ston

Den was loud enough to vib

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

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

s and slamming beer stein

h triumphant ecstasy, stepping forward to let me

step. Then,

e side of her neck, her manicured na

oice catching on a strange, cho

h, 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

s holding the leather

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

Brinley wailed, reaching out with slimy, pus-sta

al revulsion hit me

away from me

arm swu

uck her across the ruin

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

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

followed by a chorus of mocking, derisive lau

ater. I was the laughingstock of th

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

vra

use, the only sound was the slow, steady drip of

ne buzzed once a

rom North Street

irt. Brinley is in an ambulance, and Kingston walked out s

le touched my lips. Ph

my cargo pocket and turned m

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 p

tress, flushed slightly, and nodded with immense reli

clicked shut,