Island Refuge: London Bridges by Gentry Davidson

Author:Gentry Davidson [Davidson, Gentry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2026-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

12

The attack came two hours after dawn.

I was walking back to the hotel through London’s waking streets, mind still churning over the Necropolis conversation and the weight of the objects in my pockets. The silver Thornwood locket was a cold, solid presence against my leg, and the leather journal felt like a ticking bomb tucked inside my jacket alongside the Soul-Sync Bridge.

My body was struggling to keep up. The 15% life essence transfer at Malcross’s shop had left me with a hollow, buzzing sensation in my chest, and my HUD was flickering with low-battery warnings that made the early morning light seem harsh and abrasive.

Then my interface screamed a warning I’d never seen before:

CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED CLASSIFICATION: NULL-TECH WEAPONRY SOURCE: AIRBORNE - MULTIPLE CONTACTS TARGETING: YOU SECONDARY TARGET: VALERIA THORNE RECOMMENDATION: RUN

I didn’t run. I looked up.

Three shapes descended from the gray morning sky—drones, but not like any I’d recognized. They were sleek, black, emitting a field that made my enhanced senses flicker and distort. The same interference pattern as Valeria’s Null Zone, but artificial. Mechanical.

NULL-TECH IDENTIFIED: HOUSE GRIMWALD SIGNATURE CONFIRMED WEAPONS SYSTEMS: ACTIVE INTENT: LETHAL

The first drone fired.

I threw myself sideways, my depleted muscles reacting a half-second slower than usual. I barely cleared the area as a beam of concentrated energy scorched the pavement where I’d been standing. The heat was intense enough to crack concrete, leaving a smoking crater in the middle of a London side street. Human pedestrians screamed, their minds unable to process what they were seeing—supernatural technology had ways of editing itself from mortal perception, but the destruction was real enough to cause panic.

“JASON!”

Bridget’s voice in my earpiece, transmitted through the hotel’s communication system. “I’m tracking three hostiles on your position. What the hell is happening?”

“Grimwald sent welcoming gifts.” I rolled behind a parked car as another beam cut through the air above me, my breathing coming in ragged gasps. “Null-Tech drones. They’re targeting me and Valeria. Bridget, they know we have the journal. They’re trying to bury the evidence.”

“Valeria? Why would they⁠—”

The answer came in the form of a priority broadcast that my HUD intercepted—a message transmitted on Council frequencies, meant for Grimwald operatives:

INTERCEPTED TRANSMISSION: “OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP AUTHORIZED” “PRIMARY TARGETS: JASON DUCARD, VALERIA THORNE” “COVER STORY PREPARED: ALLIANCE ASSASSINATED REAPER” “COUNCIL RESPONSE: FULL PRUNING OF MALOLO” “HOUSE GRIMWALD ASSUMES ENFORCEMENT DUTIES”

“They’re framing us,” I breathed. “Grimwald’s trying to kill Valeria and blame it on us. The Council would authorize immediate retaliation⁠—“

Another beam nearly took my head off. The car I was hiding behind exploded, showering me with glass and twisted metal. I scrambled for new cover, my mind racing. My vitality was too low for a sustained chase; I could feel the drain from the Soul-Sync deal dragging at my heels like lead weights.

The drones were coordinating, boxing me in. Their Null-Tech fields overlapped, creating dead zones where my supernatural abilities simply stopped working. Inside those fields, I was just a man—no enhanced senses, no HUD, no connection to my coven. Just meat and bone against weapons designed to kill beings far more powerful than me.

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