Blood Debt (Judah Black Novels Book 2) (36 page)

After bungling another line, he leaned back from the mirror, shook his head and said for the hundredth time, “God dammit. Why do I even bother? I’m not going to follow the script anyway.” He tossed the folded papers down on the bed and put his hands on his hips.

“Chin up, Tindall,” I said. “You’re supposed to be happy. Tonight’s the big win.”

“It’s FUBAR. I’m getting handed the biggest mess this county’s ever seen and that’s if I win. On one side, there’s the supernaturals rallying behind me like I’m some sort of saint. On the other, I got humans ready to start a lynch mob and storm the gates. I feel like everybody’s watching me.”

“That’s because they are. The public sees everything you do as political when you occupy a public office,” I said. “And better for you to be in the public eye than me right now. My ass is already grass as far as public opinion goes.”

He eyed me and then grabbed his hat and sat down, turning it in his hands. “Any luck finding her?”

He was, of course, referring to Mara. In the weeks since the incident at Aisling, I’d only gone to see her once. I found her apartment empty. The neighbors said she never came back after what happened and the landlord had boxed up all her belongings and put them in storage. I called Ed and asked him if he knew anything, but Ed wouldn’t talk to me, either. When I hit all the federal databases looking for her, nothing popped up. No bodies in any of the morgues matched her description, and she didn’t have any pending arrests. I guessed that was good. Wherever she was, she was staying out of trouble.

I shook my head. “No luck.”

“Did you try putting up posters at the bus stops? If she left town, someone has to have seen her.”

I sat down at the vanity. “No one is going to see Mara unless Mara wants to be seen. She’ll cover her tracks; just like she always does.”

Tindall’s wife appeared in the doorway. “Hon, they’re about to make the announcement,” she said excitedly.

“You ready to give your victory speech?” I asked Tindall.

“Ready as I’m ever going to be.” He stood and took his suit jacket, sliding it on and turning. “How do I look?”

“Like a politician.” He scowled at me. I put a hand on his back and gave him a playful shove toward the door. “Go on, Tindall. Knock ‘em dead.”

He paused in the doorway. “You’re not coming?”

“Be there in a minute,” I assured him and he went on without giving me a second thought.

Once he was gone, I sat and looked at myself in the mirror. Without any effort, my hand started flexing. Even though Sal had healed the outward damage on my hand (and then later my broken foot), I still didn’t have any feeling in it. Tests revealed there was some nerve damage and they’d given me some exercises to try and fix swelling in the joints. My face had a new scar, too. I didn’t look or feel like me anymore.

The door opened again and Hunter poked his head in. “Mom?”

I smiled and held an arm out to him. “Hey. How’s it going tonight?”

Hunter opened the door the rest of the way and put his hands in his pockets, shrugging. “I was just wondering if you’d heard from Sal. He’s not here yet. He promised he’d be here.”

“I’m sure he’s on his way,” I promised, rising from the vanity to go and hug him.

We found our way into the living room just in time to catch the end of Tindall’s victory speech. Even so early in the night, he’d won in a landslide victory thanks to a record voter turnout. I stood in the back, clapping one hand on my leg with the other thrown over Hunter’s shoulder as my friend celebrated a well-deserved victory. His cop buddies cheered and lifted him on their shoulders, carrying him out into the front yard where more of his supporters had gathered. I followed but kept my distance. This was his moment, not mine.

After a few more celebratory toasts, a black SUV pulled up. A big guy in a suit got out of the front passenger side and adjusted the bullet-proof vest he wore underneath it. From where I stood in the back of the crowd and close to the road, I could just barely make out a purple fleur-de-lis pin on the lapel of his suit.

“Friends of yours?”

I turned to find Tindall standing next to me, a glass of champagne in his hand. “I don’t think so,” I answered.

A black Hummer limousine pulled up behind the SUV. As soon as it parked, the roar of motorcycle engines drowned out every other sound on the street. The Tomahawk Kings rode onto the street in full force, eight men strong. Four men, including Sal, pulled in front of the black SUV while the other four took up the rear. I kept my eyes fixed on Sal as the suit approached. He had promised Hunter he would be here tonight, not riding with his biker buddies. The lie stirred an old anger in me.

“Sheriff Tindall?” said the suit. “Would you come with me, please?”

Tindall sighed. “Guess news travels fast. You work for Marcus, don’t you?” he said, putting his hands on his hips.

“The Master extends his invitation to both of you.”

“What invitation?” Tindall said, frowning.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “And if we refuse?”

The suit opened his jacket just enough to show he was carrying. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

Tindall handed the champagne off to someone standing nearby. “I suppose a round around the block won’t hurt.”

The suit waited until both of us had walked on ahead to turn and follow. “The Master appreciates your cooperation,” he said as he opened a door to the limo for us.

Tindall and I climbed in and sat down and the suit followed, sitting across from us. Next to him was a man in a suit that cost more than everything I owned. He had a good, strong chin, slight freckles and a head of slick, auburn hair. One leg crossed over the other and both hands resting on the closest knee, he smiled at both of us, making sure his fangs were easily visible.

No introduction was needed. I’d seen him enough times to know who he was, even without the limo and the MC escort. I wasn’t surprised to see Marcus Kelley in the limo. It was the woman beside him that made the hair on my arms stand on end. A cold chill ran down my spine and my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.

Zoe Matthias. Sal’s ex-wife. One of the two wendigoes from my case last summer. I’d killed her, sliced open her belly and cut a child out of her womb. Even if the body had been missing, there was no way she could have survived that. Yet here she was, tall and beautiful with dark hair and smooth skin, perfect as ever.

She turned her painted lips up in a smile and crossed her arms over her lap. “Hello, Judah.”

“You can’t be here,” I stammered. “You’re dead.”

“Am I now?” said Zoe, still smiling.

I turned to glare at Marcus Kelley. “What the hell do you want?”

“Judah Black…” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “Were I in your position, I’d be more careful with my tone.”

I stupidly opened my mouth to ask about exactly what position I was in and paused when the suit pulled his gun and sat it on his lap.

Marcus smirked and put his arm behind Zoe’s back. “I think it’s high time the four of us sat down to discuss a few things.”

“I don’t care who you have in your corner or how many guns your goons point at me. I’m not taking a bribe.”

“Don’t misunderstand,” said Marcus. “You’re free to leave at any time.”

I put my hand on the door handle.

“But, if you leave without hearing us out, the child you’ve been looking for will die.”

“My child,” Zoe added and then produced the scrap of bloody cloth I’d given to Kim.

I looked from Zoe to Marcus to Tindall. Then, slowly, I uncurled my fingers from the door handle, sinking back into my seat. “Tell me everything.”

Marcus rapped on the partition and then ordered his driver to take us to an address in Eden. Then, he smiled. “In due time, Agent Black. First, we negotiate.”

“Negotiate?” I said, crossing my arms. “I thought you wanted my help.”

“Everything comes at a price,” Marcus answered.

I eyed the gun, the vampire and the wendigo and then sighed. This was going to be a long night.

COMING IN 2017:
Broken Empire: Aftermath

Sometimes there is no difference between a hero and a traitor…

Timothy Val wants nothing more than to serve the Senjelian Empire. As captain of the ranks, he has sworn his life to protect and serve, a fact that brings him honor among his people and those under his command. But the butchery of prisoners is not war. When his objection to the slaughter of unarmed
men
backfires, Timothy is branded a traitor.

Striped of his rank, dignity and sanity, his only hope of regaining his lost honor and clearing his family name rests in the hands of a political revolution, orchestrated by a senator he is unsure he can trust.

With an intergalactic war looming and civil unrest spreading through the empire, Timothy is faced with the most difficult tasks of his life.

Will he find a way to remain loyal to the empire? Or will that loyalty cost him the one thing he craves most…? His honor.

Aftermath
is the first in a series of epic space opera novels. If you love epic tales of empresses and princes, soldiers and mercenaries, senators and slaves, then you don’t want to miss E.A Copen’s brand new series: Broken Empire!

GET IT FREE!

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AFTERWORD

Judah Black was born from a question that evolved into an idea. After reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the umpteenth time in college, I found myself wondering how Abraham Van Helsing knew so much about vampires. The answer to that question became BSI and I created a number of agents to serve as the protagonist before I settled on Judah Black. Then the story sat for years, untouched. I had mixed feelings about writing another vampire story and struggled with whether or not Judah Black’s story was worth pursuing.

In the time I let my first drafts sit, I became a mom. I also became frustrated with the lack of kick-ass moms in genre fiction. It seemed to me that, while there were plenty of heroines having babies and getting married, most of them gave up their life of adventure afterward.

Meanwhile, in my own life, I struggled to interact with friends from my pre-mom days, none of whom had children of their own. Instead of the support and community I once enjoyed, I began to feel isolated. Depressed, I turned to writing as a means of self-exploration.

I knew only two things when I sat down to write the first two Judah Black novels: 1) My heroine had to be a mother and 2) she had to live in a world of consequences.

Judah Black’s world is a bleak at times but it’s also a world where hope reigns supreme. Sometimes, she makes decisions that come back to bite her in the ass. So do we all. The important thing is that she doesn’t give up. Ever.

Because of my own battle with depression, I know what it feels like to live in a state of utter despair. I have fought many of the demons and monsters that Judah does in my own way. Some days, I win the battle. Some days, it’s the monster. When that happens, I find inspiration and hope in the books that I love.

In 2013, unbeknownst to my friends and family, I made a plan to end my life. About a month before the date I had picked out rolled around, my husband came back from the library with a book called
Turn Coat
by Jim Butcher and, as I no longer had the energy or the desire to read on my own, he read parts of it to me. By the time he’d finished, I’d re-discovered my love of books. I devoured the rest of the series and went out to find even more books by other great authors. Before I knew it, the day I’d chosen to die came and went and I found I couldn’t make another plan to kill myself, not when my reading list was full of so many great books. Authors are often told, “Someone out there needs your book.” On that day, I was one author’s someone.

Today, my depression is much improved and I’ve found much more to live for besides books. But, because of that experience, books and stories, especially stories about magic and wonder, hold a special place in my heart. That’s why stories are important. Sometimes, stories are the only place you can feel safe.

If you ever find yourself feeling as I did, I encourage you to talk to someone. Even if you can’t bring yourself to tell your family and friends, please call an anonymous hotline or join an online chat. If nothing else, please don’t be afraid to reach out to me. Consider this your personal invitation to do so.

I hope you’ll stick with Judah throughout the series, as her adventures are just getting started. If you enjoyed this book or any others you’ve read recently, please consider leaving an honest review and recommending it to others.

If you’d like to connect with me on social media, you can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/EAcopen and on Twitter by tweeting @authoreacopen. Otherwise, for updates and new information, please join the mailing list at http://alturl.com/tmzhb.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

E.A. Copen is the author of the Judah Black novels and the forthcoming space opera, Broken Empire. She’s an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy and other genre fiction. When she’s not chained to her keyboard, she may be found time traveling on the weekends with her SCA friends. She lives in beautiful southeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, two cats and a dog, at least until she saves up enough to leave the shire and become a Jedi. Connect with her and follow her blog on ea-copen.com.