Security for Hire by Renee Jagger & Michael Anderle

Author:Renee Jagger & Michael Anderle [Jagger, Renee & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

Genevieve was waiting for Val at the bottom of the fire escape after she plodded laboriously to the bottom. The Mustang let out a sad honk and opened the driver’s door, then sidled as close to the curb as she could.

“Relax, Gennie.” Val grunted as she slid into the seat. “I’m okay.”

Genevieve shut her door and gently secured the seatbelt over her chest before she could reach for it. The glove box popped open, revealing a set of folding drawers that shouldn’t fit in there, including one full of clean bandages.

Val grabbed one. “Thanks.”

Genevieve pulled away from the curb and drove off with unusual care. Val ignored the wheel and tapped the ruby on the armband. Her armor vanished with a clank, and she winced at the blood trickling over her bare bicep.

“Asshole,” Val muttered, clumsily wrapping the bandage around her shoulder.

She tugged the rearview mirror down and grimaced at the lacerations on her cheek. It wasn’t easy to penetrate dwarven skin, but the vampire’s claws had done the trick. She shuddered at the thought of what his fangs would have done if he’d sunk them into her throat.

“Thanks, Dad,” Val mumbled, spinning the armband on her wrist.

She leaned back in the bucket seat and held the wheel loosely as they rolled into the wealthy suburbs of Staten Island. Genevieve shifted gears so smoothly that Val barely felt them. The bleeding had mostly stopped, only a few red spots seeping through the bandage.

“You can chill out,” Val told the Mustang. “I’m fine. It’ll take more than a few vampire scratches to get to me.”

She touched the gas pedal with her boot. Genevieve honked and braked.

“Okay, okay.” Val laughed. “Whatever you say, Mom.”

Genevieve raised one wiper like a middle finger. It hovered for a few seconds, then returned to its nest in the hood. She switched on her indicator and gently turned into a short driveway terminating in a set of wrought-iron gates. They were the real thing—dwarf-wrought, not crappy human stuff.

Val admired the gates in silence for a moment before she realized that a stout Copper Dwarf had emerged from the guardhouse. He wore a large pistol on each hip and a battle ax on his back, and his navy body armor clanked as he approached Genevieve.

“That’s the queen’s car,” he rumbled as Val rolled down the window, “but you’re not the queen.”

“Hey.” Val pointed at her face. “I’m here for the ER. Obviously.”

Genevieve honked.

“Good afternoon, Genevieve. It’s nice to see you.” The guard patted the hood. “Go ahead.”

The gates swung open with a flash of blue magic, and Genevieve rolled onto the beautiful campus with its well-maintained green lawns, freshly surfaced roads, and manicured shrubbery. The squat five-story brick building that rose from the center of the campus was ugly and unadorned except for huge brass letters over the wooden doors: OPMA. The eagle crest of the OPMA spread its wings above them.

“Wait, are we in the right place?” Val asked. “This is the New York City headquarters of the OPMA, isn’t it?”

Genevieve honked reproachfully.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.