Six Times Deadly: A Lawson Vampire Story Collection (The Lawson Vampire Series) by Jon F. Merz Read Free Book Online

can handle it.”
    “Not this time.   This one’s got you written all over it.   In invisible ink, if you get my meaning.”   He hung up the phone.
    I sighed and steered the car back on to the dirt road.   It would take me a few hours to get home, maybe grab an hour or two of sleep and then meet Niles.  
    Then it was back to the hunt.
    I glanced at the rearview mirror.   The waves crashed white against the sand, all traces of the recent violence gone.   Millions of years of evolution had produced the perfect apex predator.
    And the sharks weren’t so bad either.

Enemy Mine

    Ordinarily, being in Japan is like wearing an old comfortable sweater.   I love the country-its rich history and traditions have always felt comfortable to me for some reason and the fact that I've long apprenticed myself to one of its most potent warrior traditions, it's no wonder I love spending time there any chance I can get.
    But this was business.
    Sendai sits about 190 miles northeast of Tokyo.   It's a beautiful city that dates back to 1600 when the local daimyo decided Sendai was a better position for his castle than his previous home.   After starting construction on his castle, he ordered the creation of the town itself.   When both were completed, Sendai was well on its way to becoming one of Japan's most beautiful cities.   Nowadays, it was known as one of its greenest as well, thanks to the fact that prior to World War Two, citizens had been encouraged to plant trees in their home gardens.   The quality of air was incredible.
    I wish I could say I was there for air.
    I wasn't.
    I was supposed to have caught a flight home from Tokyo earlier today following my dealing with the Kensei.   Talya had already flown out, but I'd wanted another week of training and despite the fact that Niles had a pressing assignment for me back home, he'd agreed.
    Then this morning, just as I was getting ready to catch the train to Narita, Niles had called.
    "You haven't left yet, have you?"
    "I'm surrounded by giggling schoolgirls on the train platform as we speak."
    "Good," said Niles.   "You're not coming home, after all."
    "Now why would you want to deprive me of the incredible fun that is a fourteen hour flight back to Boston?"
    "That's only if you catch a nice tailwind.   It might even be longer."
    "Thanks for reminding me."
    "Remember your Belfast assignment?"
    I frowned and glanced around.   "I remember.   I remember she tried to blow me up.   Crazy nut that she is."
    Niles paused.   "We've got intel she's in Japan."
    "When?"
    "Right now, Lawson.   North of your location in Sendai.   You know the area?"
    "Well enough."
    "Get up there.   We don't know what she's up to, but she's certainly made no secret of the fact that she's actively hunting you.   If you've got a chance to get the drop on her right now, I suggest you do so."
    "I think that goes without saying.   You know her location?"
    "Not yet, but I've got people working on it."
    He meant the intel nerds.   Good.   If she was there, they'd find her.   "Anything else?"
    "Yeah, watch your back."
    I disconnected and looked around the train platform.   The Silencer.   Wonderful.
    We had a history.   Thailand.   Belfast.   And now Japan.   After our initial meeting in Thailand way back around the ass-end of the Vietnam War, the Silencer had been working for the North Vietnamese and she'd just killed a contact I was supposed to meet.   But back then I was green.   Still an FNG.   And she'd told me there'd be no fun in killing me.   No sport in it for her.
    Lucky me.
    She'd vanished for years.   I sometimes wondered about her, usually when I was into my fifth Bombay Sapphire and tonic, just starting to get a nice buzz cranking.
    But then a few months back in Belfast, she'd made a return appearance.   And the simple note she'd left told me that she now considered me fair game.  
    That was right before she blew up the building I'd been in.
    Fun gal.
    With all the