Read Online Hive III by Griffin Hayes - Free Book Online

the closest thing they know to joy and they’re beaming with it. But I’m starting to realize that the hunger they feel never goes away; no matter how much they eat, the stabbing pain of starvation is always tearing at their insides.
    I reach out to meld with their minds and feel an invisible barrier keeping me at bay. I can’t get through to them, not with Skuld and the Queen so close. I’m still not s trong enough to overpower them and I can hear Oleg’s words running through my head in a loop.
    What remains to be seen is how she will fare when she enters Skuld’s effective zone of control. Who are the Zees likely to follow?
    And it makes sense. I mean, if the broadcast from every Hive leader was competing with that of the Queen , the Zees would be left in a mass of confusion.
    Sneaks throws a rock at my feet to get my attention. There’s a slope to our right, where the ground begins to roll down into a slight depression. Sneak’s at the edge of it, pointing. We head to her and see the Zees I was feeling a moment before. It isn’t a large group. Ten, maybe twelve of them, but they’re munching on a corpse dressed in a short purple tunic and tights. “The Patriarch’s personal messenger,” Sneak signs and neither of us need to get any closer to see that she’s right. Behind the body, recessed into a large rock, is a door that’s slightly ajar.
    “Looks like the poor bastard took an underground passage,” I say, “and got nailed as soon as he popped out.”
    “It’s like they were waiting for him,” Klaus says in a conspiratorial whisper.
    “More like shit luck,” I reply. “Whatever message he was supposed to send is as dead as he is.”
    A fate I’m growing more and more certain awaits us all. Most people don’t need a reason to live, just a reason not to die. For a while now, my team’s been that reason for me and now, with them gone, that reason is Sneak. I haven’t a clue how she’ll manage when I’m not around anymore. The thought of her tied to another Trader’s cart makes the blood in my veins boil with rage. And then there’s Ret. I’ve tried so hard not to think about him and the others. What I wouldn’t give to reach out with my mind, the way I can with these Zees, if for no other reason than to make sure he’s okay.
    Sneak is in the middle of asking what I think we should do and suddenly stops. The Zees have stopped ripping the poor messenger apart and they’re now looking in our direction, eyes glowing, bits of flesh dripping from their blood soaked mouths. The Zee closest to us hisses and springs to his feet, stumbling into a full run. The others aren’t far behind and they’re heading straight for us.
    Sneak’s confused ‘cause we haven’t made a sound, but it isn’t sound that’s drawing them. The thought of Ret and the others pulled my focus away from staying off Zee central. I couldn’t have let it slip for more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough for them to detect my presence. Skuld’s standing instructions are no doubt to kill us all on sight. I turn and see Klaus. The horror on his face makes it clear he’s about to tear off but I grab his arm.
    “If you run, you’re dead,” I say and I can tell he isn’t sure whether I mean he’ll get it from the Zees or from me and I’m happy to keep it that way. 
    The Zees are on us in matter of seconds. We opt for blades. Sneak’s crouched low, a dagger ready in each hand, when they scramble over the rise, hissing. She spins and slices through the brain cavity of the first two. The light in their eyes flickers before they collapse to the ground.
    Klaus has his standard issue Keeper rifle and he’s riddling their bodies with bullets , but nothing’s happening.
    “In the head,” I shout over the chaos, just as three Zees lung e at me. I bring the Katana straight down and feel only the slightest resistance as the blade glides through the creature’s skull and upper torso. The second one gets a push