Page 46 of Aberrant Monsters
My stomach flipped and I sensed him, a watchful presence holding its breath.
Urgh. Stop thinking about it.
I hurried down the stone steps and burst into the kitchen to find Nandi and Archie doing the morning crossword over coffee.
They looked up expectantly as I entered.
“How’d it go?” Nandi asked.
“Okay. I have my bag of tricks.” I popped the leather pack on the table. “And a location for my first job.” I pulled the paper Quentin had given me from my pocket and stared at the numbers on it.
They were obviously coordinates. “I have no idea how to use coordinates.”
“Let me.” Archie took the paper and then pulled up a map on his phone. “Whoa…That’s like on the border to the Underbelly.” He held out the phone to me. “Did you know there was a rift there?”
I stared at the location pinging on his phone screen. About a ten-minute walk from Real Deal and about five minutes from the gates to the Underbelly.
“No. No, I didn’t.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Nandi asked.
“Go scope out the location and look for residue.” I winced. “Which I know neither of you can help me with because you can’t see it.”
“But we can play backup,” Archie said.
“You won’t be able to see the eldritch either.”
“But we’ll see something,” Nandi said. “We’re not norms.”
“Yeah,” Archie agreed. “Might not be what you see, but it’ll be something out of the ordinary. Besides, you’ll need us in case you get hurt or something.”
“Hey, I’m totally on board with you guys coming.”
“Don’t you want to wait until sundown?” Nandi asked. “Telarion could help.”
I tensed, waiting for Telarion to chime in, but he was silent. Good. I could work with that. Better if we kept some distance today anyway.
“We’re not going into the rift so we should be fine.” I smiled. “I’ve got this. Besides, I’m not even sure if he can see the eldritch on this side.” Telarion’s disconcertion manifested in my mind like a jab, but I ignored it, grabbing my leather backpack off the kitchen table instead. “Let’s head out, we can grab some lunch before we start scouting.”
* * *
It never failedto amaze me how a decent meal could lift a mood. We reached Crow’s Path a little after two p.m. and headed straight for the coordinates to the rift. I kept my eyes peeled as we went, looking for residues, and now that I was searching I saw it, a fluorescent green shimmer on a lamppost, a smear across the pavement. I needed to start at the source, though, and follow it. I needed to make sure that this was the same eldritch.
Archie led the way, using his phone as a guidance system. He’d donned a leather jacket with faux fur trim he’d kicked up so it obscured half his face. I glanced at Nandi to find her staring at Archie and followed the trajectory of her gaze to his ass.
I mean, he had a nice ass, but seriously? I nudged my friend, who started and looked up at me, color staining her cheeks.
“What?” she asked.
I arched a brow and slid my gaze back to Archie’s butt.
Her eyes widened and then she shrugged. “Whatever. It’s a nice ass.”
“Did someone say nice ass?” Archie looked over his shoulder. “Where?”
“Eyes on the road!” Nandi cried out in time for Archie to step out of a cyclist’s way.
Archie threw up his hands. “Bloody hell, man, watch where you’re going.”
