Redlaw - 01

Redlaw - 01 Read Online Free PDF

Book: Redlaw - 01 Read Online Free PDF
Author: James Lovegrove
Tags: Horror
directly into his ear now, in an insinuating purr. He had the feeling this was all a piece of play-acting, a knowing, self-mocking parody. “You are considered the scourge of our kind, a holy terror. Possibly that is how you see yourself. And now here you are, your precious life in our hands. Delivering yourself to us like a Christmas present, ready to be unwrapped. We could kill you, yes. Quaff your lifestuff like a fine wine until not even the dregs remain. Or... one of us could turn you. How would that be for irony? John Redlaw, vampire slayer, become vampire himself.”
    “I am not a ‘vampire slayer.’ I am a SHADE officer charged with keeping the peace between humans and Sunless. And were I ever turned, rest assured that at the first opportunity I would drive a stake through my own heart.”
    “So you say. You would, I suspect, feel differently once you discovered how joyous it is to be Sunless, as you non-vampires insist on calling us. The power, the freedom, the senses, newly awakened...”
    “The cannibalistic thirst.”
    “The world opening up around you like a night-blooming flower. The darkness breathing its secret consolations over you. The realisation that there is so much more to life than, well, mere life.”
    “Very witty.”
    “Redlaw.”
    He could feel cold lips butterfly-brushing his cheek.
    “Oh, Redlaw, there is so much I could offer you,” she sighed. “So much you could be .”
    She pulled away.
    “But,” she said briskly, “why waste such a gift on so undeserving a recipient? You came here chasing Grigori. You’ve scared the poor blighter half out of his wits. What has he done? What is his crime? Grigori is not one to misbehave. I know him well. Meek as can be.”
    “Are any of you meek when the bloodlust’s on you?” Redlaw retorted.
    “True. No. Has he killed, then?”
    “Not to my knowledge. But there’s been a riot. You must have heard it.”
    “The blood dropoff.”
    “Havoc. I’ve seen it happen before but never this bad. The delivery drivers have been taken. Your Grigori seemed to have some idea where they might be.”
    “This is all you’re after? The drivers?”
    “Yes.”
    “If I promise to find them for you, will you leave?”
    “Gladly. Can you find them?”
    “It shouldn’t be too difficult. I can’t guarantee their... health.”
    “I’m not expecting you to. Bodies for their families to bury, the assurance that they haven’t been turned—if they’re not alive, that’s the next best outcome.”
    “Very well, Redlaw,” said the voice. Then she issued an order, and the many hands holding him let go. He was chaperoned outside, and his goggles and Cindermaker were returned to him. Redlaw scanned the vampires, but they were all male. The owner of the voice had stayed indoors.
    Anonymous.
    Well, if that was how she wanted to play it, then fine. No sweat. As long as she made good on her promise.
     
    An hour later, two corpses were brought to the entrance of the SRA and deposited there.
    By then, Redlaw had obtained copies of the two drivers’ personnel files from BovPlas’s human resources department. He compared the faces on the ID photos, flushed with life, to the white, shrivelled faces of the bodies. A match. Trevor Martin and Derek Bannerman. Both married men, with a total of five kids between them.
    Then came the grisly business of post mortem neutralisation—decapitating the corpses. It had to be done on-site, as soon as possible after discovery of a drained body, regardless of whether the victim had been fully bled or only partially. Standard procedure. While even just a few fluid ounces of blood remained in a corpse’s venous system, the potential for reanimation existed. The next of kin would rather have their loved ones back in two pieces, definitely deceased, than as a handful of ashes or, worse, not at all.
    Redlaw volunteered for the task, and the other officers were only too happy to let him. TV news crews had arrived on the scene, but
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