Before the Fall Read Online Free PDF Page B

the road, waving his hat and shouting before finally being left in the dust.
    â€œI’m a cop and I just participated in grand theft auto,” Shanna said, fastening her seat belt.
    â€œI think that’s the least of your problems.”
    â€œNo shit.”
    Zach smiled. At least she wasn’t quivering in fear anymore.
    â€œHow’s your chest?” she asked.
    â€œFine.” It was burning, but it was his arm that was really aching. The fight at the Murphys’ had required muscles and skills he hadn’t used in ten years. The Lychen wound he’d sustained then had forced him to retire from the Order, the infection so bad he’d nearly lost his arm. Any overuse of it carried pain that brought him to his knees, and he had a bad feeling that before he reached St. Augustine, he was going to have plenty of cause to over use every bit of himself. Including his injured fighting arm.
    â€œI need a damned drink,” he muttered, massaging his forearm and fighting the overwhelming urge to scratch the burning itch that ran up the wound’s seam.
    â€œYou gonna tell me what’s in the case?” Shanna asked, ignoring his complaint.
    â€œGuitar.”
    â€œNo, it’s not. I carried it off the plane. It’s way too heavy to be a guitar.”
    He shrugged in response. “Open it. See for yourself.”
    â€œFine,” she muttered, unfastening her seat belt. “I will.”
    She climbed over the seat, into the back where they’d thrown their things, and he heard the distinct sound of the case snapping open.
    â€œIt’s a sword.”
    â€œYep.”
    â€œIt . . . looks really old. God, Zach, it’s a tetanus shot waiting to happen.”
    â€œRusty, huh?”
    â€œLittle bit.”
    He smiled, imagining her reaction to the big broadsword that had ten years of neglect etched all over it. Wouldn’t look like much, but that was just another testament to the cliché about not judging a book by its cover.
    â€œOw!”
    â€œTouch it?”
    â€œIt burned me!”
    â€œYep.”
    â€œWhy the hell did it burn me?”
    â€œBecause no one can use it but me, that’s why.”
    â€œZach, no one uses swords anymore. How is this going to help you? It’s slow and—”
    â€œPass it up here.”
    â€œI’m not touching it again!”
    â€œSlide the case up here. Let me show you.”
    â€œMaybe you should pull over first.”
    â€œNo time,” he said, reaching behind his seat for the top of the case and clawing at it until he could drag it into the passenger seat. “Open the case for me.”
    Truthfully, he was excited to show Shanna this part of himself—something he’d never shown another soul outside of the Order. Something that was bound to impress her, because it never failed to impress him .
    She flicked open the latches and he glanced down at the sad, pathetic weapon. Without Zach, the once glorious sword had tarnished. The intricate design placed on the blade by Hephaestus was hidden beneath ten years of neglect. The tool that had protected him, allowed him to protect the gods, was now nothing more than a fragile hunk of steel and silver.
    â€œReady? Keep your eyes on it.”
    Then he pressed his hand to the hilt and Shanna’s gasp of awe made him grin from ear to ear. A soft white light glimmered up from the hilt and onto the blade, lighting up the dark interior of the van. Dirt and rust washed away as the spidery tendrils curled their way to the tip, revealing ancient Greek prayers meant to hold the sentinels safe. The mark of Ares shattered the remaining filth on the hilt, and a jolt of electricity shot through Zach’s hand as the sword came alive.
    â€œHow . . .”
    â€œIt knows its brother when it feels it,” he said, still grinning.
    â€œIs that like Excalibur or something?”
    Zach laughed. “No. Lance has that one. This one is