Hive III Read Online Free PDF Page A

dodge a bullet. The first shot slices through my wrist and slams into my chest. Another breaks my collarbone and exits the other side. The last two riddle my abdomen and it feels a lot like the time Bron thought it would be funny to sucker punch me in the gut. I fall to the ground, fully aware that I’m dying. That glint from the roof drops down among them and I see Sneak, perhaps for the last time, and the rage on her face is like nothing I’ve seen before. The first one to die is the Keeper who shot me. Sharpened steel plunges through the back of his neck and into his brain, finishing him faster than he deserves. The dark skinned Keeper moves to raise his rifle and in the process accidentally discharges it, shooting the man beside him. A blade to the spine paralyses him and now there’s only the one with the broken nose left. The only one who stood up for me. I try and tell Sneak to stop, that this one should live, but death closes in before I can tell if she heard me.

-10-
     
    Prior Skuld
     
    Councillor Plak fumbles over a mouthful of words like a child caught telling a fib. “I’ve come before you, Prior Skuld, on behalf of the other council members. These creatures…”
    “ Make you nervous,” I say, motioning to the senior member of Sotercity’s General Council.
    “ Is that what you’re trying to say, Plak? That you don’t feel safe? That you’re having second thoughts?”
    Plak swallows hard. “These creatures,” he continues, “ want nothing more than to tear the flesh from our bones…”
    I snicker, still surprised at how deep my voice has become. The two of us are standing in the ruins of a village that just happened to lie between Sotercity and the capital. Smoke rises from the buildings around us, engulfed in flames. And yet the most dazzling sight is the ocean of dark skinned Zees, standing shoulder to shoulder, as far as the eye can see.
    “ Let me ask you something. Have any of the council members been harmed by a Zee in any way, shape or form?” The words come out as a question, but it’s clear by the look on Plak’s face, he knows perfectly well I mean it as a statement of fact.
    Plak shakes his head, his eyes lowering with what I can only assume is the same spineles s streak that made him betray his fellow Keepers in the first place.
    “ We would march straight on the capital, depose the Patriarch and you would do away with all of these monstrosities at once, that’s what you said, Prior Skuld. All we’re asking is for some assurances that you can…” Ever the politician, Plak pauses, searching for the least offensive words.
    “Control them,” I say, putting him out of his misery. “You want me to guarantee you and your colleagues won’t be eaten by Zees. That’s really what you’re asking, isn’t it? You’ve seen how they watch you and it’s made you nervous. Well, it should. Our fates, I suppose, are tightly bound, Councillor Plak. Because if something unfortunate should happen to me, there won’t be a thing holding those Zees back from devouring you and your fellow councillors. And believe me when I tell you, the Zees are so very hungry.”
    The sight of the blood draining from Plak’s face is absolutely titillating.
    I dismiss him and his petty concerns with a wave of my hand. Watching his crimson robe brush the ground as he leaves, I can’t help marvelling at his rather pathetic obsession with mortality. Over the years I learned to tolerate the Council’s incessant whining and petty squabbles , for one simple reason. I needed their support to maintain my grip on Sotercity. Once the Patriarch is deposed and each of the ten territories falls under my control, I’ll need someone to take care of the day to day affairs. It’s just too bad those small minded Council members could never grasp the bigger picture.
    The Zees are the best disciplined army the world has ever known and, unlike the Council, they will obey my every command without ever asking why. I would