Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

If you loved Memory Zero,

be sure not to miss the next book

in the thrilling Spook Squad series:

GENERATION 18

by

KERI ARTHUR

And stay tuned for the final book in the

Spook Squad series—Penumbra—which will

follow next month!

Here’s a special preview:

BEING A SPOOK WASN’T AT all what Samantha Ryan had expected. Long nights, sleepless days, yes—she’d faced that, and worse, during her ten years as a State Police officer. In her time with State, the agents of the Special Investigations Unit had breezed in and out of situations, always on edge, always on the move, always looking as if they loved what they were doing. So the sheer and utter boredom that filled ninety percent of her new job with the SIU had come as something of a shock.

She sighed and shifted slightly, trying to find a comfortable position on the icy metal step. Watch the back door, Gabriel had said. Make sure the vamps don’t hit the blood bank from the alley. This despite the fact that, in the five previous robberies, the vampires had always gone in through the front door.

So why the hell would they change a successful MO now?

They wouldn’t. He knew that. She knew that.

She rubbed her eyes wearily. She could hardly argue, though, as he was her senior and in charge of the investigation. And with intel stating that this blood bank would be the next one hit, she couldn’t argue with orders that were little more than covering all the bases.

What the intel wasn’t saying was whether it was actually vampires doing these robberies. Hell, with recent estimates saying that at least thirty percent of newly turned vampires were unable to control their bloodlust, human blood had become a hot commodity. Combine that with the recent spate of deaths brought about through infected blood in all the major hospitals—leading to a proliferation of private blood banks where people could stockpile their own blood—and you had the perfect opportunity for those wanting to make a quick buck.

So here she sat, in the cold night, on a cold step, waiting for robbers who weren’t likely to appear, while her goddamn partner watched the front door from the warmth of the car.

Bitter? Oh yeah.

He was certainly making good on his statement that he would never work with a partner. Whenever possible, he left her in their box of an office doing paperwork, or sent her on inane errands. This was her first “real” duty in the three months since her transfer, and she suspected she was here only because Byrne had given him a direct order to take her.

The wind picked up, running chilly fingers through her hair. She shivered and flicked up the collar on her coat. Overhead, the starlit sky was beginning to cloud over. The rain they’d been predicting for days was finally on the way. She could smell the moisture in the breeze, could feel the tingle of electricity running through the night air, charging her body with an odd sense of power.

Why she could feel these things was another point of concern, though it was one she kept to herself. There were only two people she trusted enough to sit down and talk to anyway. The first was Finley, who was the head researcher for the SIU. While she didn’t really know him all that well—the only time they’d ever crossed paths was when he was doing either tests or research on her—he probably knew more about her than anyone else alive. Or, at least, knew more about her biology. If anyone had any chance of understanding why these things were happening, it would be him. But Finley was still on leave, recovering from the injuries he’d received in the bomb blast three months ago. The second person was her goddamn partner, and he was harder to nail down than a snowflake in a storm.

And he wasn’t just keeping his distance on a professional level, but on a personal one as well. Given how well they’d gotten on during their investigations of her former partner’s disappearance, she’d thought they could at least be friends. Obviously, she’d been very much mistaken.

God, how bad was it when he wouldn’t even go for a cup of coffee with her?

“Sam, you there?”

/> His warm voice whispered in her ear, so close she could almost feel the caress of his breath across her cheek. Except that he was tucked nice and warm in the car half a block away.

She was tempted, very tempted, to ignore him. But she’d spent ten long years as a cop doing the right thing, following all the rules—including keeping in constant contact when on watch. Even when her partner was being a bastard and deserved to suffer, it was a hard habit to break.

“What?” But her tone left no doubt of her mood. He’d left her sitting here so long her butt was almost frozen to the step. If he expected civility, he needed a brain transplant.

“Just checking if you’re still awake.”

Yeah, right. Like she was the one sitting in the nice warm car. “The cold’s doing a fine job of that, thank you very much.”

He paused. “Do you want to swap for a while?”