Read Nightside 10 - The Good the Bad and the Uncanny for Free Online

Along with keeping the peace and enforcing the status quo in the Nightside by any and all means necessary. Either way, he should have known better than to give me orders.
    “You can get other clients,” Walker said reasonably. “Walk away, John. I’ve already signed the elf’s death warrant. I’d hate to have to sign another.”
    That was Walker for you. He might or might not hate to do it; but he’d do it. Walker was all about getting the job done.
    “You know I never let a client down,” I said.
    “Of course, dear boy. I’m only keeping you talking so my people can pinpoint your current location... John? What are you doing back at the Dragon’s Mouth?”
    There was something in his voice. It might have been concern ; but you can never be sure with Walker.
    “I’m fine,” I said. “The client chose the meeting place.”
    “Typical elf. He knew what it meant to you. Yet another reason why you shouldn’t trust him. I know you pride yourself on being loyal to your clients, John, but he won’t be loyal to you. He can’t. He’s an elf.”
    “The principle still stands,” I said. “I don’t have many, so I have to stick with what I’ve got. We’re off on a little road trip, Walker, off to see the worlds. Try and keep up.”
    “This is no joke, John. I’ve been forced to take on some really serious people, to see this through.”
    “Send the best you’ve got,” I said. “And I’ll send them home crying for their mothers.”
    Walker sighed into my ear, like a parent disappointed by a stubborn child. “You’ve been listening to the elf, haven’t you, John? You know you can’t trust anything an elf says. I am the only one who knows what’s really going on here.”
    “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “If he’s on the opposite side to you, I must be doing the right thing.”
    “All these years of butting heads,” said Walker. “And you haven’t learned a damned thing.”
    The phone went dead. I looked at it for a moment, to see if anyone else felt like calling and sticking their oar in, then I put the phone away. Of course I knew Lord Screech couldn’t be trusted. He was an elf. But I’d given him my word, and my word was good. I looked up and down the street. Ms. Fate had better get a move on. Walker hadn’t been joking about pinpointing my position through my phone.
    There wasn’t anywhere handy I could use as a shelter. The clubs and bars in this part of town were so down-market, the bouncers were outside chucking them in, and they forced you to order your drinks at gunpoint. And there was no way I was going back into the Dragon’s Mouth.
    “Is there any particular reason why you’re ignoring me?” said Lord Screech.
    “Because I’ll get lied to less that way,” I said, not looking at the elf. “I know all I need to know.”
    “Walker was quite right. Never trust anything an elf tells you. We always lie—except when a truth can hurt you more. Or when the truth can be made to serve our best interests over yours. I don’t care about you, or Walker, or any other human, except where you can help or hinder my mission.”
    I didn’t ask how he knew it was Walker on the phone.
    “If you’re trying to be disarming, it isn’t working,” I said. “And don’t even try to be charming. I’ve got protections against that.”
    “Why are you helping me, John Taylor? When you know you should know better?”
    I looked at him for the first time. “Because I’m intrigued. And not by the terrible secret you’ve offered as payment, whatever it may or may not turn out to be. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with terrible secrets. No, what intrigues me is why a high-and-mighty elf lord should endanger himself by coming to the Nightside, then beg help from a human. Even one as special as me. So I’ll go along with you, do my best to get you to where you need to be ... and no doubt your true purpose will become clear along the way.”
    “I wouldn’t put money on it,” the elf said