The Blood Guard (The Blood Guard series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

murdere d — t hat the world suffers during the long wait for the soul to come back into being.”
    Brenda came around from behind the snack bar and walked over. “Just put the tray back when you’re done,” she told him. “I’m going to take my break.”
    He gave her a thumbs-up, and the dining car was empty except for us.
    Dawkins licked his fingers. “Anyway, as I was saying, the Pure are vitally important. Which is where the Blood Guard comes in. The Guard was brought into being to protect the Pure, because they can’t protect themselves.”
    “Why not? Are they super wimpy or something?”
    “Because they don’t know what they are.”
    “Couldn’t you just gather them all together and hide them in a castle or something?”
    “The Pure can’t know what they are, or it changes who they are. See, part of what makes them so special is that they don’t have any skin in the game. You know how ugly some very pretty people can become once they’ve learned they’re pretty? It’s like that. When one of the thirty-six learns he is pure, he loses that essential goodness and stops being pure. And, as a result, the world becomes a tiny bit darker, steps a tiny bit closer to ruin.
    “So we can’t really tell them anything, and we can’t let anyone know who they are. No one knows their identit y — n o one but the Blood Guard. The Guard does its work in secret, its members living a regular life while watching over and protecting the Pure.”
    “I don’t understand what this has to do with my mom and dad,” I said.
    “Your mum is one of the Blood Guard,” Dawkins said. “Her identity was blown, and your home was ransacke d — i n a search for clues about the identity of the Pure she was guarding.”
    “And my dad was kidnapped,” I said. “To put pressure on my mom? To get her to reveal this Pure person?”
    “That makes sense,” he said, shuffling the food around on his tray.
    “So why are they chasing me?” I asked.
    “That is the big mystery,” Dawkins replied. “Our enemies are up to something, and it involves you. That’s all I know.”
    “So what’s the plan?” I asked. “You take me to DC and we meet my mom there?”
    After a quick swallow of soda, he said, “I’ll hand you over to another Guard in DC, and then I’ll go find your mum. You’ll be safe with Ogabe.” He began peeling the wrappers away from his candy bars like they were bananas.
    Outside the window, the landscape had gone from city gray to woodsy green. Connecticut and New York were behind us. The seat rocked gently beneath me, and everything seemed weirdly peaceful. I thought about the man slamming his fist against the window, but that seemed almost unreal now. “I don’t really believe all this,” I said.
    “Believe what you like, Ronan Truelove,” said Dawkins. “Your faith doesn’t matter one way or another. I’m just telling you like it is.” He started in on the nachos.
    “So is stealing from old grannies part of being in the Blood Guard?”
    A Snickers bar disappeared in two sharp bites. “A Guard has to move with stealth, and sometimes, yes, even petty thievery.” He waggled his thin eyebrows. “I move like a shadow on the world, leaving no trace.”
    He winked.
    And then, “Thieves!” a girl’s voice cried out.
    She stood in the doorway, about my age, skinny and almost freakishly pale, with long red hair pulled up on top of her head in some kind of elastic thingy and held in place by a whole bunch of beaded hairpins and barrettes. She was dressed in jeans and a green sleeveless top, nothing too fancy. She might even have been beautiful, except that her expression was so angry it was hard to tell.
    I recognized her right away.
    She pointed at Dawkins. “You stole that man’s wallet when you fell on him. I saw you!”
    “Move like a shadow on the world?” I muttered. “ Sure .”
    But Dawkins wasn’t paying me any attention. Instead, he was staring at the girl while he chewed a hamburger,