Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread Read Free Page B

cart path curled around
the edge of the cornfield, and as their home came into view so did the young
woman sitting on a small rock. She was disheveled and dirty, and she looked as
if she had not slept. She rocked slowly back and forth, cradling a book against
her chest as if it were a newborn child.
    Darius placed a hand on Luke’s
arm, a silent request that he stay put, then leapt clear of the cart and went
to his sister. He knelt beside her, peeled one hand free of the book and held
it in his own.
    She looked at him, and
recognition spread across her face in a smile. “Darius,” she said in a voice
barely above a whisper. “I thought you were fighting the war.”
    “I was,” he answered, matching
her smile despite the knot in his stomach. “Still am, actually. I’m just on a
short leave.”
    She nodded, but her eyes lost
focus as her mind went elsewhere.
    “Sasha,” Darius asked, “why
are you here?”
    “I…don’t know where else to
go. I can’t be here…it’s not safe. But…I’m so tired.”
    “Let me help you inside. After
you rest a bit we can talk.”
    “No!” she said, louder than
she wanted. She calmed herself, then went on. “I’m not sure I want to go to Mom
and Dad…it might put them in danger.”
    “What’s happened? Who are you
running from?”
    “King Landri.”
    That gave Darius pause, not
because he thought well of the king—few did—but because it confirmed for him
that Sasha’s problem was a dire one. “His men would look for you here,” he
stated.
    She
nodded. “I shouldn’t have come, but I have nowhere else to turn.”
    “You know they’ll want to
help,” he said, referring to their parents. “Regardless of the consequences. You’re
their little girl. Always will be.”
    She smiled at the truth of
that. “I’m glad you’re here. Maybe if I tell you first…”
    Darius waved Luke on, telling
him he’d catch up shortly, then listened while Sasha told him what had happened
two nights ago, and of her endless flight since.
    Darius found it hard to keep his
eyes from wondering to the book while she told her tale, and even now it was
only with an effort that he raised his gaze to meet hers. “You haven’t slept in
two days?”
    She shook her head.
    “That ends any question about
coming inside. Risk or no, you need rest and food. Since you still have the
book, I assume you’ve found something useful inside.”
    “I haven’t been able to open
it.”
    “Really?” Darius said,
surprised. He considered his sister quite capable and industrious. “Mind if I
take a look?”
    She held the book out toward
him, but as he reached for it he suddenly pulled back.
    She shook her head. “It’s all
right. You don’t have to take it.”
    He grimaced, then snatched the
book quickly, as if hurrying to take it before he could change his mind. He
made a half-dozen attempts at the latch, turning the book as he did so. Giving
up, he handed it back to her. “Everything about it’s odd. Gave me a shiver just
touching it.”
    “Same with me. When I first
took it, it was like picking up a snake or a hairy spider.” She looked down and
saw the way she was clutching the book again and added, “You get used to it.”
    He rose and held out a hand to
help her up. “C’mon, let’s go home. We’ll work this out together.”
    “Okay.”
    As they walked, Darius said,
“What you did took a lot of guts. Not that I’m surprised. For what it’s worth,
I think you did the right thing.”
    “Thanks,”
she said. She laid her head on her little brother’s shoulder and together they
went to the house where they had grown up.
    Kevin and Marissa Stoneman had
hardly had time to let out gasps of surprise at seeing Sasha before Darius set
some ground rules—they needed to talk, but Sasha needed some food and sleep
before they did so. Such was the stern warning in his eyes that they did as he
asked through supper, the table banter minimal and the questions that boiled
inside them making