Matt Archer Blade's Edge by Kendra C. Highley

Author:Kendra C. Highley
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-12-19T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I HAD KILLER NIGHTMARES THE NEXT afternoon while we slept off our failed mission at HQ. One dream, in which a flying snake kept snapping its fangs at my head, got me so riled I fell off of bed. I jolted into consciousness when I hit the cold tile floor and the deep aches in my hip and left elbow told me how I’d landed.

Will grunted in the bunk next to mine, but didn’t wake up. Thinking he had the right idea, I climbed back into bed and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. I gave up after thirty minutes of listening to Will snore like a wasted lumberjack. Disgusted, I threw on some BDUs and eased out of our visitors’ bunk room. After stopping by the can down the hall, I went looking for the rest of the team. At my first right turn, Colonel Black’s voice floated from an open door.

“…can’t spare Brandt, Captain. Africa’s too unstable. There’s been four suspicious deaths this week alone.”

“Yes, sir,” Parker said wearily. “It’s a lot of ground to cover, though, and with each day that passes it will be tougher to find the major. Having another wielder on hand would be ideal. Maybe Jorge could be persuaded—”

I stepped into the open doorway of the conference room, finding Colonel Black, Captain Parker and Uncle Mike in the middle of a meeting. “What about me? I could stay. You need me, and I don’t mind dropping out of school for a few months. I could do one of those online tutoring programs.”

“No, Chief,” Uncle Mike said, not even looking up from the papers he was reading. “You’re going home tomorrow. That’s an order.”

“But—”

“No.” Mike met my gaze. “I’ve been up all night thinking we should put you on reservist status until summer. These battles take too much of a toll on you.” His voice broke a little, and he paused before saying, “You’re too young to be facing this much pressure. The things you’ve seen…it’s not right.”

I couldn’t believe we were having this argument again. “I promised that little girl. And Captain Parker’s right; we’d stand a better chance of finding Ramirez if there are two wielders looking.”

“Matt,” Colonel Black said, “as much as I agree with you, we’re skating the edge enough by running you part-time. Your involvement is risky on a number of levels and we’re breaking about a dozen federal laws by having you here. What would happen if you fell prey to one of these monsters? Or went missing? It’d be a disaster for the program, but worse, how would your mother take it?” He put a hand on my shoulder. “How would Mamie take it?”

Mike chimed in, “Or Ella?”

Talk about hitting me where it hurt. Fine, they could play dirty, but I wasn’t giving up. I crossed my arms and stood my ground. I had a responsibility to the team, to Ramirez; didn’t they see that? I’d risked my life plenty of

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