Hive III Read Online Free PDF Page B

it,” I reply out loud and catch Klaus looking on, like he doesn’t have a clue what we’re talking about. Only hearing one side of the conversation he probably doesn’t. I peel away the corner of the bandage covering my abdomen and stop when I see something strange.
    “What is it?” Sneak signs.
    R ipping the bandage off completely, I reveal three Keeper slugs, lying against the flesh of my abdomen. The holes they tore through my skin are gone, along with any sign I’d even been shot in the first place.
    Klaus sees this and his blue eyes keep flickering between me and what was once a gaping wound. “What are you?” he whispers.
    “If I had a single USC for every time I’ve been a sked that question, I’d be somewhere far, far away, I can promise you that.”
    I listen for Skuld, seeing if the crusty bastard’s trying to knock around inside my head again, and settle down when I realize he isn’t there. But then again, I don’t feel any of the Zees and suddenly understand why. The poor sods in Sotercity have probably all been wiped out by that mob of pissy Grinders. The rest are likely too far out of range, which can only mean one thing: Skuld and his Zee army are moving on the capital. I jump up with a burst of renewed energy, tearing the remaining bandages from my shoulder and wrist. Rubbing the hardened flesh around the wounds makes it clear there isn’t even a scar.
    Then I see Klaus scanning me up and down ; I feel a breeze and become acutely aware that I don’t have a stitch of clothing on. Sneak hands me my clothes and puts a hand over his eyes. I wanna say that men are pigs, but I think even a pig wouldn’t want anything to do with me, looking the way I do.
    I’m nearly dressed when Sneak’s fingers start fluttering through the air. “The ancient Keepers had tried to erase death.”
    She’s talking about the documents we found , underneath the keep, back when we were racing to stop Skuld from mutating himself into a super Zee. She’s referring to my wounds and how they’ve healed on their own. I can still recall, clear as day, the first Zee we came upon in the complex and how the flesh around his severed legs had slowly begun fusing together. But that must have taken several days and even then the changes were almost imperceptible. Whatever part of me was doing the healing, it was working faster than anything we’d seen before.
    I sign to Sneak that it’s time to go.
    “Where?” she replies back.
    “The capital . Where else?”
    But she wasn’t being dense. I can see she really wants to ask about Ret, Bron and the others, but stops herself. That wasn’t anything more than a fight between siblings, she’s probably thinking. Happens all the time. Why not just tell them you’re sorry and make up? Sounds great in theory, doesn’t it? But here’s what she’s forgetting: I tried to kill them. Doesn’t matter that Skuld was the one pulling the strings. It happened twice and, frankly, they should have blown me away after the first time. Course I can’t help feeling weighed down by the whole thing. Our little group of misfits was the only family Sneak’s ever known and now it’s been fractured in a way she may never be able to accept. Sure, the thought tears me up inside, but it doesn’t change the fact that Skuld’s about to sack the capital, kill the Zee Queen and turn whatever’s left of the world into his own private paradise. Which is to say, a hell on Earth.
    Course, Klaus is standing there , blinking like a moron, probably trying to picture me naked again.
    I gather my weapons and head for the door, thinking about how I can keep Skuld from sensing me as we approach. There is a chance that my temporary coma took me offline from Zee central just long enough for Skuld to assume I had bitten the big one. Sneak and Klaus are following me to the door and I can tell she wants to ask about the plan. I’ve always got one and usually the thing’s half decent. There’s a kernel of an