Evolution (Demon's Grail Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

just stayed broken. I guess she's just not cut out for any of this.”
    Swallowing hard, I realize I was right earlier when I told them I wasn't ready. They insisted I was wrong, they told me I'd realize the truth about myself later, but they were lying to me!
    “What if we stayed for another week?” Absalom asks. “Could you fast-track the rest of the training? Maybe she'd respond better to that kind of program.”
    “You know it wouldn't work,” Oncephalus replies.
    “But -”
    “I know what you wanted,” she adds, interrupting him. “You wanted Abby to become some kind of savior, someone who could lead the fight against the spiders. Like her father, maybe. It was a nice idea and it would have been wonderful if things had worked out that way, but she so clearly lacks the necessary qualities. I remember Patrick, I remember the steel and passion in his eyes, and I haven't seen even the faintest glimpse of it in Abby. She and her brother have too much of their mother in their souls, and not enough of their father. It's a great tragedy, but -”
    She stops suddenly.
    “Did you hear something?” she asks.
    I quietly hurry around the next corner, ducking out of sight just as I hear footsteps heading to the doorway. There are tears in my eyes, but I quickly wipe them away.
    “There's no-one listening,” Absalom says finally. “Abby and Jonathan are waiting, though, so I should go to them soon.” I hear him stepping back inside. “The journey to Gothos won't be easy, but we have to go there if we want to join the council and find out what they've learned. Just because this time at Jagadoon has been a failure, that doesn't mean we're out for the count just yet. Maybe the council has another idea.”
    “What about Abby?”
    “She can still hold a weapon,” he replies. “She and her brother can be soldiers, like the rest.”
    “It's a shame she couldn't be more.”
    “We'll find another way to defeat the spiders,” he continues. “This plan might have failed, but another will emerge, I'm sure of it.”
    “I pray that you're right,” she replies, “because if the spiders find Karakh, their power will double and they'll become unstoppable.”
    Realizing that I'll be discovered if I linger, I make my way down the steps and back around to the front of the plateau, where Jonathan is making some adjustments to his backpack. I'm shaking with rage and shock, but I know I can't let any of that show, not unless I want to face another torrent of awkward questions.
    “Ready?” he asks.
    I nod, even though I feel as if I want to scream.
    “Abby?” he continues, frowning. “What's wrong?”
    “Nothing.”
    “You look upset.”
    “I'm just tired.”
    “But -”
    “Leave it, okay?” I snap, forcing myself to hold back tears. “I'm fine, I just don't have much enthusiasm for a long trek. That's all. You might have been sitting around for months, reading about history, but I've been fighting and I'm tired!” Pausing, I realize that I shouldn't be so harsh. “I'm fine,” I add. “It's nothing.”
    Hearing footsteps, I turn and see Absalom and Oncephalus coming down to join us. They have no idea that I overheard their conversation just now, and I guess they'll keep lying in an attempt to make me think that everything is okay. I hate them for that, but this isn't the right moment for a confrontation.
    “I hope one day we'll meet again,” Oncephalus says with a forced smile as she comes over to me. She takes my hands in hers, and I manage to fight the urge to pull back. “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to train you, Abigail. You have truly come on in so many ways, and you have exceeded my expectations.”
    “Really?” I ask, desperate to tell her that I know she's lying. Still, despite the nausea in my belly, I manage to hold my tongue.
    “I believe in you,” she adds, before letting go of my hands and wrapping her arms around me to give me a big hug. “I wish I could travel to Gothos with the three