The Beast Within Read Free Page A

time?” Aaron asked as he settled in the passenger seat.
    “Do what?” Tony replied as he turned on the engine, then pulled out of the parking garage.
    “Finagle your way into everyone’s goodwill?”
    “Finagle?” Tony laughed. “Are you a seventy-year-old Englishman?”
    “You’re avoiding the question.”
    “I’m charming. What can I say?”
    “Seems borderline manipulative to me.”
    “Manipulative?” Tony stopped at a red light and gave Aaron an uncomfortably prolonged appraising glance. “Don’t you ever use your persuasive skills in acquisitions and exterminations?”
    “Always. You need every edge you can get working acqxterm cases.”
    “So, why is it different socially?”
    “Because they’re human beings you’re in contact with on a daily basis, not malicious demons that require unique talents to capture and kill.”
    “The intent is the same.”
    “That’s not a valid justification.”
    “You have a lot of opinions for someone who just started this morning.”
    “I started eight years ago.” The dark thing shifted inside him.
    Be careful. The warning voice inside his head was less frightening than it had been in the shower. Devoid of Carlos’ actual advice, his subconscious had clearly chosen Carlos as its spokesman. While the intruding voice was jarring, it was better than the ones he had heard directly after the attack. Unlike those others, Carlos’ voice offered support, rather than suggestions on how Aaron should end his miserable life.
    Tony shrugged, as if Aaron’s total experience, or opinion, mattered little. Aaron clamped down on the dark thing, shoved his shoulders back into the upholstery and stared out of the window. Tony fiddled with the radio. With each passing block the tension in the car mounted, growing impossibly thick until Aaron found himself fiddling with the window button with the desire to press it and let the oppressive cloud disperse.
    It wasn’t smart coming into a new workplace and attacking the morals of his new partner, especially when Tony had gone out of his way to protect him from Ellison. This man was his one shot to prove he was normal, that he wasn’t a monster, even though he was—technically. Everyone suspected what had happened in California, each had a similar theory about how he alone had survived. If he wanted to maintain his facade of normalcy, he had to resume work like nothing had ever happened to him, like he was still the same person he’d been before the attack, no matter how ridiculous the notion. Making friends with his new partner would add an extra layer of protection he desperately needed. Besides, Tony seemed like a nice guy. Aaron glanced over at his partner.
    A really nice looking, nice guy .
    A few minutes later Tony pulled the car up to a curb outside a row of derelict warehouses. The street was vacant, save for a police barricade horseshoeing one entrance. Tony shut off the car without a word and climbed out. Aaron followed. He wanted to say something to erase the damage he had inflicted, but Tony had already ducked under the yellow tape. Aaron pulled the kit bag from the back of the car and followed Tony inside.
    Dust motes danced in the dim light cast by frosted windows set high on the walls. The only other source of light in the room came from the golden glow of the Thurisaz cast onto the concrete floor. It was a mystic rune of protection and Kapre Security’s personal sigil, a visual warning that was triggered whenever an otherworldly presence had appeared and was acting against the universally adopted behavioural guidelines set forth by the British Anglo-Demonic Pact of 1864. Cops saw the Thurisaz, hightailed it and called Kapre.
    “Look at this,” Tony called as he squatted over a dark area on the floor.
    Aaron came closer, but he didn’t need to look to know what it was Tony had found. He could smell it from where he stood. Sulfur. Trace amounts, but enough for his keen sense of smell to pick up. Fear bubbled in