The Serophim Breach (The Serophim Breach Series) Read Online Free

turned and walked down the short hallway to the front door.
    He squinted and lowered his head as he opened the door into the setting sun. Trent’s house sat at the top of a gently sloping street that faced directly west, and the rain that had been falling when Miles arrived left a sheen on the street. The wet asphalt shot sharp gold shards of light into his eyes, and he blinked rapidly a few times to clear his vision. He pulled the moisture-laden air through his cigarette, down into his lungs, and held it there, feeling the heat and ache of the smoke settle deeply into his chest.
    For a minute he concentrated on the feeling of his pupils contracting, squeezing against the stabbing sunset. He was trying to place the feeling with another memory when he was distracted by frantic motion on the driveway. Miles blinked to clear his vision, and saw that a figure lay twitching on the ground, silhouetted by the sun. It was difficult to tell, but he thought he saw foam on the figure’s lips and chin; he heard swallowed cries, as if the figure’s throat had closed around his voice.
    Without looking away, Miles called over his shoulder, “Hey, Trent, you got somebody tweaking on your driveway.”
    There was no response from inside the house. Miles took a step forward onto the sparse lawn. Down the street, the sunlight flickered like the television, as if a shadow had passed in front of it. The movement of the light only registered in Miles’s peripheral vision, and once again he was struck by the feeling that someone was moving behind him. On the driveway, the tweaker convulsed again, thrashing this time, and let out a long, gargled wail through clenched teeth. Miles flicked his cigarette away.
    “Hey, man, you need an ambulance, or what?” Trent would not be happy to have sirens pull up at his house, but he’d be even less thrilled if they were attached to a police cruiser.
    A trash can fell off a curb a few houses down, and Miles jumped at the sound. His eyes flicked up for a moment, then returned to the tweaker. Another long shadow flitted across the shining road, but Miles was too engrossed with the man on the driveway to notice. He had never seen an overdose quite like this before; he was rooted to the spot, morbidly fascinated. Suddenly the movements changed, became more violent, and the tweaker threw his head back and let out a choked scream.
    At that moment, Miles knew what was meant by the term “bloodcurdling.”
    And then a sudden, brutal impact hurled him to the ground, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He tried to shout, struggling against his attacker and wondering briefly if Trent had let his dogs loose. There was a snarling in his ear, and then teeth sank into the flesh at the nape of his neck. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. It exploded like a fireball and ran in shuddering torrential waves down his shoulder and over his scalp. Under the razor-sharp agony, he felt the crushing, choking pressure of the teeth as they sank deeper into his flesh. A gulp of air reached his lungs, and Miles screamed like an animal caught in a trap. Desperately, he swung an elbow up, trying feebly to knock away whatever had him pinned. He connected with soft flesh and heard a grunt. Between waves of panic and pain, he realized, horrified, that his attacker was human. Before he had a chance to move or react, two fists grabbed clumps of his hair and slammed his forehead into the pavement. White, searing pain exploded behind his eyes, and he let out a weak, terrified shout for help. But in the back of his mind, he knew the people who lived in this neighborhood kept their shades, and mouths, shut.
    I’m going to die. The thought rang through the agony like a bell.
    With a desperate surge of energy, Miles bucked hard and managed to toss his attacker to the pavement. Shaking with adrenaline and shock, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, scrambling for Trent’s front door. It was like a nightmare. Panic left him