The Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1 - 4 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department Box Sets)

by John P. Logsdon

  You’d think it’d be pretty hot to have a couple of hot ladies flowing energy into you…and you’d be right. But it was also troubling because it meant that they were losing it in the process. Still, it had to be done. I needed power fast.

  The entire process only took about twenty seconds, but it felt like an hour.

  Rachel let go and collapsed into my arms. Jasmine was faring better, but she was a little more pale than before starting the transference.

  “Take care of her,” I commanded while gently moving Rachel to them. “I have to get this done.”

  I took off at a full sprint, feeling like I’d just chugged down five energy drinks. There was a potency to mage power that topped those drinks though, and you didn’t tend to have the typical crash either. Plus, zero calories. Some of the wealthy hired on mages specifically for this type of daily boost. They’d bring in ten to twenty midlevel practitioners to keep themselves fed throughout the day. I had the money to do this, too, but I typically had more than enough energy as it was. Not after flashes, apparently, but that wasn’t standard fare for me.

  I could only hope it’d remain that way.

  The zombies were just approaching the zip line ride when I came zooming past. The rest of them were milling about, undoubtedly waiting for me.

  Chuck, Serena, and Griff had obviously already high-tailed it down the road to set up our trap for these bags of zombie juice.

  I slapped one of the corpses on the head as I ran by and yelled, “Hey, fucker!”

  That one exploded an instant later, but I was already out of reach of the mess.

  Another perk of being an amalgamite. Speed.

  I glanced back to see the rest of the zombies were hot on my trail. They were quicker than I’d expected, but I still had to slow down to make sure that I didn’t get too far out of their radar. For all I knew, they would stop their pursuit and just head back to the ride and await my return.

  I cut right on South 4th Street and spun around to egg them on.

  “Here, zombie zombie,” I called out in the most annoying voice I could muster.

  They were all still coming my way but I slowed up a little more so they could catch up. I didn’t want them close enough to start blowing up, though, so I balanced distance and reeling them in until we got to East Carson. That’s when I ran diagonally over to the parking lot and waited for them to follow.

  My team had cleared out all the normals by setting up temporary null zones. These zones were typically a no-no unless heavy regulations were followed, but the PPD was allowed to use them in emergency situations as long as they didn’t last beyond an hour. Essentially, the zones would keep normals away from entering the area. They’d get a “gut feeling” that they shouldn’t come near, and it was strong enough to actually work.

  All of the zombies had made it across the street except for one straggler. He was hit by a locksmith van. Poor bastard. The locksmith, not the zombie. Chances are the locksmith knew about supernaturals since he or she undoubtedly had to open many doors to many odd places over the years. Still, it’d take him a minute to figure it out, and that meant he was probably shitting himself at the moment with the thought that he’d just decimated a tourist.

  “Nail them,” I called out, referring to the zombies who were right behind me.

  Chuck and Griff began laying waste to the beasties.

  Chuck had clearly ignored the point about using his smaller gun because he had his Eagle unleashing hell. I was damn glad they were both excellent shots, too, because it wasn’t much fun running directly into the general radius of 50-caliber projectiles and mage blasts.

  “No effect,” Griff announced as I finally arrived at their position.

  “Bullets either.”

  “Tried legs, knees, hands, hearts, head?”

  “Hit all of them, Chief,” Chuck said as the zombies kept coming.

  I looked around to see what other options we might have on hand. Nothing was really springing forth except possibly throwing a car at them. I was strong, but not that strong.

  That’s when an idea struck.

  “Griff,” I said while running back toward the zombies, “cast a shield on me.”

  “What are you…”

  “Just do it!”

  I was within ten feet of the zombies when I felt the familiar tingling of being shielded. If these bastards wanted to explode around me, at least I’d be protected.

  Wrong.

  They managed to break through the shield, causing a shriek to jump from Griff’s mouth.

  Great. Fred had dropped in another fucking trigger. This time it was integrated right in the zombies themselves. That necromancer was really pissing me off now.

  But at least it got worse.

  The zombies all stuck to me like magnetic mines, linking their arms and squeezing in tight.

  I pushed and grunted and even screamed at them, but I couldn’t break free.

  They exploded.

  Chapter 26

  Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to go back to when you woke up and start again?

  There were body parts everywhere, my head was ringing, and my favorite suit was completely saturated with zombie juice. I looked like I’d just climbed out of a vat of slime. It smelled horrible. Fortunately, I had restocked my clothing supply in the back of the Aston Martin. I had no desire to ask the gang back at the office to clean out the car again.

  Rachel and Jasmine were approaching on wobbly legs and Felicia was talking with the locksmith, obviously doing her best to assuage his fears.

  “Chuck,” I called back, “is Griff okay?”

  “He’s out,” Serena replied before Chuck could. “He’ll be fine.” She looked up at me. “We really have to figure out a way to block these triggers.”

  “Yeah.”

  I took off my jacket and used the inside of it to wipe my face and hair. I seriously needed to brush my teeth.

  “You okay?” Rachel asked with sleepy eyes.

  “Peachy. How about you guys?”

  They both nodded tiredly.

  “I don’t suppose either of you have any gum?”

  They didn’t.

  We got Griff to his feet and started the long trek back to our cars. I took point in walking back since I was dying to get out of this damn suit. A quick glance back told me that my crew had decided to stay out of my smell radius. Nice. The mass of dirty looks I got from tourists was fun, too. I actually felt like a zombie at this point.

  I didn’t even care who saw me change, but my crew had their backs to me anyway while I stripped down, grabbed a towel, wiped off, and then slipped on a clean outfit. I then grabbed some scented spray and coated myself with it, hoping it’d help alleviate some of the stench.

  “Smells like you shit a Christmas tree,” Rachel noted as I stepped back in their midst.

  “Thanks.”

  “So what happened back there?” Felicia said, clearly ignoring the odor. This was saying something considering her nose could pick up smells nearly as good as it could when she was in werewolf mode. “And I’m not talking about the zombies. Something kicked your ass when we were waiting for those guys to come down from the zip line. What was it?”

  Indeed, that was the question. I wasn’t really sure myself. It was vivid and more than disturbing.

  “After we took care of that mage with the demon batteries…”

  “Reese?” Jasmine interrupted.

  “Yeah. Well, I went to the pub to dull my memory on the subject and was approached by a guy who said his name was Gabe.”

  “What kind of bar was this?” Chuck asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “Not that kind,” I replied, grimacing at him. “Anyway, he said that things were going to get worse with these ubernaturals and that he was going to help me.”

  “And you didn’t think that was important enough to share with the rest of us?”

  “Rachel,” I replied, looking at her, “I didn’t even think the guy was
sane. I figured he was just some asshole vampire who heard about the latest happenings with Reese and wanted to stick his head into the mix.”

  We got that from time to time. A supernatural would consider themselves worthy of being in the PPD and go on a vigilante-style warpath. It usually didn’t turn out all that well.

  “Anyway, he had used the word ‘flashes’ at one point and I felt something weird at that.” I tried to recall the sensation, but it was fleeting. “That word just stuck in my head. I didn’t know why until today.”

  Felicia tilted her head. “And?”

  “Since I didn’t want to be too close to the zombies when they came down, I backed off. I bumped into someone at that point and the word ‘flashes’ filled my head.”

  I recounted the entirety of what I’d seen in my vision, explaining how realistic everything was, who I’d seen, and the details of the runes on the little box.

  “Our necromancer was in this vision?” Griff said, still looking a little worse for wear. The question was rhetorical. He was clearly mulling things over. “This is a very rare skill you have, Ian.”

  “Story of my life,” I said, feeling like I was quoting Shitfaced Fred from our first encounter. “I don’t recommend anyone seek this particular skill out. There’s not a lot of joy in it.”

  “So the person you bumped into was Fred,” Jasmine stated.

  “That would be my guess, too,” Griff concurred.

  Rachel merely nodded.

  “Why didn’t he kill you right then?” Chuck asked. “I mean, if he’s trying to take you out anyway, why not just do it right while you’re standing there with your back to him? Seems like the perfect opportunity.”

  I shrugged. “I guess you’d have to ask him that.”

  “Not to be an ass or anything,” said Rachel, signaling she was about to be an ass, “but you said no time passed, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you could have just spun and grabbed Fred, seeing that you’d just bumped into him.”

  Damn it. She was right. Again, I had the old coot within arm’s reach and nothing.

  “I am curious why you didn’t see this historical flash before,” Griff added. “Back at King David’s, I mean.”

  “I never touched him,” I replied. “I got close to him and pointed Boomy at his head, but that’s it. I never laid a hand on the guy.”

  We stood stewing in our own thoughts for a few minutes. This was the second time I could have had Fred and I missed him again. I fought to stop myself from falling into a pit of self-pity when Lydia called through with a message that Paula Rose from The Spin wanted to talk to me. I fell the rest of the way.

  “Where is she?” I asked resignedly.

  “Standing by the zip line on Freemont, lover bunny,” Lydia replied.

  Rachel snorted and said, “Ugh.”

  “Thanks, Lydia.” I turned to the others. “I don’t suppose the rest of you want anything to do with this?” They were intently studying their shoes. “Right. Rachel and Serena, you’re on the hook, but the rest of you can head back to the office.”

  “Why me?” said Serena.

  “Because you intimidate Paula.”

  “Then why me?” Rachel asked quickly.

  “Because you’re my partner,” I replied with a glare that meant I wasn’t in the mood to play games.

  She took in my serious attitude and, in standard Rachel fashion, mocked me by saying, “Phmecause phmour phmy phmartner.”

  I sighed.

  Everyone else had swiftly retreated to their cars and had engines running. I was envious.

  “Do some research or whatever the hell you can to figure out what’s going on,” I called out to them. “I’m getting tired of playing with this damn necromancer!”

  Chapter 27

  I was surprised to find Paula smiling as we approached. This put me on edge because she tended to wear a permanent scowl whenever I was around.

  She looked as great as always, dressed to the nines with her standard business outfit, high heels, and body that no normal should possess. Her hair was down, too. That was different. Usually she kept it up librarian-style, which I kind of dug. Now and then she’d braid it, which was great for pulling during naughty time, but that was a subject I couldn’t allow my brain to entertain at the moment.

  Yes, she looked amazing. Too bad that smile had to be there.

  “Hello, Ian,” she said with a level of pleasantness that I only recalled from the days when we had started dating. “It looks like you’ve managed to make a horrible situation for me. Thanks.”

  That’s the sarcasm I was used to.

  Rachel stepped up to one side of me and Serena to the other. At least I had a combined front with them having my back. That would undoubtedly put Paula back on her heels.

  “I’m gonna look for clues,” said Rachel an instant later.

  “I’ll help you,” replied Serena.

  I grimaced knowing full well that neither of them were afraid of Paula. They just left me hanging because they knew it made me uncomfortable.

  “Thanks,” I whispered through the connector. There was no reply, but I could see the upturned lips on their faces. “Just remember that payback is hell, ladies.”

  I then gave my best disarming smile to Paula and looked her over.

  “You look ravishing, Paula.”

  “I know.” And she did know it. She was borderline narcissistic, but she carried it well. “Were you ever planning to tell me about the entire zombie thing or were you just hoping it’d blow by without impacting anyone?”

  “Lydia called you down here, right?”

  Her eyes went dead. “I know all about the earlier incidents, Ian. Don’t try and play coy with me.”

  I looked around. “Who told you?”

  “Me,” said Portman, stepping up beside me. “Was I supposed to keep it a secret, Dex?”

  “Well, no,” I replied, wincing while hoping that Paula wasn’t going to go on a rampage. I tried to cover with, “I just didn’t see a point in bringing Paula into this seeing that she’s been very busy with the…”

  “Oh, can your shit,” Paula interrupted, her smile fading. I knew it was a fake! “If you had told me about this before, I could have spent a little time preparing. Now I have to figure out a way to put a spin on a bunch of dead people exploding all over the place.”

  “Only two of them,” I reminded her. “The rest of them were all wiped out down the street in a parking lot. We were careful about that.”

  “Was that before or after you allowed one of them to get smacked by a van, which caused the normal cops to show up?”

  “Uh…”

  “That’s what I thought.” What was it with me making women do the hand-on-hip-foot-tap thing? I mean, I think it’s kinda hot, but a genuine smile would be nice every now and then. “The cops are having a field day with the college kid who got bit, too.”

  “Bit?” I said seriously. “Someone got bit?”

  Portman tapped my shoulder and pointed over at where a couple of college kids were standing around a buddy. There were paramedics with him.

  “Son of a bitch.” I pushed past Paula and connected to Rachel and Serena. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “No,” Rachel replied, “you’ve got a problem.”

  “Cut the attitude, Rachel,” I hissed. “A kid has been bitten by one of the zombies.” I was feeling grim about what I needed to do next. “Get over here and help me.”

  I approached the kid as I thought of how best to delicately handle this. I pulled open my jacket, concealing the fact that I was taking out Boomy.

  “What are you doing?” said Serena, eyeing me.

  “The kid got bit, remember?”

  “And you’re going to shoot him?”

  The memory of Griff’s explanation regarding how a zombie bite didn’t cause a person to become a zombie flowed back to my forebrain. I really needed to stop watching so many movies.

  “No,” I said as if shoc
ked. “I was just thinking that there may be more of the damn things around and I wanted to be ready.”

  It was a lie. She knew it. So did Rachel.

  My partner walked over to the nearest cop. “Who is in charge here?” The guy pointed to a lady officer across the way. Rachel thanked him and turned to me. “I’ll handle this and you handle that.”

  “Handle what?”

  I spun to see that Paula was standing there, microphone in hand, cameraman at the ready, and a look on her face that said I’d better cooperate.

  Chapter 28

  “I’m standing here with Ian Dex, Chief of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department,” Paula said in her smooth way. “There has been an incident on Freemont Street on the old strip.” She turned my way. “Chief Dex, what can you tell us of the situation?”

  Aside from seeing Dr. Vernon and spilling my guts about my feelings, being interviewed for the supernatural news was the worst part of being a cop. I’d rather be shot, and I’ve been shot, so I know what I’m talking about.

  The primary reason I despised this part of the job—besides staring into that judging eye of a camera—was that I had to be careful about what I said. Opening up and telling the world about a necromancer being on the loose and corpses crawling out of their graves is not something that tended to go over well with people, supernatural or not. They were used to hearing about vampires biting normals and werewolves defacing suburban lawns, but when you got to the heavier items that impacted everyone, things got real. When things got real, our jobs became harder.

  “We’re still investigating the situation,” I replied evenly. “There’s not much to share at this time.”

  “Cut,” Paula said, dropping her head into her hands. “You know you have to give me more than that.”

  “What am I supposed to say, Paula?”

  I knew she was frustrated with her job, but that honestly wasn’t my problem. She was talented, smart, and very hardworking. There were easily fifty companies within Vegas alone that would pay her top dollar for her skills.

  “The truth would be nice.”