City of Halves Read Free Page A

bloodstain over her chest and shoulder, the torn layers of her clothing matted with it. She pushed them aside. Nothing, apart from smears of blood on her skin. Astonished, she touched her arm near the shoulder, which only minutes before had been ripped and bleeding. The blood was already tacky, sticking to her curious fingers. She examined her stomach, covered in clotted blood but unmarked.
    Regan reappeared and leant against the kitchen doorframe,crossing his ankles and drying his hands. His boots were dusty and ancient, with stitched leather soles and loose straps round the ankles, jeans tucked haphazardly into the gaping tops.
    â€˜You got away lightly, all things considered.’
    â€˜ Lightly? How did you do that?’
    â€˜Magic,’ he said.
    â€˜There’s no such thing.’
    He raised an eyebrow. ‘Sure?’ Ducking back for a second, he came over to her with a pair of scissors. ‘Hold.’ He put them in her hand.
    Lily looked up at him. He produced three large old safety pins and began to pin the ripped edges of her T-shirt back together on her shoulder. On the back of his left hand and on two of his fingers was tattooed a soot-black flight of birds on the wing, incredibly clear. Taking the scissors from her, he cut away the flopping sleeves, leaving her with half on one side and nothing on the other.
    He gave her a brief grin. ‘Could be a new trend.’
    Lily looked down at the deep rips in the material over her stomach. ‘Maybe for Halloween.’ She smiled up at him, liking his unexpected playfulness.
    He looked away abruptly and went back into the kitchen, shoving the scissors in the sink. Near Lily’s feet the medical book lay open. It looked decades old, the print cramped and small.
    Coming back to her with a damp tea towel in his hands, Regan cleaned the blood from her face with it as if she were a child. She noticed his top was covered in her blood.
    â€˜Sorry.’ She gestured vaguely to the stains.
    He shrugged. ‘Occupational hazard.’
    What does that mean?
    â€˜There, all done,’ he said. His gentleness was as alarming as his orders. He stooped slightly to catch her eye, hands pushed into the hip pockets of his jeans.
    â€˜I should go.’ She stepped back.
    â€˜Why?’ he asked, sounding genuinely interested.
    She looked down at her bloody clothes. ‘Five minutes ago I was bleeding to death. Now I’m fine? And you’re . . .’
    â€˜I’m what?’ he asked quickly, as if he really needed the answer.
    â€˜Creepy,’ she said warily, stepping back.
    That didn’t seem to faze him. ‘I’ll walk you.’
    â€˜You don’t have to.’
    â€˜I know. But I’d rather you got out of here in one piece.’
    â€˜What does that mean?’ she asked, alarmed.
    â€˜Nothing.’ He shrugged. ‘Just what I said.’
    â€˜Great,’ Lily said, loaded with sarcasm. ‘Because I’ve only been walking around on my own for about ten years.’
    â€˜And you made a brilliant job of it today, Lily Hilyard,’ he returned with equal sarcasm, pulling on the long, dirty-white hooded coat Lily had seen on camera. As he did, he watched her.
    â€˜You don’t have to use my whole name all the time. Lily’s fine. And do you usually stare at people like they’re an experiment in a test tube?’
    â€˜Is that what I’m doing?’ He didn’t look away, settling the coat on his shoulders.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜I want to know why you were in my yard. It’s not a place people just walk into.’
    â€˜I’m looking for Harris Stedman.’
    His face became shuttered.
    Lily’s eyes narrowed. ‘He forges papers.’
    â€˜No forged papers here.’ He waved at the flat.
    She glanced around, as if to study the place. ‘Yes, I’m sure what goes on here is absolutely legal.’
    He frowned. ‘I’m not sure