In Blood We Trust

Table of Contents

 

 

“Effectively merges science fiction, horror, and the classic Western . . . [a] spectacular trilogy launch. Ingeniously subverting traditional themes, Cody skillfully builds nearclaustrophobic suspense, finally revealing the true nature of monstrosity.”

—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

 

“A world of monsters that takes the reader on many plot twists and turns. Keep[s] you guessing until the very end. This is one to pick up.”

—
Night Owl Reviews

 

“An excellent novel that touches on a dystop[ian] potential future,
Bloodlands
depicts the gritty nature of survival and secrecy, and sets fire to a fabulous new series.”

—
Fresh Fiction

 

“Developing a well-extrapolated dystopian future of urban hubs surrounded by chaos and a wildly creative collection of preternatural creatures, Cody offers a compelling glimpse into the varying aspirations and potential future of monsters and monstrous people.”

BLOODLANDS
BLOOD RULES
IN BLOOD WE TRUST

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

IN BLOOD WE TRUST

 

An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Ace mass-market edition / October 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Chris Marie Green.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

ISBN : 978-1-101-54437-2

 

ACE

Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

To the team at Ace: Ginjer, Kat, and the art, editorial, marketing, and sales departments! It's been a fun trip to the Bloodlands. To the Knight Agency and my critique partners, Judy and Sheri—you prop me up when I need it the most.

To people who are so entwined that they can't imagine life without each other. To people who strive for justice and right, even at the expense of their own safety and sanity. To everyone out there who has read my work and kept me writing!

In a work of fiction, there are licenses taken, and you will find many here. I hope you forgive any errors and flights of fancy....

T
he Witches had captured a monster.

They stared down at it as they gathered in the only place they could go now—in a cave tunnel system underneath an urban hub that had been taken over by the beasts.

Seven of the Witches had survived the slaughter above. Seven, standing together over a creature that one of them had found while scavenging for food and spying on the monsters in GBVille, where moon-throttled darkness covered the curved buildings and nearly silent streets. Darkness brought on by some sort of energy-sucking bomb the monsters had used.

At least it was a positive sign that the Witches hadn't been deactivated yet. And at least they had undergone one last update before the monsters had attacked and the Witches had retreated from the massacre at the asylum site. They had only been trying to keep the monsters away from society—a task that had been programmed into their human bodies when they'd been identified as Special by the CIA.

Kids with some psychic talent, recruited, trained, and made over in pale camouflage colors into an elite unit.

They were still up and running.

The temporary leader of the Witches—the one who had been activated first—bent down to their unfortunate prisoner. It didn't take much study to see that they had captured a Cyclops, with its one eye blinking up at them, its unwieldy, long-legged body restrained by the other six Witches, who held the freak still with their mind powers, limb by limb.

The leader's second in command stood next to him. She resembled him, with her light curls, big clear eyes, scentless preteen body clad in white. The General Benefactors Corporation badge that they all shared was branded into her forehead—the sign of peace. The symbol of a new sentinel that had taken over for the old Shredder slayers after the latter had been retired.

The second in command used their enhanced mind-link to communicate in Witch shorthand while she inspected the monster.

No,
the leader thought as the Cyclops blinked its eye, finally regaining consciousness from the nerve-pincher that had been used on it during capture.
Never bring down blood drinkers for study.

The creature's eye flickered here and there as it took in the cave. Then that eye scanned the circle of Witches. The monster's thick lips were beginning to form words that weren't quite coming.

The second in command thought,
Confused, it. Cyclops not love blood?

But teeth,
his second thought, using her mind powers to force open the Cyclops's mouth.
Blood-drinker teeth?

The thing's teeth were indeed sharpened to points, and it moaned and gnashed them while trying to get free of the second in command's psychic grip. When that didn't work, it started fighting against its invisible restraints, trying to jerk its meaty arms out of the mind holds that the others had on it as the group merely continued staring, their eyes wide, clear, and blank.

These Witches hadn't ever seen any Cyclops creatures in their asylum, and the uniqueness of it pulled at their linked curiosity. It had encouraged the Witch who had found it to break protocol and bring it to the rest of them so they could figure out what made it work. When they had initially been programmed with information about monsters, along with all the other infusions the government had given to them, the data hadn't
said
that Cyclopses loved blood. Yet common sense told this leader that these teeth had to be used for something, otherwise evolution would have phased out the feature during all the Cyclopses' years of hiding away from society, outside the GBVille hub.

Perhaps, after the world had changed, this mutant had begun to creep outside with the rest of the monsters, and it had found a need for teeth then.

Using his mind, the leader pulled the Cyclops's mouth open even wider, wishing for a better view of those teeth. But in his curiosity, he overstretched, and when he cracked the monster's jaw, the thing screamed.

None of the Witches around him flinched at the agonized sound. At least, they thought it might be agony, since pain wasn't familiar to them. Conditioning had rendered them serene and painless, the better for guarding.

They kept their psychic holds on the monster, pinning the thing down as it spazzed on the ground, its jaw unhinged.

The leader and his second moved in closer to see those teeth now.

Not fangs,
the leader said.

Civil monster?
the second asked.
Not a Red?

But just to be certain of that, the leader knew it would be prudent to see just what the Cyclops's final meal had been. He . . .
they
. . . wanted to know if this type of monster collected precious water through the taking of blood from humans, or if it was one of the Civil mutants that didn't feed off people—a much less dangerous type.

Much less worrisome.

The leader finally used his hands, sliding a knife out of a holster at his side. He and the others could move only so much with their minds. Physical blades were always the most efficient when it came time to slaughter a beast.

He stuck the knife into the monster's gut, ripping it open.

Innards bulged out, the Cyclops's stomach laying itself wide to inspection and, as the thing made more noise, the leader blinked at the stench, then the spill of root matter.

Root eater, this?
he thought to his group once they had all recovered from the smell together.

Not blood drinker, this,
his second thought again. One of the other Witches, a male with short light hair that curled around his face, thought,
Like us. Human?