Black Order by James Rollins Read Free Book Online Page A

around a corner, she watched the soldier sidle along the wall, careful to keep clear of where he estimated the sniper might be perched.
    Lisa forgot how to breathe, eyes fixed wide. She searched the rooflines, the windows. Who had shot Ang Gelu?
    Then she saw him.
    A shadow sprinted through the smoke billowing out of the far building. She caught a reflection of flames off gunmetal as the man ran. A weapon. The sniper had fled his original position and was tacking for a new vantage.
    Lisa moved back into the open, praying the shadows hid her well. She called and waved to the soldier. He had his back to the wall, sliding toward her location, toward the main temple. His gaze and weapon focused on the roofline overhead. He had not seen the flight of the sniper.
    She yelled again. “Get out!” She didn’t speak the language, but her panic must’ve been plain. His eyes met hers. She urged him over to her hiding place. She pointed, trying to illustrate the path the sniper had fled. But where had he gone? Was he already in position?
    “Run!” she screamed.
    The soldier took a step toward her. A flash over the man’s shoulder revealed Lisa’s mistaken assumption. The sniper hadn’t been sprinting to gain a new vantage. Flames danced behind a window in the neighboring building. Another bomb.
    Oh, God…
    The detonation caught the soldier in midstep. The doorway behind him exploded outward with a thousand fiery shards, piercing through the soldier at the same time the blast lifted him off his feet and tossed him across the yard. He landed hard on his face and slid.
    Once stopped, he did not move, even as flames ignited his clothing.
    Lisa dodged into the depths of the main temple, eyes searching the doorway. She retreated toward the rear exit, back toward the narrow hall. She didn’t have a plan. In fact, she barely had control of her own thoughts.
    She was certain of only one thing. Whoever had murdered Ang Gelu and their escort had been no maddened monk. The actions had been too calculated, the execution too planned.
    And now she was alone.
    She checked the narrow hallway, spotted the bloody body of Relu Na. The rest of the hallway appeared clear. If she could get the dead man’s abandoned sickle…at least have some weapon in hand…
    She stepped into the hall.
    Before she could take a second step, a form materialized behind her. A bare arm clamped tight around her neck. Hoarse words barked at her ear. “Don’t move.”
    Never one to obey, Lisa drove her elbow into the gut of her attacker.
    A satisfying oof and the arm fell away. The attacker fell back through the embroidered brocade drapery across the doorway, tearing it down with his weight. He landed on his backside.
    Lisa spun, crouched and ready to run.
    The man wore only a loincloth. His skin was deeply tanned but roped here and there with old scars. Lank black hair, disheveled, half-obscured his face. From his size, musculature, and broad shoulders, he appeared more Native American than Tibetan monk.
    Then again, it could just be the loincloth.
    With a groan, he looked up at her. Ice blue eyes reflected the lamplight.
    “Who are you?” she asked.
    “Painter,” he said with a groan. “Painter Crowe.”

2
DARWIN’S BIBLE
     
    MAY 16
6:05 A.M .
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
     
    What was it with bookstores and cats?
    Commander Grayson Pierce crunched another chewable Claritin tablet as he left Hotel Nyhavn. Yesterday’s research among Copenhagen’s bibliophile community had led him through a half dozen of the city’s literary establishments. In every bookstore, colonies of dander-rich felines seemed to have taken up residence, lounging on counters, prowling the top of teetering bookshelves filled with dust and moldering leather.
    He suffered for it now, stifling a sneeze. Or maybe it was simply the beginning of a cold. Spring in Copenhagen was as damp and cold as any New England winter. He had not packed warmly enough.
    He wore a sweater he had purchased from an