The Goblin Warrior (Beneath Sands Book 2) by Emma Hamm (100 books to read txt) 📕

painfully happy. Almost as though the people here were scared that if they weren’t happy, they would be made to leave.

He wasn’t going to be the first one to take that chance.

Luther spent most of his days at the hospital. Away from people. He managed to get a coveted job in the labs of the hospital and was one of the shadows that followed the doctors around. No one even looked at him in the building, but he was certain that if he played his cards right, that he would eventually be noticed.

Which was why he spent the rest of the night researching the newest project the Doctor insisted everyone spend their time on. He wanted to be the person that understood how this new blood could affect humans.

Not to mention that burying his nose in a book meant he could ignore that his sister was in the other room more unhappy than she had ever been.

Instead, he focused on the task at hand. Each bit of information that he stuffed inside his brain would only help him in the long run.

He didn’t notice that time passed until he heard the buzzing of the intercom next to him.

Each intern was given a small handheld device. Wires poked out of the top and a small screen allowed people to be seen in the metal box that was nearly the size of his forearm. He had to carry it in a bag every day.

Luther’s had never gone off before.

He picked up the heavy metal device, blinking down at it with red eyes.

“Hello?”

“Penderghast, there’s someone here to see you.”

Luther could hardly see the man on the screen, black and white boxes made it difficult to tell who it was.

“What?”

“Someone at the gate. Here to see you.”

“There’s no one that would be coming to visit me.”

“Says her name is Jane Penderghast. Familial rights granted.”

“Jane’s dead.” Luther still had a hard time saying that. “I’m afraid that’s not her.”

Another voice broke through the intercom. One that made Luther’s heart freeze in his chest.

“Luther? Luther it’s me!”

That voice was hard to decipher. It could have been any female voice really. He would have wanted it to be Jane no matter who it was. The intercom made it difficult to tell if that voice could really be his sister.

“Jane’s dead.” He managed to croak. “I don’t know who you are, or what game you are playing, but it’s cruel.”

He moved to turn the intercom off but that voice broke through the silence again.

“Luther, it’s me. I’m sorry that you had to think I was dead, but I’m not.”

Crackling from the intercom cut her off. There was so much she was saying that he missed, but he managed to hear the last part.

“Luther, I missed you.”

That alone made him dash tears from his cheeks. His sister wouldn’t have said that. She was too proud, to confident to stoop so low as to say something like that in front of people.

Yet those were the words he so desperately wanted to hear.

He took a moment to clear his throat a few times. He was supposed to be contained and happy. Not crying in front of the people that ran this City.

Finally he trusted his voice to say what had to be said.

“I’ll be right down.”

His feet fairly flew through the stone streets. The gate was far away from his apartment. It would take a while for him to get to them, yet Luther hardly noticed that the time was passing quicker.

People stared as he ran past them. For the first time since arriving at the City, Luther simply didn’t care. Willow was left behind in the apartment without a thought. She would be fine.

If this wasn’t their sister, she didn’t need to feel the crushing disappointment that Luther would likely feel.

Finally he skidded to a stop in front of the guard’s office and took a deep breath. His hands smoothed down the soft button down shirt he wore. Then they traveled to his hair to try and tame the golden curls that stuck up in every direction.

“Come on boy, we haven’t got all day.”

The guard opened the door in front of him and held out his arm as though Luther was wasting time.

He wasn’t wasting time. If this was his sister, he needed to prove to her that they had made the right choice. He wanted her to see that they were doing well here. That Luther had done his job. That in the end, she had made the right choice.

Once more his hands followed the same pattern. Smooth the shirt, pat his hair, wipe sweaty palms upon his thighs.

The guard rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “Boy.”

“Right.” Luther replied, and stepped into the room.

At first, he didn’t recognize her. The woman before him couldn’t be his sister. She was pale as the moon, her skin no longer the golden tan he remembered. Her eyes seemed more vivid, her hair seemed more gold, everything about her had changed.

Jane no longer looked like the poor woman who had been worn by sand and storm. Instead, the woman that stood before him was proud and beautiful.

Luther was ashamed to say he had never thought her beautiful before.

Jane was always the most masculine one of the family. He had fallen short when it came to the strong jaw of the family or the broad shoulders. He was beautiful in the way that Willow was beautiful. He was lean and delicate, the kind of person that people wanted to take care of.

But this woman in front of him was not the brute strength of a working woman. She was still too tall and had the broad shoulders of a man, but there was something in her eyes that had changed.

“Jane?” He whispered.

She stood alone in the center of the white washed room. She was so incredibly out of place.

“I’m sorry.” She said. Her tone was equally quiet, yet Luther felt those words rocket through his heart.

Three large steps and he was in her