Flame by Amy Kathleen Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

you now.”
    The little boy looked eagerly up at the ceiling.
    “No,” Kieran began, but he could only hide his face in his hands. He should be strong enough to do this, but he couldn’t lift his head to look at them. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and someone guided him from the podium to sit in the front row. When he looked up, he saw Felicity had draped her arm over him. “Look,” she whispered.
    “MOMMY!” called a little boy.
    There was a great shuffling, and suddenly a cacophony of cries and screams as the children rushed toward the door.
    Filing into the room were the forty or so surviving adult crew members from the Empyrean. Children stampeded toward them, arms outstretched, wailing as they were swept into tight hugs. Mothers picked up little girls and twirled them. Fathers knelt down and wrapped their arms around children two and three at a time. Behind them all stood Anne Mather and several of her armed guards. Mather had such a look of tearful joy on her face that Kieran had to look away. He didn’t want to believe she was capable of anything other than cold calculation.
    He knew he should gather up the children whose parents had not appeared, but something was happening. Regina Marshall had knelt, her hand on the arm of Jamie Peters as she whispered into his ear. He melted onto her, crying helpless tears, and she wrapped him up in her arms. This scene was repeated over and over throughout the room as orphans finally received the news of their parents’ passing, one by one, delivered by a loving adult.
    Kieran looked at Felicity, who was crying, her blue eyes bloodshot, cheeks blooming pink. He opened his arms to her and held her while she sobbed. Over her shoulder he saw Waverly holding Serafina Mbewe, kissing her plump brown cheeks. Serafina’s legs were wrapped around Waverly’s waist, her ankles hooked, looking like she never wanted to let go. Waverly looked up and blanched when she saw Kieran with his arms around Felicity. He felt embarrassed, but not enough to let go.
    “Murderers,” someone muttered. It was Sarah Wheeler, her jaw rigid with fury. Neither her parents, nor Randy’s, had survived. Randy was crying openly and without shame, and Sarah rubbed his bulky shoulder with a tenderness Kieran would never have guessed possible for her. But when one of Mather’s armed guards walked by them, Sarah narrowed her eyes and shouted, “Murderer!”
    Felicity pulled away from Kieran’s embrace to watch. The guard, a tall man with a heavy, protruding jaw, rounded on Sarah. The glare he gave her was chilling, and several people took a step away, but Sarah looked up at the man with unvarnished hatred. “How many of our parents did you kill?”
    The man made a fist, and he stared, challenging her to keep going.
    “How many kids did you orphan ?” Sarah shouted. More people turned to take in the scene. Randy reached for Sarah’s shoulder but she jerked away.
    “You’re murderers!” Sarah shrieked. She shook from head to toe, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “We should kill you all!”
    Randy’s eyes widened, but he stood by Sarah, whispering in her ear. She pulled away from him.
    “I don’t care what he does to me! Let him kill me in front of everyone! Let him show what a murderer he is!”
    “I’m warning you.” The big guard lifted his fist, uncoiling one finger to point in Sarah’s face.
    “I’ve got this, Tom,” said a short, stocky guard as he rushed between the big guard and Sarah. Before the man named Tom could react, the smaller guard picked Sarah up by the waist as though she were no heavier than a doll and wrestled her out of the room. She kicked him and scratched at his hands, but he never stopped whispering in her ear, trying to calm her down. The bigger guard seemed annoyed that the other had stepped in, and he clamped a hand on Randy’s shoulder to push him ahead, out the door.
    “Kill me! Go ahead and kill me! I don’t care!” Sarah was screaming in the