Darkness Falls (Dark Angels 7)

“Maybe, but I just happen to have gotten my hands on a couple of e-bombs.”

“You can explain what the hell they might be when we get there. We’re coming in direct, so don’t have a heart attack when we appear out of nowhere.” I hesitated. “And I sincerely hope you’ve got those additional security screens up and running.”

“Don’t worry, I have no desire to be vampire bait in the near fu

ture.”

Neither did I, but it would undoubtedly be a possibility if we weren’t very careful. “See you soon, then.”

I hung up, then finished my coffee and stepped into Azriel’s arms. A heartbeat later we were standing in the middle of Stane’s living area.

He swung around and handed me a somewhat scruffy-looking phone. “Seeing you haven’t got one at the moment, I took the trouble of finding my old one. It’s loaded up with the list of addresses.”

“Thanks.” I quickly found the list and brought it up onto the screen. “Some of these places I’ve never even heard of.”

“Which is a problem given I cannot transport us to places you have no clear image of,” Azriel commented.

“There is a thing called Google,” Stane said. “It’ll provide pictures aplenty.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You keep your discarded phones active?”

“Well, no. But when you can hack as well as I can, activating an old phone isn’t actually a problem.”

I snorted. “You are a very sneaky but very handy person to know.”

“That I am.” He swung around, picked up a small black device, then tossed it to me. “And this should take care of any security you might encounter.”

I looked at it somewhat dubiously. It was rather innocuous looking for something with such a deadly-sounding name. “I’m gathering this is your e-bomb?”

He nodded. “Or, as they’re more officially known, an electromagnetic pulse weapon. This one is a small-scale version, but very handy if you want only a particular building taken out rather than a whole city.”

I blinked. “They can take out whole cities?”

“Well, not this one, obviously, but the larger versions, yes.”

“How?” This thing was no bigger than a golf ball and looked a whole lot less dangerous, so how could it possibly have the power to take out a building’s entire security system?

“By overwhelming electronic circuitry with an intense electromagnetic field. It basically fries circuits and renders them useless.”

“Wow.” I studied the smooth black ball for a moment, then said, “It is reusable?”

“No, but I do I have three of them for you, and that should cover the more secure places. You’ll just have to figure out a way to take care of whatever security the other places might have.”

“How do I set it off?”

“There’s a small indent at the top. Press that down, toss it into the room, and let it do its stuff.”

I found the indent and nodded. “It won’t hurt people?”

“Unless they have a pacemaker, no.”

He handed me a small but well-padded bag. Inside it were the other two e-bombs. I added mine to them, then tied the bag to a loop on my jeans. “Thanks for this.”

“What’s the good of having a black marketeer for a friend if he can’t sometimes help you out with the good stuff?” His grin was wicked. “Anything else you need? Laser cannons, invisibility shields, fighter jets?”

I blinked. “You are kidding, aren’t you?”

His grin only grew, leaving me totally uncertain. I cleared my throat and added, “All I want now is for you to keep the security screens up and running for the next twenty-four hours.”