Dominant Species (24 page)

Finally s
he collapsed onto the floor coughing, gasping for breath, her good eye staring at Jake with hate through the pain.

‘
Looks like something your friends ate didn’t agree with you,’ he managed.

On her hands and knees, the Queen gasp
ed her last breath, then fell forward, finally dead. Jake looked round the room. A handful of figures remained, walking amongst the dead, checking for any signs of life and making sure the vampires were finished.

Megan move
d towards Jake and helped him up; he looked down at her and smiled. She moved close, her eyes locked on his. She reached up and gently kissed him on his lips. He held her tight, not ever wanting to let her go.

‘
Here’s to a new beginning,’ she whispered, ‘one free of old ghosts.’

‘
Free, maybe, but never forgotten.’

‘Never forgotten,
’ she agreed.

T
hey kissed again.

‘
Jake, I can’t find Rodan, he’s not here.’ Trent’s deep growl brought them both back to reality. Jake looked round at the auditorium, littered with death.

‘Are you sure?’

Trent frowned.

At that
precise moment, high in the New York Palace Hotel, the door to the suite on the fifteenth floor burst open as Rodan entered in a hurry. He crashed through his suite and didn’t see the movement behind him.

Then
he stopped, slowly becoming aware that he wasn’t alone. Without turning he slid a thin bladed knife into his hand.

‘I thought we were even?’
He said.

‘
Not even close,’ murmured Karick.

‘
So, are you going to play with me, like you played with Kadir?’

He knew surprise was his only weapon and
so he span, bringing the blade round in a short arc. His face froze. He stood facing Karick, looking into his eyes as Karick shook his head.

‘
No, Rodan. Play time’s over.’

Rodan look
ed down at the sword that had expertly punctured the side of his chest, Karick twisted the blade and Rodan’s eyes closed for good. Then letting go of the sword, Karick turned his back and without looking round whispered the last words that Rodan would ever hear.

‘Now we’re even.’

In the United Nations Plaza, the remains of the resistance appeared, walking out into the gloom of the day. In the lead, Jake and Megan holding hands stopped and looked at the dark sky.

Heads
suddenly turned as the lone figure of Karick appeared from the West. All around, guns were drawn and aimed at the Vampire as he strode towards Jake. But there was something in his approach that made Jake hold up his hand and call for the others to hold their fire. At ten yards Karick slowed, then stopped. Then he knelt, his head bowed.

A
ll around a massive cheer erupted.

S
uddenly, for just a second, a flicker of light penetrated the darkness and people gazed up in amazement.

About the Author
:

Guy Pettengell was born in in Hertfordshire, England in December 1965. After leaving full time education he obtained a professional qualification in purchasing and supply management, going on to build a successful career in both the private and public sectors. But despite winning a number of high profile awards for his work in procurement, he grew increasingly aware of the one thing he wanted to do above all else – write.

One of his greatest influences during his formative years was his training in the Martial Arts. He began training when he was just 11, teaching from the age of 19 before obtaining his 5th Degree Black Belt in 1998 and still trains today. 

Guy is happily married and lives with his wife, Helen, in Cambridgeshire where he spends as much of his free time as possible writing. Initially conceived as a screenplay, before being written as a novel, Dominant Species is his first published book. 

Guy also loves spending time with his wife in America and you will see this influence throughout his books from the setting of Dominant Species in New York, to the hotter nights of Miami where his next novel, due in the summer of 2014, is based. Retribution is the first in a new series of books starring Jack Vincent, a man with a dark and sinister past.

Guy’s next novel, due in the summer of 2014, promises to be very different:

Retribution

(A Jack Vincent Novel)

By Guy Pettengell

When a vicious Miami gang, with no fear of the police, brutal
ly attacks a seventeen old girl leaving her for dead, they make their first mistake. Believing their actions will have no consequences is their second. Soon they are to learn that there are things on the streets far worse than themselves and one of them happens to be the girl’s father.

His name is
Jack Vincent and he has a past, a dark and secret past; one he's not proud of. It's a past that he's tried hard to forget. But after the attack, Jack looks to that same past and embraces the darkness once again.

For more information and to keep up to date on future projects go to:
g
uypettengell.com