Risen: The Demontouched Saga (Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

it sends a plume of black smoke into the air, shaking me violently, but doesn’t start.
    I give it two more tries, eventually slamming my head down into the steering wheel in frustration.
    I nearly jump when the door to the tractor opens.
    “Let Bill handle that, Mitch,” I hear Nal say as he peeks his head through door.
    My head darts to the side from the sound of his voice. My eyes widen when I see him, still alive and in one piece.
    “How did you…?”
    “I was out watching the battle,” he says. “We had them reeling, but they held strong near the cranes.”
    I look back at the pile of rubble on top of the trucks. “We still need to save Stevens.”
    Nal nods. “And the others.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    - 5 -
     
     
     
     
     
    “We can’t afford to pull that many men back,” Stevens says weakly as we pull him out of the wreckage.
    He was one of the lucky ones who didn’t end up being trapped underneath the main parts of the bridge. Lucky, in his case, is relative considering his legs look like hamburger. Someone thought enough to strap belts around his legs to help slow the flow of blood, otherwise he would be long gone. It’s amazing enough he is still awake.
    “We have time,” Nal says, helping the others lift him into a stretcher.
    “Time?” I say. “They’re nearly done with the portal now.”
    When Nal looks at me, the bags under his eyes visible underneath the fine layer of soot. He has had a lot on his plate with helping Uriel run the camp and prepare for the attack.
    “It took them nearly twelve hours to set the last one,” he says pointing to the cranes. “They aren’t even close to ready for this one.”
    He may seem confident, but it doesn’t put me at ease. Once they get the remaining two pieces in place, our chances of surviving this mess drop to zero. There isn’t even a sliver of hope for humanity if that happens.
    We help the soldiers load Stevens in the back of a pickup truck along with a few others. The plan is to take them to a nearby hospital where there might be a chance to treat them. Saying there are any medical supplies left by now.It beats leaving them out here in this mess at least. Between the debris and the nearby battle, this isn’t the safest place to treat a patient.
    “Why would they hit the bridge?” I say, sitting down on a block of concrete. “There’s no way they would have known you would set up there.”
    Nal shrugs his shoulders before sitting down at my side. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been infiltrated.”
    I nod. The events at the hotel almost seem like a distant memory by now even though they aren’t even a month old. I still find it hard to believe that Belial was working under our noses for all that time.
    “They weren’t planning on hitting us,” Uriel says walking up from behind a nearby car. “They wanted to stop transportation across the rivers so we can’t get reinforcements from the east.”
    “Michael,” I say, forcing the name through my lips.
    She nods. “They knew Israfil’s little diversion wouldn’t keep him away forever. With the bridges down, he will have to find another way around.”
    “He’s an angel,” I say. “I know why you don’t take your true forms here on earth, but why wouldn’t he do it just to fly across?”
    “He could,” she says. “But he would need to leave his vessel.”
    “And thanks to the rules, he can’t just possess the first person he sees,” Nal adds in. “That means we are on our own.”
    “What do you need me to do?” I ask.
    Nal shakes his head. “You’ve done more than enough already. Stay by me and help me run this thing.”
    “You know that’s not my style,” I say, smiling. “Where do you need me to go?”
    “I forgot about your suicide complex,” he says shaking his head. “Can’t take you anywhere without you trying, or at least offering, to kill yourself.”
    There is an awkward silence between us once he says that. Just by being here on the