Read Blackjack Dead or Alive (The Blackjack Series Book 3) for Free Online Page A

but I strained to keep him tight as I looked up and took measure of the parachute. It was on fire, part of it near one of the straps, and there were a few small charred gaps that ripped wider as the wind raced through.
    Where below had been the sea, we had wandered wide in our fall, and now the guard and I were headed closer and closer to a small island, sister to a dozen or more that lay in a long stream from a larger island. I was still over water, but our track was taking us in the mainland.
    I looked around for Blackjack 2.0 again, almost hoping to see him again, for a chance to grab him and tear the mask off, show him who I was and who he wasn’t, but the guy was gone.
    The guard and I were falling much faster than I thought was possible with a chute. It was his added weight that was pulling me down, straining the chute. He was a big guy, maybe two hundred pounds, and the armor had to be heavy as well. I let him go, hoping his body would fall in the ocean. I followed him until he was a pinprick against the rolling waves.
    Another glance at the chute showed the tearing had subsided, the few wide holes having reached their maximum size against a sewn edge. But I was falling fast, the impact would be substantial and I didn’t know if my new skeleton would be able to withstand it. It was too fast, too hard. Even if my bones didn’t break, and my skin didn’t shred, my organs would liquefy from the force. The parachute was an afterthought, half-lit by flame, torn edges fluttering in mocking laughter.
    The small island was growing larger, by the moment, much faster than I had expected. I tried controlling the fall with the hand guards, but the chute was too damaged, I was a passenger on this ride, heading towards a rocky shoreline at breakneck speed. I was screaming, in the last few moments, crying and praying, as I barreled into the ground, crunching through the rock and soil, as everything went to black.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Something was picking at my ear.
    I swept my arm out, and heard flapping wings coupled with a surprised squawk. That's how I knew I was alive. I felt little else, which scared me. Feeling nothing meant damage to my body. Damage, which I could scarcely afford in my weakened state.
    But I was alive.
    I'd been taken apart before, as a play toy for Lord Mighty's frustrations. He had punched me across town and back as we had tried to stop him and his boss, Dr. Zundergrub, from killing the U.S. President. I was still in the afterglow of that experience, my bones still "drying", as it were. Mighty had some fun at my expense. Then again, I ripped his jawbone off his fucking face and slammed the jagged edge into his neck.
    He was dead, and I was alive.
    The pain started as small pinpricks, my body realizing it was not dead and bringing systems back online. It grew more intense, a mix of dull throbbing and rusty blades tearing at me. It was excruciating, and I embraced it. My right shoulder felt like it had collapsed into my chest, wrapped in a cold blanket. I rolled away, realizing all of my weight was on it, the thrum of my pulse playing against the joint. My deltoid felt like it was stuck on something and I was afraid that I had broken my shoulder when I heard a crunching sound, but it was rock grinding off as I pulled away. Blood returned to my fingers and I wiggled to make sure nothing was broken. If the farthest extremities were working, it meant that my arms and shoulders had to be fine, despite the pain. I lay on my back for a moment before daring to open my eyes, but there was nothing to see, and I was sure I had died. I'd been to that dark pit before; only this time there would be no Apogee to save me.
    The world slowly came into focus, and I saw the night sky, beset with clouds and a million stars peering through the cover. It was the clearest night I had seen in ages, though the twinkle of the stars made it seem as if they were in on some joke I wasn't privy to.
    Something was digging into my