The Dragon Men Read Online Free PDF Page A

of those doll-like eyes, the smell of the oozing slime, and the sound of the writhing tentacles crawled over Alice’s skin like cold worms. The creatures spoke no words and closed in around the trio with outreaching arms and faint squishing sounds. A fear she didn’t know she possessed poured ice water down Alice’s back and froze her voice. She had faced down zombies, gargoyles, and a mechanical war machine several stories tall, but these creatures touched something primordial. She wanted to leap behind Gavin and Phipps, or even hide in a closet.
    â€œGood Lord,” Phipps breathed. She had her cutlass out, but it seemed small and senseless compared to the crowd facing them. Gavin didn’t react. He simply stared at the squid men, either fascinated or mesmerized, Alice couldn’t tell which. Thanks to the clockwork plague, Gavin fell into these fugues more and more often, and it wasn’t just when they came across something as strange as a school of squid men. A simple leaf or air current could capture his fancy with equal ease. This unnerved Alice even more than his recent dive over the side of the ship. Right now, the clockwork fugue was proving dangerous—Gavin had lost track of himself while he held their only weapon.
    Alice tried to speak, but no words came out. She coughed and tried again. “Gavin! The Cube!”
    Gavin came to himself with a snap. The eye-twisting Impossible Cube glowed in his grip, and he held it out in front of him. Metal wings formed a chain mail cloak that rippled down his back, and the blue light of the Cube lit his white-blond hair with an unearthly glow. The squid men oozed closer in eerie silence, and Alice’s breath came in fearful gasps. She couldn’t stand such horrible creatures, and she felt foolish and helpless hiding behind Gavin, who was four years younger than she. Still, she had rescued him from danger more times than she could count, so what was the harm in letting him and his powerful weapon take the forefront?
    The squid men reached for Gavin with their dripping arms. He opened his mouth and sang a single, clear note. Alice had no idea which—Gavin had perfect pitch, not she—but the impact was electric. The Impossible Cube flickered in Gavin’s strong hands, and his voice . . . changed. It roared from his throat with the sound of a thousand tigers. A cone of sound thundered across the deck and flung squid men aside like toys, clearing a corridor all the way to the gunwale. The sound continued to boom from Gavin’s throat, and pride fluttered in Alice’s chest. He looked handsome and powerful and, God, he was so young, but Alice loved him with every particle in her body. The squid men crashed into one another and tumbled across the wood without uttering a sound.
    Phipps was also busy. She slashed one creature with her cutlass, slicing off its arm at the elbow. Blue blood gushed over the deck and her victim staggered back, but Phipps was still in motion. She gave another squid man a side kick to the midriff. It fell back into the attacker behind it while Phipps back-punched another squid man in the face with her metal hand. Her knuckles sank into the flesh between its eyes, then pulled free with a sucking sound. Undaunted, the squid man grabbed her wrist. Like a cat, she twisted round and bent her attacker’s arm, sending the creature to the deck with its neck tentacles writhing in what Alice assumed was pain.
    Meanwhile, the squid men Gavin had scattered began to recover. Their movements changed from slow and shambling to quick and nimble. The ones that had fallen rolled to their feet, and the rest surged forward. Strangely, they seemed to be ignoring Gavin and reaching for Alice.
    â€œWhat the hell is going on?” Phipps panted. She took a punch to the jaw, staggered, righted herself, and kept on fighting. Her monocle gleamed an angry red, helping her aim.
    â€œShout at them again!” Alice cried.