The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld by K. N. Lee, Ann Wicker Read Free Book Online Page B

She would have felt ashamed in the midst of these unfortunate people.
     
    Halston stopped the car and they stepped out into the sunset. Halston closed the door and looked over the car at her. “Are you ready?”
     
    Koa nodded quickly. “I am. I’ve been waiting to finally meet her.” She smiled and Halston did the same.
     
    “Good. She has been looking forward to meeting you too. Don’t forget that she can be dangerous though.”
     
    “Please, she’s a sweet old lady,” Koa replied as she followed behind Halston to the woman’s flat.
     
    “And she can be more dangerous than a man with a gun,” Halston said over his shoulder.
     
    Koa just nodded when they stopped before a door. Halston knocked.
     
    Koa smiled at a little boy who nearly ran into her. The little boy returned the smile, and she giggled at his two front missing teeth. He hid and peeked around the corner as if playing with her. He made a silly face and hid his face again.
     
    Koa covered her eyes and pretended that she was scaring him when he peeked around the corner again. He burst out laughing. Koa beamed. She loved children more than anything. Sometimes she wondered if she’d be able to have a child someday.
     
    Koa should have never been born. Vampire children weren’t born to human mothers. As far as Koa knew, she was the only one.
     
    The door opened and Koa turned her attention from the child. She waved to the boy before she stepped into the flat. The Oracle was a small Chinese woman. She wore a warm smile on her thin lips. Her wire rimmed bifocals made her dark eyes look abnormally large. She wore a red nightgown that seemed like it needed a wash. There were food stains all over it.
     
    “Koa, right?” the Oracle said with a heavy Chinese accent.
     
    Koa nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
     
    The Oracle looked her up and down and nodded. “Come in.”
     
    Koa had to hide her disgust as she entered the flat. It was a small home, and unlike Halston’s safe house that was an illusion on the outside, this place was just as rundown on the inside.
     
    Koa covered her nose. The smell of cat urine made her want to gag. The smell was as intense as ammonia and with Koa’s heightened sense of smell, she felt like she might faint if she breathed it in too deeply, so she took small, quick, breaths behind her hand.
     
    The house was a cluttered, revolting, mess. The Oracle seemed to be a mixture of a hoarder and a person with chronic obsessive compulsive disorder. Koa watched her step away from the door and flick the light switch four times after she closed the door. She spoke Mandarin under her voice in what sounded like a chant.
     
    Koa and Halston stepped to the side and waited for her to complete her rituals. She touched the door knob a few times to make sure that it was locked, before turning her attention to them. She waved for them to follow and walked down the narrow hallway to the back of the flat.
     
    A cat jumped onto the Oracles shoulder and seemed to cradle her head as she walked. Koa grimaced at the stains in the old, disgusting, carpet. There were open cans of cat food scattered about and small piles of cat feces. Koa wanted to vomit. She averted her eyes and swallowed the acid in her throat.
     
    “I didn’t have time to clean up today,” the Oracle said. She pushed a pile of newspapers off her tattered sofa and motioned for them to have a seat.
     
    Koa wanted to stand, but she didn’t want to offend the older woman. She sat on the very edge of the sofa and kept her hands and legs close, so that she wouldn’t have to touch anything. A cat ran under the coffee table and looked up at her with its yellow eyes. Koa smiled at it, almost expecting it to say hello. No, only her mother could do such a thing.
     
    “You came much sooner than I expected,” the Oracle said. She sat in a rocking chair and folded her hands in her lap. “I am surprised.”
     
    “Your messenger came by this morning. I saw no reason to