The Dead Man's Doll Read Online Free PDF Page B

breaths.
    â€œIt’s your last chance. You must go before dawn. I give you my oath that you no longer need to stand guard over him. I will come back each year to check upon his grave and make certain wolves have not dug him up. If they have, I will find him, and—”
    It’s my fault. It is my duty.
    â€œNo, Madyrut, no. Standing guard over a grave for eternity will be wrenching. Souls can wither from loneliness. They can go blind from tears. In a few centuries, you will be shriveled up and unable to see anyth—”
    I saw him run the Star Road. It will be enough.
    â€œDid you?” Asson bowed his head and stared at the pale green sand. Each grain twinkled in the glow of the Northern Lights. “I’m glad.”
    The unknown woman collapsed to her knees on the beach and dropped her face in her hands.
    Asson walked up the shore toward her.
    At last, she rose to meet him. Her fox-fur hood framed her beautiful face like a shiny wreath. She had stopped crying, and squared her shoulders, as though bracing herself for whatever would come.
    Asson spread his arms, showing her his empty hands.
    When they stood face-to-face, their gazes locked, both searching the other’s eyes, trying to see the soul in there. She
was
powerful. Asson could feel her steps inside him, looking around, but for what he did not know.
    Asson made no attempt to defeat her. But when it grew painful, he did look away, shifting his gaze to the fluttering night sky high above. “Thank you,” he said simply, and gestured to the flashing lights. “For helping him.”
    Tears tightened her voice. “Will you help me, Asson?”
    Deep inside him, on the fabric of his souls, he glimpsed a little girl’s face, and firelight reflecting from walls. Boots pounded a floor somewhere, and desperate voices split the warmth. Then a baby’s screams, shrieking for her mother…and agony too terrible to be borne.
    Asson blinked to clear the images before he looked back at her. “You must come home with me, where I can teach you the things you must know about our lands and peoples. You can’t survive here without such knowledge.”
    â€œBut…But they will come looking for me here in Vinland. I’m sure of it. If I don’t stay here, he won’t find me! My husband…He’s coming.”
    Asson stood quietly for a time, letting her think about it. Finally, he extended a hand northward, toward the rocky cove where he’d stashed his canoe. “It’s your decision, but I must start home. The sea ice is growing.”
    As he walked away, he heard her expel a breath.
    It wasn’t until he started climbing the black boulders that lined the cove that he heard her soft steps climbing behind him.

 
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
    THE DEAD MAN’S DOLL
    Copyright © 2015 by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear
    All rights reserved.
    Cover art © by Nikki Smith / Arcangel Images
    A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
    www.tor-forge.com
    Tor ® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
    eISBN: 978-1-4668-9223-1
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    First Edition: March 2015