Read Online Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx by James Rollins - Free Book Online Page B

were eight of them, definitely saurian, each standing about Jake’s height, running on two legs. Occasionally one would hop high up in the air like a carnivorous kangaroo, cocking its head from side to side as it scanned the way ahead.
    While it was in midair, Jake spotted a single sickle-shaped claw poking out from behind each leg. He’d seen fossils of that distinctive spur. As recognition struck him, fear strangled his throat. He scrambled faster to reach the top of the ridge.
    â€œWhat are they?” Kady shouted.
    Jake swallowed hard. “Velociraptors.”

    Kady gawked at him and raised her sword. Even she knew the name of that dinosaur. “Like in the movie.”
    After returning from Calypsos, she had watched
Jurassic Park
fifteen times and now considered herself an expert on the subject of dinosaurs. But the movie got those raptors wrong, doubling their size to make the film scarier. Such movie trickery was not really necessary. Though small, velociraptors were vicious predatory dinosaurs. They hunted in packs to bring down far larger beasts. They were the piranhas of the prehistoric world.
    Kady’s sword would never be enough.
    Jake pointed down the far side of the ridge. “Run!”
    No one had to be told twice. As a group, they took bounding steps and skidded to reach the bottom. But they still had a long way to go. The pinnacle of rock lay the length of two football fields away.
    Jake struggled to think of a way to get the pack off their trail and searched for some weapon. He had once used a dog whistle to chase off a tyrannosaurus, but he’d given the whistle to Pindor as a gift. And considering the state in which his friend had arrived here—naked as a jaybird—Jake was sure he didn’t have that whistle. He wished he’d thought to pack another one.
    But what did he bring?
    Jake took mental inventory.
    In his vest pockets he had crammed matches, a lighter, beef jerky, a Swiss Army knife, extra batteries for theflashlight in his backpack, water-purifying tablets, packets of sugar, aspirin, some antibiotics, bug spray, suntan oil, lip balm. He ran through all he had, trying to think if anything could be used as a weapon.
    The yipping grew louder behind him.
    Ahead, another dune blocked their path, its slope dotted by desert flowers that looked like blue daffodils. At least this sand hill wasn’t as high as the first. He risked a glance behind him, allowing the others to go ahead.
    So far the raptors hadn’t cleared the ridge back there.
    Maybe those buzzards will give up
….
    He wasn’t that lucky. The first of them burst into view, a scout for the others. The sickle-clawed reptile stopped at the top, eyeing the landscape below, again cocking its head from side to side to survey the terrain.
    Jake’s friends had already cleared the top of the smaller hill.
    Jake slowed at the foot of the slope. As his group vanished over the dune, he knew they’d never reach that pinnacle of rock before being overtaken by the raptors.
    Jake came to a grim conclusion.
    He turned toward the reptilian scout on the ridge, shrugged his backpack into his hand, and twirled it above his head. The scout’s gaze snapped toward Jake. Jake’s only hope was to lure the pack away from his friends.
    That’s right. Here I am
.
    Jake took off running, sprinting along the bottom ofthe long dune, away from his friends. He had to get the beasts to follow him. A look over his shoulder revealed the scout already bounding after him. More of the pack followed.
    Jake ran faster, searching for somewhere to hole up, somewhere to hide; but the landscape was featureless. The yipping grew sharper—and closer.
    He’d never make it.
    Movement on the dune’s slope drew Jake’s eye.
    One of the blue daffodils turned toward him. He caught a glint of sunlight reflecting from the heart of its petals.
    Like glass.
    Surprised, he missed a buried rock in the sand. His