Read Online Predator and Prey Prowlers 3 by Christopher Golden - Free Book Online

pretty funny, actually, the idea that a tribal culture whose members were disseminated across the face of the earth could come together and usurp the planet’s dominant species, a species with a sense of unity the Prowlers lacked, a species that outnumbered them twenty-five thousand to one.
    Tanzer had been a zealot, and zealots always ended up dead.
    For his part, Dallas liked the world just the way it was. He enjoyed the company of humans, particularly females. He loved the music of humans, their food, and their literature. When he killed them, it was rarely out of bloodlust. Most of the time, in fact, it was for money. Jasmine was only the latest in a long line of employers, including various governments and corporations, who had utilized his skills. He was always up to a challenge. But it wasn’t often he was hired to kill one of his own.
    As they turned down a side street and began to move away from Quincy Market, past a bistro and a gourmet coffee shop, Valerie bumped him to get his attention.
    “Hey. You’re so far away. What’s on your mind?”
    Dallas smiled. She really was beautiful in her human face, with that rich lipstick the color of dried blood. He suspected he was one of few among his kind who could have appreciated the beauty of her façade as well as that of her true countenance.
    “Just thinking how much I missed you,” he said. “I stayed away too long.”
    Almost demure, she glanced away. The reaction made the lie worthwhile.
    At the end of the street, on the corner, stood a threestory building whose architecture was an elegant testament to the Boston of a bygone age. The sign on the front of the building identified it as Bridget’s Irish Rose Pub. Dallas paused, touched Valerie on the arm and nodded toward the restaurant.
    “That’s the place.”
    She glanced at it. “Looks nice. Too bad we can’t eat dinner there.”
    He laughed. “Maybe when this is all over, if I do my job right. It looks busy, too, which is helpful.”
    Valerie turned into him, pressed herself against him, kissed his bristly jaw, then his throat, nipped him there with her teeth.
    “When you do it, I want to be there.”
    “Of course,” Dallas promised easily.
    But she stared at him then, expecting some other response from him.
    “What?” he asked.
    Her hand tightened on his arm. “I missed you, too, Dallas. Don’t let it go to your head. I let you in. I gave up my toy for you. And, yes, I’m hoping we can have some fun, add a little spice to my life. As long as you realize that I’m not going to be your toy. If you want to play with me, that’s all right, but if I’m with you, I’m in it. I’ve never been any good at being a bystander.” A thrill went through Dallas. The truth was, he had forgotten just what it was about Valerie that had entranced him all along. Beauty was hardly sufficient. Now he remembered. Charm didn’t work on her.
    “No argument,” he replied.
    Valerie nodded once, then glanced at the pub again. “The bartender?”
    “If it’s the right one. He’s supposed to be big, broad-shouldered, with a graying beard. Cantwell is the name he uses.”
    One corner of her mouth lifted in a lopsided, mischievous grin and she crossed the street between cars. As Dallas watched, she went into the pub after a quartet of humans. Though many people did not eat until later when the summer days were so long, Bridget’s seemed quite busy. Dallas turned and went back up the sidewalk to a pair of pay phones. He picked one up, leaned against the kiosk, and watched the front door without even pretending to speak.
    Perhaps three minutes after she had entered, Valerie pushed out the front door of the pub and darted across the street and into the flower shop. Seconds later the door opened again and a big, bearded man stepped out. Cantwell, Dallas thought. It had to be, though he could not see the man’s face. The bartender tilted his head back slightly and sniffed at the air. For a full minute he lingered