Splinter (Whisper Walker Series) by London Cole Read Free Book Online

clearing in the woods. The moonlight filtered down and lightly bathed everything.
    I held in a smile. “Nothing. Just a varmint. Nothing to worry about.”
    She seemed to relax a little in the moonlight. “Okay. Wait, it’s sniffing at my foot! Get it away!” She nearly screamed.
    It took everything in me not to fall to the ground in hysterical laughter. Of course, getting bitten by something like a big rat could be lethal in this setting.
    Some animals didn’t show any signs of sickness or mutation, but still carried the infections and toxins in their system that could be released through their saliva in a bite. So even though it was funny to see Kelsie panic over such a small animal, it was a valid concern.
    I pulled out a knife and threw it at the large rat-like creature that my father had always referred to as “the rat-rabbit from hell,” whatever that was. The handle of my knife slammed the animal in the head and shocked it. I frowned.
    “Nice throw. Didn’t even have to kill it,” Kelsie said.
    I tried to look like it had been intentional. In reality, I was irritated with myself. Normally I’d use a straight-style throw for something that was hard to judge the distance of in the low light. But since I was throwing at a downward angle, I’d used a traditional rotational throw because it tended to be more accurate, though I didn’t use it very often. The knife had been intended to hit the varmint with the blade, not the hilt. That meant I’d guessed the rotation wrong. Embarrassing. Even if Kelsie didn’t know that hadn’t been my intent, I still knew. I grumbled quietly to myself. I was going to have to work on that.
    “What was that? Couldn’t hear you,” Kelsie said.
    I cleared my throat. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
    With a backward glance over my shoulder at the still twitching–but otherwise unharmed–animal, I wished Kelsie would learn to take care of herself. How she’d survived the span of woods from the Briln Water Guild to the Sven when she was twelve was beyond me. I wasn’t always going to be around to protect her from curious varmints. Maybe I needed to start teaching her how to defend herself.
    We kept walking for a few minutes, me leading the way and having to remember to hold on to branches that I pushed past so they wouldn’t hit Kelsie. It felt so weird not being alone out here.
    “Halt!” A baritone voice cut through the dark as we neared the Gate to the Sven Guild.
    We pulled up to a stop, and I let out a loud sigh. Every time they got a new guard we went through this. The regular guards knew me by sight and knew that I came and went at all hours of the night for my work as what they called a “Hunter.” The average guildsmen were constrained to a curfew. Most weren’t even let outside the Gates without a guide or having filed the proper paperwork due to the danger.
    “Who goes there?” the guard called out, far louder than necessary.
    “Acquisitions Specialist Drake Adair and Kelsie,” I responded, fishing in my pockets.
    “Put your hands where I can see them. What were you just reaching for?”
    I could faintly see Kelsie roll her eyes by the flash of white. I suppressed a grin. “My keycard.”
    “Oh, uh…it’s hard to see you out of the light. Please step forward so I can see you better.”
    The guard couldn’t be any more inexperienced. Obviously. How they let him have a shift at this Gate alone at night was beyond me. We edged slowly into the light, keeping our hands visible. The guard may be green, but his gun would still shoot very real bullets.
    “Jonas! That’s Drake! Everyone knows Drake!” I heard a familiar voice call out from behind the Gate, scolding the young guard.
    Okay, so I guess he wasn’t alone.
    “Let them through, and stop holding your rifle like that, you look like an idiot.”
    The voice drew nearer as a shadow passed in front of the Gate. The Gate was pushed open and held there. Shaking my head, I motioned Kelsie to lead the way. She