Tell by Allison Merritt Read Free Book Online

some bald rat following me around town. First, because I don’t need you, and second because that’s not how things are done in Berner anymore.”
    Dochi bared his crooked teeth in a smile. “Dochi can be invisible.”
    â€œWhat?”
    The minion spun in a circle and disappeared. “You see, he can’t be seen.” Only the faintest shimmering outline gave away his position.
    Tell groaned. “Fine, but you so much as fart in front of a human and I’m mounting your head to my wall, got it?”
    â€œAs you wish, my lord.”

Chapter Four
    Tell wasn’t home. Naturally.
    Sylvie lit the kindling stacked in the potbellied stove and pumped water for coffee. She had to keep her mind occupied, because she couldn’t get the vision Meacham had shown her out of her head. She washed all Tell’s dishes, a sad arrangement of two metal plates, three metal cups and an assortment of mismatched silverware so tarnished she didn’t think they’d been used in years. Dust coated almost every surface of the tiny house.
    His clothes were sorted into two piles—obviously not clean and wrinkled, and possibly clean.
    She folded the cleanest pairs of denims and the least-creased shirts. His socks were beyond hopeless. The Heckmasters wanted for nothing, so it came as a surprise that he didn’t have his socks mended or buy new ones. He was the one who taught her the important of good foot hygiene by telling her stories about men wandering the Plains. How many of those tales had ended with a round of gangrene because of blisters?
    â€œWell, something good’s come out of this day.”
    Sylvie jumped and clenched a smelly sock in her fist. She spun to face him. “You know better!”
    â€œYou’re getting soft. Up until a couple of years ago, you would’ve known I’d come in.” Tell grinned, but it wasn’t full of the usual cockiness. His black eyes were still dark—worrisome because he usually healed much faster—and his skin had a sickish yellow tinge. “Looks pretty bad, huh?”
    Beneath the bruises and his slouch, he was just Tell. No signs of a horrible monster showed through. The man she’d always known and trusted met her gaze. He looked more relaxed now that he’d come inside.
    â€œYou’ll be all better by tomorrow.” A knot of dread formed in her stomach. What if Eban hadn’t fixed him properly?
    Tell nodded. “God willing. Does Rhia know where you are?”
    â€œNo. I’m hardly worried about the stigma of an unmarried woman wandering around in an unmarried man’s house.”
    â€œYou never were.” He crossed the room and took his time lowering himself onto his bed. “Did you tell him?”
    She drew in as deep a breath as her corset allowed. “He asked me to marry him.”
    Tell’s gaze shot up to hers. His dark blue irises nearly swallowed his pupils. “What did you say?”
    â€œI told him I wasn’t in love with him and we parted ways.” She toyed with one of her earrings. “He’s going to San Francisco and I’d never leave Berner. It wouldn’t have worked even if I did love him.”
    Tell hung his head. “It’s my fault. Christ, I told you to get rid of him. I never thought you’d take me seriously. When you get something in your head, you don’t let go. Jeffrey was good for you, Sylvie. He was human and if he took you away from here, you wouldn’t have to worry about demons and angels and the next crazy thing that’ll come along trying to kill us.”
    â€œYou’re stupid, Tell Heckmaster. The biggest dummy who ever lived, you know that?” She settled beside him and slipped her arms around his waist, careful of his ribs. “Since I was twelve, I’ve listened to every word that spilled from your lips. You made me promise to break things off with Jeffrey and I did. Best decision I’ve made so