Matt Archer: Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page B

them before it’s too late. Brent’s safer where he is. I don’t need him—Mom does.”
    It was obvious that she didn’t need me, either. Unnerved, I said, “I’ll just go back to work then.”
    “Do. And be careful.”
    “You, too.”
    The nod she gave was regal and nonchalant. Like being in a park full of dead people and monstrous creatures wasn’t a big deal. I hoped she knew what she was doing. I knew what it was like to be filled with magic and the pain it caused when the power drained away. She might be in shaman Super-Mamie mode now, but she’d crash later. Hopefully not while she was in the park.
    And after she recovered, we needed to have a long, long talk.
    The roar of artillery rang in the distance. Time to go. I took off in the direction Will had gone earlier. “Tink, I need a boost, but don’t make me crazy-town. I don’t want people to see me like that. It might scare them.”
    I’ll do what I can, but if it’s a choice between killing dark brothers—or saving your life—and protecting your ego, we’re going into killer mode.
    “Deal,” I said. The booms from the rockets and the tanks were growing fainter as they drove the Freaks toward the Potomac. Bodies, both monster and human, were sprawled across the mall lawn, turning a normally awesome place into a thing I’d have nightmares about for years to come.
    “You know what?” I said, enraged at the number of dead civilians around me. “Spin me all the way up. Turn me loose.”
    Now you’re talking , Tink said, her voice tinged with gleeful menace. Keep running. I’ll make it quick.
    True to her word, she slammed power into my chest while I ran and my feet sped up without my direction. The magic burned such that I thought I might be glowing, but it didn’t hurt, not this time. I was too pissed to hurt.
    Up ahead, a Freak had landed. It bent to peck at one of the bodies—that of a woman with dark red hair. In an instant, her face became Ella’s and I closed the remaining distance in three giant bounds before leaping on its back.
    Startled, the monster took flight, me hanging on for the ride. It banked hard to the right, then to the left, in an effort to sling me off, but I gripped it around the neck in a spot it couldn’t reach. When it dived low, heading for a row of trees, I slashed at its wings. The Freak lost altitude and crashed hard.
    “Thought you’d flay me with the branches, huh?” I growled. “Guess you didn’t realize you’d grabbed the wrong guy.”
    I slit its throat with a savage slash and rolled off, looking for my next target.
    I found a news camera instead. A shaking reporter, holding it on his shoulder, trained the lens on me. Worse, a red light on the top of the camera was blinking.
    “Are we live?” I barked.
    The man nodded.
    “You get all that just now?”
    He nodded again. “What’s your name?”
    “You’ve got to be joking.” I cursed under my breath, pissed to even be in this situation. Needing to get back to the fight and tired of the bullshit, I stepped closer to the camera. “My name is Matt Archer. My team has been working under cover for more than four years to keep you safe. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some monsters to kill.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    I ran through the mall with inhuman speed, fueled by a rage that kept growing. The reflecting pool between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials was red and choked with carnage. A cry of anger flew from my mouth—and the voice was Tink’s.
    Dazed civilians stared as I passed, but I didn’t slow down to check on them. I was out for blood, and we’d have it.
    Sounds of battle came from my left, so I bore south, crossing Independence and entering West Potomac Park. Here, soldiers and wielders fought side by side against a dozen Freaks. Ramirez directed an ordnance team in bombarding two monsters with grenades, trying to time the strikes well enough to damage their wings and bring them down so he could take them out with his blade. His