The Boys of Fire and Ash Read Online Free PDF Page B

in that moment I had every intention of beating the Fiver out of him.
    “No! No!” said Cubby, desperately grabbing my arm and pulling me back onto the cot.
    “No what?”
    Cubby’s big eyes darted out towards the Brothers cooking the Larmy, right at Crow.
    I felt sick. I was pathetic, useless, and by now the whole A-Frame must have known it…and so did Cubby.
    He let go of my arm and stared at his fidgeting fingers.
    My throat had suddenly gone dry. “What’d Wasted tell you?”
    Cubby focused on his dirty fingers, deciding how to answer. I watched them too, having lost the courage to look him in the eyes.
    “He said…you were a coward—”
    A cold wave of shame ran up my left side.
    “He said…you would’ve let Crow die—”
    A wave up my right.
    “He said you were no Brother. And Av”—Cubby’s face was streaming with tears—“Av didn’t say anything. Av was right there and he—” He looked at me, desperate to understand. “He didn’t stop him. He didn’t say anything.”
    His big green eyes pleaded with me, begging me to tell him something, anything—that it wasn’t true maybe—but I had no words for him. What could Av say? He’d seen me with his own two eyes, standing there, watching Blaze attack Crow. A Brother wouldn’t just stand there. A Brother wouldn’t watch his Brother get attacked. A real Brother took care of his Brothers. So what did that make me? Wasted was right.
    I lay back down, facing the wooden wall of the A-Frame. “Just go play Screamers, Cub.”
    He didn’t. He stayed on my cot, sniffling. Miserable in our shame, the two of us sat together, unable to face the Brothers, all because I was a coward.
    I could hear him laughing—Crow—while he instructed his Little Brother, who was having trouble stripping herbs. I squeezed my eyes tight and there he was, gasping for air while Blaze held him tight around the neck. Blaze. My nostrils flared at the thought of him. The delicious smells that filled the A-Frame and the squeals and laughter outside were all for him. His scar marked him as a Brother, but it was him who tried to kill Crow. Didn’t anyone care about that?
    End to the Beginning
. Those were his words while he slept. How many other lives had he tried to put an end to?
    A loud bang suddenly tore through the quiet. I shot up and waited, silently listening. Cubby was frozen beside me, the Brothers roasting the Larmy still as stone. The cheering outside had stopped, everything was at a halt. The sound had been deafening, like the Fire Mountains when they got angry.
    But this sound was different—quick and sharp.
    Silence.
    I got to my feet and headed to the door of the A-Frame.
    Outside, everything was still. I looked to the Fire Mountains. The peaks smoldered, spewing smoke and ash just as they always did. No fire, no lava—just the soft rumble they always made.
    The familiar call of the deformed creatures from yesterday rang out. They still hadn’t left. I could see them at the top of the East Wall, still pacing, watching, waiting. But the noise hadn’t come from them.
    All the Brothers were frozen in groups—wrestling matches had stopped mid-tackle, races mid-sprint—everyone was staring in the same direction. My eyes followed theirs to Blaze; he was standing beside Digger and holding what looked like a piece of junk from the Landfill.
    “Sorry!” Blaze laughed. “It’s all right, boys! Go about your business.”
    There was a quiet murmuring as the Brothers tried to continue with the “celebration.”
    “Urgle?” Cubby was behind me. “What was that?”
    I saw Av in the crowd just in front of Blaze. His Little Brother, Goobs, was bouncing around beside him.
    “Av!” I called, running out to meet him. “What happened?”
    “Ah, uh—I don’t really…” He was struggling to keep from looking at me, refusing to meet my eyes, rubbing his chin on his shoulder like he had an itch he was too lazy to use his hand on. I felt my cheeks getting hot. He was