Face to face, and rifle to rifle. The time and location change, but never the circumstance. Merq Grayson and Armise Darcan are enemies—and neither will be considered successful until the other is dead.
It is the year 2558. A mere decade has passed since the signing of the treaty which ended the three hundred year long Borders War. In the midst of an uneasy peace, the world gathers for the first Olympic Games since the war began.
The rifle competition showcases the very soldiers who fought in the war, pitting former enemies against one another again. Continental States Peacemaker Merq Grayson will once again battle the Dark Ops officer from the People’s Republic of Singapore Armise Darcan, this time under the flag of their own uneasy truce. The relationship between Merq and Armise is one of violence, secrecy and a growing intimacy that could have them both branded as traitors.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence.
Publisher's Note: This book has previously been released under the same title. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.
General Release Date: 5th January 2016
October 2542
Merq Grayson’s 19th year
The Continental States
“Armise Darcan. Twenty-three years old. He’s an officer in the Dark Ops corps of Singapore. One hundred and twenty-nine confirmed kills of high-level targets, with another one hundred and eighty-six attributed to him but unable to confirm.”
I stared at the screen at the front of the room and tried to keep my reaction in check as Brigadier Ahriman Blanc droned on. By the trail of intel that popped up on the screen, it was clear the brigadier believed Armise Darcan was an unknown threat to the Peacemakers in the room. The identities of Dark Ops soldiers were closely guarded so I shouldn’t have known who this man was, but his eyes… The distinctive silver-blue of his irises—like a crumbling ice shelf in the Northern Territories—was a color I would never forget. The color was in stark contrast to his dark skin and jet-black hair, and yet fitting for the vicious role he played in service of his government.
Armise. So that was the name of the man who’d nearly killed me one year ago.
A fist slammed against the president’s desk. “Are you listening, Captain Grayson?”
I lifted my eyes to the brigadier in response. I wanted to say, give me something interesting to pay attention to and I will. I may have been his inferior by every definition of the word, but I wasn’t that stupid. And the image on the screen at the front of the room was more than enough to hold my attention.
“Yes, Brigadier Blanc.”
His gaze lingered on me, bored through me until I felt the uncomfortable weight of his judgment falling on me. I shuffled my feet and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. He tapped the desk once then pointed at the screen. “From what the analysts have been able to pull together, and classified reports from an informant, Armise prefers to work alone. He rarely allows himself to be seen but he’s made his presence in the States known. The analysts believe it’s because he’s on the hunt for the infochip under the orders of Premiere Jah. We’re going to intercept him and make sure he doesn’t return to Singapore. If he does have the infochip or knows where it is, then we need to take it first. Major Jegs, because of your previous experience in Singapore, this is your team to put together.”
Standing in front of me, Major Jegs nodded. “We’ll be ready to move on his location before nightfall.”
The brigadier dismissed everyone from the room and Jegs swiveled around, calling out as she headed for the door, “Lark and Pax, you’re with me.”
I took two steps, grabbing her arm. Jegs scowled at me. She was diminutive—at least a foot shorter than I—but in no way weak.
“What the fuck do you want, Captain?”
“I want in.”
I was nineteen years old and had only been a Peacemaker for one year but I was stronger, faster and more proficient with a sonicrifle than either of the other men she’d asked for.
She surveyed me and I was sure she wouldn’t find any fault in her assessment. I’d ensured I was geared up according to the standard uniform code, then had stretched the rules, adding a sonicpistol to my side where it would be accessible even if I was carrying my rifle.
“All right, Grayson. The president’s been waiting to see what you can really do.” She turned around and threw over her shoulder, “And you may be the only one of us senseless enough to take Officer Darcan head-on.”
* * * *
“I don’t want your eyes to close. Not even to blink,” Jegs said over the comm.
“Yes, Major,” I replied, with Lark’s and Pax’s affirmative responses following mine.
I shifted my elbow off the rusted nail that was digging into my skin and kept my eye locked to the scope. I was stationed on a hill, my body covered in order to blend in to my surroundings, and not on the top level of a crumbling skyscraper in the American Federation, but otherwise, this setup was eerily similar to the first time I’d encountered Armise.
I couldn’t shake the unease that crawled down my spine as I peered at the building where Armise was supposedly holed up. This entire town, in the virtually unpopulated Western Territories, was long abandoned. Fighting between the States and the AmFed was heavy hundreds of miles away from where we were. But not here. Mostly because there was nothing here to defend. Nothing to protect. There were no other people besides Jegs, Lark and Pax, me and, reportedly, Armise. There was no way the coveted infochip was here. So there was no reason for a Dark Ops soldier to be here at all.
I frowned. “How much longer are we expected to keep this up, Major?”
“Until we kill him.”
“I have to see him to do that.”
She hesitated. “He’ll come out when he has reason to.”
I listened between her words, to what she wasn’t saying. “You know him?”
“I know enough.”
I scowled. “And you don’t think he’s here for the infochip.”
“I know he’s not.”
“Then why—”
Jegs cut me off. “Keep your eyes locked to that building, Grayson. You’ll only have one shot at him, maybe not even that.”
In my peripheral vision a wall of clouds gathered in the distance. Dark brown and rounded. A dust storm frothing on the horizon, gaining in strength as it whipped toward us.
I sleep little, read a lot. Happiest in a foreign country. Twitchy when not mentally in motion. My name is Sam, not Sammy, definitely not Samantha. I’m a pretty dark/cynical/jaded person, but I hide that darkness well behind my obsession(s) for shiny objects. I’m the macabre wrapped in irresistible bubble wrap and a glittery pink bow, I suppose.
Reviewed by Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
Macky: I've just fallen head over heels once again for this brilliant engrossing series and its two mind blowing leads, Merq Grayson and Armise Darcan. God those guys have just put me through the e...
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Reviewed by The Novel Approach
Wowwwwww. This review is impossible to write. How can I possibly get across to you the utter brilliance of the world that S.A. McAuley has built here? Or the amazement and sometimes utter speechlessness I fel...
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SA McAuley - Divine Magazine Feature
I sleep little, read a lot. Happiest in a foreign country. Twitchy when not mentally in motion. My name is Sam, not Sammy, definitely not Samantha. I’m a pretty dark/cynical/jaded person, but I hide that darkness well behind my obsession(s) for shiny objects. I’m the macabre wrapped in irresistible bubble wrap and a glittery pink bow, I suppose.
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