Read Online The Dragon Tree by AC Kavich - Free Book Online

Eva, concerned that those disgusting black hairs might be pushing their way through his pores again. He needed the sun to hurry up and set! And yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but notice that the closer the sun got to the horizon the more he felt his entire body protesting. His hunger had returned with a vengeance, a hunger so powerful that it was nearly painful. He doubled over as he stumbled away from the Buick and sat down on the rocky center of the plateau.
                  “Billy doesn’t look that good,” said Hiroki. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this tonight.”
                  Eva shook her head. “I told you I wanted to see the tree for myself. Not more pictures. So we don’t have to do it. Just me.”
                  Hiroki locked eyes with Eva and waited for her to give some sign she was joking. There was nothing in her face to comfort him. Her expression could not have been more stony and determined if she tried.
                  “No Eva. I can’t let you…” He gathered up the ropes and turned his back to her, desperate to make sure she didn’t see the fear in his eyes. “Just… no.”
                  “You know what, Hiro? I expect this male superiority crap from him,” she said as she wagged her thumb at Billy.               He was sitting Indian-style on the rocks, still clutching his stomach. He moved one hand to the small of his back and rubbed it. It was obvious he was in some pain.
                  Eva went on, her eyes fiery. “I like you because you’re a little more enlightened than him . At least I thought you were. I’m not a helpless little girl who needs you to protect me with your boy brain and your boy muscles. I can probably beat you in an arm-wrestling match, and I can definitely beat you in a race. So if you’re done not impressing me with your boy courage, let’s just get on with it.”
                  Hiroki’s bottom lip turned down in a comically juvenile frown.
                  Eva snatched the ropes from his limp arms and marched toward the cliff edge. “We’re running out of light.”
     
                  Eva tried to play it cool as she lowered herself over the edge, but her heart was running laps in her chest. The harness she wore was too big for her thin body and its straps were cutting off the circulation in her legs.
                  You just had to make it a feminist thing. Nice, Eva.
                  She had been paying attention while Hiroki watched the Youtube clips, and she’d seen enough movies with rock climbing in them that the basic physics of repelling made sense to her. All she had to do was lean back so she was horizontal, plant her feet on the rocks, and walk backwards down the cliff wall.
                  Those stupid movies never mentioned how dizzy you would get when you made the very understandable mistake of looking down.
                  The cliff was so steep it looked like it was angling under itself. The uneven surface of the rocks seemed to be rippling like the ancient stone was alive and upset with her for kicking it. And the gray ocean water crashing against the rocks at the base of the cliff could not look more malicious. It splashed up the cliff face like a pack of wild dogs anxious for her to fall so they could eat her alive.
                  Okay, now you’re just getting dramatic.
                  “Doing great, Eva! You’re halfway down already! Keep your hands on the rope and keep your feet on the wall. And whatever you do, don’t look down!”
                  “A little too late with that advice, Hiro!” she hollered. The crashing waves below her were so loud she could barely hear her own voice, so she wasn’t sure he could hear her either.
                  A moment later, his concerned face disappeared from