Chaos Read Online Free PDF

in a breath. It was the most human thing I’d ever seen him do.
    “If anyone can complete this mission successfully, the two of you can,” he said as he opened his eyes and turned to the orange glow at the horizon. He stared without blinking at the thin strip of flame forming as the sun began to rise from the sand. “You have everything you need. It is only a question of will and gut, and of the choices you make.”
    I turned to Ana. “Say the word, Captain.”
    Her dark eyes met mine. “Fast and focused, Lieutenant. We go in, get our men, destroy the portal and the Queen, and get out.”
    I nodded and put my hands on my thighs, feeling for the blades through the thick material of my cloak. Malachi had trained me well. I knew how to survive. How to kill. How to endure. And I knew what I wanted. Him. Only him. “Let’s go.”
    Faint lines creased the corners of Raphael’s mouth as he turned away from the rising sun, his gray eyes now blazing with an oddly orange tint. “Very well. When I give the signal, dive for the sand. And good luck.”
    He spread his arms, and twin balls of bright-yellow fire formed on his palms, like two tiny suns. I spun around, facing the dome. I watched his reflection as he lifted his head, his eyes still glowing, and hurled the balls of flame into the air. They hit the dome with a deafening explosion, right over the Mazikin guards. Their heads jerked up, their mouths wide and snarling; at the same time Raphael’s hand reached between Ana and me. He drew his finger across the dome, then grabbed at its surface. It crumpled and tore like paper, letting the cool, fetid air of the Mazikin city rush out.
    I dove through the window he created, landing in a heap a few feet away from the edge of the dome. I scooted toward the center of the sand as the Mazikin hooted and growled, their attention riveted on the dome above them. A muffled crack and a blinding light made me duck my head. Probably more balls of flame to keep them distracted. Ana grunted as she hit the sand next to me, spraying the yellow-gray granules across the tops of my gloved hands.
    I turned my head in time to see Raphael’s face through the opening of the dome, the night-blue sky behind him, wide and endless, the sun a half circle on the horizon. He nodded at me, then swiped his hand across the dome once more. Shutting us in.
    He disappeared, and all I could see was my own ashen face reflected in the wall of my new prison. My fingers dug into the sand.
    The Mazikin were still growling at each other, their shoulders drawn up and their claws twitching.
    “They’re nervous. Never seen anything like that,” Ana whispered as we scrambled to join the small crowd of clothed humans huddled next to the Mazikin guards. She cursed. “They’re saying they should report it.”
    “You can understand them?” I muttered softly as we pressed ourselves in among the others. Then I realized that made sense, because Malachi could understand them, too, after decades of eavesdropping on them in the dark city.
    If she answered, I didn’t hear. Because that was the moment when the Mazikin grabbed my hair and wrenched my head up. His black-marble eyes gazed deep into mine. His rotten-meat breath fanned across my face. I gagged and tried to turn my head away, but he only leaned closer, nuzzling his warm, wet snout along my cheek. “Ah,” he sighed. “English?”
    His black-lipped smile glistened when he saw the recognition on my face. An involuntary sound of disgust squeaked from my throat as he drew his tongue across my forehead. “These two must be straight from the Queen’s dinner hall,” the other Mazikin said. “They smell delicious.”
    Somehow I knew he was speaking English because he wanted us to be scared. The Mazikin stationed at the gates probably knew several languages, to help them terrorize efficiently. And it was working. The Mazikin holding me nodded, still looking in my eyes. He grunted at his friend, who was holding Ana in a