The Tears of Nero (The Halo Group Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

when something forced him to stop.  Teetering and tottering to keep his equilibrium, he looked like a trapeze artist balancing on the tightrope.  
    “Help,” he whimpered, stiffening his legs to keep from taking one last fatal step.  “But be careful.”
    Edward motioned for everyone else to stay put as he ran to Franklin’s side.  Immediately, he saw what the problem was.  Franklin’s ankle was touching a fine strand of concertina wire that had been stretched beneath the carpet of leaves and undergrowth. 
    “Henry was right,” Franklin said.  “It’s a trap.  The music’s recorded, and there isn’t a sign of Nero.  Can you tell what the wire is connected to?”
    Edward followed the strand of wire in both directions, but there was too much foliage to determine what kind of trap they had activated. 
    “Don‘t move a muscle,” Edward said.  “I can’t tell what will happen when that wire snaps, but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing good.”
    “I don’t want to die,” Franklin said.  His voice trembled as he spoke.  Edward knew that he was probably one of the only people who had seen Franklin Griffith III in such a vulnerable position.  He didn’t like the man, but he wasn’t so cold-hearted that he enjoyed seeing anyone breakdown.   
    “Easy does it,” he said, putting a reassuring hand on Franklin’s shoulder.  “If this is a trap, pulling back will probably trigger it anyway.  So we’ll have to be quick.  I’m going to count to three.  You and I will both throw ourselves backward as fast as we can.”
    “That’s it?” Franklin said, his words set to the gentle melody of violin music.  “That’s your plan?”
    “I would suggest you pray too,” Edward said.  “Now get ready.  One.  Two.  Three!”
    Both men hurled themselves backward, expecting an explosion, a volley of poison-tipped arrows, or something equally as dangerous.  But nothing happened at first.  Mozart’s Requiem continued to stream from somewhere behind the branches.
    “Maybe the trap didn’t function,” Franklin theorized, breathing a little easier.  “Maybe Nero’s mechanically stupid.”
    “Maybe,” Edward admitted.  “But I wouldn’t count on it.  Look.”
    Although subtle, there were movements behind the trees and vines.  Aged ropes moved through squeaking pulleys.  Rusty gears turned.  Wires pulled taut as counterweights shifted.  One moment they were standing in front of an impenetrable wall of foliage and brush.  The next, the jungle was swept aside…or rather drawn away like a curtain by a thick, stranded cable.  In its place was a scene straight out of Genesis with only a few minor differences.
    “What the devil?” Henry said.
    “What the devil indeed?” Kelly said, recognizing the irony.
    Two human skeletons dead for many years had been positioned on either side of a massive dying tree with more limbs than leaves.  The bodies had been propped up with bamboo and made to face each other.  One of the corpses held a rotten apple and had the fruit poised to take a bite while the other skeleton looked on, oblivious to the monumental mistake that was about to be made.  A dead serpent lay draped across one of the branches, vacantly eyeing the couple and the sin that was about to be committed.  Nero had dressed Adam in a striped bowtie and adorned Eve’s skull with a bright pink ribbon.  Both of the skeletons wore glasses with holographic eyes stamped on the lenses, giving the impression that the skulls were watching.  
    “That is so creepy,” Sadie said. 
    “Look at the trunk,” Kelly said.  “Something’s been carved there.”
    Edward walked forward and read what was meant for them.  “Why did God allow the serpent into the Garden?  Didn’t He know what would happen?”
    “I don’t understand what this has to do with us,” Franklin said.  “I assume our host is trying to make a point but it seems irrelevant to me.  We had no control over what