BooksBarbecue
Back Whirlwind
Chapters (95)
  1. Title Page
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. 85
  87. 86
  88. 87
  89. 88
  90. 89
  91. 90
  92. 91
  93. 92
  94. Also by DAVID KLASS
  95. Copyright Page

He steps toward me and flexes his muscles, and his shirt shreds and pops off him. His eyes are glowing now—his superhuman intelligence coupled with his subhuman vitality makes him seem at once near-divine and at the same time bestial and despicably loathsome. “You have no idea the misery you caused among my faithful when you used Firestorm,” he hisses. “Seven hundred years of bitter warfare reversed by one ignorant boy. My loyal followers—tens of millions of life-forms with just as much right to the planet as anyone else—suddenly in full retreat, pushed to the brink. You healed the earth, but in so doing you doomed all those who were designed or bred to flourish in its decay. We will not yield the future.”

He picks me off the ground and slams me against a wall again and again, so hard that it feels like my spine will crack. I try to fight back, but I’m helpless in his grasp. “You foolishly turned the future to light, and now I am switching it back to darkness. All will be as it was. Your father and his Caretaker whelps will melt away in the unfiltered radiation of the sun, they will choke in the sludge of dark oceans, blow away in the howling winds, and be battered down by ice storms. My minions will live on and multiply. That is the fate I decree for the earth. And only one man can possibly stop me. Where is he?”

His hand slides to my throat. He’s pinning me to the wall in a choke hold that will kill me in seconds. I gasp and gag as his fiery orange eyes bore in on me.

He eases up, so that a tiny puff of air threads its way into my lungs. “Where is that cowardly shaman?” he demands again. “I know that’s why you are here. Tell me where he is or you will die the most agonizing death imaginable. And for no reason at all, because I’ll find him eventually on my own. Tell me and you’re free to go. Where is that accursed trickster? Where is Kidah?”

I look back into his cold, merciless eyes and whisper, “I can’t possibly tell you … because I don’t know. But you’re wrong, I’m not here for Kidah. I came for P.J.”

For a moment, I’m certain he will strangle me. As I start to black out, he lets me sink to the floor and lie there gasping.

I don’t see him make a signal, but three of his uniformed henchmen hurry in. He motions for them to take me away, and they hoist me to my feet.