by David Beers
“I’ve got to go,” Christian said as if talking to a friend. The other was no friend, though. He had no place in this mansion, no real place in Christian’s life at all—yet, right now, he was all Christian had.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” the other said.
“I know you will. At least until the water reaches you.”
“I’m as invested as you, Christian. I’d like Luke to save us all.”
“Luke doesn’t save,” Christian said. “He just stretches his torture out over a longer timeline than Twaller.”
CHRISTIAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN GIVING up on rescue, but Charles Twaller felt certain someone was coming. He didn’t know if it was Titan or the FBI, but someone would be here sooner or later.
The problem was, Charles had made up his mind to kill Titan as well as these two FBI agents, and so he had to wait. The longer he stayed, though, the greater his chances of being apprehended.
Charles looked through closed circuit television at the two men he’d captured, angry at the predicament. He had the lights on over them, although he kept them off most of the time. He only illuminated their area when he wanted to see them.
“This isn’t good,” he said. Charles was alone in the Baltimore warehouse. Other people were here, of course, but they were either on prisoner detail or ensuring preparations were ready for when someone did show up.
“It’s not goddamn good,” Charles repeated. He knew he was talking to himself, but he didn’t care. He certainly wasn’t going to call his mother and talk to her. She was just worrying, and what could he tell her? Ma, remember those FBI jackasses that came by the house? Well, I’ve got them here and I’m looking at them right now; Lordy, I wish you could see this.
No. That wouldn’t help ease her worry much.
But, Charles had to talk to someone, especially with what he saw now.
The invalid was near death, and the genius prick was getting close. The invalid—Phillips was his name—lay on the cot without moving. Charles had stripped him naked and large burn marks sat on his chest, arms, and legs. There was one on his nuts, too, though he only did it once. Charles didn’t think it too cruel, only putting the wires to Phillips’s groin had caused his balls to swell after. Charles wasn’t a doctor and didn’t know if they might swell to the point of bursting—which in all likelihood, would kill the crippled fuck.
So, now he just kept the electrical wires on other parts of the invalid.
It was funny, watching someone who couldn’t move twitch around on the floor like a paralyzed insect. Tommy jigged and jerked across the cot, would fall onto the floor and just keep on going until he either stretched the wires too far or Charles put an end to it.
When the shocks were over, he’d lay there unmoving again, smoke coming up from his body.
It was also odd, watching someone whose body was dying be unable to feel the pain. The crippled was being tortured to death, yet the real issue for him was mental. He knew his body was being destroyed, dying before his eyes, but yet couldn’t even feel it.
Still, there were some nice parts to watch. His mouth would clamp shut, spittle dripping from the corners of his lips, and a raspy noise escaping it all. Charles giggled each time it happened. He just couldn’t help it.
The other one, Windsor, was receiving harsher treatment, though his body was stronger.
He’d been stripped naked too, but Charles was simpler in his methods. Large strips of flesh were ripped from his chest and back, both sides bruised and swelling. The whip had done it. Charles even took a few swings at the young man, but eventually his giggles overwhelmed him and he had to quit. It was how the whip removed the skin so quickly; he only had to bring it down on the prick’s back, and like a magical cleaning formula—the skin just disappeared.
He’d also had his men start flaying Windsor’s arms. He was losing skin across large portions of his body. Charles enjoyed watching his men put the antibacterial salve on Windsor as well—it seemed to hurt him just as bad as the actual torture. They used the salve for infections, but Charles didn’t know how long it would work. He’d had them four days already, but they would die soon, and he knew it.
That’s why this wasn’t good.
At all.
Because he didn’t want them dying before Titan arrived.
“Goddamnit,” Charles said. “God-fucking-damn-it.”
He stood from his chair, done watching them through the television. He waddled across the dilapidated warehouse and then opened the door to the room holding his two prisoners.
The lights were still on overhead.
The invalid didn’t open his eyes, though the mental freak turned his head so that his good eye could see who’d entered. Charles moved with a penguin’s grace as he crossed the room. He stood in front of the chained man. Windsor hung against his chains, his arms above his head and his feet against the chainlink fence behind him. He was leaning forward, putting pressure on his joints, but taking them off his feet. He’d had to choose over the past four days what would hurt: his joints or his feet and legs, because Charles wouldn’t let him lie down.
“You said Titan was coming to kill me,” Charles said. “Where the fuck is he?”
Windsor breathed heavily, like a fallen horse which had been ridden too hard for too long.
“Answer me,” Charles said.
“I didn’t say when,” Windsor whispered, each word sounding harder to say than the last.
Charles raised his hand, prepared to slap the hell out of the man, but only left it in the air. He didn’t bring it down because something occurred to him.
“You.”
Windsor swung slightly against his chains.
“You’re going to talk to him. That’s what I’m missing here. You’ll tell him to come and he’ll listen. This has all been about you anyway, hasn’t it? This whole fucking war was for you, in some psychotic way. So, you’ll talk, and he’ll listen.” Charles brought his hand down. “You understand?”
Windsor smiled, his swollen lips sliding slowly across his teeth. “I’ll talk to him, but Luke listens to no one.”
There are only two more books left in Luke’s madness. Find out what happens in the second to last book!
The Animal
ON PURPOSE AND OTHER THINGS
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ALSO BY DAVID BEERS
Nemesis
She's coming and no one can stop her...
An alien Queen, Morena, was removed from power and forced into exile. Doomed to roam space forever, with no hope of return.
Until a random party brings a man named Michael to her crashed ship. For the first time in millennia, Morena sees her salvation. First, in Michael … and then Earth. The perfect place to repopulate her species. And those already here? They can bow or die.
As Morena begins her conquest, can Michael warn the world before it's too late? Can anyone stop the most powerful force the world has ever seen?
Earth’s final Nemesis has arrived.
Don’t miss this pulse-pounding science fiction series! If you love thought provoking thrill-rides, grab this book today!
The Singularity
One thousand years in the fu
ture, humans no longer rule...
In the early twenty-first century, humanity marveled at its greatest creation: Artificial Intelligence. They never foresaw the consequences of such a creation, though...
Now, in a world where humans must meet specifications to continue living, a man named Caesar emerges. Different, both in thought and talent, Caesar somehow slipped through the genetic net meant to catch those like him.
Eyes are falling on Caesar now, though, and he can no longer hide. The Artificial Intelligence wants him dead, but others want him to lead their revolution…
Can one man stand against humanity’s greatest creation?
A don’t-miss epic science fiction novel that pits one man fighting for the future of all people!
Red Rain
What would you do if you couldn’t stop killing?
John Hilt lives The American Dream. His corner office looks out on Dallas’s beautiful skyline. His amazing wife and children love him. His father and sister adore him. John has it all.
Except every few years, when Harry shows back up. Harry wants John to kill people. Harry wants to watch the world burn.
Murderous thoughts take hold of John, and as flames ignite across his life, the sky doesn’t send cool rain water, but blood to feed their hunger.
If you love taut, psychological thrillers, grab Red Rain today and prepare to sleep with the lights on!
The Devil’s Dream
He'll raise the dead, at all costs...
Perhaps the smartest man to ever live, Matthew Brand changed the world by twenty-five years old. In his mid-thirties, he still shaped the world as he wanted, until cops gunned down his son on the street.
Brand's life changed then. He forgot about bettering Earth and started trying to resurrect his son.
Eventually, Brand's mind overpowered even death's mysteries; he discovered how to bring back the dead--he only needed living bodies to make his son's life possible again. Why not use the bodies of those who killed his son?
In the largest manhunt the FBI's ever experienced, how do they stop a man who can calculate all the odds and stack them in his favor?
The Luke Titan Chronicles
The Surgeon
Are you ready for your operation?
An autistic genius, Christian Windsor achieved two PhDs by twenty-six years old, before deciding to join the FBI.
Now, he’s up against two psychopaths. One, named The Surgeon, cuts the eyeballs out of his victims. The other is Christian’s partner, the brilliant and world-renowned Luke Titan.
Bodies continue showing up with dark holes instead of eyes, and Christian races against time to understand the killer’s identity before more people die.
Can he stop The Surgeon, though, before his own partner kills him?
Get this breakneck thriller today!
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Mailing List Invitation
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
For Christian Windsor
The Priest
I. The Book of Genesis
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
II. The Book of Lamentations
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
III. The Book of Titan
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
IV. Epilogue
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
The Lover
Seduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
For Christian Windsor
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Courtship
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
For Christian Windsor
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Marriage
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
For Christian Windsor
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
For Christian Windsor
The General
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
The Animal
On Purpose and Other Things
Also by David Beers