Alex relaxed.
Marcus chuckled. “I think you got that wrong.”
“How’s that?”
“‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’”
“Ah. We should probably get the hell out of here,” Alex said. The fire wouldn’t care who won or lost.
Alex looked at Rhuna. He pointed to the blood covering her nearly head to toe. “Any of that yours?”
“No,” Rhuna answered.
“Come on then,” Marcus said. “There’s grim work to do if you’re up for it.”
EPILOGUE
They sat on the lawn in front of the mansion, looking at the blazing fire. The fire was so big now that people would notice. Emergency response vehicles were probably already on their way, if they weren’t tied up in the city. There was no telling what had gone on over the last day. But now, with true night coming on, they needed to be gone.
“We made a pretty good team in there,” Alex said.
“Some of them still escaped,” Rhuna said.
“Yeah. Constance got away. That’s the only one that bugs me,” Alex said.
Marcus gave Alex a look.
“Oh come on, Marcus. You can’t still be defending her. Not after all this. I can’t believe we actually worked for her.”
“I never did,” Marcus said.
“How’s that?” Alex asked.
“She works for me.”
“Wait. Okay. At the risk of me feeling like a complete dullard, explain.”
Marcus just smiled.
Alex started to figure it out. “The Order of the Eternal Watch? She’s one of yours?”
Marcus nodded.
“And let me guess, Aguirre’s source inside Haley House?”
Marcus nodded again. “Who do you think emptied out the Doral facility?”
“I thought Lelith did,” Alex answered.
“Oh, I’m sure Lelith thought she did as well, but it was Constance who seeded the idea and then did some prodding for Lelith to pull the strings.”
“Why not let me in on it? I could have killed her back there.”
“Honestly, Alex, I thought you knew.”
Alex shrugged. “And the others that got away?”
“They will speak of what happened here. The Confraternity will seek out everyone we know. They will try to find us. They cannot let us get away with what we have done.”
“How much time do we have?” Rhuna asked.
“Twenty-four, maybe forty-eight hours. After that, consider the chase on. If you heed my advice, you will consider the chase on as of right now.”
“So you’re still for splitting up?”
“It gives us more of a chance.”
“Fine. I’m beat. I’m used to pacing myself. I’m going to find somewhere to hole up and crash. Then, in the morning, I’m going home.” Alex got to his feet.
“Menkaure, they’ll come for you.”
“I know, Marcus. But I’m not running. They’ll be sending their goons after merely a cop as far as they know. Not after me. Besides, I’ve got a cat to feed and I just got the condo looking exactly how I wanted it.”
“You know how to get in touch.”
“Yep. Don’t worry, I’ll be going after this Confraternity, but I don’t intend on doing it alone. I’ll give you a yell as soon as I find out anything concrete. This last night has given me a couple of ideas.”
“Like what?” Rhuna asked.
“Something our friend Aguirre said. That old quote about all that’s needed for evil to triumph—”
“Is for good men to do nothing? It is one of his favorites. Alex, do not tell me he actually got to you?”
“I don’t know, maybe. I’m feeling like we dodged a heavy bullet here and that maybe it wouldn’t have been such a close thing if UMBRA had still been around. I’m thinking the world needs UMBRA, or something like it, now more than ever. If the govvies aren’t going to do it, maybe someone else should.”
“Someone like you?”
“Why not? What do you say, Marcus? How about getting the band back together? We can start with Trent, Stephanie, and Zorzi. We know where they are.”
“Ask me in a month.” Marcus rose and shook Alex’s hand.
“One question,” Rhuna said.
“Yeah?”
“How are you not dead? Even now, you smell like a corpse.”
“That is a very long story that started a very long time ago. Before even Marcus or maybe even Zagesi was around. I might even get around to telling the whole thing someday. But not now.”
Rhuna looked disappointed.
“A secret for a secret. What’s the real deal with the Pack? Why can you change at will? Why are you not on a cycle like the other thropes?”
“Thropes are people most of the time and only become animals part of the time. We aren’t thropes.”
“How’s that?”
“We’re only people part of the time.”
Alex chuckled and nodded. “So that’s the Pack’s big secret.”
“Now your secret.”
“I don’t have one,” Alex answered. He tapped his index finger along the side of his nose three times—the secret sign of Djehuty. “The nose knows.”
“What?”
“Just tell her,” Marcus said.
“I’m already dead, Rhuna. Technically, you can’t kill the dead twice. Vampires think they have the market cornered on the undead, but I’ve got them beat. I’m undeader … that’s not even a word.” Alex chuckled. He rubbed his eyes in fatigue. His joints were seizing up and he was growing stiff; that fight had taken more out of him than he wanted to admit.
Rhuna looked even more puzzled.
“Explain it to her, Marcus. I’m not making sense anymore. I’ll see you around. Don’t get caught.”
“Likewise.”
Alex walked down the driveway, then turned and headed for the woods surrounding the burning estate. He bet no one would come looking for him in the trees. He planned to find a nice overhang with a good clear view of the sky and have himself a nice nap until morning. Already, his limbs were growing heavy and more corpse-like. He could hear Marcus talking to Rhuna as they walked to the hunter truck.
“You have had the esteemed privilege of meeting and fighting alongside the son of Khafre, son of Khufu. The Morning and the Evening Star. The Great Bull of Horus, Kha-khet. The king of the black land of Kemet. He who walks the Path of Osiris. The oncetime pharaoh Menkaure blessed or cursed to walk amidst the lands of the living once again.”
Just like a Roman.
There was Marcus, using all the formal titles, when he could have just told her Alex was a reanimated mummy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL F. HASPIL is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he distinguished himself as an ICBM crew commander. After retiring from the military, he served as a launch director at Cape Canaveral and currently lives in Colorado Springs. Graveyard Shift is his first novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
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
Chapt
er 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
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, or undead is purely coincidental.
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Copyright © 2017 by Michael F. Haspil
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Stephen Youll
Cover design by Russell Trakhtenberg
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-7962-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-6922-6 (ebook)
eISBN 9781466869226
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: July 2017
Graveyard Shift Page 32