by Kim Faulks
The stubborn bastard’s voice trembled. I didn’t want him in here. Didn’t like the way this place felt at all. Ropes of dust hung from the ceiling. Filth and rubbish covered the floor. There was a smell, one that made the Archer uneasy as I followed my brother along the hallway and deeper into the building.
Marcus lingered in the doorways and shone a flashlight through the empty rooms before moving on.
“There’s nothing here,” Alpha mumbled. “A goddamn waste of time.”
The smell grew stronger the deeper we went. It was a spoiled stench, like a decaying rodent stuck somewhere in the walls.”
The building mirrored, one half was the same as the other. We moved from one quadrant to the other and then back again to find the middle. The foul odor grew stronger. There was a hiss behind me followed by a moan.
“Lucas, if that was you, then you should be ashamed of yourself,” the Marine chided. “Warn a brother next time.”
I turned my head, cutting him a glare, “That’s not me.”
He slapped his hand to his nose and winced. Marcus slowed, we all fucking slowed. Light swept across what was left of the razed walls. I stared through the open gashes of the cracked timber struts to the piles of filth and rubbish left behind.
“Jesus,” the Marine whimpered and then gagged.
I swallowed the air, and kept on swallowing, forcing down the filth, and slammed into the back of my brother.
He stood in the middle of the doorway, only this time there was no sweep of the light and no surging into the dark. My brother stood there and stared, the hard beam of light stuck on the corner of the room.
“What is it?” I moved close.
The hard brunt behind me pushed us farther into the room. The stench was suffocating, cramming down my throat like a fetid lie. Acid rose in the back of my throat, acid so vile it burned all the way into my nose.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” The words spilled from Alpha’s lips.
I would’ve said them myself, but I had no voice. I had no nothing as Eva’s fingers slipped from mine. The corpse was curled against the wall. Legs drawn up, knees hard against the chest. The head was tilted backwards, mouth open in a perpetual scream. The skin was sunken, plastered hard against long bones.
There was no flesh, no meat…nothing but a petrified corpse. It was a woman, dead at least six months…except I knew that was a lie.
“I wonder what will break first…”
Eva’s words couldn’t tear me away…not from the open mouth…not from the leathered skin…and not the long blonde hair.
Hair I saw hours ago inches from my reach.
“What did this…what kind of…?” Marcus started, stopped as the flashlight bounced around the room.
But I wasn't listening, for there were no words that could help me as I turned to stare into pale eyes as Eva whispered. “…your spirit, or your body?”
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Ace
The Zodiac Dragon Guardians
Brothers to the last enemy.
The Shadow Government is cleaning house and high on their hit list are four names; Regan Rivers, Darrion Slater, Senator Artemas Roth and one lone man with a damaged past, and a dangerous need to protect.
Former US Marine Sniper Holden Lee a.k.a Ace.
Ace will risk his life to protect his team.
He'll do what he does best…move toward the sound of gunfire and kill everything in his path.
Brothers to the last fight.
But when an ambush goes wrong and Ace is left hurt, who will protect him?
Brothers to the last breath.
Ghost is the last of her Berserker Clan. The one left behind to remember the enemy, and Major General Newman Slater of the US Marines is the enemy she’s never forgotten.
Newman Slater bought his General stars through blood, sweat and tears…but it wasn't his blood, and they weren't his tears.
Ghost is the only one alive who knows the truth of Slater's dirty, bloody secrets. When a chance encounter brings Ghost into his sights she knows there’s nowhere she can hide.
Slater is coming for her again. Only now she’s not alone—she has a wounded soldier by her side…one she rescued, one she’s kept safe…one she’ll die to protect.
Brothers to the last bullet.
When it comes to that final bullet… Ace cannot miss…
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