Read Online Rise of the Poison Moon by MaryJanice Davidson - Free Book Online

the forehead.

CHAPTER 10

    Jennifer

    Once the cattle were slaughtered, dressed, carried, and stored in the hospital’s walk- in freezer, it was early afternoon. Jonathan suggested a bite to eat (not cattle . . . they’d both lost their stomach for anything more substantial than ramen noodles), and they were back in the air over the town.
    I know how to field- dress a full- grown cow. This is a weird thing for a teenage girl who doesn’t live in a meat-packing plant to know.
    It looked ironically peaceful, as if it had worked out all the violence in its system for the day. Small dots of white and black marked where some robed figures still walked through the streets, but most people were back in street clothes and going about their business.
    “Doesn’t look like Hank has anything else planned today,” Jennifer called out. Prob’ly too busy wondering why he’s never been admired the way his parents told him he oughta be admired. Loooooser!
    “He’s not the one we’re worried about. Keep an eye to the east.”
    “You think Skip and Andi will come back? What’s the point? Beaststalkers can assemble quickly. It is part of their essential awesomeness. And according to Mom, city hall is a fortress. It’s connected to the police station by an underground firing range, with all kinds of weaponry down there. At least fifty officers are going to be armed and prepared across the entire complex, at all times. Hell—I can see two snipers in the tower right now, trying to figure out if they see us up here.”
    “I’m sure they can. They must have infrared technology, like we do. Better, since Hank has had access to the town armory for some time.”
    “So why aren’t we picking bullets out of our teeth?”
    “Ever try to pick off a moving, virtually invisible target from eight hundred yards through an infrared scope?”
    “No,” she admitted. “I’ve gotten behind in homework. And also feeding people who are trapped under a dome. Also, guns give me a rash.”
    He ignored her lame crack. “Neither have those kids down there. As long as we keep our distance, they’ll probably save the ammo.”
    She looked east, where the trees sprouting from the steep hills were lessening their green and losing their first leaves. “Dad. It’s been two years.”
    “Huh? Big Blue’s only been up—oh, you mean for you.”
    “Yeah. Two years since I learned what I was. Since Skip came to this town. Since I met Catherine, first fought with Susan, then Eddie. I was wondering.”
    “Wondering what?”
    “If I should’ve done anything different.”
    He dipped his wings and whistled. “The eternal question. Ace, I don’t have the perfect answer for you here.”
    “One of your half-assed answers will be okay.”
    “From my own child I gotta take this? Heaven knows I’ve spent half my life making all sorts of mistakes, as a dragon and a man. All I can tell you is that every single person on this earth, living or dead, has made decisions they regret. No one gets a do-over. Nobody ages backward. And really, even if you did: what do you really think you could change?”
    “I could have been more careful around Skip. Maybe it would be different with him, now.”
    “Ah, there’s one where I can reassure you, ace. What hurts Skip is nothing you could fix.”
    “Why’re you so sure?”
    “Because of what his mother did to him. Then his father. His parents twisted him beyond anything anyone else could save.”
    “Hmmph.”
    “You have to let Skip go, ace. You don’t have to hate him. You do have to recognize that he’s beyond help. Even for the Ancient Furnace,” he teased.
    “Oh, please, I don’t—hey, what’s that?”
    Changing direction, they both squinted at what was coming over the hill on the highway to the west. At first, Jennifer was convinced the tar was bubbling. After half a minute, she realized something—many somethings—were crawling over the asphalt.
    “Skip?”
    Jonathan pulled up next to her and