Dragon Rising by Rachel Fisher

Author:Rachel Fisher [Fisher, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Publisher: Rachel Fisher
Published: 2014-08-07T23:00:00+00:00

“Hey, Ashhole! Where the fuck are you?” Sid’s voice broke his concentration.

Shit. Daddy’s calling. Time to stop with intellectual pursuits. I hate my life.

He balled up his journal, stuffing it into his waistband and pulling his shirt overtop as he slid out of his hiding place behind the shelving in the warehouse office.

“Hey Ashhole!”

“What, Sid? Jesus. I was sleeping, man.”

“Too bad. We have to go right now.”

Something about Sid’s tone got his attention and Asher pulled his sword. “What’s up?” Then he noticed the Guard assembled around Sid. All of them. Goosebumps flared on his neck. No matter how many times they went into battle, it never got less scary.

“Sentries reported Deacons on our turf.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Let’s go, Dragon.”

The Deacons were a mostly Irish gang, though they had enough African-American members these days to make you either question their commitment to racial purity or respect their adaptability. Regardless, all names aside, the Deacons were no saints. They were a “babyshit” gang when Sid liked to talk big, saying how none of them were anything before the Famine.

No matter. They were SHIT now, Asher knew. He’d watched more Deacon murders than any others, given their turf’s proximity to Columbia. That was why he gripped his sword with an electric thrill, the same sickening accelerant he’d felt every time he’d taken Sid’s side.

As he always did before the Guard left, he shot a look at Ginny, who nodded. They had an agreement that if he didn’t come back or if things got sticky for the ladies while he was gone, they’d sneak out the back of the warehouse, by the loading dock, and disappear. It wasn’t a great back-up plan, but it was the best he could do. At least he’d managed to secure knives for both women that they kept tucked at their waists, beneath the winter coats he’d found. Sid had cracked on him for the coats for weeks, insisting that “fluffy bunnies” already had fur to keep them warm.

Asher took one last look over his shoulder and then turned, resolute, as the Guard fell behind. He tried to suppress the flare of pride in his chest at their deference. It was sick, he knew. Though Sid’s Guard liked to pretend that they were badass (and given that they’d all murdered more people by far than he, they had a point), most were sickos with no skill. They needed guns. They needed lead pipes. They needed Sid. And not one of the men tip-toeing through the ebony valleys of the City behind him thought for one split second that he needed them.

His feet moved without sound, unlike his compatriots, whose feel slapped like drunken sailors. He scanned the darkened street and saw a shape dart against the horizon. “Stop,” he hissed.

“Shit, we listening to him now?” TinMan started to say when Sid whirled, pointing his gun between his man’s eyes.

“Shut up.”

TinMan scowled, but remained silent. They crouched, Asher barely paying attention to their heat at his back. They were a liability anyway.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.