Blood & Thunder Read Online Free Page A

seconds to state your name before I get really pissed. Five.”
    “Keeler,” Dex sighed. “That’s not going to help.”
    Ash rounded on him, poking him in the vest. “That’s your problem, Daley. Too busy making daisy chains and cracking jokes to get your hands dirty.”
    “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dex planted his hands on his hips. Ash stepped closer, his voice a low growl, but Dex wasn’t intimidated.
    “It means you don’t got the balls to get in there and do what you gotta do, always trying to be the good guy.”
    “I am the good guy. We’re all the good guys! Screw you, man. I know how to do my job, and just because I don’t go around scaring old ladies or trying to make it rain vengeance and wrath, doesn’t mean I’m afraid to get my hands dirty.”
    Nostrils flaring, Ash stormed over to the kid and lifted him off his seat again. “Now you listen to me, you little shit. Every minute you spend not talking, is another minute I gotta be in here with that gummy-bear-eating, Cheesy-Doodle-crunching, eighties-music-singing asshole, and that puts me in a bad mood. Do you want to put me in a bad mood?”
    The kid shook his head fervently.
    “Then answer his goddamn questions, or I swear on my momma’s grave I’m gonna make you wish you were never born.”
    “Simon!” the kid burst out. “My name’s S-Simon Russell.”
    Ash dropped the kid roughly onto his ass before turning to bark at Dex, “Get on with it, Daley.”
    Dex took a seat beside Simon who was looking rattled and miserable, his shoulders slumped, and his wary gaze going from Ash to Dex.
    “I apologize for my teammate, Simon. He gets cranky when it’s time for his sippy cup of OJ and a nap.” Dex could have sworn he saw the end of Simon’s lips twitch. “My name’s Agent Daley, and despite what you might think, I’m here to help you.”
    Simon looked Dex over, assessing him. “Dad says all Human THIRDS agents are traitors to their race.”
    The words were low, but Dex could hear the uncertainty in them. Dex would bet his salary the kid never would have gotten involved in this kind of thing if his fuckwit of a father hadn’t filled his head with hateful nonsense. “I’m not a traitor, Simon. I’m just a regular guy trying to do the right thing. It’s my job to protect innocent citizens and help those who are feeling lost. I believe everyone has a chance to lead a safe, happy life, no matter their species. You know, I was an HPF officer before I became a THIRDS agent, just like my dad was.”
    Simon tilted his head and shifted slightly. Dex knew everything he needed to know about the young man in that instant, and he continued while he had Simon’s attention.
    “My dad was a homicide detective for the Sixth precinct. He and his best friend Tony were the best at what they did. I was so proud of him. My friends would get sick and tired of me telling them how great my dad was,” he said with a chuckle, still feeling a squeeze to his heart when he thought of his father. A day didn’t go by when he didn’t miss his parents. “He was my hero.”
    “Was?” Simon asked with a frown.
    “Yeah, he was killed during the riots, along with my mom.” Dex let out a sigh and shook his head. “He’d gone off to deal with the riots on several occasions while on the job, and then he goes out to the movies one night with my mom, their date night”—he swallowed hard, his gaze on his gloved hands clasped in front of him—“and there was a shootout at the movie complex. My dad tried to get everyone out, including my mom. She… got hit in the crossfire. My dad got shot in the chest trying to save her.”
    “I’m sorry,” Simon mumbled, looking even more deflated.
    Dex gave a sniff and blinked back the sting in his eyes. Twenty-eight years and it still felt as though it were yesterday. “Yeah, I miss them, a lot. But, soon after, Tony adopted me, and a few months later, I got me a baby brother. I wouldn’t trade him