Dead Flesh (34 page)

“But he hasn’t
actually murdered anyone,” I breathed, and looked at the so-called
victim, sitting across the table from me.

“I know,” Seth
chuckled. “What a dilemma you face.”

“Dilemma?” I
quizzed him.

“So, what is
the great Kiera Hudson to do?” Seth hissed, his anger simmering
again. “Sit back and watch an innocent man die or...”

“I can’t do
that,” I said, looking at the TV which now showed a close-up of
McCain. He was stripped to the waist, hands tied behind his back,
his right foot sticking out at an odd angle. They hadn’t even
bothered to fix his broken foot, I realised. Behind him stood his
hooded executioner, sword in hand.

“So what are
you going to do, Hudson?” Seth gloated. “Only you can stop this
from happening. You could call your friend Banner right now and
tell him that you’ve made a mistake, and get McCain a stay of
execution. But if you do that, everything goes back to the way it
was before. McCain goes back to being in control of the matching,
and we all know what will happen to those poor little children. On
one hand, you could sit back and let him die. I mean the guy isn’t
entirely innocent of child cruelty and playing mind tricks with all
of those parents. On the other hand, you could let the execution
take place and the wolves will react with violence. The Treaty that
has kept an uneasy peace over the last two hundred years will fall
apart, and the wolves will go back to killing indiscriminately, and
this time around, there are no Vampyrus to stop them. The humans
will fight back and there will be war between the wolves and the
humans again.”

Realising the
decision that he was forcing me to make, I looked at him and said,
“You bastard, Seth.”

“What will it
be, Kiera?” he screeched at me. “Time is running out!”

I looked at the
TV screen at the eighty thousand people crammed into Wembley
Stadium, as the billions of people and wolves around the world
watching the TV waited with drawn breath for the sword to fall
against McCain’s neck.

“Choose!”
Seth screamed at me. “Make your choice, like
the choice you should have made in The Hollows!”

I looked at the
TV again and with gooseflesh crawling all over me, I watched in
horror as I realised I was too late to make my choice; McCain’s
head was sliced from his neck. It spun away, and the crowds in the
stadium went into a frenzy. They roared with delight but others
roared in anger. These were the Skin-walkers who, hidden beneath
their human skins, had snuck into the stadium. McCain’s head hadn’t
even stopped spinning across the ground when the Skin-walkers
changed back into wolves and started to devour the humans cheering
all around them.

Wembley Stadium
erupted into something that looked close to a bloody
slaughterhouse. The screen then flickered and changed shot, as
other news reports started to come in from across the country, as
wolves took to the streets and ripped the first human they came
across to pieces.

Seth stood and
snapped off the TV. Then, turning to look at me, he began to slowly
applaud. “Kiera Hudson, you really are something else.”

I just looked
back at him, the consequences of what was now unfolding, barely
comprehendible.

“I’ve got to
give it to you and your merry team of misfits,” Seth sighed,
heading for the door. “You‘ve been back such a short time, and
already you’ve destroyed a Treaty that had been working to keep
peace for the last two hundred years, and reignited the war between
humans and the wolves. And for every human woman, man, and child
that dies, their blood will be forever on your hands.”

I watched
speechless, as Emily and Dorsey stepped out into the hall, leaving
Seth alone with us.

“I should rip
your fucking head off,” Potter roared at him.

“I wouldn’t do
that if I were you,” Seth smiled at him.

“Give me once
good reason why not,” I spat.

“Because only I
know the secrets of how to put this whole mess right again. You
were right, Kiera, the world has been
pushed
, but you’ve just gone and knocked it over!”
Seth laughed, staring into my eyes again. “And besides, Kiera, I
know you don’t want me dead just yet.”

“How do you
figure that?” I asked, using every ounce of willpower to not leap
across the room and rip his crazy-looking eyes from his skull.

Looking at me,
Seth said, “You don’t remember how I killed you back in The
Hollows, do you?”

“No,” I said,
shaking my head.

“But you do
want to know,” he said, running his grey tongue over his cracked
lips. “And one day I will tell you. But for now, let’s just say
that you loved every moment of it.”

“Get out of
here!” I screamed at him.

Smiling one
last time at me, Seth said, “I’ll be in touch.”

Then, he was
gone, and all I could hear was the sound of him laughing as he made
his way down the hall. I turned to face Potter and whispered, “Oh
my God, what have I done?”

To Be Continued in ‘Dead
Angels’

Book Two Coming Soon!

Also by Tim O’Rourke

‘Vampire Shift’ (Kiera Hudson Series One Book
1)

‘Vampire Wake’ (Kiera Hudson Series One Book
2)

‘Vampire Hunt’ (Kiera Hudson Series One Book
3)

‘Vampire Breed’ Kiera Hudson Series One Book
4)

‘Wolf House’ (Kiera Hudson Series One Book
4.5)

‘Vampire Hollows’ (Kiera Hudson Series One Book
5)

‘Black Hill Farm’ (Book One)

‘Black Hill Farm: Andy’s Diary’ (Book
Two)

Doorways (Book One)

About the Author

Working away in
the dead of night, Tim has written many short stories, plays and
novels. His most recent book, 'Vampire Hollows' (Book 5 in the
Kiera Hudson series one) is now available. Tim is also the author
of the paranormal romance series entitled 'Black Hill Farm' and
‘Doorways’ – A book of Vampires, Werewolves & Black Magic.

Tim's
interests, other than writing, include watching South Park, Vampire
Diaries, True Blood, and listening to Pitbull, LMFAO, Jennifer
Lopez, David Guetta, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Adele. Tim is never
happier than when reading The Twilight Series, Vampire Diaries, and
writing his own Vampire series, “Vampire Shift.”

Don't be shy;
feel free to contact Tim at
[email protected]
- Tim would love to hear
from you.

Website: www.Ravenwoodgreys.com