Read The Man Who Walked in Darkness (Miles Franco #2) (Miles Franco Urban Fantasy) for Free Online Page B

tell me this, Mr. Franco,” he said. “Who are you working for?”
    The pressure of the knife on my chin lessened enough for me to open my mouth without skewering myself. “I’m working for nobody.”
    The knife point returned, harder this time. I cringed and strained against the stocky Vei’s headlock.
    “Liar!” the tall Vei said. “Are you with AISOR?”
    “Huh?” I said.
    “The Collective then? Eh?” I could swear the knife was drawing blood. “Tell me!”
    The one holding my arms spoke up. “Aran, be calm.”
    Aran didn’t seem too enthralled with that idea, but he stopped baring his teeth at me and let the knife point leave my skin.
    “Look, you crazy son of a bitch,” I said, getting off to a good start, “I haven’t got a goddamn clue what you’re talking about. I came to talk to the Coleman girl because I thought she could help me with something.” His arm twitched, and I scowled. “And if you put that knife on me one more time, so help me God, I will tear your nuts off with my teeth.”
    He snarled, breathing halitosis breath in my face. I met his stare, forcing myself not to look away. After a minute, he lowered the knife a fraction.
    “A friend of mine just punched out,” I said. “Cops think whatever is making the Coleman girl sick killed my friend. I’m inclined to agree.”
    Silence passed between us. Not even a bird chirped. Then the Vei holding my arms spoke again. “He could be telling the truth.”
    “I am,” I said to the tall one, the one they called Aran. “Scout’s honor. Question is, who or what are these things you’re so concerned about. A-something? The Collective?”
    Aran rolled his tongue along his pointed teeth. “If I find out you’re lying, I’ll gut you, Franco.”
    “I get that a lot.”
    His cheek twitched. “Keep your nose out of this. And don’t come near my sister again.”
    “Sister?” I said. “You mean…Penny? The Coleman girl is your sister? What the hell is going on here?”
    He bared his teeth. “You just don’t listen. Fucking idiot human.” He glanced at the others. “Keep him still.”
    He brought the knife past my face. My heart hammered, my gut clenched.
    “Hey, wait, what are you—?”
    Pain tore through my left ear. Someone was driving hot pokers into it. My vision spotted, vomit threatened to spill from my throat.
    When the pain faded from intense torture to mild agony, I was alone. I lay huddled on the ground, shaking, drenched in sweat.
    When I could move, I gingerly touched my ear. A new wave of pain surged through me, and my vision went blurry again. My hand came away streaked with red.
    I lay there for a moment, breathing hard. I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything except fear and pain. Slowly, ever so slowly, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees.
    Claudia watched me as I groped around on the ground. I found my things a few feet away in the grass, tossed carelessly aside. I returned my Kemia and wallet to their respective pockets.
    I dialed a number on my brick of a cell phone. I nearly pressed it to my left ear, catching myself just in time.
    Desmond picked up after four rings. “You’re calling from your cell. What are you into now, guy?”
    “This and that,” I said, dabbing at my bloody ear with my shirt sleeve. “Fancy a drive? I could do with a pick up.”
    He sighed. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

FIVE
    “You know,” Desmond said as I stumbled into the passenger seat, “I’m having trouble remembering a time when you didn’t look like shit. What on earth happened to your ear?”
    Claudia appeared beside me. I slumped down in the seat and avoided looking at her. “I slipped and fell onto some knife-wielding maniac.”
    “Jesus, guy, we gotta get you to a hospital.”
    “Nuts to that. I just came from a goddamn hospital. Take me home, driver.”
    Desmond frowned at me. He was a good-looking guy, I guess, in a youthful way. He still had the same mussed, sandy hair he’d