The Mortal Knife by D. J. McCune

Author:D. J. McCune
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471402326
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Published: 2014-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The following morning Adam’s thoughts were a whirl as he made his way to school. The bus ride passed in a blur of hazy scenarios where he fought his way through the Hinterland, dodging a monstrous enemy. He had spent most of Sunday evening lurking near his father’s study, hoping to get in and get his hands on The Book of the Unknown Roads but an exhausted Nathanial had spent the evening working while Aron did his first evening of solo call-outs. With no further information on the unseen menace in the Hinterland, Adam had considered a range of possible weapons, from rowan branches to ceremonial swords liberated from the vaults beneath the house. The problem was rowan branches were hard to fit in a schoolbag and Adam had never used a ceremonial sword for much more than dance practice. Without becoming an actual ninja in the next eight hours he would be more of a danger to himself than his unknown enemies.

He managed a brief chat with Melissa at the end of registration and promised to meet her in the art room at lunchtime for another posing session. If he was honest this was for the purely selfish reason that he hoped he’d be rewarded with a snog at the end. After all, knowing what lay ahead of him after school … it could well be the last kiss for the condemned man.

At break he had only just walked into the library when an excited Dan squawked his name and waved him over to their table. Archie and Spike were staring at the laptop screen intently. For a long, panic-stricken moment Adam wondered if his face had been successfully identified and whether he should leg it.

‘We did it! We finally got the Beast to take the bait!’ Dan hissed, spraying the table and his friends with semi-chewed pumpkin seeds. His eyes were gleaming crazily with a mixture of excitement and terror. ‘He thinks the Wonderfish is for real!’

Adam moved behind Archie and Spike and studied the screen for confirmation. ‘So he finally logged in to his email?’

‘Yeah,’ Spike murmured. ‘He got a text telling him that he’d won a prize and the claim link was in his email. Unfortunately it had expired but the Wonderfish was waiting by way of consolation.’

‘She’s like the best thing I’ve ever drawn,’ Archie said, his face reverent. ‘Seriously. She’s the perfect woman, or as close as she can be without being a ninja. I thought even the Beast wouldn’t believe that bit. I had to rub out the nunchucks.’

‘Probably wise,’ Adam muttered studying the ‘photo’. Archie had managed to convert his modified drawing to what looked like a slightly blurred photograph. The picture still freaked him out, mainly because it looked a lot like Chloe. The thought of Archie dreaming about a girl who looked just like his little sister was a bit close to home for Adam’s taste. ‘So did the Beast like the look of her?’ (That idea was even worse.

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