Read Online Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen - Free Book Online Page A

it closed.  In a few seconds there was nothing left but a smear of blood, and he pulled his hand free from mine.  “Thanks.”
    “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
    “Humpty Dumpty’s got nothing on me.  See, I do know some children’s stories.”  His grin was still loopy like he’d made a joke, but I couldn’t follow it. 
    “Huh?” 
    Bishop lurched to the couch and flopped down with a heavy sigh.  “A man can only take so much before he breaks.  And stays broken.”
    That, I could understand.  He’d lost a lot over the past twenty-four hours.  Sure, we’d both been tortured, but I still had my friends to support me.  He’d lost much more than a job when Jakob sent the Order packing.  I settled beside him, covering his hand with mine.  “You won’t always feel broken.  It’ll get better, I promise.  I’m sorry about your friends.”
    He looked down at our joined hands, green eyes glistening before they squ eezed shut and his head tipped back on the couch.  There was a slight slur to his voice when he spoke, but it didn’t lessen the pain there.  “We lost a lot of good men today.  Men who would sooner cut off their own hand than do what Volkov did to you.”
    “I know.”  I didn’t blame the Order for Volkov’s actions, that was Jakob’s deal.  “What do you think the Order will do now that Volkov is dead?  Will they retaliate?”  It couldn’t be a good thing to execute half the team in a fit of anger. 
    “I don’t think so, no.  Not since it was Jakob who gave the order to kill them.”
    “No one person should have that much power.”
    “He’s not a person, he’s an Ellri .”
    As far as I was concerned my statement stood, but after my talk with Jakob, I was starting to understand how much in the minority my opinion was.  “Did the rest of your friends get away okay?  I didn’t have a chance to say good bye to Fisher.”
    His eyes remained closed.  “Fisher will never leave this place.”
    “Oh.  I didn’t realize.”  The silence stretched between us.  “I’m sorry.  He was a nice guy.”
    A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.  “He liked you, you know.  You should’ve seen how excited he was to hear about your election to Elder.” 
    “I’m glad someone here was.”
    Bishop’s eyes popped open, his head rolling to one side, the better to see me.  “I was happy for you too, just…”
    “Afraid I’d go down in a ball of flames?”
    “Afraid you’d end up hurt or worse.  That’s all it ever was.  I never thought you couldn’t do the job.  And it needs you doing it, especially right now with everyone attacking the King’s Men.”
    “What king’s men?”  He’d lost me again. 
    “The ones that couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  They’re having the hardest time and soon it’ll be too late.  And the only way to fix it will be with more violence and we’ll lose more good men.”  The slur to his voice grew more pronounced the more convoluted his web of words became. 
    “I’m sorry, Bishop, I’m not following you.”
    “I’d follow you though.  They all would.  That’s your gift.”  He reached up to touch my face, but overshot the move, almost crashing into me before I caught him by the shoulders and pushed him upright again. 
    “What happened to your shirt?”  I noticed for the first time the seams were split in two places.
    “Oh, nothing.  A disagreement, nothing serious.  Can’t blame a guy for having a temper.”
    “Who?”
    “I’m the idiot, you know.”  He thumped his own chest.  “I threw it all away, even when you begged me for even a crumb of understanding.  I didn’t want to see it, I was too afraid.  Too afraid you were like her, but of course you’re not.  You never were, not really.  I should’ve trusted in that more.  I should’ve trusted you.”
    “Bishop, you’re not making sense, but you can trust me with anything. I hope you know