Monster Hunter Vendetta by Larry Correia Page A

would be you doing us all a favor and going for a long walk on a sunny day."
    "Kid," Ray growled. "Your terminal smart-assitude is starting to piss me off. You better show a little more respect."
    He had a point. "It isn't anything personal. We don't want anything to do with you. Leave me alone."
    Susan sighed. "Fine. Let's cut to the chase. I want to hire MHI. I've got a job for you to do."
    My mouth dropped open. "Serious?"
    "Duh. You think I came to this shit hole for fun? I'm serious. Not hiring MHI as much as hiring you in particular. And this is a mutually beneficial arrangement. The man, or used-to-be-a-man, that attacked you yesterday, I want to help you destroy him."
    That didn't make sense. "Why?"
    "He's your enemy. He's trying to suck up to the Old Ones, so he means to deliver you to the Dread Overlord itself."
    I licked my lips. "Susan, last time we met, you were a servant of the Old Ones."
    "Wrong. I owe no loyalty to those things. Jaeger forced me to serve Lord Machado. I was as much of a pawn as you were. When you killed Jaeger and his boss, I was freed from their servitude. I serve only myself now. I hated those crusty ancient bastards."
    "Right....You're no ordinary vamp, Susan. We both know that. You're too young to be a Master, but you are. Somehow you became way stronger than you should be, and I think I know how." From my own experience with the Old Ones' magic, I knew the kind of gifts and curses that they could bestow.
    "Owen, you're an idiot. Don't strain yourself thinking so hard." Just for a moment, the turn of her head, the sound of her voice, it was almost as if I was speaking with Julie, but with a hiss, it was gone. She waved her hands dismissively. "Sure, I'm powerful, more powerful than the dusty old vampires that came before me. The decrepit coots should never have turned a Monster Hunter into a vampire. The source of my power is my business, but I give you my word that I'm not with the Old Ones. My offer is to help you...and in so doing, help myself."
    "Why? What's in it for you?"
    "That guy after you? He's a necromancer, a wizard with powers over the undead," Susan said.
    "Even you?"
    "Perhaps, but I'm not in a particular hurry to find out. I've been a slave before, and I don't intend to let that happen again. He's building an army, and I don't feel like getting drafted. Basically, this necromancer is a threat to me, to all the independent dead."
    I snorted. "Even more than MHI? If I recall correctly, we kicked your ass pretty good last time."
    "Wrong again. Goody-two-shoes Milo banished me last time. If we tangle again, I'm taking him out first, and he won't see me coming. So don't push it unless you want his blood on your hands too."
    That made me furious. I clenched my teeth. Nobody threatens my friends.
    "Just so you know, when you get angry, you broadcast your thoughts like you had a loudspeaker. Try anything stupid and I'll just kill you and save the necromancer the trouble. Relax, Ray," Susan said soothingly to her husband. Ray must have heard my thoughts, as he had silently moved up to the bars. He moved just on the other side, like a lion at the zoo. He didn't look as disheveled and crazy as when he was human, but now his square face was drawn, angry, and extremely dangerous. He was as protective of his wife in death as he had been in life. Whereas Susan was cold and calculating, the newly undead and far-less-powerful Ray was barely restrained crazy bottled in room-temperature flesh. I forced myself to calm down before Ray pulled me through the bars like the earlier prisoner.
    "That's better. Now listen close," Susan ordered. "After our little altercation last summer, you drew the attention of the boss king of the Old Ones itself. That's quite a feat for a mere blood bag. You're a marked man now. This guy trying to kill you? He thinks popping you will score him big points. If he brings you in, he'll be rewarded with all sorts of power. And that's bad news."
    She's scared of him. "For