Some of her dried skin had blown onto her father’s book and he casually picked the pieces off, dropping them on the ground outside their blanket.
“Well, if you need to talk . . . ,” he began.
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, bounding from the blanket in pursuit of the rabbit, the wolf part of her brain focused entirely on hunting its prey.
This is the perfect distraction, she thought as she ran through the woods. The thrill of the chase and all that crap.
Yep, she had almost entirely forgotten about Bram Stone.
And that she was going to miss him very, very much.
Johanna stood in the entryway of the Network cafeteria debating with herself on whether or not to go in.
Her dogs sniffed around at her feet, entering the hall only so far before scampering back to her. She knew exactly how they were feeling.
She’d always had a problem with these kinds of social situations, and found herself wondering why she’d thought the Brimstone Network would be any different.
A table nearby burst into raucous laughter, and she caught herself inching closer. It was a table of new recruits, dressed in their navy blue and dark green uniforms, the same uniform she was wearing.
She watched them laughing and talking as they ate; one of the kids stuck French fries up his nose, making one of the girls laugh so hard that she started to cry.
Things shoved up the nose were always good for a laugh.
Her dogs had started to whine, sensing her discomfort, and she was just about to go back to her room when saw that one of the boys at the table had noticed her standing there and was pointing her out to the others.
Johanna froze as they all looked up at her. She felt a flush of hot embarrassment on her cheeks and turned abruptly.
“Hey!” she heard somebody call after her.
She stopped, slowly turning to see who it was. It was the kid who’d had the French fries crammed up his nostrils.
“Yeah?” she responded. Her dogs started to growl; pacing before her, wanting to protect her from potential harm.
“Are you gonna eat?” the kid asked, gesturing back to the cafeteria behind him.
“No, think I’m gonna go back to my room and finish off a tube of Pringles Bogey gave me . . .”
“There’s an extra chair,” he said. “Why don’t you come and hang with us.”
She didn’t know how to react.
The boy gestured again and smiled. “C’mon, we won’t bite.”
And even though every instinct told her to turn around and run, Johanna followed the new recruit back into the cafeteria, and before she knew it, had learned all their names, and was laughing and talking to them as if they’d been good friends for a very long time.
The boy had been right: They didn’t bite.
And, much to her pleasure, neither did her dogs.
Bram left the queen’s chamber, letting the huge doors close gently behind him.
“Now are we ready?” Bogey asked, licking the orange cheese particles from a pack of Cheese Curls from his stubby fingers.
“Yeah, I’m good to go,” he said, feeling much better now since seeing his mother one last time.
The Specter royal physicians were pleased with the progress of her recovery, some even believing that he’d had something to do with helping to purge the foreign poison from her body.
Whether that was true or not really didn’t matter; he was just glad that she was going to recover and resume her rule of the Specter empire.
It had taken him a while, after all the insanity had finally calmed down, to get used to the idea that he even had a mother. It was kind of exciting, he thought, feeling as though part of the hole in his heart that had been there since his father’s death had suddenly been filled. Bram was looking forward to getting to know her better, as well as the Specter people, and he hoped that the rest of humanity would be so willing.
“I’m ready,” he said, switching his duffel bag from one shoulder to the next.
Bogey shoved the empty Cheese Curls bag into one of his jacket pockets and wiped his hands on the front of his pants.
“All right, then,” he said. “Let’s get you outta . . .”
“Abraham?” a female voice called from down one of the corridors.
Bram looked to see Lita and Boffa hurrying toward him.
“We’re never getting out of here, are we?” Bogey asked.
“Sorry,” Bram said, going to his sister.
She was dressed in a high-collared gown the color of pearl, the color of the outfit eerily matching the pale hue of her skin. She smiled, happy to see him.
“When we heard you were here to say good-bye to Mother . . . we’d hoped to catch you.”
“Good-bye,” the Terrapene said, ambling over to stand beside him. One of Boffa’s arms disappeared inside his shell, emerging with a powerful-looking pistol. “A present for your journey,” he said, shoving it at him.
“Thank you, Boffa, but I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said with a smile, handing it back. “Maybe you could hold it for me?”
“Hurruph,” the turtle said, taking the weapon. “Are you sure?” asked the giant turtle. “One can never be too careful.”
“I’m sure,” Bram assured him.
The Terrapene stepped away, putting the weapon back where he’d found it for safekeeping.
Bogey cleared his throat, looking at the imaginary watch on his wrist.
“I should have been gone by now,” Bram said to Lita.
“I understand,” she said, eyeing him strangely.
“All right, then,” he said. “I’m going to get going.”
She was still staring at him, and he found himself starting to become a little bit uncomfortable when she suddenly threw her arms around him.
“I am honored to have you as my brother,” Lita whispered in his ear as she hugged him.
She pulled away, still wearing a smile as the sound of Bogey’s rift opening filled the corridor.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” Bram said as he waved, and then turned toward the passage.
A chilling wind blew out from the passage, carrying flakes of new snow, but strangely enough, he didn’t feel cold.
He only felt a satisfying warmth inside.
Bram stepped from the rift out into the frozen landscape.
“I’m freezing my butt off out here,” Bogey said, hugging himself as he did a little dance.
“Thanks for the lift,” Bram said. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
Bogey gave him a final wave, jumping back through the rift and closing it behind him with noise very much like the last bit of water in a sink being sucked down the drain.
Alone, Bram stood amongst the ice and snow waiting.
They’d been very specific as to where he would need to be, and as he shielded his eyes from the stinging flakes of snow hurled by the severity of the bitter Himalayan environment, he began to wonder if they’d decided not to show.
Bram had just about convinced himself that they had judged him unworthy, when he saw something large and familiar begin to take shape in the distance.
A smile appeared on his face as he trudged through the wind and whipping snow toward the great stone monastery that had miraculously appeared upon the mountain face.
As he approached, the huge double doors swung open.
“Welcome back,” the voice of the Abbot of the P’Yon Kep monastery said as Bram stepped inside, the warmth of the place of learning enveloping him.
“There is still so very much we can teach you.”
Thomas E. Sniegoski, Specter Rising (Brimstone Network Trilogy)
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