The next blow shocked me back into the present and I wrenched myself out of his reach before he could win the bout.
I wasn’t about to be beaten by some mouthy, pretty witch.
He twirled the staff in his hands, eying me with a little more caution in his eyes. He telegraphed his moves, something I’d already picked up, but this bout had gone by so fast, it was hard to learn all those tells. I went back to studying his face, the way the skin tightened around his eyes—
He lunged. I ducked under his attack and moved out of his reach, coming up behind him and striking him in the ribs.
He swore and turned, glaring at me.
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it.
I was still laughing when he came up and caught the front of my shirt.
The laugh faded. “Told you it could be fun.”
“Ah…” I glanced down at his hand and then tried to back away. He didn’t let go.
“I knew you were going to be trouble.” Justin sighed as he reached up and cupped my face. “Some people are smart, and they avoid trouble. Me? I’ve been dying to do this.”
The world bled away as he lowered his head.
It was the very first time a man had ever kissed me.
His tongue stroked along my lower lip, quick and light, and then, just like that, he let me go and turned away.
“I’ll see you around, Kitty-kitty.”
Sucking in a breath, I stared at his back. “What?”
He looked back over his shoulder and winked. “I’ll see you around. Soon. Real soon.”
Read on for a preview of J.C. Daniels’ first science fiction novella…FINAL PROTOCOL
Final Protocol
Releasing in July from J.C. Daniels
He knew why I was here.
Maybe it was the wisdom of old age or maybe it was because he was a native.
I couldn’t tell he was aboriginal just by looking at him. It went deeper than that. I’d done a lot of research on the population on my way to the planet and I’d spent the past few weeks studying my target. It wasn’t until the past few days that I’d realized he wasn’t the human I’d been made to think.
He was ariste, and older, probably nearing the end of his lifespan and there was no reason for me to kill him. Other than the fact that I was being paid to do just that. But he didn’t fit my standard profile and the longer I had watched him, the more distasteful I found this job.
He had little time left. It was there in the way he moved, in the labored way he breathed. He even looked ill.
What had this old man done to have somebody pay to have his short time left cut even shorter?
The question left me angry and I don’t like being angry on a job.
Ariste, the humanoid population indigenous to Aris, looked almost identical to humans, until you were almost face-to-face. Their eyes had a silvery glint to them, which they often hid behind shaded lenses. Their planet’s days were short but brutally hot, while the nights were long. Most inhabitants dwelled within domed cities to protect them from the extreme temperatures.
Some people said that this was what Old Earth would be like by now. Well, except for the population thing. Aris still had a thriving population. Disease and war had all but decimated Old Earth. There were rumors that those who had remained behind no longer even resembled anything we’d consider human.
Personally, I think human is just another word for animal. None of us are worth much. Me included.
The ariste were a different beast altogether. Some of the kindest, most gentle people I’d ever come across resided here, on this hot, desert planet that traveled too close to its sun. The people made me nervous and I wanted nothing more than to kick the dust of this planet off my shoes and leave it far behind.
Leave these smiling people far behind.
I had very little use for people in general. If I couldn’t fuck it, then the only time I was likely to come in contact with anybody was when I was sent a contract to kill.
Like this old man, with his round, cheerful face and his silver eyes—ariste eyes—hidden behind the tinted lenses he wore.
I was here to kill him.
And he knew.
A smile curved his face as I moved into the room, not bothering to conceal myself.
He already knew I was there. Why bother to hide?
Either he’d called for help, which would mean I had to move things along, or he thought he could handle me on his own.
Neither would change the outcome.
He would die, because the alternative was that I would likely die and I didn’t plan on that being the case.
He nodded toward the table where he sat.
“Would you join me?”
I paused, my hand on the darts I’d planned to use. The problem was he hadn’t been on the long, narrow balcony taking his normal walk. The ariste had a thing about the setting sun. It was a religious fascination as far as I could tell. All of the houses had balconies that faced the west, so they could watch as the brutal, burning sun sank below the horizon. Even the poorest of families would struggle to get a simple opening so the family could face the death of the day.
Cree Ru was far from poor.
Yet he hadn’t taken his sunset walk.
“Come.” He smiled. “Sit.”
I said nothing. I knew better. My voice could be used to track me, pin me to the crime, if anybody was successful at hunting me down. I’d evaded capture on a dozen planets in four different systems. Saying even a single word would be an amateur’s mistake.
Just like walking in that open door was an amateur’s mistake, I chided myself.
“You will not sit then.” Cree nodded. “Very well. I’ll speak a bit. I’ve time yet.”
He must have sensed something because that faint smile on his face widened a fraction. There was something almost paternal about it. “No. The authorities weren’t alerted. I sensed you three days ago and have had the time since then to decide on the actions I’d take. First, I had to think about who must have hired you.”
That wasn’t an answer I could give him.
I accepted the money, the job, all from my handler. There were other things I took from him, and some things he forced on me, but he never told me who hired me. It was essential, he’d once told me, that he protect his clients. Names were never given.
Cree didn’t let my silence stop him as he leaned back, steepling his fingers as he looked out into the night. He had thick, floor-to-ceiling walls of what the locals called plaris. It made me think of the pilastene, a manufactured material that was used in almost everything for those who’d settled the New Earth colonies.
The NE colonies weren’t home to me, but many of my tools were NE made. It was what I was familiar with, what I was used to. Pilastene was nearly unbreakable, safe to manufacture and inexpensive.
Plaris, like ’stene, was durable and nearly unbreakable, something that served this volatile planet well. The material was designed to endure quakes that could have leveled cities. His entire home was made of plaris, and the windows were the clear stuff, the most priciest form of it out there. Eyes on the night sky, he studied the twin moons and said, “I hated to admit it to myself, but there are only two people who would have done this. Only two who would benefit. My son and his wife.”
Arching my brows, I edged in closer, searching for weapons. So far, I’d yet to see a single one.
“I cannot tell if the look on your face is curiosity or merely an attempt to distract me.” He sighed and then reached out, pushed a covered dish toward me. “If you are any good at your job, you’ll recognize this.”
My eyes moved to the plate he revealed as he slid the cover away, revealing a thin disk of what looked like hammered gold.
The sight of the three small berries there made my belly clench, even if I was there to kill him.
Death’s seal, the most poisonous plant in three systems. Deadly, and outlawed on almost every planet in those three systems. Just the touch of i
t on the tongue was enough to kill a child. Half of a berry could kill a woman my size. Three berries could kill three men.
“I’m going to make this easy,” he said quietly. “My son seeks to kill me, thinking he’ll inherit.”
Cree reached for a berry.
“Wait,” I said, the word ripping out of me despite my intention not to speak. “Why? If you wish to fight him, then why do this?”
“I don’t wish to fight him.” He smiled, rolling the berry between his fingers. “I wish to deny him what he tries to take by betrayal.” Then he shrugged. “And I refuse to let him use another in his endless vendetta against me. Do you know…it’s our belief that for every life you take, you must save two more if you want to leave this existence with your soul intact?”
I inclined my head. “I have no soul left. You do this for nothing if you try to spare me.”
“If you had no soul, it wouldn’t concern you to see this berry in my hand.”
He smiled at me as he tossed it up in the air.
I don’t know why I did it.
It should mean nothing to me.
I could easily claim his death as my own. Poison wasn’t unknown to me. I suspected I even knew who had provided him with those three priceless, deadly berries.
But my hand moved, almost as though it had a mind of its own, and the sliver-thin dart stole the berry from the air and I quickly used two more darts to destroy the other two berries. He could still lick the plate, I supposed, but somehow I didn’t see this regal, elegant man choosing that route.
“Why?” he asked, his voice puzzled.
Staring at the plate, at the thin stalks of the darts, I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
More
Look for other titles by J.C.’s other half, Shiloh Walker
The Grimm
Urban Fantasy Romance
Candy Houses • No Prince Charming • Crazed Hearts
Tarnished Knight • Locked in Silence • Grimm Tidings
Blind Destiny • Furious Fire
The Ash Trilogy
If You Hear Her • If You See Her • If You Know Her
The Secrets & Shadows Series
Burn For Me • Break For Me • Long For Me
Deeper Than Need • Sweeter Than Sin • Darker Than Desire
The FBI Psychics
The Missing • The Departed • The Reunited
The Protected • The Unwanted • The Innocent
The Hunters
Paranormal Romance
Hunting the Hunter • Hunters: Heart and Soul • Hunter’s Salvation
Hunter’s Need • Hunter’s Fall • Hunter’s Rise
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About
Shiloh Walker has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance, and urban fantasy under her penname, J.C. Daniels. You can find her at Twitter or Facebook and read more about her work at her website. Sign up for her newsletter and have a chance to win a monthly giveaway.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Bonus Story
Bladed Magic
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Final Protocol
Look for other titles by J.C.’s other half, Shiloh Walker
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