struggled to pull away.
“Take him upstairs to the doc and have him cleaned up. Ned?” The boy looked at his shoes unable to meet Bruce’s eyes.
“There will be an extra helping at dinner for you tonight. Rest and heal. I need every man I can get. Are we clear?”
Ned nodded. Softly sobbing he let Bruce’s men lead him away.
“Now Josh, Ned volunteered information while you…” He trailed off as the scared kid threw up all over the floor.
“Great. Throw a towel down before we all puke.” Disgusted, Bruce continued, looking at his men and noting the pale faces. Scared. Good. He wanted them afraid. “Josh, do you have anything to say as to why you didn’t come forward earlier with the information regarding our dear Maggie?”
Josh mumbled incoherently, breaking down and crying. “Please, don’t hurt me. I didn’t do nuthin’. Please, don’t.”
Bruce yawned. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. I will not tolerate letting anyone escape or not coming forward with information in a timely fashion. Understood?” He met every man’s eye as they nodded one by one. “Take Josh down to the basement. Then find Maggie. We’ll make an example of her to the others.” As the men left, he called out. “And find me some new blood. Too many empty beds upstairs.” Bruce scratched his head. He had to think about how he could spin this to Solien without blame falling on him. Pointing at two of his men, “You two. Go check the hostels and abandoned buildings where she used to hide out. I don’t have to tell stress the importance of finding her. Failure is not an option.” He glared at the men.
“Failure is not an option pertains to what, may I ask?” A silky, venomous voice made Bruce’s balls shrink up.
This was not good. Not at all. Solien was here. The guy scared the piss out of Bruce. The thing wasn’t human. If he remembered his old Sunday school lessons, this thing had to be some kind of demon. Solien could do all kinds of crazy shit like shooting fire from his fingers and incinerating people on the spot. The man usually looked human, well, if you could call seven-feet tall with black eyes, human. Except when he got angry, then big black leathery wings unfolded and his skin turned green. He disappeared and appeared at will; it was downright freaky.
Bruce told his knees to stop shaking. “The last woman, Maggie, escaped last night, sir. I’m preparing to send out a search party. We’ll find her and bring her back.”
“You only noticed her missing this morning? Seems you’ve become rather lax with your security.”
His men were frozen, faces drained of color. Afraid to draw attention to themselves. Bruce knew how they felt, imagined he looked the same way. When he’d looked in the mirror that morning he’d noticed his once thick black hair getting noticeably thinner, graying. His face looked hollow and drawn. Before he could answer, Solien spoke again.
“Yes, you will find her. I’m sending someone with you to ensure you stupid humans don’t screw it up.”
Bruce’s ass puckered as Solien named the newest addition to their search party. Fury. Fuck me. He’d never met it, only heard unbelievable stories from others. A fucking savage if the rumors were true. He could only be thankful it wasn’t him searching for Maggie with that beast tagging along. He’d be lucky if any of his men returned. The monster would likely murder them all for the fun of it.
Solien made a moue of distaste, noticing the vomit on the floor. “Have this cleaned up, I can’t abide a filthy kitchen.” With that, the boss man disappeared.
The door banged open. Bruce’s man, Martin, skidded to a stop in front of them. “You better get out here Bruce. There’s a giant-ass, three-headed, talking dog in the living room and he’s asking for a keg of beer.”
Chapter 10
“Oh hell, it is you.”
Speak of the devil. Before Robert could retort, his mysterious runaway fainted, landing in a heap at his
“Take him upstairs to the doc and have him cleaned up. Ned?” The boy looked at his shoes unable to meet Bruce’s eyes.
“There will be an extra helping at dinner for you tonight. Rest and heal. I need every man I can get. Are we clear?”
Ned nodded. Softly sobbing he let Bruce’s men lead him away.
“Now Josh, Ned volunteered information while you…” He trailed off as the scared kid threw up all over the floor.
“Great. Throw a towel down before we all puke.” Disgusted, Bruce continued, looking at his men and noting the pale faces. Scared. Good. He wanted them afraid. “Josh, do you have anything to say as to why you didn’t come forward earlier with the information regarding our dear Maggie?”
Josh mumbled incoherently, breaking down and crying. “Please, don’t hurt me. I didn’t do nuthin’. Please, don’t.”
Bruce yawned. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. I will not tolerate letting anyone escape or not coming forward with information in a timely fashion. Understood?” He met every man’s eye as they nodded one by one. “Take Josh down to the basement. Then find Maggie. We’ll make an example of her to the others.” As the men left, he called out. “And find me some new blood. Too many empty beds upstairs.” Bruce scratched his head. He had to think about how he could spin this to Solien without blame falling on him. Pointing at two of his men, “You two. Go check the hostels and abandoned buildings where she used to hide out. I don’t have to tell stress the importance of finding her. Failure is not an option.” He glared at the men.
“Failure is not an option pertains to what, may I ask?” A silky, venomous voice made Bruce’s balls shrink up.
This was not good. Not at all. Solien was here. The guy scared the piss out of Bruce. The thing wasn’t human. If he remembered his old Sunday school lessons, this thing had to be some kind of demon. Solien could do all kinds of crazy shit like shooting fire from his fingers and incinerating people on the spot. The man usually looked human, well, if you could call seven-feet tall with black eyes, human. Except when he got angry, then big black leathery wings unfolded and his skin turned green. He disappeared and appeared at will; it was downright freaky.
Bruce told his knees to stop shaking. “The last woman, Maggie, escaped last night, sir. I’m preparing to send out a search party. We’ll find her and bring her back.”
“You only noticed her missing this morning? Seems you’ve become rather lax with your security.”
His men were frozen, faces drained of color. Afraid to draw attention to themselves. Bruce knew how they felt, imagined he looked the same way. When he’d looked in the mirror that morning he’d noticed his once thick black hair getting noticeably thinner, graying. His face looked hollow and drawn. Before he could answer, Solien spoke again.
“Yes, you will find her. I’m sending someone with you to ensure you stupid humans don’t screw it up.”
Bruce’s ass puckered as Solien named the newest addition to their search party. Fury. Fuck me. He’d never met it, only heard unbelievable stories from others. A fucking savage if the rumors were true. He could only be thankful it wasn’t him searching for Maggie with that beast tagging along. He’d be lucky if any of his men returned. The monster would likely murder them all for the fun of it.
Solien made a moue of distaste, noticing the vomit on the floor. “Have this cleaned up, I can’t abide a filthy kitchen.” With that, the boss man disappeared.
The door banged open. Bruce’s man, Martin, skidded to a stop in front of them. “You better get out here Bruce. There’s a giant-ass, three-headed, talking dog in the living room and he’s asking for a keg of beer.”
Chapter 10
“Oh hell, it is you.”
Speak of the devil. Before Robert could retort, his mysterious runaway fainted, landing in a heap at his
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