Titan Song Dan Stout (top 20 books to read txt) 📖

access from the front,” he said. “Probably from the far side, then?”

Titanshade buildings were laid out to maximize geo-vent openings, and consideration for minor issues like sanitation and utility access was secondary. At one point in its history, the entire city center had been raised to allow for sewers and utilities to be run under the cobblestone streets.

“Whoever papered the door got out somehow,” I said. “Let’s loop around back and see what we see.”

The next street up was Kenbrook. We turned the corner, ambling down the sidewalk and slowing slightly when we came to an alley opening. It went straight back and jogged right. Classic Titanshade planning—a nod to the necessity of back-door access, while still managing to make life difficult for everyone involved. Worse, the L shape created a blind turn, making it impossible for us to know who or what waited for us at its end. We continued our trek around the block, but never saw another opening. That meant our only option was to go in and hope for no unpleasant surprises.

I stared down the dark corridor snaking between the buildings, considering that whoever might be in there could be the most wanted group of vandals in AFS history. Jax seemed less interested in that than he should have been.

“The reason I asked why you went to the festival alone,” he said, “is that your conversation drifts a bit.”

“Drifts?”

“Yes.” He looked from the alley to me. “Like there’s something you don’t want to talk about, so you change the topic abruptly. Which is strange, considering you already told me about your powers.”

“It’s not a power,” I said.

“Sure it’s not.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Thing is, I can’t but help wonder what else you’re holding back. I mean, what could be more sensitive than what you already told me?”

Scowling, I toed the exterior of the building, adding a new scuff to the multitude crisscrossing my shoe. I knew Jax was smart, I even knew he’d seen through my attempt to keep the manna threads a secret. So why had I ever believed that I could keep Gellica’s magical nature from him as well?

He waited, staring me down.

“Maybe because it’s not my secret to tell.” I pointed at the alley. “Are we gonna do this or not?”

Jax clacked his jaws and let out a dissonant, jangly harrumph. But he let the topic drop, at least for the moment.

We made our way down the alley, relying on the wall-mounted lights to guide us. The sun was beginning to stay in the sky longer, but the tight quarters let very little light creep in between buildings, and the few rays present were too feeble to banish the darkness completely.

“If I ever meet the civil engineers who designed this town,” I whispered, “I’m going to arrest them.”

“What for?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Noises were coming from the far end of the alley. The angle of the alley corner gave Jax a longer line of sight, and he signaled me to hold my position. I peered around the corner, catching a glimpse of two burly human men loading debris into a dumpster.

Jax walked toward them with his hands down and hidden. I hadn’t seen if he’d drawn his weapon.

“Gentlemen! I’m wondering about renting some commercial space. You know anything about that?”

The pair immediately spread apart, the movements of men accustomed to fighting outsiders. Still in the shadows, I drew my revolver.

“We don’t know nothing about rents,” said the wider of them. His flannel shirt was mostly unbuttoned, revealing a chest thick with sweat-matted hair and elaborate tattoos.

“Fair enough,” Jax said. “But you’re here working for someone. You have the name of a supervisor, or someone I can talk to?”

The wide guy stepped forward. “I got nothing for you, pal. Get back to your office.”

The fact that he didn’t have enough experience with people in suits to tell a cop from a banker made me wonder if wide guy was a rig worker. The other man had dropped the trash he’d been hauling, but held on to a crowbar. That guy was all angles, and the flickering streetlamp added highlights to large, wet eyes.

“This is private property.” Crowbar had a nasally voice, every bit as sharp and filled with angles as the rest of him.

Jax’s shoulders rose and fell, a shrug that never revealed his hands. “It’s not, actually. The building is private property, but this is an alleyway.”

The men exchanged a glance, then spread apart, flanking Jax.

Jax brought his hands out from behind his back. I was immensely relieved to see his weapon and badge. The primary purpose of carrying a gun is to convince other people violence is a bad idea. In order to do that, you have to show it to them and prove it’s real.

“Police!” he announced. The men halted. But something in their stance said they weren’t cowed, and crowbar guy tightened his grip.

Desperate people, willing to risk attacking a cop, all in order to possibly get away with . . . what? The only thing I could think of was an intrusion into the vent system.

I slid out of the shadows and stood near the pool of light from the damaged streetlamp, a circular drop of light flickering and growing stronger, fading and dimming.

“I’d do what he says,” I announced, making it clear that they didn’t outnumber my partner. “He’s had a bad day.”

But that shift in numbers was fleeting. A figure emerged from the shadows to Jax’s left, much as I’d done across the alley. This was another Mollenkampi, short and burly. I’d barely registered his presence before he plowed into Jax’s lower back. My partner stumbled, dropping his badge but managing to hold on to his weapon and stay on his feet.

The little guy kept pumping his legs, pushing Jax to the center of the alley. It was too risky to fire into their entangled bodies, so I opted to control the other two. Weapon raised, I stepped forward. “Do not move!” I screamed the words, compelling them to