A Hero Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

plumed from the crack between the door and the floor. Skye froze, fear eating away at her composure. This can’t be happening.
    Another thump. The plastic door cracked under the weight.
    Carly screamed.
    The cabinet wouldn’t hold the door in place for long. Skye dug around the piles of junk, searching for weapons, but Grease had taken them all with him.
    Selfish bastard. Anger spread through her. Not only had Grease taken their only chance to defend themselves, he’d left them utterly alone. Skye trembled as she realized she was the only person she could be truly angry with. She’d let him go.
    I could use those passes now.
    Backing up to the family room, she took Carly’s hand and led her out onto the balcony. The cabinet crashed to the floor as she pulled the balcony’s glass door closed in front of the girl. Carly’s horrified look made Skye’s heart clamp. She mouthed, “Stay there,” and searched for anything she could find to fend off the intruder. As something rattled in the kitchen, Skye dug through the heaps of garbage in the living room. That pot would have come in handy right now. As she pulled up rags and broken plastic containers, she vowed to be cleverer. How else would she ever be a good mother?
    A strange keening noise rose from the other room and an old woman wearing a pale floral skirt and a yellow apron came around the corner. Her hair was neatly tied in a bun, but thick, black veins protruded from her arms and legs like worms. And her eyes didn’t seem right—a little too big and too slanted, almost almond-shaped. Those eyes zeroed in on Skye and a wicked grin showed black, pointed teeth.
    What’s wrong with this lady? Is she a moonshiner?
    The woman moved much too quickly for her age, pushing against the walls as she scrambled toward Skye. Skye backed up against the wallscreen. The pretty reporter hovered over her left shoulder, now talking about a soap ad.
    This is it. Find something to throw or you’re dead.
    Skye whirled around and pulled the wallscreen out of its mount, wires sizzling as they detached. She threw it at the old woman, and the moonshiner flew back against the wall under its weight.
    Only her black veined legs stuck out from under the broken screen, twitching with pumping blood. Skye breathed a sigh of relief, trying not to look. She moved toward the balcony when the screen moved and the woman stood up, teeth gnashing together as her broken bones popped back into place.
    Skye had heard enough about moonshiners to know she wouldn’t win in a hand-to-hand fight. Morpheus made them too fast, and it was hard to kill something already believed to be dead.
    Skye lunged for the balcony, swung the glass door open, and shut it behind her. The old woman pushed up against the glass. Her black tongue left a streak of condensation. Skye pushed Carly back. “Don’t make a sound.”
    Tears ran down Carly’s cheeks, but the little girl had enough sense to remain silent.
    “We’ll wait here and maybe she’ll go away,” Skye whispered in her ear. Although it didn’t look like that old woman would go anywhere with them as a lure.
    Carly nodded, and her bravery impressed Skye. If a little girl can hold up, so can I . They moved to the corner of the balcony and crouched low, holding onto each other.
    “What if she doesn’t go away?” Carly whispered. “What if she finds a way to unlock the door?”
    “Then I’ll fight her off as you run back inside.”
    Carly sniffed and let out a pitiful sob. “But, you’ll die.”
    Skye swallowed, feeling like this was the end of the road. What would Carly do without her? She had no one else. Skye was her guardian now.
    The glass door shattered as the armrest of the couch poked through. A hissing laugh wheezed from inside.
    Skye scrambled behind it with Carly. They had nowhere to go. Level Three was too high to jump.
    “Get on my back. Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on. Really tightly.”
    Carly piggybacked on top of her, and Skye