The Third Antichrist by Mario Reading Read Free Book Online Page B

hand. He was now attached to the cliff by the tips of six of his fingers.
    ‘Grab the rope again.’
    ‘I can’t. It’s come free.’
    Abi tried to drag himself the final few feet, but he had no strength left in his hands. He just hung there, attached to the cliff edge by his fingertips.
    ‘If you fall, we’re all dead. Just one more effort, Abi. Come on. Don’t give up on us now.’
    Abi dragged air into his lungs. He knew he was finished if he let go. He tightened his grip and lunged upwards with his left knee. This put extra pressure on his fingers. He knew he had only seconds to go.
    He scrabbled with his feet against the flat surface of the rock. Slowly, painfully, he made a little headway. At the very last moment he broke connection with his previous hold and threw both hands forward, lunging with his knees and feet. His shoes were the only dry thing left on him, and he was counting on their rubber soles to give him a little purchase.
    This time around he managed to apply a bit of extra leverage with his forearms. Lunging upwards, he got his chin onto the edge of the rock. Now he had both forearms and his chin in contact with the ledge. He shunted himself forward like a lizard. Then, using the traction afforded by the dirt, he got his elbows onto the ridge. He could hear shouting from below him, but he couldn’t make out what anyone was saying through the buzzing in his head.
    He dragged himself forward, using one elbow, then the other. First his chest was on the ledge. Then his stomach. Then his thighs.
    Once he got his knees onto the ledge he knew that he was home free.

 
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    Abi lay on top of the cliff and tried to snatch his breath back. The shouting continued below him, but he ignored it.
    His hands were bleeding, as were his forearms and elbows. The rest of him felt as if some sadist had given him a full body massage with a belt sander.
    When his breathing steadied, Abi eased himself onto his knees and checked the surrounding area for movement. Nothing. Not so much as a swaying blade of grass. The sun was beating down on the blue agave plantation so hard it was putting a crease into the light.
    He turned his head and checked out what his botched jack-and-extinguisher device had snagged on. Yes. Just as he thought. The narco- cacique’s body. Which had then snagged onto another body, slowing down its movement towards the cliff edge. He’d been absurdly lucky that the two bodies hadn’t simply rolled over each other and across the edge of the cliff, taking him with them. Rigor mortis had set in during the night, leaving both cadavers a jumbled mass of protruding arms, legs, and knees – perfect for slowing down a roll.
    Well. You needed luck sometimes. The Corpus had been having a bad run of it recently, and now maybe things were set to change.
    Abi lurched to his feet. He took a few steps and then stood swaying, as if he had vertigo. Hunger was making his stomach clench – it felt as if someone had caught him unawares with a rabbit punch.
    Abi’s mind was cutting loose on him too. He caught himself wondering how Aldinach and Athame were doing over in Europe, following up on his orders. Whether they’d managed to find and execute their sister, Lamia, for her betrayal of the Corpus with that motherfucker Sabir. Whether they’d identified and killed the Gypsy girl who was meant to be the future mother of the Second Coming. All these things had seemed so damned important a day or so ago. The central facts of his life. Now he found he didn’t care much either way.
    Abi laughed and shook his head. He sucked air into his lungs like a man getting his first taste of the sea, and lurched forwards. Talk about a dysfunctional family. God had really messed up when He’d allowed Abi’s mother, the Countess, free rein in choosing her adoptive children. Still. Even freaks had to have a place to call their own.
    Abi focused on the problem in hand. The dead cacique’s Toyota Roraima was parked twenty yards