by P. T. Hylton
Then Jaden looked at George. “Get them inside. Once this area is secured, we have a lot to discuss.”
Epilogue
Jessica knew they were coming for her, she just didn’t know when.
She’d known she was in trouble from the moment Fleming gave his address that previous morning, so she’d immediately dropped off the grid. She had a bag with a few essential items at the office, and she’d grabbed that, told no one she was leaving, and disappeared.
One nice thing about having spent the entirety of her adult life in the Engineering department was that she knew the inner workings of New Haven better than almost anyone. There were networks of passageways that no one but the people who worked on them even knew existed. The badges would never find her down there, and even the people in engineering could spend days searching these tunnels and never stumble across her.
It wasn’t a permanent solution, she knew. Eventually, she’d have to come up with a plan. CB was on the run. Alex, Owl, and Brian? She didn’t know, but she had to assume they were probably in a jail cell by now.
She was alone.
So she was rather surprised when she heard footsteps rushing down the tunnel toward her. She looked around, searching for somewhere to hide, but the tunnel was narrow. The only option was to fight.
She steeled herself, promising to get a few licks in before they brought her down.
A man rounded the corner, and her mouth dropped open in surprise.
It was Brian.
A wide smile appeared on his haggard face when he saw her. “Thank heavens you’re alive.”
She blinked hard. “I don’t understand. How’d you find me?”
He held up a small device in his hand. “It’s an echolocation device I was working on for the GMT before Fleming put me on full-time daylight and railgun duty. It’s just a prototype, but apparently it works. I figured you’d be in the tunnels somewhere.”
She grabbed him and pulled him in for a quick hug. “What about the others?”
The smile faded. “The GMT was sent on a mission this morning and they never came back. We think it was a setup.”
Jessica’s stomach dropped at the news. If night had fallen with her friends on the surface, they were surely dead. And if Fleming had succeeded in taking out the GMT, they had truly lost.
As if reading her thoughts, Brian spoke again. “It’s not over yet. CB’s alive.”
Her eyes widened. “Is he okay?”
“He’s pissed as hell, but he’s alive.”
“You can take me to him?”
Brian nodded. “Beyond the three of us, I’m not sure who we can trust.”
“No one,” Jessica said quickly. “We can’t put anyone else at risk. It’s just us.”
“That’s what CB said, too. But he thinks it will be enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“Come with me. I’ll let CB explain. He has a plan.”
Alex sat across from Jaden at a narrow table in a small room. “So what happens next?”
Jaden smiled his usual knowing smile, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “What would you like to happen?”
She considered that a moment. Rather than answering the question, she said, “Thank you for saving us. And I’m sorry about what happened. With the woman on your team.”
“Her name was Joyce.” Jaden bowed his head. “I’ve known her a very long time. Losing her is… difficult. And you’re welcome.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“Your team is doing well,” he told her. “Ed’s leg is cut pretty badly, but we stitched it up. His brother instantly started making fun of him about it, which seemed an odd reaction.”
“Not if you know them.”
“The rest of them are helping my team with some duties around the city. They said they were too wired to sleep.”
“They’re just happy to be alive.”
“I’m glad they are. Alive, I mean.” He paused. “Agartha is a nice place to live. The first hundred years or so were a little rocky, but we have a pretty good system now. I think you’ll like it. And I’ve considered the possibility of a daytime mission team. You seem like a very qualified candidate to head up that initiative.”
Alex smiled. “Thank you. I’m honored. But I’m not interested.”
“I suspected as much. But you never answered my question from before. What do you want to happen next?”
She let that hang in the air a moment before answering. “You know Fleming, right? Guy who runs New Haven?”
“I know of him, yes.”
“Well, he’s the reason my team got stranded down here. I tried to make a move against him, and this is how he smacked me down.”
“Ouch,” Jaden said.
“Yeah. I’ve been losing a lot to him lately. Every time I think I have him, he outmaneuvers me. But I figured something out. I’ve been going about it all wrong. Politics? He’s going to beat me there every time. I need to go after him my way.”
Jaden cocked his head. “You want to go after Fleming? That’s what you want to happen next?”
“Not just that. I’m done losing. I’m going to go after Fleming, and I’m going to win. If you are really interested in protecting humanity, you’re going to help me. It’s time to save New Haven.”
Dear Reader
The stage is set. The players are in place. Mark and Aaron have a vampire army. Fleming has New Haven. Alex has her team, her new friends, and her resolve.
It’s going to be one hell of a battle.
THE SAVAGE DAWN will be out May 10th, 2018, and you can pre-order it right now so it hits your Kindle the moment it’s released.
Visit myBook.to/TheSavageDawn to get your copy.
Thank you so much for reading THE SAVAGE NIGHT. We truly appreciate it, and we can’t wait for you to find out what happens next.
Happy reading,
PT and Jonathan