Green N Deadly Things – Jenn Lyons

He held the breath for a moment, trying to force his hands to stop shaking. Eventually, he circled a weak light. Kai gasped. The little nest was devastated; crates had fallen, torn free of their moorings. Some had emptied, some simply shattered. Broken wood, twisted nails, the contents of several boxes formerly filled with small metal folding mess kits.

The ground was inches deep in what he could only refer to as “stuff,” too chaotic for identification. He turned to Kai when he felt her shock and horror. She was looking at him. Specifically, at his face. He touched a hand to himself, felt something wet. As he pulled his hand back to look at it, he found himself suddenly terrified that the blood wouldn’t be red. That it would be black, or more specifically, a dark, forest green.

It was red. “Thank the Tri-Mother,” he whispered, and then swayed. Sitting seemed like a fine idea, only to be outdone by lying down. Lying down was a stroke of genius. Kaiataris slapped him, hard, across his untorn cheek. “No! You must not fall asleep. Do you not hear the noises outside? Something is happening, and we cannot stay.” “Right,” he agreed numbly. Math desperately wanted to sit down and close his eyes, but she was right. “Come, then.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him after her.

Leaving their crate fort wasn’t difficult, since it no longer existed. It was more a matter of shoving boxes across the angled floor—the sharply angled floor, which meant the carriage must have derailed. Sadly, he suspected his vertigo was less to do with the angle of the floor than his concussion. A sliding door on the side of the carriage had been ripped open, jagged metal twisted and sharp from where the slide on the ground had torn it asunder.

They crawled through the gap and slithered through the dry dirt and gravel until they could stand again.

Thank you for buying this Tor Publishing Group ebook. To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters. Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup For email updates on the author, click here. OceanofPDF.com The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publicly available in any way.

You may not copy, reproduce, or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillan.com/piracy. OceanofPDF.com For Chris. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com PROLOGUE We know who woke the Queens. His name was Catimus Abhigan. He was neither knight nor king, wizard nor priest, but rather, an unremarkable manager of middling talent and minor ability, assigned to Kegomar Lumber Company’s most remote logging camp in the Parnassa Forest.

He likely believed he’d do some good there, for a definition of “good” that included words like “efficiency,” “quotas,” and “profits.” Some have claimed he was blameless, a hapless man in the wrong place at the wrong time, with no role in later events. This is untrue. Claims that it took him but a single day to ignite the catastrophe that followed are also untrue. He accomplished that in under thirty minutes.

From the moment Catimus Abhigan stepped down from the carriage, gazing at the Parnassa Logging Camp’s primary work site, he knew he would make great changes. The base camp, for one thing—it was too far away. The crew had to walk a mile every morning to reach this work site from their camp. And that logging camp!

Practically a permanent residence, wasting valuable timber on a thick palisade around the camp’s perimeter. The extravagance continued with a bombard field around those same walls, only safely navigable by a narrow corridor. Honestly. Little wonder they lagged on fulfilling their quota. All quite ridiculous. He read the papers, littered with stories of grimmocks and black magic. One would think the country was all but overrun! Abhigan was too smart to be fooled by such sensationalism. How had these people ever managed without him?

Abhigan studied the work site, noting inefficiency, indolence, sluggishness. So much to whip into shape. His stare stopped at the ragged, uneven tree line. Three pristine trees rested atop a gently sloped hill. Magnificent specimens. Each one towered over the trees they’d already felled. So why…? “Why are those trees still standing?” Abhigan pointed the trees out to the first lumberjack unfortunate enough to catch his eye.

The crew knew Kegomar had sent Abhigan to ensure they met their deadlines.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

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• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 7,539,190 bytes (7.19 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 432
• Language: English (en)

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