“Soldiers are expendable,” Chalke said with an uncaring shrug. “You should know this, you’re the Secretary of Defense.”
Passerini drew himself up to his full height, eyes blazing. “Listen, lady—”
“Sexist. Why are you military guys so sexist? Wait. ‘Military guys.’ Think I found the answer.”
“We’ve got plenty of female brass,” Passerini said, neatly avoiding adding, And every single one of them is less of a horse’s ass than you, bypassing it to say, “And they all know the value of human life—especially that of the people that we’re responsible for. You don’t borrow my soldiers, sailors, Marines, Airmen or Coasties—that’s the last branch, by the way—without asking me. Period.” And he started to leave it at that.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Chalke called after him, “but that order came from the president.”
Passerini paused. It probably had, but there was no doubt in his mind who’d convinced Gondry to issue it—and she was standing behind him in heels, the devil in Chanel.
“By the way,” Chalke said, “I heard about your near miss with the Enterprise. You and the president, both very fortunate. Fifteen more minutes and you would have gone down with the ship. Lucky thing your helicopter was delayed, huh?” She had a gleam in her eyes as she said it, and Passerini couldn’t tell if it was some kind of threat or just the words of a gloating, snide pain-in-the-ass.
Passerini just seethed, staring at her. He was wondering if he’d missed something. There was definitely a glow in her eyes, one that he’d always attributed to smugness in the past, but … maybe …
No. Passerini shrugged that thought off. Plenty of people were difficult, or assholes. That didn’t make them traitors or part of some conspiracy to false flag their own countrymen. It just meant they were assholes.
And FBI Director Heather Chalke had to be one of the biggest assholes he’d ever met in his life.
“I wouldn’t worry about your people getting roped into future operations with us,” Chalke said, taking a couple steps back. “It didn’t go so well for us, trying to use your … jarheads or whatever you call them. We’ll look elsewhere for help in the future.”
“Good,” Passerini said tightly. “Good luck in your hunt.”
“Oh, we won’t need luck,” Chalke said, still smug, and walking away. “Didn’t you hear? Sienna Nealon is powerless now.” Chalke let out a hearty chuckle. “Her days are numbered.” Then she muttered something else as she turned.
Passerini froze, watching Chalke as she walked out the lobby doors. She looked back at him and smiled infuriatingly, and he just stood there, fighting back his warrior’s instincts.
Because he could never have proven it, not in a million years, but he could have sworn what she said was …
“Her days are numbered. Just like yours.”
EPILOGUE
Breddocia, Revelen
“She called me Sigourney Weaver,” the woman said, strolling placidly through the lushly appointed office in the old castle.
The man who’d perhaps been most famously known as Vlad watched her, his fingers on his chin as he contemplated this small bit of information. He frowned, studying her. “You do look a little like her, now that you mention it. With your hair like that. You resemble her in Ghostbusters.”
“And you look like hell itself shat you out,” she replied, only a little ire coloring her response.
Vlad smiled. “You have such a way with words.”
She slowly paced toward the window, looking over the city of Bredoccia below. Vlad still remembered when it had been a simple village and not the bustling metropolis it now was, a hub of growing trade for Eastern Europe.
And all that … was because of him.
“She didn’t remember you, then?” he asked, finding his way back to the point.
“It was as you suspected,” she said, staring out the window. “All those memories are gone.”
He coughed, a hoarse one. “Suspected? No. As I commanded when I struck my bargain with Rose.”
She turned slowly to look at him, intense concentration writ upon her face. “You couldn’t know she’d triumph over Rose.”
He coughed again, that lingering ailment troubling him, just as it had lo, these many years. “I didn’t. But you did.” He pointed at her, trying to give her credit for her foresight. “You knew she would win in the end, and that … was enough for me to believe it.”
“She knows about us now.”
“Surely.” He coughed again. “We’ve certainly placed enough difficulties in her path. If she didn’t see it by now, she’d be a fool.”
“She’ll turn her eye in this direction.” She turned back to the window. “And I assure you … she is no fool. Nor is she to be trifled with.”
“I have no trifles in mind for Sienna Nealon,” he said, turning his attention to the open file on his desk. Files. Bureaucracy. If there was a common thread linking the days of old to these new ones, it must surely be the growth of bureaucracy and paperwork. He picked up one of the pictures from the file with interest, staring into the face, intent, furious. It was a still frame capture from Sienna Nealon’s recent battle in Minneapolis, taken from the news coverage. She looked …
Determined.
Dangerous.
Like …
He shook off the thought. “I trust your judgment enough to know that she remains a threat so long as she is out there. But the wheels are in motion, and they cannot be stopped.” He smiled, a dark, malignant expression that had induced fear in so many souls. “She is fated to come to us now, and when she does …” He snapped his fingers. “She will be dealt with.” He coughed. “Sigourney.”
At the window, he could almost hear her rolling her eyes at him. “You ass.”
Sienna Nealon Returns in
TIME
(Out of the Box 19)
AVAILABLE NOW!
GET IT HERE!
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thanks for reading! If you want to know immediately when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by CLICKING HERE. I don’t sell your information and I only send out emails when I have a new book out. The reason you should sign up for this is because I don’t always set release dates, and even if you’re following me on Facebook (robertJcrane (Author)), join my Facebook reader group (Team RJC) or Twitter (@robertJcrane), it’s easy to miss my book announcements because … well, because social media is an imprecise thing.
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Robert J. Crane
Other Works by Robert J. Crane
The Girl in the Box
(and Out of the Box)
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Alone
Untouched
Soulless
Family
Omega
Broken
Enemies
Legacy
Destiny
Power
Limitless
In the Wind
Ruthless
Grounded
Tormented
Vengeful
Sea Change
Painkiller
Masks
Prisoners
Unyielding
Hollow
Toxicity
Small Things
Hunters
Badder
Nemesis
Time
Driven
Remember
Hero
Flashback
Cold
Blood Ties
Music
Dragon* (Coming October 2, 2019!)
Control* (Coming December 2019!)
World of Sanctuary
Epic Fantasy
(in best reading order)
Defender (Volume 1)
Avenger (Volume 2)
Champion (Volume 3)
Crusader (Volume 4)
Sanctuary Tales (Volume 4.25)
Thy Father’s Shadow (Volume 4.5)
Master (Volume 5)
Fated in Darkness (Volume 5.5)
Warlord (Volume 6)
Heretic (Volume 7)
Legend (Volume 8)
Ghosts of Sanctuary (Volume 9)
Call of the Hero (Volume 10)* (Coming September 2, 2019!)
The Scourge of Despair (Volume 11)* Coming in 2020!
Ashes of Luukessia
A Sanctuary Trilogy
(with Michael Winstone)
A Haven in Ash (Ashes of Luukessia #1)
A Respite From Storms (Ashes of Luukessia #2)
A Home in the Hills (Ashes of Luukessia #3)
Liars and Vampires
YA Urban Fantasy
(with Lauren Harper)
No One Will Believe You
Someone Should Save Her
You Can’t Go Home Again
Lies in the Dark
Her Lying Days Are Done
Heir of the Dog
Hit You Where You Live* (Coming Late 2019!)
Her Endless Night* (Coming in 2020!)
Burned Me* (Coming in 2020!)
Something In That Vein* (Coming in 2020!)
Southern Watch
Dark Contemporary Fantasy/Horror
Called
Depths
Corrupted
Unearthed
Legion
Starling
Forsaken
Hallowed* (Coming in 2020!)
Enflamed* (Coming in 2021!)
The Mira Brand Adventures
YA Modern Fantasy
(Series Complete)
The World Beneath
The Tide of Ages
The City of Lies
The King of the Skies
The Best of Us
We Aimless Few
The Gang of Legend
The Antecessor Conundrum
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Editorial/Literary Janitorial duties performed by Sarah Barbour and Jeffrey Bryan. Final proofing was once more handled by the illustrious Jo Evans. Any errors you see in the text, however, are the result of me rejecting changes.
The cover was once more designed with exceeding skill by Karri Klawiter of Artbykarri.com.
The formatting was provided by Nick.
Thanks to John Clifford and Jennifer Ellison (J Ells) for reading ahead.
Once more, thanks to my parents, my in-laws, my kids and my wife, for helping me keep things together.