Read Vessel: The Demontouched Saga (Book 4) for Free Online

body before I felt one. Not the scenario we want to see.
    “Who are you?” the man asks ahead of me. He is wearing an orange tee-shirt and a long pair of jean shorts that doesn’t look flattering against his heavily scarred legs.
    “We’re here to get the plant back up,” I say, raising my hands in the air.
    “This is our plant now,” the other says, wearing a black cap and mirrored shades to go with his skater shorts and Thrasher tee shirt.
    “I see,” I say, taking a step forward. “From what I’ve seen, you could use some help getting the grid back up. With the blackouts and all.”
    “We don’t need help,” skater kid says. “Our camp is working just fine.”
    “What’s it going to take for you to turn our grid back up?” Nal asks, stepping to my side. A little close for my comfort, but still far enough back to keep safe.
    “You have women at your camp?” Skater asks. “I’m sure we can make a trade for some women.”
    “Not for sale,” I say, laughing. “What else would you want?”
    “I’d have to ask, Bert,” he says. “He probably just wants women too.”
    Orange slaps the kid on the back of the head. “Dude, we don’t want slaves. Just go get Bert.”
    Skater kid takes his cue and runs off around the building.
    “Sorry about him,” he says. “You know how teenage boys can be.”
    “I can probably come up with a collection of porn mags,” I say, laughing.
    “Then you’d be left without power and a new companion,” he says. “Names, Ralph.”
    “Mitch,” I say. “We call this one Nal.” I nod over towards him. “Don’t ask his real name.”
    He snorts. “So you guys really here to fix the power,” he says.
    “That’s the plan,” Nal says, looking up at the roof. “Had it going once, anyways.”
    “I was wondering who did that. We lost power about a week ago. Bert figured it wouldn’t be that hard to get back on.”
    “Yeah, I ran into a bit of… trouble,” Nal says.
    I see a large man, easily mid threes, walking around the corner. How a guy can live in these times and be that fat is beyond me, but something tells me that’s why he’s the boss.
    “Josh tells me you want to offer a trade for some power,” Bert says, Skater in tow.
    “I was thinking more of an alliance,” Nal says. “Both sides provide guards and technicians to keep the place up, and we both get power.”
    Bert rubs one of his five chins with his fat, grubby fingers for a few seconds before answering. “I think you need to sweeten the pot.”
    “How?” Nal says.
    “We need guns,” he says. “And canned foods.”
    “Guns we can handle. Food is another story.”
    “Then I have an idea,” He says, pulling a pistol out of his pocket. “How about you get out of here and find a place with your own power.”
    “I have an even better idea,” I say, pulling his gun to my hand. “You can leave.”
    The look on Bert’s face is priceless. It’s hovering somewhere between holy shit and what the fuck until Nal grabs the gun from my hand.
    “That isn’t necessary,” he says, handing the gun to Ralph. “We can work together here. There’s no reason for anyone to die today.”
    “Everything fine, boss?” I look up and see our friend on the roof looking down.
    “Yeah, go back to watching the road,” Bert says, rubbing his palms.
    “What do you think?” Nal says.
    “With that guy around, I don’t see I have a choice.”
    “You have a choice,” I say. “The smart call is to take his offer to help each other out.”
    He looks down at his hand before turning behind him. “What ‘cha think, boys?”
    I assume he is addressing the rest of the guys on the other side of the building. Bert’s head moves back and fort a few times, like he is watching the conversation intently. After a minute, all of his men walk around to the side of the building.
    “What do you think they’ll do?” I say.
    “Couldn’t tell you,” he says. “We need someone to watch the back, make sure nobody is