Dark Union (The Descent Series) Read Online Free PDF

what’s wrong with it.”
    “Is it the heat?”
    “No. I mean, I don’t know. Maybe. But they take care of their car; everything is in good condition. I don’t see any problems.”
    Elise tried to turn on her cell phone, but the screen stayed black. The battery was dead.
    “Your phone working?” she asked. He checked and shook his head. “Then it’s not a car problem.” She opened the trunk and put on her backpack.
    “What is it?”
    “Angels,” Elise said. Electronics didn’t work right around strong ethereal presences.
    “What are we going to do?” he asked.
    “We’re walking.”
    “In this heat? Are you serious?”
    “What else would we do? Do you have a horse in your suitcase?”
    Elise threw the backpack over her shoulder and got moving. Anthony kicked the bumper of the car before following.
    Silver Wells was just over the hill—which, as far as the desert was concerned, was impossibly distant. It was just like every other ghost town they had blown through at forty-five miles per hour. There was no indication of what was going to happen there aside from a collection of RVs and modular buildings to the north, which resembled a small military installation.
    There was no heat like Nevada heat. Standing on the pavement felt like being in a broiler. The world was made of rippling lines and silver mirages, and Elise could feel her neck and nose burning.
    Two miles was a long walk in that heat.
    The first buildings they came across were empty tin shacks, which were worn by wind and pocked by rust. An ugly, abandoned bar with peeling yellow paint came next, and then a trailer park without any trees or grass. A dog tethered to a fence post growled at them.
    There was no other sign of life in Silver Wells, but McIntyre’s report said the town had a population of two hundred. All of them seemed to have gone into hiding at the sight of visitors. Given the quality of the visitors incoming, it was probably a smart move.
    A convoy of black SUVs passed them. Elise and Anthony had to get off the road to keep from getting hit.
    “The Union?” he asked the bumpers receded into the distance.
    “Probably.”
    He glared. “Good drivers.”
    The SUVs stopped outside a small elementary school. Someone had mounted a sign that said REGISTRATION in the dirt pit that was supposed to be a parking lot, and the doors to the gymnasium were propped open by a sputtering box fan caked in gray dust.
    Elise and Anthony went inside. It was no cooler than outside, but a break from the sun was a relief. The faint breeze from the fan was almost chilly on her sweaty back.
    Warped boards formed the floor of the basketball court, bordered on one side by metal stands. A pair of folding tables had been set up at the end of the room, and a handful of men, none older than thirty, were lined up in front of them. They were unmistakably kopides: they refused to stand with anybody at their backs. A few women sat on the benches—probably aspides. Magic glimmered on their necklaces and hair clips.
    The line in front of the table dissipated shortly. The men peeled off one by one, taking their witches with them.
    “Go sign in, McIntyre,” Elise said.
    Anthony approached the table.
    “Name?” asked a cocoa-skinned woman with hair cropped short to her scalp. Her shirt was stamped with “Unit B26” over the breast.
    “McIntyre,” Elise said from behind Anthony’s shoulder. “Lucas and Leticia.”
    The woman looked up at them. She had a hard face, like she was constantly seconds away from a stern reproach. “McIntyre?”
    “Yeah,” Anthony said. He had grown still with tension.
    “We’ve been waiting for you.” She shuffled through folders in a plastic bin and came up with one tagged by a red sticker. She handed it to them. “Keep your ID on you all weekend. Checking in at the motel is your responsibility.”
    He stepped back. “Thanks.”
    Everyone in a black Union polo watched as they headed back out into the summer heat. A sense of