Prophecy Read Online Free Page B

from the pedal.
    The wag slowed.
    Â 
    T HE DUST CLOUD SETTLED and Doc could see that his volley had met with some success.
    â€œEven playing field, I think,” he murmured. “Level, the term might be.”
    â€œShut up, Doc,” Krysty replied. “Let’s see what they do next. How are we doing?” she questioned a little louder.
    â€œOkay,” Jak stated.
    â€œNot okay,” Ryan breathed in her ear. “Seeing bastard double. Stupe thing with one eye.”
    â€œWatch our tails, then, lover,” she said gently. “No way are you going front line until that’s fixed. Mildred? J.B.?”
    â€œFeel like a mule kicked me, but at least I can see straight,” the Armorer said wryly.
    â€œSecond that,” Mildred added. She looked beyond the confines of the wag to where their enemy had come to rest. “Real question is, how are they doing?”
    â€œBadly, I hope.” Krysty looked over her battered but unbowed friends. “At least,” she added, “a lot worse than us. Because it’s going to get up close and personal, if I’m not mistaken.”

Chapter Three
    Thornton and Chambers wasted no time with words. Before the dust settled, Thornton kicked open the door on his side of the wag, which faced away from their now revitalized opponents. He scuttled out onto the dusty, hard-packed earth, scrambling to the front wing of the vehicle. Chambers followed in his wake, opting to cover the rear end. It would leave him a little more exposed when he chose to take a shot, but safer in the meantime. Chambers was a believer in caution.
    Corden, meanwhile, had opened the door against which his bloodied shoulder was wedged and slid out, face-first. He rolled over, grimacing as the dust and grit from the ground bit into the exposed flesh. Tears of pain ran down his face. Eyes up to the sky, he could see that the blue, bending to purple and ochre, remained unchanged. For him, though, things were far from the same. Now, he was driven by more than just greed. The need to take from them what they had taken from him—a life—was a burning desire.
    â€œWayne, you with us?” Thornton queried, concerned at Corden’s expression, the like of which he had never seen.
    â€œYeah…oh, yeah…” Galvanized into action, Corden pulled himself to his feet and joined Thornton in his long-range recce over the cover of the wag’s hood. “They can’t move, and if we go to them, then we expose ourselves. Right?”
    Thornton agreed. Corden glanced down the length of the wag at Chambers, who nodded.
    â€œRight. Then we need to take ourselves to them. I’ll replace Jase. Just get as much firepower as you can and start blasting when we get in range.”
    â€œWhat if we—”
    Corden’s hard-eyed, ice-cold stare choked Thornton’s query in his throat. Corden’s voice was low, deep in his own throat, and had an edge that would brook no argument. “We chill those fuckers. I don’t care if it’s quick or slow. Slow’s better. But they buy the farm. If we get Hearne’s jack, then even better. But that don’t really matter now. They got one of ours. That’s what matters.”
    With that, Corden pulled open the door of the wag and climbed in, keeping his head low. Thornton looked back at Chambers. The dark coldheart shrugged, gesturing helplessly. There was little they could do except go along with it. Corden was boss, and they were used to following without question.
    Inside the wag, Corden gently closed Demetriou’s eyes. The young coldheart had slumped so that his torso had fallen into the well between the seats. Corden cradled his head.
    â€œThey won’t get away with this,” he whispered to thechilled man. Heaving the deadweight body upright, he reached across the bloodied lap and flicked the catch on the driver’s door. Pushing it open, he heaved the body so that it fell