Shadow Reaper (Shadowlands Series) by Amos Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page B

was lying limp and unresponsive on the bed. Gently, I rolled him into the recovery position. With great trepidation, I took his pulse.
    It was there, weak, but there. He was alive. “Stay with me, honey. Please stay with me.” I smoothed the damp hair from his forehead. “Come on, you got so much to look forward to, so much to live for. You can do it, you can fight this.” I squeezed my eyes shut and imagined him healthy, a rosy flush to his cheeks, a cheeky smile on his lips. He had to live.
    Images flashed through my mind, emaciated pale figures, curled up in a nest of rags, mum and dad. The long sleep.
    Not again, I couldn’t do that again.
    “Ash?” Nina’s voice blared through the intercom.
    I ignored her and held him tighter, felt his heart beat stronger, felt his limbs gain strength.
    “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” I opened my eyes and stared at the lifeless, barely warm body in my arms.
    “It doesn’t hurt.”
    I looked up to see him standing there all rosy-cheeked, bright-eyed and full of life, even though his lifeless body was cradled in my arms. “What? How is this happening?”
    He glanced up over my head and his eyes widened. “I think I’m dreaming . . . I like this dream.”
    “Ash!”
    I blinked and he was gone.
    “Ash, he’s gone.”
    Yeah, he was gone. The only question was where?
    ***
    Luckily for me, I’d remembered to put on the mask and gloves. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure Nina would have happily sealed me up in quarantine. Instead, I managed to escape. Away from the questions, the concern, the probing, away to my room where I could pace and worry about the state of my sanity.
    I was slipping. It was obvious; some kind of mind sickness, something invisible but equally detrimental. First the voice in the Shadowlands and now this . . . vision. Or was there another explanation? Had I imagined the voice that had spoken to the beast? Had I been so afraid that I had conjured up a saviour, when in reality the monster had sensed the arrival of other monsters and bolted of its own accord? Had I wanted to see the dead boy alive and well so badly that I had conjured a vision of him to appease my subconscious?
    A rap at my door broke my train of thought. I pulled it open to find Clay looking sheepish. “Hey.”
    “Hi.”
    “Sorry about yesterday.”
    “No, I’m sorry. I overreacted. You were only trying to help.”
    “Yeah I was. You’re right, you completely overreacted.”
    I punched him lightly on the arm.
    “You coming to the meeting?”
    Was it that time already? “Yeah. I’m surprised you need to go since you’re dating one of the council members.”
    “You know Blake doesn’t—”
    “Bleh! I know. Come on, let’s find out what all the secrecy has been about.”
    We made it to the auditorium just as the doors were closing. They were sticklers about timing in Shelter, especially the meetings. The Peace Keepers ushered us in and locked the door. Peace Keepers really didn’t have much of a role here, they were supposed to keep order, but the Shelter ran like clockwork, and the threat of expulsion from the complex was enough to keep the residents in order. No one wanted to brave the slums.
    Clay and I slipped in at the back of the large auditorium. All the seats were taken, and residents were standing along the walls. Some looked worried, some looked excited, others just looked like they’d rather be anywhere else but there.
    I leaned back against the wall, crossed my arms, and waited.
    The doors at the back of the room opened and the council walked in: three men and four women all from the first families—the families who’d got the Shelter organised and running. They were good people. I knew most of them well. My eyes roved over them as they filed in: Blake, Finn, Vanessa, Duncan, Julie, Lila, and Ann. The last two women I didn’t really know too well. Lila was the mother of the Powers That Be and Ann was her sister. They weren’t the most approachable people, but they