Eater of Lives(SPECTR #4) (12 page)

Both her secretary and Pittman were absent
when they arrived at Kaniyar’s office, but Forsyth waited in front
of her desk, his hands behind his back and his expression
sober.

“Starkweather. Mr. Jansen,” he said, as soon
as they stepped inside. “We have a situation.”

“Sir?” John asked cautiously. Clearly,
something had gone amiss. But what?

“One of the civilians present at the wendigo
attack uploaded a cell phone video of the drakul to the internet.
We’ve had it removed and confiscated her phone. However, there were
already a thousand views, and the media are contacting us to
determine if it was real or faked.”

“You think it won’t reflect well on SPECTR?”
John asked cautiously.

“SPECTR can’t be seen to be in league with
NHEs. You of all people know that, Starkweather. This field test
has been very informative, but the situation has changed, and it’s
time to pull the plug.”

The heavy tread of boots came from behind
them. Caleb turned in alarm, and John followed suit. Two heavily
armed guards in body armor took up position outside the office.

Caleb’s throat worked as he swallowed
convulsively. “What the hell is this about?”

“As I said, the field test is at an end,”
Forsyth said. “I am hereby taking custody of the drakul and placing
it under the authority of SPECTR RD. You’re coming with us, Mr.
Jansen.”

John gaped at him. He couldn’t have heard
right, could he? But the armed guards at the door suggested
otherwise. “You can’t! Caleb’s done everything we asked; Gray’s
cooperated! He doesn’t deserve to be locked away!”

Forsyth’s eyes narrowed. “You’re out of line,
Special Agent.”

Caleb’s gaze darted around the office, as if
looking for some way out. But they were deep underground; there
were no convenient windows to leap through. “You’re going to put me
in a cell?”

“Of course not, Mr. Jansen.” Forsyth tried
what might have been meant as a reassuring smile. “As Starkweather
pointed out, you’ve been most cooperative. Even saved the life of
one of our agents. Moving you to SPECTR RD will allow us to perform
more tests on the drakul, prior to exorcism. You’ll be well
treated, I assure you.” His glance flicked in John’s direction.
“You can even call Agent Starkweather once you’re settled in, let
him know how you’re doing.”

Caleb met John’s gaze, face pale and eyes
asking a question John didn’t know how to answer. On the one hand,
everything Forsyth said sounded perfectly reasonable. But…

I promised
. He’d promised Caleb he’d
stay free so long as he cooperated. And it wasn’t right, it wasn’t
fair, for the promise to be broken.

“Sir,” he started, but then fell silent,
uncertain what else to say.

Caleb looked at the two guards for a long
moment. Then he nodded. “All right. I’ll go with you.”

No. He wanted to reach out, grab Caleb’s arm,
tell him…

What? Not to go? Not to cooperate? Caleb
didn’t have a choice about staying, just about the manner in which
he left. And if he forced the guards to fire on him, John and
Kaniyar would be caught in the crossfire.

Which was probably why Caleb hadn’t put up
the fight John had expected.

“I’m glad you’re being reasonable,” Forsyth
said. “Come along, then.”

He turned and started away. The two guards
waited for Caleb to join them.

“Caleb—”

“I’ll be okay, John.” Caleb swallowed and
offered him a shaky smile. “I’ll call you when I can.”

He went to the doorway, and the guards fell
in behind him. Just before the door shut, Caleb gave one last
glance over his shoulder.

Then he was gone.

Watch for
Destroyer of Worlds,
Book
5 of the SPECTR series, coming February 4, 2014
.

Hainted

Whyborne & Griffin series:

Widdershins

Threshold

Stormhaven
(December 2013)

SPECTR

Hunter of Demons

Master of Ghouls

Reaper of Souls

Eater of Lives

Destroyer of Worlds
(February
2014)

Summoner of Storms
(2014)

“Heart of the Dragon” (short story)

Jordan L. Hawk grew up in the wilds of North
Carolina, where her bootlegging granny raised her on stories of
haints and mountain magic. After using a silver knife in the light
of a full moon to summon her true love, she turned her talents to
spinning tales. She weaves together couples who need to fall in
love, then throws in some evil sorcerers and undead just to make
sure they want it bad enough. In Jordan’s world, love might conquer
all, but it just as easily could end up in the grave.

If you’re interested in receiving Jordan’s
newsletter and being the first to know when new books are released,
plus getting sneak peeks at upcoming novels, please sign up at her
website: http://www.jordanlhawk.com.

Find Jordan online:

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If you enjoyed this book, please consider
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Goodreads.

Thank you for your support of independent
authors!

Ever since he’d been part of the pot in a
high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figured he’d used
up any good karma he had when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the
hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and
Underhill, the human and elfin races were left with a messy,
monster-ridden world and Stalkers were often the only cavalry
willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy and dark
moved into the neighborhood.

There certainly were no shortage of monsters
or people stupidly willing to become lunch for one.

It was a hard life but one Kai liked. And he
was good at it. Killing monsters was easy. Especially since he was
one himself.

After an accident retired Dempsey out, Kai
set up permanent shop in San Diego, contracting out to the local
SoCalGov depot. It was a decent life, filled with bounty, a few
friends and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him
he wasn’t really human.

That was until a sidhe lord named Ryder
arrives in San Diego and Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s
fledgling Dawn Court. It was supposed to a simple run; head up the
coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human
woman seeking sanctuary with the new Court then back to San Diego.
Easy, quick and best of all, profitable. But Ryder’s “simple” run
leads to massive trouble and Kai ends up being caught in the middle
of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.

No one ever got rich by being a Stalker. But
then hardly any of them got old either. The way things were
looking, it didn’t look like Kai was going to be the exception.

www.rhysford.com