ston

Den was loud enough to vib

l, their eyes fixed on the raised timber stage where I stood. At the center VIP table, Darrell Daugherty sat leaning

e stood

r blonde curls were pinned up, her chin tilted high with unbearable arrogance. She was pr

ce!" I roared into the vintage m

rowd died down in

d forward carrying a heavy, custom black leather cut. Across the back, stitched in thick go

y becomes my official Old Lady. Th

rs and slamming beer ste

h triumphant ecstasy, stepping forward to let me

e step. The

e side of her neck, her manicured na

oice catching on a strange, cho

, forcing a charming smile for the crowd as I

it hurts!" s

, porcelain skin of her jawline

her cheek and collarbone with horrifying speed, swelling like venomous blist

meat combined with infected sewer run

ed instantly, knocking over chairs and b

er yelled, gagging. "What

ting alive

ds holding the leathe

as leaking down her neck, dissolving her heavy makeup into a grotesque, melted mask

" Brinley wailed, reaching out with slimy, pus-s

al revulsion hit me

k away from

t arm s

L

uck her across the ruin

crashing violently through a stack of wooden liquor crates at the edge

the senator, whose cigar had slipped from his paralyzed fingers onto t

, followed by a chorus of mocking, derisive l

ater. I was the laughingstock of th

cked a broken whiskey bottle aside, and stormed toward the back e

vra

ouse, the only sound was the slow, steady drip o

ne buzzed once a

rom North Street

dirt. Brinley is in an ambulance, and Kingston walked out

ile touched my lips.

o my cargo pocket and turned

indispensable reality of

in a humiliating, squalid state. A human body, no matter how lethal or feared in the streets, still answered to basic biology. With

perimeter monitors," I said, snapping on a fresh pair of pu

tress, flushed slightly, and nodded with immense reli

clicked shut,