Forged From Ash by Marcus Pelegrimas Read Free Book Online Page A

Skinner.”
    Rico laughed good-naturedly…even as he raised the Sig Sauer to aim at the Nymar’s face.
    “Not yet,” Sayers snapped.
    Instead of pulling his trigger, Rico waved the Sig’s barrel toward the wall where the blond girl was seated. “Over there next to the bitch.”
    “We don’t have to take your orders.”
    “No,” the blond said. “We don’t. But this is all the help we’re bound to get.”
    Cursing under his breath, the skinny young man crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
    Moving as if she was being lifted by unseen hands, the blond Nymar stood up and brushed away the last hint of blood from the spot where the bullet wound had been. “My name’s Drea and that’s Seth.”
    “You’re the ones that sent the distress call?” Sayers asked.
    Drea nodded. “We were hoping one of the local militias would pick it up, but I guess you guys will do.”
    “Hey,” Rico grunted. “If you don’t like the looks of us, we can be moseyin’ along.”
    The spark in Seth’s eyes brightened as he said, “If your way of answering a distress call is by shooting the place up before you know who’s inside, then you’re not much help anyways!”
    Rico’s teeth ground together, and before he could respond to the skinny Nymar, he heard Sayers request a word in private. The two men stepped to the other side of the room where they could lower their voices while still keeping the Nymar close enough to be shot if they made a wrong move.
    “What the hell was that?” Sayers asked in a harsh whisper. “If that girl wasn’t a Nymar, she’d be dead right now.”
    “I knew she was a Nymar before I fired a damn shot. You think I’m stupid?”
    “No…we’ve just had limited experience with these things.”
    “Yeah, the Half Breeds have been the main attraction lately, but these assholes have been laying low and biding their time. Just be glad they’re old school. Shadow Spores don’t register on the ol’ scars.” Seeing the confused look on the Lieutenant’s face, Rico added, “You really ain’t seen much where Nymar are concerned. Someone’s gotta circulate a memo or somethin’.”
    “What about that body outside? Is it one of those…things?”
    “Nope, but I do want to get a better look at it. There’s blood leading from this door, which means whoever took him out could have done it in here. There are more Nymar hiding somewhere close. I can feel ‘em.”
    “Something happened for them to send that distress call,” Sayers said. “And since they knew there was a chance that someone like us might respond, it must have been pretty damn bad.”
    Slowly, the anger in Rico’s face died down. “Another thing you should know about these guys is that they can hear well enough to know what we’re saying even if we’re in another room altogether.”
    “Shit,” the Lieutenant grumbled. “I’ll see what I can do about that memo.” Turning to face the Nymar directly, he announced, “You obviously know who we are or at least what we are, and we know what you are, so let’s cut straight to the part where you tell us what’s going on here.”
    “Maybe he should leave,” Drea said as she stared holes through Rico’s head.
    “You upset about that little love tap I gave ya?” he asked while patting the holstered Sig Sauer.
    “No. Assholes like you are the ones that held us here to be tortured like animals.”
    “What do you mean? There are Skinners here?”
    She nodded. “Skinners set this place up. Skinners dragged a bunch of innocent people from their homes. Our kind and humans, too.”
    “These Skinners,” Sayers asked, “were they escorted by Army personnel?”
    Drea shook her head. “I don’t think they’re hooked up with any of the military like you, but they might have someone feeding them information because they always knew when to lay low before any armored trucks or tanks rolled through town.”
    “How many are there?” Sayers asked. “And where are they? Should we