Free The Lycan Rebirth (The Flux Age Book 3) by Steven J Shelley Page A

for an instant in what might have been a nod.
    “Target,” she said, her voice a little deeper, huskier. Yasmin got the impression her very flesh was unstable, liable to transform at any moment.
    “The target is ripe, One,” came the reply. “The citizens have already been shaken up by the wights.”
    The creature on the floor paused, perhaps ruminating on something. Yasmin realized she was holding her breath as she waited. Had they been detected?
    “You will take care of another matter before we leave,” One said. “Leave me now.”
    Herr X shot to his feet immediately and strode through one of the side passages. Yasmin and Tomas waited until One had retreated into the darkness before risking any movement at all.
    Neither spoke until they were under the serene moonlight of the Serkeci district once more. Yasmin breathed in the salty air with relish, glad to be free of the claustrophobic tunnels. The feeling was peculiar considering she was usually drawn to the underground as a vampire.
    She looked over at Tomas, who’s mind was clearly in furious motion.
    “Okay,” Yasmin said as her breathing returned to normal. “What do you think of that , Tomas?”
    Tomas shook his head in amazement. “Obviously unlike any flux creature we’ve come across,” the doktor said excitedly. “That was no trick, Yasmin. Assuming that people are born with only one spirit creature, this ‘girl’ named One appears to possess a number of adapted abilities. Which means her DNA is able to reprogram itself on the fly. Incredible…”
    “What does that mean?” Yasmin asked. “You know, in English?”
    Tomas blinked. “It means that One has taken on the powers of other flux creatures and can shift into them at will. We don’t know how she does this, whether she needs some kind of genetic material or whether loose contact with the target creature is enough.”
    “Sounds pretty hard to beat,” Yasmin said, steering the discussion to more practical issues.
    “Indeed,” Tomas agreed, realizing he’d been veering off on scientific tangents. “There is much to glean from that conversation. First - they are planning some kind of attack. Second - they mentioned wights. Didn’t New York City have a problem with those things?”
    Yasmin nodded. It made sense that the Berlin Club would look to hit New York and hit it hard. The city was a such a beacon of human civilization that any strong attack would be devastating all over the world.
    Plus, New York had been weakened by wights. The prospect of another attack would set them on the back foot.
    “So what do we do, queen?” Tomas asked.
    “We head back to Frica and put Mischa to work,” she said.
    Tomas nodded in relief.
    “And then we head to New York,” she finished, which made the doktor grimace.
    “Is there a problem, Tomas?” she asked coldly. Tomas seemed to shrink before her gaze. Since when had that started happening. The doktor had always seemed like such a strong man.
    “Yasmin,” he said, using her real name for effect. “Is it our fight, or the lycans’ problem?”
    Yasmin stopped short, the breeze from the Bosphorus whipping up her platinum hair.
    “Just to be clear, Tomas, the vampyra - all vampyra - will stand side by side with the lycans. At least while I’m alive.”
    Tomas nodded bleakly, his face screwed up in anguish. “Of course. Queen.”
     
    Frica, Romania
     
    Yasmin and Tomas wasted no time in checking out of their hotel and booking a flight for Bucharest. Throughout the early morning flight Yasmin couldn’t help but feel that this ‘One’ character had known she was watching from the top of that underground amphitheater. But what would the consequences be? Yasmin decided to block her mind from those thoughts and concentrate on building an army. She was surer than ever that she was going to need one.
    Touchdown in Bucharest was problematic. The noonday sun beat down on Yasmin as she scuttled across the tarmac into the backseat of a chartered