Gravediggers Read Online Free Page B

vapor.
    â€œÂ . . . yeah,” says Blaze Creed finally. “Nowhere to be found. Her cabin looked like there’d just been an earthquake—furniture everywhere, windows broken. There was some blood, too, on the floor.”
    The words bring a sick feeling to my stomach, as though my bile had just turned cold and gelatinous. Not only is O’Dea missing, but she is bleeding. For all I know, she’s beyond saving.
    â€œDid it look like an attack by the cursed?” asks Sarah Cardille.
    â€œNope,” says Blaze. “Too organized. Plus, there were boot prints, fancy ones—Italian designer. That poor cursed hiker wasn’t wearing anything like that. If I had to guess, I’d say your idea about Savini might have some legs on it.”
    My mind explodes with instant recognition: that name. “Dario Savini?” I ask, sitting forward in my chair.
    â€œWe know that creep!” cries out Ian. “He tried to sic a mutant zombie on us on whatever area that is, Josefina’s island!”
    â€œHe’s a maniac and an imitation Gravedigger,” says PJ in a spiteful tone. “Do you think he has O’Dea? Why? Where’s he taking her?”
    â€œMs. Pilatón,” sighs Sarah Cardille, “please remind your guests that their interruptions do nothing to help their friend, and only serve to irritate the Council. They may think they are something more than mere citizens, but I assure you they’re not.”
    Keep it together, Kendra. Yes, this woman is obnoxious for no reason, and yes she and her cohorts seem unfeeling toward O’Dea’s current kidnapped state, but that’s no reason to have an episode and endanger your chances of ever helping find her.
    Really. It’s not .
    Suddenly, I am standing, my hands planted firmly on the table. “My name is Kendra Wright,” I say loudly. “With me are Ian Buckley and PJ Wilson. We are Gravediggers.”
    Why do I even try .
    â€œThere are no Gravediggers,” snaps Anne Farrow.
    â€œAnd who has decided that?” I ask the three witches, doing my best to keep my voice from quivering, though it feels as though I am jamming my finger in an electrical outlet. “You? Your Council? From what I have learned from my friend Warden O’Dea Foree, my role as a Gravedigger is my destiny, which no curse or enchantment can deny. I have felt the power of karma drive me as I fought the breach in area forty-seven by convincing the living dead to tear one another apart. I felt it at area one-oh-two when I struck down hungry zombies in the humid jungle. But now, I must fight for my friend’s life. So Wardens, do me the favor of setting aside your reservations and allowing us to save one of your own.”
    Absolute silence. The three Wardens stare at me, mouths agape.
    â€œSo what you’re telling me,” says Sarah Cardille slowly, her dark eyes meeting mine, “is that you took part in two undocumented breaches of containment?”
    My adrenaline rush turns sour and clammy. On my one side, Ian slaps a palm to his face; on the other, PJ exhales softly and whispers, “Ho boy.”
    â€œWell,” I say through partly numb lips, “given the circumstances—”
    â€œEnough,” says Cardille, slamming a palm down on the table with a resounding smack. Her smile radiates smug self-satisfaction—she must have been aware of these breaches if she knew who we are.
    Which means she played you, Kendra. She made you admit them publicly. Step up your game .
    â€œLet me make something clear to you three children,” continues Cardille. “Had this Council been informed of these breaches when they occurred, your friend Ms. Foree might not even be alive to be kidnapped. We have a time-honored policy of removing the heads of those who fail at their duties as Warden, depending on the extent of their infraction.”
    â€œShe ain’t lying,” growls Blaze