Empire of Bones Read Online Free PDF Page A

with worry.
    “Love you, Mom,” Cyrus said. “Be right back.” He turned away, sidestepping Antigone as he did.
    “Cy …,” Antigone said.
    “You’re not coming, Tigs, so don’t even say it.” He kicked off his flip-flops and handed them to his sister. “Stay with Mom.”
    And with that, Cyrus Smith began to run.
    Antigone watched her brother race through the pasture, weaving a slalom course around grazing dairy cows. As he reached the lip, he ducked low, and then disappeared.
    Antigone sighed and climbed up into the plane, dropping into the one empty rear-facing seat, across the cockpit door from her mother. Her eyes stayed focused on the pasture, and her thumbnail rose to her teeth.
    Katie Smith took her daughter’s free hand.
    “He’s changed a lot,” Antigone said.
    “Cyrus?” Katie laughed. “Have you forgotten the boy who ran the cliffs, who always left a worried sister behind?”
    “More like an angry sister,” Antigone said. “It was stupid. And he fell, too. He was lucky.”
    “Cyrus has grown larger,” Katie said. “But he is the same boy.” She squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I am sorry I left you. It must have been hard to be the one who had to worry for Cyrus.”
    “Oh, she wasn’t the only one,” Dan said. “And I wasn’t any good at it.”
    “I’m here now,” Katie said. “And I think I will worry enough for all of us.”
    Niffy massaged the side of his swollen jaw with two fat fingers. “Touching,” he said. “Truly.”

    Cyrus slipped out of the plums and over to the chain-link fence at the end of the pool and patio. He couldn’t see the globes anywhere, but the sun was just down and shadows were deepening. An evening breeze wrapped around the motel and made the short hairs on his neck tingle.
    Cyrus could hear voices. They were coming from the front of the motel. Not much time.
    And then the door to the pool patio slid open. Cyrus retreated beneath the brush and waited. Two men stepped out.
    These were not Phoenix’s men, at least not visibly. No gills fluttered on their necks. No bone tattoos traced their limbs. These were men of the Order of Brendan, men dressed like Rupert Greeves and hundreds of other Explorers and Keepers of Ashtown.
    They wore canvas shirts, safari shorts, and boots. Wide leather belts held holsters and short sheaths.
    One of the men was shorter than Cyrus, with immense shoulders. He had brown hair and a short reddish beard. Cyrus had seen him dozens of times in the dining hall, but even more often training Acolytes in the great yard of Ashtown. His name was Eric Romegas, but the Acolytes all called him Eric the Red.
    The other man was taller, leaner, blonder, and looked more like someone who wanted to be photographed for a living. A short, heavy gun was slung over one shoulder, and he cradled it against his stomach. Cyrus had never seen him before.
    Eric the Red squared up and faced the taller man. “You hear me, Flint. I trained Jeb Boone. He was a member in good standing.”
    The man called Flint smiled with half of his pretty face. “They took the bait. But we didn’t take them, did we? Funny how Jeb and that brat Diana just happened tolead us off the trail. If they hadn’t, the Smiths and that mutineer Rupert Greeves would be facing their Brendan tonight.” He shrugged. “Or lying in their own blood at the feet of their Brendan.”
    “What you did was evil,” Eric said. “I’ll have no part of it.”
    Flint walked toward the fence and Cyrus held his breath, fighting to slow the thunder of his heart.
    “ ‘I’ll have no part of it,’ ” Flint mocked. “No part! Not for Saint Eric! Well, too late, lad. You knew the game. You came to play.”
    Eric shook his head. “The Brendan has a right to question any members of the Order, and the Avengel must stand before him prior to being removed. Any rule-respecting member would help bring them in. It’s all in good order. Pumping Jeb Boone full of lead is not!”
    “Oh, don’t