Mutation (Wildfire Chronicles Vol. 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

possible, John made his way through crooked alleys in the direction of the castle, slowly arcing around it , ensuring the beam of light stayed to his left. Several times he caught brief glimpses of the bridge. It didn’t look like anyone was crossing it to cut him off.
    Maybe they really do need help after all , he thought as he turned a corner and entered a small market square.
    And then he was stumbling backwards, and the only thing on his mind was the eyeless creature that stood right in front of him.
     
    *
     
    Before the world had collapsed into violence and chaos, Rachel Roberts had been known for her temper. Her friends had laughed about it and pretended to be afraid of her and made her giggle helplessly about it, but the truth was that Rachel's tendency to lose her cool was generally a source of trouble. Throughout her school years her teachers had bemoaned that her focus on doing good work was punctuated by violent altercations, and Rachel’s penchant for defending her actions rather than offering humble contrition left them shaking their heads and predicting a troubling future for her.
    When she moved from St. Davids to London to find work and her boss had finally had enough of staring at her butt and decided that some things simply had to be squeezed, Rachel had responded with a straight right that broke his nose and effectively cleared her desk.
    As she had been escorted forcibly from the building her only regret had been not following the straight with an uppercut or, better yet, a solid knee to the groin. It had taken many hours for the red fog in her mind to finally clear and a semblance of calm to return.
    In retrospect, that episode had turned out to be little more than a tantrum.
    Sitting on the boat, barely even aware of John’s absence and the fact that they had reached their destination, rage consumed Rachel, twisting around her gut like fire; writhing and spreading in the shadows of her mind like a malignant tumour.
    The loss of Jason had landed like a nailbomb, devastating every part of her. It was the latest shattering blow delivered by the faceless suits that had turned themselves into gods, smiting the land with a flood of insanity and murder.
    She had lost everything. Her parents, her brother, her home, her dignity. Her belief. No part of Rachel Roberts had escaped injury at the pitiless hands of the architects of Project Wildfire. They had destroyed everything that mattered to her like bored children plucking the legs from an insect. Because they could. Just to see what happened afterwards.
    They had to pay.
    “Rachel...Rachel?”
    I was supposed to protect him.
    “Rachel, are you okay? Rach?”
    Rachel snapped back into the present and drilled her gaze into Michael. When she spoke, her voice simmered with unrestrained fury.
    “Don’t call me that. Never call me that, understand?”
    Michael flinched and nodded. His daughter, Claire, gripped his torso, her eyes widening in fright. The sight of the young girl’s fear poured a little water on Rachel’s white-hot core, pulling her back from the precipice before she tumbled down into a destructive, all-consuming rage.
    “Are you okay?”
    “No, Michael.”
    She didn’t want the words to come out drenched in bitterness, but they did. Michael meant well, of course. And it wasn’t his fault, although Rachel could tell that John sometimes thought it was, and that they had all followed Michael on a reckless mission that ended up getting Jason killed. Effectively exchanging her brother for Michael’s daughter.
    But even lost in bottomless anger at the way things had turned out in Aberystwyth, Rachel couldn’t find it in herself to blame Michael. He had not forced any of them to help him find Claire; they had all gone willingly. Rachel herself had been dedicated to finding the girl and proving that there was still some hope left in the world.
    There was nothing to indicate that if she and Jason hadn’t tagged along with Michael that they