“I’ll walk, Hale,” I said. “Corporate Agents can take care of themselves.”
“You haven’t been an Agent for twenty years.”
“You’re right, there.” I said, “I’m something else, now. I’ll see you tomorrow night at your Scraper.”
I stood and walked away from the booth. Jared was beside the bar, talking to several suits.
“Yo, Jared,” I said. “I’m on a job for a few days. Ya can fill the table if ya need to.”
“Be careful, Matt,” he said. “Last time Jenny took a week to get you patched up.”
“I’ll try, buddy.”
I had a feeling about this one. Things looked bad for Maddy Hale. Drekk wasn’t known to be trustworthy.
Life can be dangerous in this Fallen World.
* * * * *
Get “This Fallen World” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KHLG54J.
Find out more about Christopher Woods and “This Fallen World” at:
https://chriskennedypublishing.com/imprints-authors/christopher-woods/.
* * * * *
The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of The Darkness War:
Psi-Mechs, Inc.
___________________
Eric S. Brown
Available Now from Blood Moon Press
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Psi-Mechs, Inc.:”
Ringer reached the bottom of the stairs and came straight at him. “Mr. Dubin?” Ringer asked.
Frank rose to his feet, offering his hand. “Ah, Detective Ringer, I must say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Ringer didn’t accept his proffered hand. Instead, he stared at Frank with appraising eyes.
“I’m told you’re with the Feds. If this is about the Hangman killer case…” Ringer said.
Frank quickly shook his head. “No, nothing like that, Detective. I merely need a few moments of your time.”
“You picked a bad night for it, Mr. Dubin,” Ringer told him. “It’s a full moon out there this evening, and the crazies are coming out of the woodwork.”
“Crazies?” Frank asked.
“I just locked up a guy who thinks he’s a werewolf.” Ringer sighed. “We get a couple of them every year.”
“And is he?” Frank asked with a grin.
Ringer gave Frank a careful look as he said, “What do you mean is he? Of course not. There’s no such thing as werewolves, Mr. Dubin.”
“Anything’s possible, Detective Ringer.” Frank smirked.
“Look, I really don’t have time for this.” Ringer shook his head. “Either get on with what you’ve come to see me about, or go back to wherever you came from. I’ve got enough on my hands tonight without you.”
“Is there somewhere a touch more private we could talk?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Ringer answered reluctantly. “This way.”
Ringer led Frank into a nearby office and shut the door behind them. He walked around the room’s desk and plopped into the chair there.
“Have a seat,” Ringer instructed him, gesturing at the chair in front of the desk.
Frank took it. He stared across the desk at Ringer.
“Well?” Ringer urged.
“Detective Ringer, I work for an organization that has reason to believe you have the capacity to be much more than the mere street detective you are now,” Frank started.
“Hold on a sec.” Ringer leaned forward where he sat. “You’re here to offer me a job?”
“Something like that.” Frank grinned.
“I’m not interested,” Ringer said gruffly and started to get up. Frank’s next words knocked him off his feet, causing him to collapse back into his chair as if he’d been gut-punched.
“We know about your power, Detective Ringer.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ringer said, though it was clear he was lying.
“There’s no reason to be ashamed of your abilities, Detective,” Frank assured him, “and what the two of us are about to discuss will never leave this room.”
“I think it’s time you left now, Mr. Dubin,” Ringer growled.
“Far from it,” Frank said. “We’re just getting started, Detective Ringer.”
Ringer sprung from his seat and started for the office’s door. “You can either show yourself out, or I can have one of the officers out there help you back to the street.”
Frank left his own seat and moved to block Ringer’s path. “I have a gift myself, Detective Ringer.”
Shaking his head, Ringer started to shove Frank aside. Frank took him by the arm.
“My gift is that I can sense the powers of people like yourself, Detective,” Frank told him. “You can’t deny your power to me. I can see it in my mind, glowing like a bright, shining star in an otherwise dark void.”
“You’re crazy,” Ringer snapped, shaking free of Frank’s hold.
“You need to listen to me,” Frank warned. “I know about what happened to your parents. I mean what really happened, and how you survived.”
Frank’s declaration stopped Ringer in his tracks.
“You don’t know crap!” Ringer shouted as Frank continued to stare at him.
“Vampires are very real, Detective Ringer.” Frank cocked his head to look up at Ringer as he spoke. “The organization I work for…We deal with them, and other monsters, every day.”
Ringer stabbed a finger into Frank’s chest. It hurt, as Ringer thumped it repeatedly against him. “I don’t know who you are, Mr. Dubin, but I’ve had enough of your crap. Now take your crazy and get the hell out of my life. Do I make myself clear?”
The pictures on the wall of the office vibrated as Ringer raged at Frank. Frank’s smile grew wider.
“You’re a TK, aren’t you?” Frank asked.
“I don’t even know what that is!” Ringer bellowed at him.
“You can move objects with your mind, Detective Ringer. We call that TK. It’s a term that denotes you have telekinetic abilities. They’re how you saved yourself from the vampire who murdered your family when you were thirteen.”
Ringer said nothing. He stood, shaking with fear and rage.
“You’re not alone, Detective Ringer,” Frank told him. “There are many others in this world with powers like your own. As I’ve said, I have one myself, though it’s not as powerful or as physical in nature, as your own. I urge you to have a seat, so we can talk about this a little more. I highly doubt your captain would be as understanding of your gift as I and my employer are if it should, say, become public knowledge.”
“Is that a threat?” Ringer snarled.
Frank shook his head. “Certainly not. Now if you would…?” Frank gestured for Ringer to return to the chair behind the desk.
Ringer did so, though he clearly wasn’t happy about it.
“There’s so much to tell you, Detective Ringer; I’m afraid I don’t even know where to begin,” Frank said.
“Then why don’t you start at the beginning, and let’s get this over with,” Ringer said with a frown.
“Right then.” Frank chuckled. “Let’s do just that.”
* * * * *
Get “Psi-Mechs, Inc.” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DKCCQJZ/.
Find out more about Eric S. Brown and “The Darkness War” at:
https://chriskennedypublishing.com/imprints-authors/eric-s-brown/.
* * * * *
The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of The Shadow Lands:
Shadow Lands
___________________
Lloyd Behm, II
Now Available from Blood Moon Press
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Shadow Lands:”
I went through the messy side of the business—staking and beheading—assisted by Capdepon. Crash helped Jed sort out the normal survivors, followed by prepping the live lesser vampires for transport. The Special leaned against a wall, maintaining con
trol of the lesser vampires until we could move them out. Once all the work was done so the cleaners could move in, and the lesser vampires were moved out of Eyelash, I stepped wearily to the Special.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“You can call me,” he paused dramatically, “Tim.”
I kicked him in the nuts with a steel-toed boot. Even in the undead, it’s a sensitive spot. He went to the floor, hard.
“Listen, Tim, I don’t give a shit how big a wonder you were in London. You pull shit like this again around any team in Austin I’m working with, I swear I’ll fucking scrag you myself and file the damned paperwork on why it was a justified action, you read me?” I said, one hand resting on the receiver of my UMP.
He lay on the floor in a ball around his groin, but nodded, weakly. Finally, he straightened out and cautiously stood up.
“What…” he coughed. “What kind of boots are you wearing?”
“No fucking clue,” I replied. “Company issue, so there’s probably a layer of silver in there, somewhere.”
“Tim, allow me to introduce Father Jesse Salazar, Church Very Militant. All we know for sure is he wreaks havoc on monsters,” Capdepon said, grinning.
* * * * *
Find out more about Lloyd Behm, II and “Shadow Lands” at:
https://chriskennedypublishing.com/imprints-authors/lloyd-behm-ii/.
Get “Shadow Lands” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KX8GHYX
* * * * *
Turning Point (Book 3): A Time To Live Page 45