Read Online Stone Soldiers 4: Shades of War by C. E. Martin - Free Book Online

the shackles. "Will they?"
    Jason swallowed nervously. "No, ma'am." He'd been tempted to tell the local police what had happened in the interrogation room. But they hadn't believed him about his father- he was sure they wouldn't believe him about a vampire.
    Josie and Laura led the boy outside- Josie keeping her distance by several feet. She clearly was hesitant to come within reach of the boy again. When they got to their SUV, she slid behind the wheel, while Laura sat in the back with Jason.
    "Where are you taking me?" Jason asked as the SUV set out for the airport.
    "Georgia," Josie said.
    "Why?"
    Laura smiled. "Someone we know is very keen on meeting you."
    Jason briefly considered grabbing over the seat at Josie. If he could steal some power from her again, he was sure he could escape the moving vehicle unharmed. But then what? He'd seen how fast the vampire was. And so far he had no idea how to fly.
    "What am I?" he finally asked.
    "What do you mean?" Josie asked from the driver's seat. She alternated between watching the road and watching Jason in the rearview mirror.
    "He means is he like us," Laura said, smiling. She smiled a lot- devilish smiles that made Jason very, very nervous. Like she was sizing him up for her next meal.
    "No- like her," Jason said, nodding toward Josie. "I mean, she's not... like you, right?"
    "A vampire?" Laura said, cocking an eyebrow. "Go ahead, you can say it."
    Jason hesitated. "Uh, a vampire."
    "No- I'm no vampire," Josie said.
    "But you froze that camera- I saw you do it."
    "It's an ability I have," Josie said. "Cryokinesis."
    "Are you an alien?"
    Laura laughed. "Alien? You believe in that?"
    Jason felt a little angry at being mocked. But when he glared at Laura, the emotion quickly faded and he looked down at his lap. He was still scared of her.
    "We're parahumans," Josie said. "At least, that's what the government calls us. We have paranomal abilities the rest of population doesn't."
    "So, I'm a mutant?"
    Laura poked Jimmy in the ribs, startling him. "You look pretty normal to me, kid."
    "It's like eye color," Josie explained. "Recessive genes that go dominant every now and then, unlocking different abilities."
    "Genes?" Jason asked. "So my parents were parahumans?"
    "At least one of them carried the gene," Laura said. "Although, they might not have known it."
    "So where'd they get the genes?" Jason asked.
    "You really want to know?" Laura asked.
    Something about the way Laura said it frightened Jason. He decided to let it drop, for now. "What about the guy who that killed my parents?"
    "We don't know," Laura said. "Maybe he was something else. I'm no parahuman expert."
    Jason considered for a moment. "You said different abilities. What kind? I mean, you freeze stuff, and I get really strong."
    "Well, there's precogs, and post-" Josie started to say.
    "That's classified," Laura interrupted. "Our boss will decide just how much you need to know."
    "Is that who I'm going to see- in Georgia? Is that where you guys are from?"
    Laura smiled again. "Our boss is finishing up some other business there. But he was very keen on meeting you right away."

CHAPTER TEN
     
     
     
    The sun had set many hours earlier, and the battlefield was now cast in darkness. Fires were twinkling here and there, near the rows and rows of tents set up on either side of the site.
    Clint could see the entire battlefield and park from where he hovered in the sky, some several hundred feet up. He was now wearing regular street clothes- blue jeans, a dark sweater and work boots. At this height the air was cold and whipped through his blond hair and new beard, but he ignored it. He was a titan, looking down on the pitiful humans below him.
    But it wasn't just the humans and their camps he could see. After his time in the land of the dead, he could see those the living could not. Those for whom life was now a mystery, rather than death. Some lingered around the site, faded, almost invisible. Wraiths curious about all the