Free Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) by Matt Rogers Page B

the rest of the house. Floor-to-ceiling windows on either side gave views of the surrounding grounds, lending the room an open, airy atmosphere. On the left was a dining room with a broad oak table set up as the centrepiece, and on the right was a kitchen complete with state-of-the-art appliances and a full-sized bar.
    “ You knew I would make the call, ” Jake repeated, still in disbelief. “ Are you psychic or something? ”
    “ It ’ s like Felix said –” Wolfe started.
    “ Felix? ”
    “ The man you just talked to. It ’ s like he said, nobody can walk away from a discovery like that. ”
    “ I couldn ’ t. I sat there in the cell, and I just thought, how can I go back to my old life when I know these things exist? You know … to be honest, the whole family situation had pretty much nothing to do with the decision I made. It just helped that I had no-one to say goodbye to. ”
    “ When you realise that there is a breed of monsters living on earth, it ’ s hard to care about anything else, ” Wolfe said. “ That ’ s what the five of us realised after we were rescued all those years ago. We could have returned to base, told them what happened. No-one would have believed us. We could have kept quiet, and carried on with normal missions. But we decided to hunt them. ”
    A realisation dawned on Jake. “ You … you never went back. Everyone thinks you ’ re dead. Your whole team doesn ’ t exist anymore. ”
    Wolfe nodded imperceptibly. “ We all needed to know more, Jake, just like you do. ”
    “ That ’ s why I ’ m here. ”
    “ Good man. You ’ re going to learn everything about them. First, though, you need some rest. Come. ”
    Jake followed him through to the same living room he had woken up in twelve hours ago. It was surreal to think that during the space of time between leaving and returning to this house, he had been arrested and subsequently broken out of a police station.
    And now he was back.
    Wordlessly, Wolfe took him through a corridor that snaked around the swimming pool. Jake looked out through the huge windows and saw an identical corridor across the yard, forming a U shape as they both branched off from the living room. The pool lay outside, in the middle of the U.
    They reached a single door, built into the wall at the end of the corridor. Wolfe opened it, and Jake stepped through.
    “ This is your room, ” Wolfe said.
    It looked like the master bedroom of a five-star resort. Jake realised it ran the entire length of the corridor on the other side of the wall. Up the far end lay a king-size double bed, with an adjacent bedside table complete with a sleek, white laptop. Behind the bed, Jake saw the entrance to an en-suite bathroom.
    “ Holy crap, ” was all he could think to say.
    “ Do you like it? ”
    “ It ’ s probably a tad better than my jail cell. ”
    Wolfe chuckled.
    “ Your wardrobe is in there, ” he said, motioning to a door in the wall next to them. “ Now, I take it you need some sleep. ”
    “ That ’ d be good. I ’ m about to drop off on the spot. ”
    “ I ’ ll leave you to it then. Get some rest. You ’ ll need it. ”
    Wolfe turned and left the room. On the way out, he thumbed a panel on the wall, and instantly the blinds running along the tops of the windows began to lower. Before the room turned black, Jake walked over to the bedside table and switched on the lamp.
    He took a shower. The hot water poured over him and washed away into the drain in the centre of the bathroom. With it went the dirt and grime that he had accumulated over the past twenty-four hours. It felt good.
    When he was done, he took a quick glance at himself in the mirror. His long hair was matted to his forehead. He swept it back and took a deep breath. This was his new life now. He had to forget about the old one.
    He made his way, naked, into the bedroom and slipped into bed. The mattress was made of memory foam. It moulded to his body shape, enveloping him in