The Messenger: A Novel Read Free

began walking.
    He knew Lord Varre already sensed his rebellion. His head began to pound, but he kept walking, one step and then another, alone up the road, toward the woods where he had seen the dog. The pain increased, moving through his whole body now, intensifying with each passing second. Although he felt near to collapsing from the agony, he forced himself to stand straight and still in the road.
    The dog came out of the woods, a black blur racing toward him.
    Somehow, in his pain, he found the strength to ask for mercy.
     
    Evan and Daniel watched in horror as Eduardo stood in the road, letting the huge dog race toward him. In the beam of the headlights, they saw him fling his arms open and smile as the dog reached him.
    The dog made one powerful leap and fastened his fangs on Eduardo’s throat.
    Eduardo burst into flames. And was gone.
    One moment, he had been in the road, covered in fire. In the next, he’d disappeared—with not so much as a pile of ash left where he had stood.
    The dog looked toward the truck.
    “Go!” Evan shouted to Daniel. Daniel wheeled the truck around and drove off.
     
    Tyler Hawthorne stepped out of the master bedroom of his newly acquired home, onto the deck that almost entirely surrounded this level of the house.The hillside sloped away sharply enough to allow him a view through the trees, to see the lights of Los Angeles far below, glittering through the mist that had settled over the city on this moonlit spring evening. The house was empty and quiet.
    A flash of bright light appeared from somewhere near a curve in the road below, and he wondered what had caused it. A fire? An explosion or accident of some sort? But there was no smoke rising, and there had been no sound of a collision, which even at this distance he must have heard. He waited, feeling uneasy, but the night stayed quiet.
    A little too quiet. The usual insect noises had ceased.
    “Shade,” he called softly. The big black dog had shown an unusual level of excitement about exploring beyond the fenced-in area of the property, and Tyler had let him out. Although he knew it was extremely unlikely that his closest companion would be harmed by anything in the woods, Tyler couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
    He waited, listening, then the crickets took up their song again. What had disturbed them?
    He called again to Shade, but the dog did not return. Odd behavior indeed.
    Tyler sighed and turned back into the darkened house. Although he had purchased many of the previous owner’s possessions along with the property, not many of his own had yet arrived. His small staff was not due here for another two weeks. They would eventually have a guest, a man recovering from a serious illness, and Tyler realized he needed to consider all that would be required for his care. Unless he missed his guess, though, there was still a little time to make those arrangements.
    He sat in an overstuffed chair near an empty fireplace and savored this opportunity to be quiet and completely alone, not even Shade at his side. No one asking anything of him.
    He had youth, wealth, and excellent health. He looked at the luxury surrounding him and wished, not for the first time, that he would die.
    He stood again, trying to shake off this mood. He decided that perhaps he should go out looking for the dog, then heard a floorboard creak just behind him.
    He turned swiftly.
    A match flared, and a voice spoke from the shadows. “Feeling sorry for yourself tonight, Tyler?”
    “Colby?” he asked in disbelief.
    “None other,” the man said. He lit a cigarette and blew out the match.
    Tyler stayed where he was.
    Colby laughed. “What, no warm welcome for an old friend?”
    Tyler bent to turn on the lamp next to the chair. He straightened and said, “No welcome, and no old friend.”
    The man standing across the room from him was fair haired and slender, slightly shorter than Tyler, dressed in an elegantly tailored suit. His blue eyes were full of