Hive III Read Free

to weave a tale that never happened.”
    “ Propaganda.” That's what Sneak is signing and I can see her hands ball up into tight fists as soon as she's done.
    “ So those Duster pussies never finished her off after all?” Bron says. “Now I’ve lost all respect for them.”
    “Not killed, she was captured and imprisoned,” but even as Oleg says the words, his head shakes in disbelief.
    Ret laughs, but there isn't an ounce of humor in it. “They locked her away, like some Grinder caught stealing a loaf of bread.”
    “ Not exactly,” Oleg corrects him. “She was driven into deepest recesses of a Duster prison and there she was sealed, presumably forever. In order to ensure she would never be disturbed or reawakened, our ancestors chose that as the very site upon which to rebuild the human race.”
    Ret blinks his eyes hard. “You're saying she's locked somewhere beneath the capital?”
    Oleg nods. “According to these documents, yes.”
    “ Well isn’t that just great,” Bron snorts, looking like a man with two dinners before him. “So, who do we go after first? Skuld or the Queen?”
    “ I have a feeling we won't need to choose,” I say and Oleg knows exactly what I mean.
    Bron looks bewildered and ready to head butt someone else. Outside, I hear movement and realize it’s the Keeper guard waking up. He's moaning, which means he's touching his nose and trying his best to remember how it got bent so far out of shape.
    “Skuld’s heading for the capital,” I say. “We knew he would, sooner or later, but what we didn't know, until now, was why.”
    “ Or that he’d have an army of Zees with him when he arrived.”
    I glance over at Oleg and spot the concern deeply etched on his face. I ask the question, although it's clear enough he's already wondering the same thing. “What will happen if Skuld manages to kill the Queen?”
    The old guy reaches down and ruffles the edges of the papers he's holding. “Then there would be nothing left to stop him, Azina, not even you.”
     
    Oleg grabs a wad of papers in his arms and signals that he has everything he needs. One of those things is a map of the catacombs under Attica, and a tunnel that supposedly leads to the place where the Queen is being held. Which raises two disturbing questions. Rule number three of being a gun for hire is ‘never rely on outdated maps when your life is on the line.’ Those discolored papers, that Oleg’s clutching like a newborn child, are probably two centuries old. The capital city has grown a lot since then. They’ve built structures and crude plumbing and who knows how many of those tunnels are still there. But that isn’t my biggest concern. From the corner of my eye I catch Sneak watching me, and I know full well she sees the worry on my face. She knows me well enough to realize it doesn't have a thing to do with fretting about my own life. I would never have strapped myself to Skuld’s little machine if that were the case. I glance down at my inky black arms, bristling with prickly hairs, almost as if to drive the point home. Already I've attacked one member of the team and I can't fight the terror, nagging inside of me, that the closer we get to Skuld and the Queen he's so desperate to kill, the more of a danger I become.

-6-
     
    It's dusk by the time we start heading back to the workshop, and it isn't long before the full devastating effect of Skuld’s plan, on the people of Sotercity, comes into clear focus. A woman in a shredded tunic, her face a mask of shock, wanders the streets, calling out the names of loved ones. She doesn't appear to have been bitten, but the chances are good whoever she's calling out to has, and whatever's left of them is surely heading toward Skuld’s gathering point as we speak. Her eyes spot me as we approach and the sudden change in her expression is dramatic. She thinks I'm a Zee and shrieks, searching the ground for a weapon. Doesn't seem to matter one bit that I'm surrounded by