Read Online Red by Alyxandra Harvey - Free Book Online

frame from my hands so abruptly I nearly got a splinter.
    “Sorry.” I snatched my hands back, half expecting the photo to be on fire. It wasn’t.
    “It’s fine,” he said, tossing it facedown into a basket of magazines on the other side of the piano. “No big deal.”
    I was probably too mature to start chanting, “Liar, liar, pants on fire.” Well, too old, anyway. “I didn’t mean to pry,” I said, reaching for the toolbox. “I should—”
    “Go,” he finished for me. I couldn’t read his expression. “You should go.”
    He closed the door in my face.

Chapter Seven
    Ethan
    The forest had teeth.
    It was the first thing we’d all learned, and it was a lesson worth repeating, even if I wanted to be doing anything other than this right now. Algebra would be better. Hell, an algebra exam would be better. But that kind of thinking was dangerous. Get distracted for one moment, think about the housekeeper’s cute granddaughter at the wrong moment, and you’d get caught. And killed.
    There were four daggers on my belt, one in each boot, and a row of throwing knives on the leather strap that crossed over my chest. The gun on my right hip was filled with tranquilizer darts, the one on the left with bullets. And it still might not be enough. Especially since Colt had drunk way too many beers in the hot tub and was now determined to be a hero. If by hero, he meant idiot. Sometimes I thought these training exercises were meant to purge us of our stupidity before we took the Trials. So far, no luck.
    “Should just let him get eaten,” I muttered, watching him crouch with a spear and a sloppy grin. He’d painted mud over his face like he was at football practice. And he’d left a mess of bloody raw beef in the middle of the trail. Even in the darkness of the woods at night, the blood glistened. Justine was perched up an elm tree with a crossbow. Her hair was scraped back from her pretty face, making her look more severe than she usually did. Even Justin looked serious, flattened behind a tree trunk with a sword in his hand.
    If only child services could see us now.
    Colt stepped out of his cover, standing with his spear. I knew the idiot was picturing himself as a gladiator. This was his idea of practicing for his Trial. Still, at least the only thing being drawn to beef and stupidity was a Stymphalian marsh bird. They liked human flesh, but there was only one of them. And frankly, Colt deserved to get knocked on his ass, especially if it had the slightest chance of knocking sense into him as well.
    I might believe in chimeras and dragons, but some things were fictional—like Colt’s good sense.
    He was laughing as the marsh bird screeched, descending fast on jagged wings. It was the size of a small crane, with bronze- and steel-colored feathers. Its talons were curled, aiming for his eyes. He waited until the last second before batting it away with his spear. The bird smashed into a tree, and blood spattered to the ground. The bird shook its head, lifting into the air again, looking slightly drunk. And mad as hell.
    “Nice of you to join us, Sloane,” I said when she slid into the undergrowth beside me.
    “Quit your bitching.” She grinned. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
    “I thought you said you weren’t doing this anymore.”
    She shrugged one shoulder. “Who else is going to watch your back?”
    “I will,” Justine said coldly from above us.
    “Watching his ass and his back aren’t the same thing.” Sloane snorted. I elbowed her. “What?” She blinked at me innocently. “Where’s Tobias?”
    “Here.” He emerged from the cedars without disturbing a single branch or needle. “You’ll wake the moss girls and then you’ll really be screwed.”
    “Too slow!” I shouted when Colt tripped on a root and fell on his ass, narrowly missing both of his eyeballs being eaten. He grabbed for his spear and finally skewered the bird. It made an awful sound as it died. My anger at Colt kindled all over