Description:
Immortal Heart
More than a century after the tragedy of Hélène's death and before Ella found Kale bruised and broken on her doorstep, Kale moved through the world in a haze of personal punishment allowing it to consume him. Until his friend, Detective Deacon, a newly infected Chorý calls on him for a favor.
In this prequel to the Few Are Angels series, Kale is thrown into a world of human blood trafficking and is introduced to a Chorý that offers him a chance at happiness— in blood.
More than a century after the tragedy of Hélène's death and before Ella found Kale bruised and broken on her doorstep, Kale moved through the world in a haze of personal punishment allowing it to consume him. Until his friend, Detective Deacon, a newly infected Chorý calls on him for a favor.
In this prequel to the Few Are Angels series, Kale is thrown into a world of human blood trafficking and is introduced to a Chorý that offers him a chance at happiness— in blood.
“Are you listening to me?” Kale _______ and faced Léon, who was eyeing him quizzically from across the table in the diner. The sounds of dinner plates landing on tables, customers placing their orders, and waitress yelling at the kitchen staff slowly seeped back in. Kale realized that he’d been distracted again.
“Yeah, what’d you say?” he asked.
“You want to come with me on this lead or take it on my own?” Léon took a bite of the chilly cheese dog he’d ordered and then gulped down some soda. The gusto reminded Kale that he was human. Sending Léon up against possible ________ Council members was a bad idea. “I think that a state and a name is a great place to start. The name is odd enough that he’d be able to find her faster than if she were called Heather or Amy.”
Kale nodded, but he once again stopped listening as he formulated a new plan. “I have some unfinished business here.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and turned it back on. He’d turned it off during negotiations with Josef. “You scout ahead and call me if you come upon anything.”
Léon nodded and continued eating.
“Also, I want you to take Boris with you.”
He stopped mid-bite, ignoring the chilly and cheese that slid down his chin.
Boris wasn’t Russian, nor was his name Boris, but he bore a _____ resemblance to the monster in the 1930’s movie Frankenstein. After he’d broken a few limbs of men who called him Frankenstein, everyone just started calling him Boris behind his back, after the man who played Frankenstein in the movie.
“Boris, really?” Léon asked.
Boris was anything but a friend of Kale’s. He reluctantly helped out when Kale needed him, to pay off a debt. A few months ago Boris had made it clear to Kale that he only had one _____ left. Sending Boris with Léon would mean that he could never call on the man again for help, no matter what.
“You really want me to take B?” Léon asked as he cleaned his mouth with a napkin. “I mean, I know that I can’t really stand against Chorý and the Council the way that he can, but my job is to get in and out and gather intel without being detected.” He leaned back and looked upward, shaking his head in_______. “Have I ever let you down in doing that?”
Kale understood where Léon was coming from, but he was not letting him go alone. It was dangerous enough that the Council was looking for this Eloise, but Laurent added a threat to the mix that Kale would have been a _____ to ignore. “No, I’d be letting you down if I sent you in there and the Council is already there.”
He leaned in to make sure that Léon was listening. “I won’t have your blood on my hands, do you understand?”
But Léon was already shaking his head. “I don’t take jobs I can’t handle.”
“Really?” Kale raised a brow at Léon’s _____ attitude. “When was the last time you took on a Council member, let alone a High Guardian or Retriever?” Kale let his tone grow menacing. “They will gut you like a fish, and I will be the ____ sending your remains to your _______ wife.”
Though Kale was sure that his words had disturbed Léon, the man still sat there like a stone, seemingly unaffected.
“What would she tell your daughter, Marcel, of your disappearance in her life?” Kale looked directly into Léon’s eyes and whispered, “You’d burden me and your wife with such a task?”
Léon took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I get what you’re saying, but understand this,”—he opened his eyes and peered into Kale’s—“working with Boris means no anonymity. Boris goes in, destroys, and then walks away ______ and smiling. I think… I think that man gets off on ____ .” He shook his head. “And then I’m left to pick up the ______.”
Kale groaned. He was getting restless, but Léon’s concerns were his responsibility to address. He was paying him to do a job, and when issues arose, he needed to fix them. Léon raised his hands in defeat.
“Your concerns are noted, but I won’t change my mind on this. I’ll give him instructions on what to do if the Council isn’t there, but if they are, you’ll be _______ that I sent him with you.” Kale leaned back, running his fingers through his hair. “I won’t send you to your death. If you die, it will either be A: because you did something stupid; or B: your body gives out on you, years into the future. You decide.”
“Hell, Kale. If you like it, I ____ it. You’re the boss,” Léon finished the rest of his drink and then pulled a few bills out of his wallet and placed them on the table.
About the author:
Coperta este superba nu am cuvinte:x!
ReplyDeleteVă mulțumesc foarte mult!
ReplyDelete