Coyle and Fang: Curse of Shadows (Coyle and Fang Adventure Series Book 1) by Robert III (great books for teens .txt) 📗

to kill monsters than with our own, created and put carefully together in labs? Fang was the most successful of this new breed of soldier. But the manner in which she was created didn’t sit well with the rest of the Templar leaders—and they were right. We shut the project down and set the whole thing for eradication. These man-made soldiers were supposed to be transported to a research center in the New Mexico Territory, but most of them disappeared. We got wind that the US government had placed these missing creatures into a secret location. After a few years of fruitless leads, we stopped looking.

“Just over six months ago, a warehouse burned into the bay,” Treece continued. “Witnesses described hearing strange howls and moans coming from the structure. We had our suspicions, until Miss Coyle unraveled the mystery of Trevin’s death and confirmed our deepest fears: Fang was responsible for all of it. The burning warehouse, Trevin’s death and now this. She was made to be a one-of-a-kind unstoppable weapon and we’re witnessing the devastation she’s capable of.”

“Well, she’s on the move with this book of curses,” Quolo said. “A dangerous book in the hands of a dangerous killer. I think we need more people.”

“Possibly,” said Vonteg.

The discussion turned to Trevin and why he would be involved, but Coyle stared at the last frames of the image and lit her pipe. She sucked a long draw until the tobacco tinged orange and she exhaled smoke. She squinted, staring at the images. Something wasn’t right.

“I apologize,” Coyle said, interrupting them. “But can you go back a few seconds? I thought I noticed something.”

Sullywether shrugged and turned a knob. The images reversed. Coyle leaned in and pointed with the pipe stem.

“There, see?” she said.

“What do you see?” Vonteg asked. Everyone squinted at the moving images.

“Play it again, just these last few seconds,” Coyle said. “The light changes shape on Fang’s face. See? She looks back, and the light and shadow are different on her face. The nose and jawline melt into a different position, almost as if she were wearing a featureless mask.”

The images reversed and played back again. It was plain as day to her, but no one else agreed.

“I think it’s a trick of the light,” Duone said. “Hard to make out with these visuals.”

Coyle’s observations were dismissed, and discussion turned to newer technologies and the differences between Tesla’s inventions and gnomish engineering. Coyle stared at the images as they flipped back and forth. She was positive she was right. The images proved Fang was telling her the truth. But she wasn’t ready to tell them the assassin vampire had visited her in a jail cell and asked for help. Then they wouldn’t believe or trust her, and she would be turned out onto the street, left to figure out another way to make detective. Best to keep that card close to her chest. Yet she had to try to open their minds.

“Are there fae or vampires who can change the shape of their face?” she asked. “Maybe this isn’t Fang. Maybe this is someone else.”

The men turned to her with frowns.

“Preposterous!” Bolt said. “Any of us could easily see the vampire’s face throughout the incident. She is a trained assassin, apparently full of madness, and we just watched her slaughter.”

“But what if there’s another assassin at work here? What if Fang is innocent?” Coyle asked. The question hung in the air like a rotted apple no one wanted to pick. Odd looks shot her way. Someone cleared their throat.

“Let’s get back to the real meat. The book gets stolen, and Moreci wants to kill a few people?” Poes asked.

Coyle was glad for the diverted attention. First, she’d lost an important piece of evidence, and then her hypothesis had been brushed aside. Such a fine start. All she wanted to do was crawl under the table and hide in the dark. There would be no more talking for a while. A long while. She leaned against a table, her cheeks warm, vacantly staring at her nails.

Just how important did you think you were?

“The book was used to kill an army,” Duone said. “Why kill tens when you can kill hundreds of thousands?”

“He means to wipe out a large population,” Treece said, and bowed his head. “Possibly an entire city.”

“So a murderous vampire slaughtered innocent guests and stole a book,” Bolt said. “And apparently Coyle gave them a device to use it. How thoughtful of you.” His dark eyes bored into Coyle. “And now you seem especially forward in claiming Fang is innocent. Are we to believe you and Fang are in collusion together?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Coyle said, her voice cracking.

“Is it?” Bolt asked.

Maybe.

“How dare you insinuate a vampire and I are working together?” Coyle said. She squeezed her hands into fists. Her body shook with anger and fear all wrapped together. He was right, of course. They were working together, just not in the sense he was talking about.

“You may have fooled the others, Coyle,” Bolt said. “But you’re not fooling me.”

“It does sound a bit odd,” Duone said. “Why are you trying to defend this vampire?”

“I believe she’s just trying to investigate all possible avenues,” Quolo offered. “It’s what she was trained for.”

“Yet she failed,” Bolt added.

“Gentlemen,” Treece said. “We know nothing else at the moment, and what we need is unity, not division. Miss Coyle did the best she could, I’m sure. Why don’t we adjourn for a moment and let me have a discussion with our esteemed guest?”

The others left the room amidst a babble of murmurs. Poes was the only who looked back and gave her a slight nod before he left her in the room with GEM and Treece.

“I’m so sorry, Treece,” she said, setting the pipe down and running trembling fingers through her hair.

“Miss Coyle, I’m more happy you’re safe than... anything worse.”

“It’s just that, well, I feel like a failure. I was supposed to help you in this mission, and I keep failing.”

“On