Read Ariel for Free Online Page B

another."
    "Wonderful."
    "Look, you refugee from a Disney flick, some of this stuff keeps me alive."
    "I can't wait until noon."
    An hour later I finished the book. I frowned at the cover, opened it again, and started over.
    "Oh, shit," muttered Ariel.
    I finished it again two hours later. I scratched my head. Either the translation was bad or I was missing something here.
    "Why do you care?" asked Ariel, irritated at my perplexity. "You don't have a sword."
    "A lot of other people do. The more I know about sword tactics the better I'll be able to handle myself against one if I have to. Besides, I get the feeling there's more going on in this book than I realize."
    "Okay, okay—I didn't ask for a lecture. What time is it?"
    I shrugged. "How would I know? Ten-thirty, eleven. You're the one with the clock inside her head." I looked up from the book. "You're really anxious to meet this Malachi character, aren't you?"
    She cocked her head to the side, looking past me. "I have a feeling about him."
    "Good feeling or bad?"
    "I'm not sure. He feels  .  .  . important."
    I frowned. "What's that mean?"
    "Nothing more than that. I just have a hunch about him."
    I'd learned to trust her hunches; they tended to pay off. I left her alone about it, though, and continued reading until Chaffney came for us at noon. He wore the same leather jacket he'd worn yesterday, with no shirt underneath. Even without a shirt it must have been hot. It was unzipped most of the way, only a few inches holding it closed about his waist. Thick, black chest hair looked as if it were trying to grow its way out through the V-shaped opening. Perched on his right shoulder was Asmodeus, wearing a black hood. The letter "A" had been embroidered on it in red; he should have named her Hester Prynne.
    Chaffney gently removed the hood and waited for a reaction when she saw Ariel, but the falcon merely cocked its head quizzically, blinking.
    I put on my backpack and slung the Aero-mag.
    "You don't have to take that," said Chaffney.
    "Sorry. I go, it goes."
    He shrugged.
    I set Ariel's pack on her back, dangling one end of the nunchakus from an open pocket. I cocked the crossbow across my knee and set it in its strap on the side of the pack.
    "Are you always this cautious?" asked Chaffney.
    "Paranoid, you mean. Yeah, I guess so."
    "Pete thinks of everything in terms of survival value," Ariel interjected.
    "Keeps me alive."
    "See?"
    "Nothing wrong with that," said Chaffney, "as long as you don't get too carried away."
    "I don't think I do. I'm still here, aren't I?"
    He smiled. "You're young."
    We left. On the way out, Ariel passed close by Chaffney and he reached up to pat her on the neck.
    "Aah, shit!" He stomped around, flapping his hand.
    "What's the matter?" I demanded.
    He wrung his hand for about half a minute, wincing and biting his bottom lip. Ariel stood a good distance away from him, eyes blazing. I couldn't tell if she was angry, hurt, or both.
    "Shit!" repeated Chaffney. He said it another dozen times.
    "What's the matter?" I asked again when he'd calmed down.
    "My hand."
    No shit. I waited for him to go on.
    "It feels like I shoved it into a fire. Christ, all I did was try to pat her on the neck!"
    "You're not a virgin." I turned to Ariel. "Are you okay?"
    She nodded. "I've never felt anything like that before." She sounded shaken. "So cold  .  .  . like an icicle through my neck." Chaffney still nursed his hand. Whatever had happened to it, it looked all right. "Keep your hands off her," I said. "You aren't pure; you aren't fit to touch her. She's my Familiar.
    Asmodeus, sensing the threat in my voice, screeched and spread her wings.
    "Ease off, Pete," said Ariel. "He didn't mean anything by it."
    Chaffney reached up and stroked Asmodeus to calm her. "Look, I'm sorry. Really. All I did was try to give her a friendly pat, the way anybody would if they were standing by a horse."
    "She's not a horse."
    "I know that. I forgot for a minute, okay? I won't do