Gods of Blood and Bone (Seeds of Chaos Book 1) Read Free Page A

pulsed out a little shock that felt like static electricity. Unlike static electricity, it caused me to go blind for a second, and then my vision sputtered back to life like an old car’s engine.  
    Except now, a paper-thin, translucent screen hung in front of my face. I let out a stifled shriek and scrambled backward, shoving my covers into a pile in my haste to place myself as far away from it as possible. I stopped once my back was pressed firmly against the wall and I could go no further.  
    The screen floated unperturbed, the same distance from my face.  
    My eyes read the words on it without conscious thought.  
    WARNING: DO NOT DISCUSS THE GAME OR YOUR STATUS AS A PLAYER TO CIVILIANS.
    I reached out and tentatively hovered my hands over and around the edges of the screen, careful not to touch it. There were no wires, no strings holding it in place. I slipped my hand behind it and watched my slightly blurred fingers wiggle back at me.  
    “This is not good.” I hesitated, then reached out and poked it with a finger. It reacted to my touch, though I felt nothing, and it popped out of existence as if I’d burst a bubble. Another one replaced it a second later.  
    EVE REDDING, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR INITIATION TO THE GAME.
    That one faded away on its own, and was replaced by another.  
    YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL ONE!
    YOU HAVE GAINED ONE SEED!
    PLEASE EXTEND YOUR HAND PALM UP TO RECEIVE YOUR SEED.
    “Oh, hell,” I croaked. “This isn’t real. It’s not real.” Even so, I couldn’t help but hold my hand out, facing upward in shaky supplication. I was screaming inside, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Resisting insanity was a much better idea, but my curiosity got the best of me. It seemed too real.  
    Over my hand the air rippled strangely, like a heat wave rushing out from my palm, distorting my vision. It was similar to the mirage of distant water on the ground that you can see on a really hot day.  
    Then it was gone, and where the air had once been, one of those glass balls my captors and the boy had used sat in my palm.  
    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, so freaked out I felt I might start sputtering gibberish and banging my head against the wall. My heart beat like a subwoofer inside my chest as I opened my eyes and brought the ball closer to my face for inspection.  
    The early morning sunlight angled through my window and glinted off the marble-like sphere. A branching, maze-like pattern was etched into the clear glass in spidery, metallic lines. Inside the glass shell some sort of shimmering liquid swirled slowly around. Across the face of the marble, a string of letters rose to the surface and flowed past my eyes. The words read “MAKE A WISH.”  
    That was too much for me. “Zed!” I screamed.  
    He came rushing into the room, still holding a piece of bread in his hand and looking around frantically. “What’s wrong?”
    “Do you see this?” I held up the ball, my hand shuddering. “Tell me!”
    “Yes, I see it. Calm down, what’s wrong?” He held his hands in up a calming motion and pushed my arm down. “What’s the matter?”
    I pulled my hand free and shook the marble. “Look closer. What do you see?”
    He frowned and peered at it. “It’s a marble, Eve. Probably from a street vendor. Are you feeling all right?” He placed his hand on my forehead to test my temperature, and I brushed it away in irritation.  
    “What about that?” I pointed to the screen hanging in front of my face. “Do you see that?”
    His eyebrows scrunched together further and his voice grew tight. “See what, Eve? What am I supposed to be seeing?”  
    I shook my head and pressed the palms of my hands hard to my eyes. “You’d know what I was talking about if you could see it. It’s hanging in the air, dammit!”
    “I’m going to get you one of those sedative pills. You stay right there, Eve. Don’t move, and try to calm down. Just stay there, okay?”  
    Where would