I was mistaken. Messenger had shot me down, and Daniel had merely waited for it to be over.
    But I was tired of being frightened and kept in the dark. I was going to ask my question. And later, when I had other questions, I would ask those, too.
    “What is Oriax?” I asked.
    The question surprised Messenger. One eyebrow rose fractionally. “Not who? You ask ‘what’?”
    “She’s not human,” I said, surprising myself with my certainty. It had only just then come to me. The way they spoke of Oriax revealed if not fear from the two males, at least wariness. They saw something in her that I had not, which meant they knew more than I, and what they knew was that Oriax was not merely a beautiful