Dreamscape: Saving Alex by Kirstin Pulioff Read Free Book Online

burned with terror. I closed my eyes. The crunching of leaves and
thumping of my heart deafened me. Puff birds scurried by on the path.
    “Are you sure, Deakon?” the tall man asked in the
same wiry voice. “We don’t have much time to waste here.”
    “If I’m right, it won’t be a waste of time. You
know we can’t risk any more spies,” he said. He was on the other side of my
tree.
    “Hurry with it, then. I don’t want to be late
again.” His words matched the pace of my heart. “The trip north to Berkin took
longer than you thought.”
    “Yes, but it was worth it. Just think if we hadn’t
gone. We’d never know… we’d never’ve seen…”
    “Maybe that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.”
    “Hush, Pipes. You know that’s not true. No matter
what, we needed to get the word out. You know this is serious now. Without King
Helio…”
    “You’re right. You always are. I don’t want to
talk about it anymore. It just brings back that awful memory. I hope to never
see something like that again. Hurry with this so we can be on our way.”
    “It shouldn’t take long,” he said, and then his
gruff laugh assaulted me from behind. His breath warmed my neck, sending chills
down my spine. “They’re not all that skilled at hiding.” Deakon pulled me out
from behind the tree and threw me to the ground.
     

Chapter Five
     
    I cried out as my knees struck the gravel and my
palms ripped open. Red drops appeared on the ground, and I bit back my tears.
This wasn’t in the game. All my previous worries about getting hurt or being
found disappeared as my survival instincts kicked in. I needed to get out of
there.
    “Who’s that?” the taller man squeaked.
    I crawled away while the shorter man answered.
“She’s our spy. Who knows how long she’s been following us or what she’s heard.
You’re not getting away that easily.” He lunged forward and yanked my legs
back. Fresh wounds tore open next to the dragon weed blisters along my shins. I
screamed and kicked, twisting out of his grasp.
    He silenced my yelp by curling a rough hand around
my face, covering my mouth with sweat and dirt. The other hand pressed me down.
Rocks dug into my thighs. I shrunk under his strength.
    “I swear, I’m not a spy,” I pleaded in a muffled
voice, gagging between short breaths of air. My eyes shifted from the weapons
swinging at his hip to the rotten teeth poking out from beneath his sneer. “I
haven’t heard a word, I promise. Just let me go. You have the wrong person!” I
struggled to break free.
    “Deakon!” the taller man yelled, his voice
suddenly strong as he lifted a shaking hand to cover his mouth. “Let her go.”
    “Are you crazy? We can’t let a spy go, even if
she’s a girl. She’s dangerous, and besides, the cause can use the money, you
know that.”
    “Deakon, look at her. Her hair…” His voice trailed
off and his eyes widened.
    My hair? I lifted a hand to it out of reflex,
wincing as it stuck in a tangled heap. I pulled a branch out and looked at the
tall man again. Surely my hair wasn’t messed up enough to scare him. I’d take
it though. Any excuse to escape.
    Deakon shook his head and leaned closer. “I don’t
know what you’re talking about.”
    “Pull out your glass,” Pipes said. “Now! What have
you done?”
    The exchange between them startled me. Pipes
obviously knew something the other guy didn’t. I just didn’t know what it had
to do with me, or how I could use it to my advantage.
    The shorter man fumbled with his pocket and pulled
out a large sphere of glass. With one hand still pressing me down, he used the
other to lift it to his eyes.
    “In the queen’s name, it can’t be!” he said,
dropping the glass. The pressure on my shoulders released, and I fell back to
the ground, staring at the men. What just happened?
    “Please forgive me,” Deakon said, dropping to his
knees, pressing his forehead to the dirt.
    I shuffled back and my heart slowed.