Read Online Bones of Angels by Christopher Forrest - Free Book Online

leaving very shortly.”
    “Yes, my master,” said Antonius,  “but . . . ”
    “What’s wrong?” Reynard barked.
    “The computer to my right is linked to the monitoring room on the second floor. One of the external cameras shows two men directly outside the east wing.”
    “Who are they?” asked Reynard.
    “They look like . . . ”  The acolyte was afraid to finish his sentence, but he swallowed and took a deep breath. “They look like soldiers.”
    Reynard left the lab and climbed to the first floor, where he found two of his order, Brothers Simeon and Erastus. He leaned close and gave them orders in a whisper before returning to the main lab.
    Whittington Manor, Outside the East Wing
    Long Island, New York
     
    “Ready to climb?” Hawkeye said to his companion.
    “Uh, sure,” said Quiz. “But these trellises don’t look too sturdy.”
    Hawkeye jabbed Quiz’s right shoulder lightly. “Rule One isn’t even written in a manual.
    “Rule One?”
    “Always make use of what’s available. Since I don’t see an elevator, we use the trellises. You’re lighter, so you take the wooden one. I’ll take the iron trellis.”
    The two trellises, separated by three feet, were laced with ivy and ascended the entire façade of Whittington Manor’s east wing.
    The two men stepped onto the latticework of the trellises and slowly began climbing the wall of the mansion.
    “Let’s try this window,” Hawkeye suggested when they’d reached the first floor. The window was directly between the two trellises.
    Hawkeye tried to lift the sash, but it didn’t budge.
    Quiz chuckled. “You’re wasting your time. Look how deeply the window is set into the wall. It’s fake.”  He produced a small pocket flashlight and shone its narrow beam through the pane of glass. “See?  Behind the glass is just brick.”
    “Okay then,” said Hawkeye. “We go higher.”
    “Two red spots beneath you,” alerted Touchdown. “Not sure whether they see you or not.”
    Ten feet further up, Quiz felt a sharp sting in his left shoulder. “Dammit!  I think I’ve been stung by a bee or a wasp.”
    Hawkeye glanced to his right. “No bee sting, pal. There’s a dart in your shoulder.”
    Quiz’s body abruptly fell backwards, six inches away from the wall. The frail, weathered trellis was separating from the manor.
    “Everything’s getting a bit blurry,” the young man said.
    “Hold on, kiddo,” said Hawkeye. “I’m going to hook us together.”
    Hawkeye fastened a line from his belt to a metal loop in Quiz’s belt with a carabiner. He then reached out and steadied his teammate. “Can you step sideways, Quiz?”
    “Dunno. I’m seeing double. I think I’ll take forty winks.”
    Grunting, Hawkeye circled Quiz’s waist with his right hand and pulled his companion to the left, situating the man’s feet on the iron trellis. That’s when Hawkeye felt the sting in his thigh.
    “I’ve been hit, too, Ops.”
    “Releasing adrenaline in Hawkeye’s BioMEMS system,” said Touchdown without missing a beat.
    The wooden trellis fell to the ground. Hawkeye was growing woozy as he looked beneath him to see two men in gray robes — Erastus and Simeon — standing in the manicured garden.
    “Hang in there, Hawkeye,” said Caine. “The cobwebs will be gone in a minute or two.”
    DJ tensed as she watched the drama unfolding. Instruments in the Ops Center indicated that Quiz’s blood pressure and heart rate were dangerously low.
    Hawkeye felt his one-handed grip on the iron trellis grow weak. The weight of two bodies was pulling him down.
    “Increase the dosage!” ordered Caine.
    More adrenaline flooded the bloodstream of Titan Six’s leader.
    “Hello there,” said Hawkeye. “I think I’m up for a little more climbing.”
    The ascent was perilous. With each step higher, Hawkeye needed to let go of the trellis for a split second as his one free hand lurched upwards to find the next piece of grillwork. Five feet higher, he