Read Balanced on the Blades Edge #2 Deathmaker for Free Online

summer?” Tolemek asked in the same conversational tone, but there might have been the faintest edge to it. A were-you-among-those-who-fired-on-our-dirigibles-and-nearly-killed-the-captain-and-me-last-summer edge.
    “Where I am is watching your back until you get me out of this dungeon, and I think we can leave it at that.” Another throwing star had found its way into Cas’s hand. The cold steel was reassuring against her thumb. Maybe she would leave it there until the fresh jungle air was upon her face and Tolemek had taken off in his ship.

Chapter 3
    T he stairs ended at a wide corridor with the stone floors pockmarked with age. Some of the holes were deep enough to be considered craters, sizable obstacles in the darkness. Tolemek walked near the edge, fingers following the wall, taking care to test each step before he committed to it. He wasn’t expecting booby traps in the centuries-abandoned fortress, but crumbling floors could drop him into a pit as easily as an ancient architect’s whims. And then there was the woman walking behind him, making his shoulder blades itch. Thus far, she had been helpful, but it didn’t take some telepath of yore to sense that she believed she would be doing the world a favor by getting rid of him.
    They came to the first intersection, the wall disappearing and his fingers brushing air, so Tolemek concentrated on the route. He had memorized the old map he’d found before coming, but it would be easy to grow disoriented down here in the dark. The few matches he had wouldn’t do any good without a lamp to light, and he doubted he would find one down here that still had oil in it. Or whatever they had used back then. There were tales that said the halls in the sorcerers’ homes were simply alight with their magic.
    Something rustled through the algae on the floor, whispering past his boot. Not magic, but a snake. Whatever sorcerous power had once imbued this place was gone, leaving nothing but ruins. He wondered if he was a fool to believe he would find anything here.
    At the third intersection, Tolemek said, “Left,” and turned down it.
    Lieutenant Ahn grumbled something under her breath, but kept following.
    “I do have a couple of likely escape routes in mind,” he said. “After I find what I’m looking for, I believe I can get us to the jungle.”
    She didn’t answer promptly. He admitted likely and believe weren’t the most encouraging words he could have used. Since he had only studied the fortress from a distance, he was reluctant to promise more. He feared that at any moment, the route would be blocked by rubble from some hundred-year-old cave-in. He had memorized a couple of routes to the library, just in case, but so far the only obstacle was the musty air. Possibly the snakes.
    “How does this stuff grow down here without light?” Ahn mused.
    “I’ve wondered that. Perhaps some residual energy left in the walls from those ancient sorcerers. Plants are highly adaptable, and most ecological niches get filled, given enough time.”
    Her grunt suggested she wasn’t that interested in his theories. Or that discussions of sorcerers made her uneasy. Or maybe she was imagining sinking her throwing stars into his back again.
    Tolemek was counting doors, or rather doorways since the wood had long since rotted away, and didn’t speak again. He wondered if the books and scrolls he hoped to find had rotted with age too. He hoped the ancient scribes had used their magic to preserve some of them.
    “This is it,” he whispered when they reached the fifth doorway.
    “The treasure room?” Ahn guessed.
    Was that what she thought this was? Some quest for gold? He supposed it was as plausible a theory as any. “In a manner of speaking. This was their library.”
    He slipped inside, forgetting some of his caution. He almost didn’t notice the long pause before she asked, “You planning to study some ancient magics?” She had stopped at the doorway. “To help you make