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

glared at the new guy as we brushed past him. He looked sheepishly at me before looking down.
    I saw a girl around my age rubbing her eyes sleepily in the doorway to the guard shack. She waved at me as Kelsie and I walked past. I smirked and nodded my head in the direction of the new guy and shook my head. She rolled her eyes and nodded but didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to, it was obvious from her earlier comments that we’d overheard what she thought of this guy.

    There wasn’t a single person in the streets since it was late and past the average guildsman’s curfew. We got back to our house sometime late in the night.
    Being ever the gentleman, I let Kelsie shower first. While she was showering, I plopped down on the couch and kicked my feet up on the coffee table.
    “Get your feet off the table, sleepy head!” Kelsie exclaimed loudly in my ear, smacking my shoulder and jarring me awake.
    With a yawn, I pressed my palms into my eyes before looking at her.
    “Nice of you to finally finish your shower. Could you’ve taken any longer? Jeez.” I delivered my best glare. I think it lost part of its impact when it was punctuated with another large yawn. I wasn’t actually mad or anything, just felt like messing with her.
    “Uh-huh. Right. You look like you were coping just fine out here sound asleep. If I’d known you were asleep, I would’ve taken a longer one! Now, get your butt in there and go to bed.”
    She punctuated that by attempting to roll me off the couch with a shove. I had no other option than to get to my feet or risk landing roughly on the floor.
    After my shower, I fell into bed, wishing I could catch up on the sleep I’d been missing from the last few days. I knew I couldn’t since I had to get up and meet the Council for lunch. While there, I knew I needed to say something to the Upper Council about the Briln being on our land.
    Kelsie headed to her room to pass out. It seemed I had just fallen asleep when I felt someone climb into bed with me. I was about to crack an eye open, but then I recognized the scent of her.
    “Kelsie? What are you doing?”
    She answered in a soft voice close to my ear, “I couldn’t sleep. We had an interesting night, and I’m still wound up. Can I sleep in your bed?” She finished it with the cutest tone I think I’ve ever heard a girl use. How could I say no to that?
    “No. You have your own bed.” I rolled onto my back but still didn’t open my eyes. I felt her smack my side.
    “Jerk. I just thought I’d sleep better not being alone. Fine, I’ll go and leave you to be lonely in this big bed.” The bed shook like she was making movements to climb out.
    I reached out my arm, grasping at anything with my hand. “Oh, all right. If you must.” I finally got a hold of her arm, after accidentally grabbing something that was definitely not her arm, and pulled her back.
    “Okay,” she said, sounding far too chipper for how I felt.
    I started to fall back to sleep. A couple minutes later I felt her scoot over against me. She draped an arm across me and rested her head on my chest. I put my arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze. It felt really good with her there, against me. Comfortable. Like two pieces to a puzzle, we fit together. Kelsie hadn’t slept in bed with me for years, not since she’d quit having nightmares about her father.
    I was almost passed out again when Kelsie lifted her head and spoke quietly, “Drake, are you awake?”
    “Nope,” I mumbled. “Not even almost.”
    “What did you see earlier, when you were staring so intently at the invisible skulls? You seemed a little bit worried. I mean, aside from being able to see a pit full of bodies that weren’t there.”
    I sighed then tilted my chin down and kissed the top of her head. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
    “Drake. Come on. Tell me. I’m not going to shut up until you do.” She dug her chin hard into my chest, grinding muscles sharply beneath her chin.