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

cryptically before. She had always been very blunt in speaking her mind.

“What has gotten into you?” He asked.

Luther had the horrible feeling that the woman in front of him wasn’t the same sister he remembered. Jane had changed in a very short amount of time.

She glanced around them before leaning in again.

“Do you remember the stories the miners used to tell? About creatures underneath the mines?”

“Those were stories Jane.” Luther said with a shaky laugh. “They aren’t real.”

The expression on her face made him question her sanity.

“Jane. They aren’t real. Those were just hallucinations brought on by sand sickness and dark mines.”

She shook her head slowly. “No. They weren’t.”

He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that his sister wouldn’t lie to him about something so silly. But Luther knew very well that these were just stories. The City had taught him all about the human body and other species. There was nothing left on this planet that was humanoid in any way. They would know it.

Gently, he reached out to hold onto her elbow. “Of course, Jane. But we can’t talk about that here.”

His poor sister had lost her mind. Thankfully, she was in the only place where she could find help. Luther would sneak her into the hospital and he would test her to find out what was wrong. There was medication that could help. He could steal it for her.

Jane seemed to realize that he didn’t believe her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye but followed when he guided her.

“I would like to see Willow.” She said.

“Of course we will. We’re going to make a quick stop before that. I had to rush to come and get you.”

Jane had always been able to tell when Luther was lying.

“Willow first.” The stubborn tone was something Luther should recognize. Both of his sister’s used the same voice to try and strong arm him into doing what they wanted.

“Anyone could listen to us in the apartment.” It was the only card he had to play. The fact was also true. There were ways for everyone to listen in on their conversations here. “We should go to my work, there are places there for privacy.”

Jane bit at her lip, glancing around them as though every person was going to jump at her. His poor sister. She was paranoid as well as delusional.

“And Willow?”

He had her. Luther could tell she was starting to trust that he would take care of her. Good.

“I’ll call Willow to come see us once we get there.”

“Now.”

His teeth ground hard against each other. “Alright, now.”

Luther pulled the intercom out of his pocket and called home. Willow’s sleepy face could be seen faintly past the white and black pixels.

“Willow can you meet me at the hospital?”

Willow yawned. “I don’t know how to find your office though.”

“We both know that’s not true. Just get there as fast as possible, alright?”

His snapping tone made both of his sister’s brows furrow as he hung up the intercom. He was never going to be able to win, not with the two of them fighting against him.

He sighed, griped Jane’s arm harder, and forced her in the direction he wanted. She was simply going to have to listen to him. Once he had her in the hospital, he could ask one of the doctors to do what they did best.

Fix things.

11

Jane sat on the metal bed with her feet dangling above the stone floor. She wasn’t certain that Luther believed her. In fact, she was thinking it was more likely he was going to try and “fix” whatever had gone wrong with her.

She had gone about this the wrong way. Telling him that the stories that had terrified them as children were true had likely been too much. Luther wasn’t the kind to believe in stories like that.

If she had told Willow, the little girl would have instantly believed her. Willow had always been one to believe in an adventure.

Instead, Luther had ignored every time she tried to tell him that she needed help. He continued to pat her on the arm or shoulder and tell her that of course he was going to help her. They just needed to stop somewhere first.

That somewhere was a hospital.

Luther said he wanted her to get checked over just to make sure that she hadn’t hurt herself on the way here. Somehow, Jane highly doubted that.

She swung her feet above the ground. She was halfway here.

The goblins were likely angry with her. She had slipped away from them in the early morning and spoke with the guard. When she had told him her family had been brought here without her, the man seemed to have a bit of sympathy flash in his eyes.

Jane didn’t have time to rush back to the goblins and let them know she was going inside the City. They could see her from where they stood in the back of the crowd.

So she waved and disappeared inside the stone walls. They would simply have to figure out a way to survive during the day and wait for her to come back.

They had trusted her this long. They could trust her for a few moments longer.

“Jane!”

Willow burst through the door and clambered up into Jane’s laugh.

Unlike the previous greeting of siblings, both girls burst into laughter as they tumbled backwards on the table.

They both spoke over each other, loudly exclaiming how happy they were.

“Willow! You’ve grown you little rat!”

“I knew you weren’t dead I told them!”

They held onto each other with hysterical laughter bursting forth from their chests. They couldn’t seem to stop the happiness the gurgled inside of them. Neither had forgotten that the other was strong enough to handle whatever had been tossed in front of them.

Finally, Jane sat back with her sister still seated in her lap. She brushed a strand of yellow hair away from Willow’s face.

“You’ve done well for yourself. I didn’t know you even had