Synnergy, Chaos Time Book 3 Read Free

flare.
She pulled the healer closer to her. “She’s a mute. Now, get the
hell away,” she snapped.
    “Didn’t mean no harm by it.” The man’s words were
gentle as he dropped Arianna’s curl with a regretful sigh.
    The grizzled man of earlier pointed a long finger
down the street.
    “Parlor’s thataway,” he said with another wink, and
she could swear he was giddy as he said it. His ruddy cheeks blazed
and the way he looked at her was a promise of a visit in the not
too distant future. The boys better figure out fast where to find
the second Lord, Sable had no desire to stay here longer than was
absolutely necessary.
    She dipped her head and penguin marched off to the
steady rhythm of wolf calls and whistles.
    “Freaking A,” she groaned with a mixture of disgust
and disbelief when they were out of earshot. “Hope the guys didn’t
see that crap back there, Slayde would probably kill them if he
did.”
    “Yeah,” Arianna agreed.
    Sable was so shocked to hear her speak she did a
double take.
    “Wow, so you are alive. For a second there you made
me wonder.”
    But her teasing didn’t elicit another reaction from
the too quiet brunette. Giving her up as a lost cause Sable
concentrated on finding the parlor before any other scenes like the
last one could happen again.
    A few wagons loaded down with stuff rumbled past,
kicking up brown dust clouds. She sneezed a few times and waved a
hand in front of her face to clear away the almost constant barrage
of grime. They passed a few more guys up here, but these men seemed
more preoccupied then the ones down the road. They barely spared
them a passing glance.
    Finally the tents ended and a wooden sidewalk opened
up on both sides of the main road. They were dotted with stores and
establishments. There were several bars. Seemed like every other
door lead into one, but none had the wooden placard Hunter had
mentioned. She saw a mercantile, a place with a couple of horses
tethered inside, and one ringing from the strikes of hammers
against anvils.
    A clothes shop boasted a dress on a mannequin in the
window, but as of yet, she’d seen no other women apart from
Arianna. And just at the point that she began to wonder if there
was another main street she’d missed, she finally saw the swinging
sign. Her short heels clacked on the pitted wooden slates as she
hurried toward it.
    She gripped Arianna’s hand so hard she was sure it
was painful, but the healer didn’t seem to mind. Synn was busy
looking herself, not with as much interest as Sable, but it was
good to see her at least acting somewhat normal.
    A man, wearing what might have once been a white
shirt, but was now a dingy brown and stained in the pits, smiled at
them with a lecherous sneer. She noticed his front two teeth were
missing. He was old, or maybe weathered, whatever the case, he was
brown. With lots of wrinkles, pockmarks and a large scar running
from his brow to this mouth. In short, he was ugly.
    “Fresh meat,” he said, but it came out more of a
whistle without his front teeth. She eased in front of Arianna and
threw the man a nasty look.
    But the healer surprised Sable when she yanked her
hand free and twirled around, eyes wide and glittering with a wet
sheen.
    “You,” she hissed, venom dripped off her tongue.
    Shocked into silence at seeing Arianna display some
real emotion, Sable could only stare.
    He licked his lips and then grabbed himself.
    The rude gesture snapped her out of her temporary
trance. Sable refused to even let him finish whatever perverted
thought was ready to leap from his tongue; she grabbed Arianna and
jerked her around. “Are you crazy?” she whispered.
    Arianna brows dipped into a vee, and she threw the
now cackling stranger a heated glare. Sable’s skin prickled with
the knowledge of watching eyes pressing into their backs. This was
definitely not the way to blend in.
    She pulled Arianna behind her and didn’t let go until
she swung open the parlor doors.
    It was dark