Crisped + Sere (Immemorial Year Book 2) Read Online Free

heaving gasps, sounding rusty and foreign in his ears.
    What happened? Bad Dog asked, cocking his head.
    “Monsters,” Cavalo said as he struggled to catch his breath. “They’re monsters.”
    Bad Dog growled at Alma and Hank.
    “It was the only way,” Hank said.
    “Fuck your logic, Hank.”
    “You’re not better than us, Cavalo,” Alma snapped.
    He leveled his gaze at her. “And I never pretended to be. I know what I am.”
    To this, Hank and Alma said nothing.
    It was time to end this. “You have nineteen days,” Cavalo said, still chuckling. It was a dry sound, like bones rubbing together.
    “Until what?” Hank asked.
    “Until Patrick comes to Cottonwood to take back what’s his,” Cavalo said with a grin. He wondered if his lips crawled with bees. “They have held this town over my head. The Dead Rabbits. The UFSA. All of them. They threatened you unless I gave them what they want. I killed the UFSA for you. I came here to warn you about what was to come. But now I’m inclined to let them raze this place to the ground. This is not my doing. This is not my war.”
    The blood drained from both their faces at his words. “And how long do you think it’ll be before they show up at your door?” Hank asked him, wiping the sweat from his brow. “All of them?”
    “I’ll be long gone,” Cavalo said. “You’ll be nothing but the wind at my back.”
    “Running again,” Alma said. “How like you.”
    “Surviving,” Cavalo retorted. “Surely that’s something you understand.”
    “What does he want?” Hank asked.
    “Who?”
    “Patrick.”
    “The boy,” Alma said. “Lucas. You said he had marks. For what?”
    “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. You’ll never see him again.”
    “What can he do? What is he?”
    Cavalo shrugged.
    “Nineteen days,” she said. “You’ll still be here when they come.”
    Cavalo smiled at her. He thought his face might break.
    “We can go to him,” Alma said to Hank. “To Patrick. Tell him this was all a mistake. We had nothing to do with Lucas.”
    “It’s not that simple,” Hank said, looking at Cavalo. “Is it?”
    “No.”
    “Water,” Hank said. “You asked me about water. And electricity.”
    Cavalo pulled on the chains. They rattled behind him. If only Hank or Alma would take a step closer, he could wrap the chain around their throats. But they probably knew better. He was sure they could see it on his face.
    “What is he?” Hank asked.
    “Salvation,” Cavalo said, “but you’re already as damned as I am.”
    “Did they know? The UFSA?”
    “They didn’t know what they had. What he was.”
    “Marks on his skin. That’s what you said. Tattoos.”
    Cavalo said nothing.
    “Is it….” Hank shook his head. “It can’t be.”
    “What?” Alma asked.
    He ignored her. Hank only had eyes for Cavalo. “Patrick. He did it, didn’t he?”
    Tell them nothing , the bees said. They are monsters. They lied to you. They don’t deserve your help. They’re no better than she was when she took Jamie out of the town and let him die. They’re no better than the ones who left Warren’s head on a dusty road near the edge of the sane world.
    They’re no better than me , Cavalo thought and closed his eyes. In his mind the hive screamed at him as they swarmed around him, as if stuck inside a snow globe.
    “DEFCON 1,” he muttered. “I’m at DEFCON 1.”
    “What?” Alma asked.
    Who is Charlie? Bad Dog asked. And what did he lose?
    The man thought of coyotes, snarling and fat with tumors, as he opened his eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what he did. But it’s not complete. SIRS said it’s only halfway done. It’s not in his programming to know the rest. He’s scanned all that he could and he understands what it means, but he can’t finish it.” He didn’t know why he told them, given what he now knew. Maybe it was because there was nothing left.
    “My God,” Hank whispered. “How is it possible?”
    “I