Rise of the Darklings by Paul Crilley Read Free Book Online Page A

her.
    “Does that mean you don’t want to know that Ravenhill found out where I live? That he took a small satchel that
someone”
—she glared at Corrigan—“left in my pocket?”
    Corrigan sat bolt upright. “What are you talking about?”
    “Your satchel. You left it in my pocket.”
    “And Ravenhill got it?” demanded Merrian.
    Emily nodded. Merrian stepped around the counter and knelt in front of Emily. His head still towered far above hers. “Girl, this is very important. Does Ravenhill still have the satchel?”
    “What’s so important about it?”
    “None of your business,” snapped Corrigan.
    “Oh, really?” Emily shot back. “Well, if it’s none of my business, maybe I should just be going.”
    “Wait,” said Merrian. “What’s in the satchel is important, Emily. It’s why the Black Sidhe were chasing Corrigan.”
    “Why I’m the only one left alive while all my friends are dead,” Corrigan added.
    “Does Ravenhill still have it?” repeated Merrian.
    Emily sighed. “No. I grabbed it back from him.”
    She fished out the satchel and handed it over to Merrian. He held it up and breathed a sigh of relief. “You have no idea,” he said softly, “how much trouble we would all be in if the Order got hold of this.”
    “Why?” asked Emily. “What does it do?”
    “That, I cannot tell you.”
    Emily hated people keeping secrets from her. She tried to hide her disappointment as Merrian handed the satchel across to Corrigan.
    “Tell me, lass,” he said, turning his attention back to Emily, “did you notice anything strange when you traveled here?”
    “Strange? Like what?”
    Merrian gently pushed her to the door. “What do you see?”
    Emily looked outside. “People. Gray clouds. Wet streets. Horses. Carriages.”
    “You’re not
looking
, Emily. How did you find this shop? Because you shouldn’t have been able to. It has a glamour cast over it. When you came here, you were walking throughthe streets, the way you normally do. But when you got close, what happened?”
    Emily shrugged. “I imagined the shop in my head. I knew I was on the right street, so I just tried to remember where it was.” Emily was unsure what Merrian wanted her to say. “I knew it had to be here, and it was.”
    “Try and get back into that frame of mind,” said Merrian. “Then look outside again. Carefully, this time.”
    Emily tried to think about how she found the shop. She had felt distracted, because most of her thoughts were on Ravenhill, but in the back of her mind, she had still been thinking about the shop. She tried to repeat the feeling now, letting her mind drift, but still focusing on Merrian’s words. Then she looked at the people walking along the street, their heads down to the ground as they hurried about their business. She saw nothing unusual.
    But then she realized this wasn’t true. As she watched, it was as though people, previously hidden to her, somehow
faded
into view. Only, that wasn’t right. They had always been there, she just hadn’t been able to see them. Her eyes simply … 
skipped
over them.
    They were the fey, walking along the street as if they didn’t have a care in the world. And the normal, ordinary Londoners couldn’t see them. They walked right past them without giving them so much as a second look.
    A man walked past with a bag of coal over his shoulder. The bag bulged and moved, as if a cat or some other animal were inside. But then a small head poked up out of the bag, and another, and another: three small olive-skinned creatures were stealing a ride. A woman approached Emily, her skin white as freshly poured milk. As she passed by, Emily saw that the back of her body was entirely hollow, like a scooped-out doll.
    Emily turned to watch her go, amazed.
    “I was right,” said Merrian, satisfaction heavy in his voice. “You’re a True Seer.”
    She glanced at Merrian. “A what?”
    “A True Seer. Some of your people have the ability to see through