Coyle and Fang: Curse of Shadows (Coyle and Fang Adventure Series Book 1) by Robert III (best books for 7th graders .txt) 📕

Coyle and back to a grinning, giggling Embeth before she plunged into the melee of hands and claws and death. The Turned tore her to pieces.

Fang sank to the floor, melting under the horrible strain of seeing Embeth dying—again. Her ears rang with every one of her sister’s cries for help. She stared at her trembling hands, her numb fingers, too slippery, too weak to hold on.

And then the waves took her.

Her head tapped against the balcony, deep wounds in her soul stealing her strength away. She squinted, remembering her voice stretched thin from crying out. Her body shaking as the men grabbed her and hauled her inside the ship. She didn’t speak again for months. Her mother disowned her almost immediately after the news broke. Everything was a blur after that.

Something stirred, and Fang looked up. Embeth stood at her feet, staring.

“She wasn’t telling the truth,” Embeth said

Fang said nothing.

“Are you hurt?” Embeth asked.

“I’m fine,” she said. The aurorium burned like fire through her veins.

“What’s wrong?” Embeth asked.

Fang pulled a medical kit from a pouch and opened a glass vial. She gritted her teeth and poured a blue-colored potion over the wound before wrapping her arm tight with gauze. Horrible stabs of pain shot through her body, blurring her vision. Aurorium coursed through her veins, eating away at her healing factor, exposing the nerves to unbridled torment. She tightened her fists and squinted her eyes, willing the pain to ebb away. But it didn’t.

“What’s wrong?” Embeth repeated.

“I didn’t try hard enough for you. I’m so sorry. I never should have opened that door. And then mother abandoned me. And now look at me. Look at us. I don’t know what I am, and I don’t belong... anywhere or with anyone.”

“You have me.” Embeth smiled. “We have each other.”

Fang’s smile was weak, and her eyes stung. She wiped away the tears. She said nothing because... what was there to say? How could you possibly top the wisdom of a child? Of someone washed away into the sea of darkness?

“The one who’s helping you. What was her name?” Embeth asked.

“Coyle.”

“She’s smart. Friendly.”

She looked into Embeth’s eyes. “I think she’s just like you, little one.”

Embeth shook her head. “No. I’m smart, but I’m not her kind of smart. Where is she?”

Fang stood and searched the ceiling. The sounds of the Turned echoed throughout the cavernous theater. “I’m not sure.”

“I guess we can go looking for her, then,” Embeth said. “I think if we help her, maybe she can help you.”

“Help me with what?”

Embeth beckoned her to kneel down. They looked into each other’s eyes and leaned their heads together. Warmth rushed through Fang’s body. Her lip quivered as Embeth held Fang’s face with gentle hands.

Embeth patted her big sister’s head. “It’s foggy here, and I think Coyle can help brush the fog away.”

Fang stared into her sister’s eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Why do you love me?”

“Why do you love me?”

“Because you’re more valuable than all the stars in the sky. You’re all I have.”

Embeth grinned. “You’re my big sister, remember? And nothing will change that.”

They held each other tightly, uncaring that all the monsters in the world were trying to get them. Fang wished she could bottle this moment and open it whenever she was blue. But she knew there was still work to do, a job to finish. Embeth pulled away first.

“Besides, somebody has to love you. May as well be me.”

“You little brat.” Fang stood and tousled Embeth’s hair. “But you’re right. As always. I need to find Coyle.”

Embeth smiled.

Chapter 27

Mid-level passenger decks

Dawn’s Edge

“Conroy!” Coyle shouted. “Conroy, we need to get to the engine rooms. We need to shut them down.” She turned and yelped as the Turned pulled down a man running beside her.

“We can get there,” he huffed. “But that means we have to go back that way.” He thumbed behind him.

“There must be another way!”

He was silent for a few moments before he answered. “There is. Up ahead on the right.”

Coyle spotted a doorway. “This one?”

Without answering, Conroy shoved her through the doorway. Other passengers followed. So did the Turned. The small hallway echoed with fear and hunger. Heat poured into her legs. Exhaustion was setting in. But she had to find a way to live, had to find a way to stop the engines from running, before she could stop Moreci.

“Doorway on the left!” Conroy shouted.

Her heart wanted to burst. Her muscles ached. But it was the victims who urged her onward without stops, their panicked screams long since burned into her mind. A doorway waited at the end. Just one door with a small window. She prayed it wasn’t locked.

“Go up two flights,” he rushed. “Turn right, go down the hall and up again twice. You’ll find the engine rooms!”

Conroy opened the door for her and she dared a glance behind. The Turned were steps away. Conroy grabbed her shoulders and shoved her inside.

“Go!” He shouted his last.

The door slammed. She pulled herself up in time to see Conrad’s last moments before the Turned were on him.

She ran.

Chapter 28

Maintenance deck

Dawn’s Edge

Electric lamps blinked incessantly, scattering light through the dark halls and rooms. The light show was just another distraction, because the lights from Coyle’s suit worked perfectly, illuminating the space in front of her.

Conroy’s efforts had limited the power, but the massive ship was still moving toward its final destination. Without additional help, the fate of the engines was left to Coyle. Though she was unsure how exactly all this was to take place, she knew there would be means.

Everything around her was unfamiliar, but she followed Conroy’s directions. A door led to another passageway, which led to another door and on and on. She finally reached a series of open spaces with stacks of heavy machinery. The outer edges were lined with railing to keep the workers safe. She picked a route and pressed on to where the engines were.

The screams of the living had long since faded away—whether from distance or