Reaper series book 4 Apprentice Killers is
available NOW!
As Brody reflects
on his life, he begins to realize that his mentor’s influence may have impaired
his judgment.
Apprentice Killers
‘Two for the price of one.’
BRB:
When Brody receives a
cryptic message from the newest of the Snuff program inductees, his memories
are stirred. People and places, he hadn’t thought about in years awaken the
most dormant of his emotions, and the present becomes blurred with the past.
Not wanting to risk the life of the only person he cares about, he leaves Zeus
behind to fight the pharmaceutical giant, for what he believes will be the last
time.
Excerpt:
Brody caught a glimpse of
auburn hair—sunlit hues of radiant red. The young woman held a bag of groceries
to her partially exposed chest as she exited the store. She had a vivacious
air, bright smile, and perky bounce in her step that caused her ponytail to
swish her sun-kissed shoulders. He followed her out of the supermarket into a
parking lot lined with dry grass and giant trees. Most were of the nut variety,
and dehydrated seedpods littered the ground.
He sat on a wood bench,
slats faded where the lacquer had rubbed off. Screwed to the backrest was a
dedication plaque in oxidized brass that read, ‘In loving memory of Sadie
Ketchum.’ He wondered briefly who Sadie Ketchum was when he noticed subtle
movement in his peripheral. “I knew a girl similar in appearance,” he said.
The young woman got into a
compact, blue, European-model car.
“When was that?” Zeus sat
down on his right, dropped a bag of groceries between his runners, and lit a
cigarette.
“High school.”
“I get the feeling your
memories aren’t pleasant.”
“Jessica Humboldt was a
remarkable bully.”
“God, I can’t stand bullies.” Zeus flicked ash at the
ground and took another drag.
“Don’t misconstrue my choice
of adjective. I despise those who prey on the weak. But her strength of purpose
fascinated me.”
“Well, good. For a moment
there I thought you’d gone soft on me.”
He noted the mordant ring in
his lover’s tone; Zeus was evolving. The more confidence he acquired the more
openly he spoke his mind. He watched the blue car merge into the traffic. “She
believed her superior intellect gave her privilege, and she turned humiliation
into an art form. She could pinpoint her victim’s Achilles’ heel. It was the
leverage she used to terrorize.”
Zeus looked at him. “So what
did she do to you?”
The question didn’t catch
him off-guard, however, it did trigger a physical response. He felt an ache in
the center of his chest that he could only associate with an emotional loss.
He’d experienced it just once before. “It isn’t what she did, it’s who
she did it to.”
Brody blinked slowly, and
when he opened his eyes the environment around him had changed. He was in the
second-floor hallway of his high school, and a girl with the same auburn hair
was inside a nearby classroom. Jessica’s expression wasn’t congenial like the
smile of the woman from the supermarket; instead, her mouth was curled in a
vicious snarl. The girl seated in front of her covered her face with her hands.
Over a period of two semesters, he’d watched Jessica systematically torment a
number of students both male and female.
Jessica yelled and slapped
the girl. Teary-eyed, the girl slid her tremulous hands higher, shielding her
head. The others teenagers in the classroom feigned ignorance. They looked out
the windows, buried their heads in books, or continued to eat their lunch. No
one dared to get involved. Brody didn’t feel anything in particular for the
victim. But he felt something simmering deep within for the bully.
Rising from his slouched
position against the wall, he stared at Jessica. When she noticed him, she
froze with her fist in the air, and her already stern lip line soured to that
of aversion. She grabbed her knapsack and burst into the hallway. As he knew
she would, she’d come to confront him. The coldness in her glare told him
everything, but he wasn’t fazed. Again, his mind elicited no emotional
response. And his heart continued to beat at a relaxed and steady rate.
“You’d better mind your own
business, geek.” She jerked her thumb towards the classroom. “If not, you’ll
get worse than she did.”
“Prepare yourself,” he said
evenly.
She stopped dead in the
middle of the hallway and after a moment’s pause turned around. “What the fuck
did you say?”
Everyone in the classroom
watched, their curiosity growing by the second.
“To simplify: you don’t
scare me. Threaten her once more and I will
kill you.”
She didn’t move, and she didn’t
show any obvious signs of fear. However, he did observe a slight tremble in her
hand as her grip tightened on her knapsack strap, and her pupils dilated. He
sensed a rise in her pulse and a hesitation to react. She was terrified and
debating her odds.
Sliding his hands into his
hip pockets, he bent closer and flashed a grin. “I can see straight through
you, bitch.”
She leaned backwards,
trepidation growing in her eyes, and nervously barked, “If you know what’s good
for you—you’ll just stay the fuck away from me, asshole!”
He watched as she strode to
the end of the hallway and descended a wide set of steps.
Zeus bent forward, dropped
his butt, and mashed it under the grinding pressure of his shoe. “I’m guessing
she didn’t stop after that.”
“The trouble escalated. The
only deduction I could make was that she’d seen us together.”
“Us?”
“Cody and I.”
“I take it he was the high
school boyfriend.”
“Yes.”
Author Bio:
Blak Rayne is an author of gay romance.
She loves to write and believes it’s one of the greatest forms of
self-expression. What better way to see inside the human soul? Blak Rayne
resides in Canada, and yes, she is a woman, wife, and mother. She’s been
writing and drawing since elementary school, and she loves anything that
involves the arts. As for family, her daughter is her toughest critic and
greatest support!
Blak Rayne
‘Taking erotic to a sinful new level.’
Visit her online!
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