Machinations and sacrifi.., p.1
Machinations and Sacrifices, page 1
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
MACHINATIONS AND SACRIFICES
First edition. July 7, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 L. S. O'Dea.
ISBN: 978-1942706861
Written by L. S. O'Dea.
Also by L. S. O'Dea
Chimera Chronicles
Rise of the River Man
Feeding Fersia
Breaking the Brush Men
Rage Of Rattus Norvegicus
Leaving Level Five
Lake Of Sins
Lake of Sins: Secrets in Blood
Lake of Sins: Hangman's Army
Lake Of Sins: Betrayed
Whispers From the Past
Machinations and Sacrifices (Coming Soon)
Lake of Sins: Escape
Standalone
Lake of Sins Series Box Set Books 1-3
Chimera Chronicles
A Demon's Gift
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Also By L. S. O'Dea
Machinations and Sacrifices (Lake Of Sins, #6)
CHAPTER 1: Tuck
CHAPTER 2: Conguise
CHAPTER 3: Jethro
CHAPTER 4: Jethro
CHAPTER 5: Trinity
CHAPTER 6: Trinity
CHAPTER 7: Trinity
CHAPTER 8: Trinity
CHAPTER 9: Hugh
CHAPTER 10: Hugh
CHAPTER 11: Hugh
CHAPTER 12: Trinity
CHAPTER 13: Trinity
CHAPTER 14: Conguise
CHAPTER 15: Jethro
CHAPTER 16: Hugh
CHAPTER 17: Hugh
CHAPTER 18: Trinity
CHAPTER 19: Trinity
CHAPTER 20: Hugh
CHAPTER 21: Hugh
CHAPTER 22: Jethro
CHAPTER 23: Jethro
CHAPTER 24: Jethro
CHAPTER 25: Jethro
CHAPTER 26: Jethro
CHAPTER 27: Jackson
CHAPTER 28: Conguise
CHAPTER 29: Hugh
CHAPTER 30: Jethro
CHAPTER 31: Jethro
CHAPTER 32: Conguise
CHAPTER 33: Jethro
CHAPTER 34: Jethro
CHAPTER 35: Jethro
CHAPTER 36: Jethro
CHAPTER 37: Jethro
CHAPTER 38: Jethro
CHAPTER 39: Trinity
CHAPTER 40: Trinity
CHAPTER 41: Hugh
CHAPTER 42: Hugh
CHAPTER 43: Hugh
CHAPTER 44: Jethro
CHAPTER 45: Jethro
CHAPTER 46: Jethro
CHAPTER 47: Hugh
CHAPTER 48: Trinity
CHAPTER 49: Trinity
CHAPTER 50: Hugh
CHAPTER 51: Hugh
CHAPTER 52: Trinity
CHAPTER 53: Stella
CHAPTER 54: Hugh
CHAPTER 55: Hugh
CHAPTER 56: Stella
CHAPTER 57: Jethro
CHAPTER 58: Jethro
CHAPTER 59: Trinity
CHAPTER 60: Jethro
CHAPTER 61: Hugh
CHAPTER 62: Hugh
CHAPTER 63: Hugh
CHAPTER 64: Trinity
CHAPTER 65: Hugh
CHAPTER 66: Hugh
CHAPTER 67: Hugh
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Also By L. S. O'Dea
The war is over, but predators hunt the city streets.
The Allied Classes may have won the war, but there are new problems to solve.
With Producers officially off the menu and refusing to go back to the encampments, food is scarce.
Homelessness and violence are taking over the city, and they still need to discover who is trafficking young Servants and Guards.
But monsters lurk in the shadows of the city and to catch them sacrifices must be made.
If you enjoy science fiction fantasy stories in a future, dystopian world with human-animal hybrids, werewolf type creatures, mutants, hybrids, monsters and snarky sidekicks, you'll love this book.
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CHAPTER 1: Tuck
Tuck waited in the darkness as JD’s breathing slowed and steadied with sleep before rolling away from his friend. It was late. He needed to go so he could get back before JD woke.
He put the papers he’d used to cover himself over JD. It was the best he could do to help keep him warm. The kid was so small. They needed food and protection but joining the gangs wouldn’t be a good idea for either of them. In the gangs, only the strongest survived. The rest of them were used for the dangerous jobs, the ones that got them killed or arrested.
JD wanted them to join Con’s gang. The kid had been talking to a few of the members, and they’d made the idea of joining sound sweet, but Tuck knew it was all lies. His mom had been in a gang when he was born, and it hadn’t ended well for her or him.
“Tuck?” JD’s eyes fluttered open.
Dang it. He should’ve left.
“Where are you going?”
“To piss.” He bent, brushing the hair from JD’s forehead. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” The kid’s voice slurred as his eyes drooped.
Tuck waited another few minutes and then squeezed against the brick wall and slipped from behind the pile of junk where he and JD lived. It was a pretty safe setup. No one looked long enough at a pile of junk around here to see that it was stacked in a way that they had a little home. It wasn’t much, but it was a few feet of solitude where they could rest without worrying about being attacked. It also had an escape route through an air vent into the building.
He checked to make sure no one was around. He wouldn’t risk leaving JD alone if bigger Servants were hanging out nearby, but the alley was clear. He scurried out onto the street and then darted through a maze of alleyways, going farther and farther away from the Servant section of town.
It was risky to go so close to the Guard’s part of the city, but they needed food. He’d heard rumors that Manny left the window open above his store. He stayed in the shadows, the quiet of the night putting him on edge. He should be glad he didn’t see anyone, but there was something about tonight that made his skin prickle. Maybe he should go back, but then they’d be hungry again tomorrow. He had to check and see if that window was open. He crept through another alleyway. Footsteps sounded on the pavement. He hopped into a nearby dumpster to hide his scent as two skinny Guards walked by, chatting about some fight they’d seen.
He waited until he could no longer hear them and then hopped from the dumpster. He hurried to the end of the alley. Manny’s sign hung over a door. His eyes skimmed up the building to the window. It was open. A cold sweat broke out across his skin. It was two stories high, but the building was brick. He could climb it. He was small but strong. Most Servants could climb to the window, but they were too big to fit through the crack. He was sure he could do both.
He glanced around, sniffing. It stank of Guard around here, but he and JD needed food too badly for him to worry much about that. He patted his pocket where he’d stuffed a bag. He’d slip in through the window, grab some food and then be back in the alley before anyone even saw him.
He glanced both ways just to make sure no one was around before racing across the street to the building. He turned, pressing his back to the wall, and checking the area one more time. Once he started climbing, there was no turning back. The street was empty. A few voices drifted on the wind, but they were muffled and in the distance. It was time.
He began scaling the wall. The brick was old and worn, but there were still plenty of toe and finger holds. He moved quickly, but that window was a lot farther away than it’d seemed from the ground. His fingers spasmed and his legs ached, but he kept going. His bag was big. He could get enough food to last them a few days, maybe a week.
He paused, his ears perking up at a soft flutter. He knew that sound from somewhere. He stared into the darkness but there was no movement on the street. He shook his head. It was just his imagination. He had to focus. He stared at his goal as he crawled up the wall. Another minute and he’d be inside the building with all that food. He moved faster, his mouth watering as the window loomed above him, getting closer and closer with each....A whoosh of air hit him, knocking him sideways. He lost his grip on the wall, his fingers scrambling for purchase and his flesh tearing from his hands as he clawed at the building.
It was no use. He was falling. He screamed, twisting his body so he didn’t land on his head and then something hit him...hard, like a Grunt on a rampage. He flew forward in the air, his body bucking and spasming as something stabbed his side and back. He screamed again, louder than before, louder than he’d ever screamed as pain lanced through h
They were moving fast, faster than he had, even with using the shortcuts. They were back in the Servant section of the city. His sight once clear, grew fuzzy, dimming with every labored breath. He scanned the area, finding his alley. His pile of garbage that’d been the only refuge he’d ever known. His home. “JD...” he whispered as his heart stopped beating.
CHAPTER 2: Conguise
Conguise’s footsteps echoed in the hallways of Level Five. He’d been released months ago but this was his first visit back to the scene of his life’s work and his greatest failure. The cameras stared down at him, still and accusing. Everything was gone. No scientists walked the halls and no whisper of movement from behind the closed doors of the now empty lab.
“Professor, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Gruder stepped out of his office. The younger Almighty looked haggard—his brown hair longer than normal and mussed as if he hadn’t combed it that day, his clothes rumpled and hanging on his slender frame.
Conguise would’ve never allowed Gruder to come to work looking so disheveled, but times had changed. “I may no longer be able to perform experiments, but I wanted to speak with you.”
“Yes, I heard about the terms of your release.”
All he was allowed to do now was teach. He should’ve had Hugh killed the moment he’d realized the other Almighty had seen what he’d been doing on Level Five, but he’d trusted Jason and the system. He’d been a fool. “I wouldn’t have been released if not for you.”
For months he’d sat in that prison cell, waiting to die by the hands of Hugh and his Allied Classes. Oh, how he despised that name. The lower classes were as much allies to the Almightys as he was with an ant when he dropped a crumb of bread. Yet those ignorant and shortsighted imbeciles would decide his fate and destroy everything he’d accomplished.
“It wasn’t just me.” Gruder held open the door. “Please, come inside. I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
“I do.” He walked into Gruder’s office.
“Sorry. I wasn’t expecting company.” The other Almighty moved a pile of papers off the chair near his desk. “Would you like something to drink?” He walked to a small refrigerator.
“No. Thank you.” Sitting in front of the desk of his subordinate was another new experience, but none of it mattered. He was still in charge both here and in the larger world and everyone would realize that soon enough.
“Okay.” Gruder sat behind his desk. “Most of the specimens are safe and secure in facility R.”
“Yes. I’ve seen the reports.” His jaw clenched a bit. “Thank you again.” He was not one for espousing gratitude, but this was deserved.
“As I said, it was a team effort.”
“But you are the one who gathered the team and led them.”
Gruder shrugged. “I wasn’t going to let them destroy what we created.”
“And they would’ve. They’re ignorant of the future we face when our enemies come from beyond the sea.”
“Of course.” Gruder nodded.
The other Almighty placated him, but he didn’t care because he was right. He’d read the journals from the Great Death. It was inevitable that one day the others would come to kill them as they’d tried to do centuries ago.
“Have you been to the secondary site yet?” asked Gruder.
“I was there this morning.” He’d gone the first chance he’d had. Traveling through the sewers had been distasteful and dangerous, but it’d been the only way to be sure he wouldn’t be followed.
“It’s a bit cramped, but everyone is doing their best to keep things progressing.”
“I saw that some of the specimens didn’t make it.” Their decomposing bodies had littered the dark corners in the sewers, filling the tunnels with ghastly odors and terrifying shadows.
“We had to make hard choices in a difficult time, but we kept the best specimens and euthanized the rest. Destroying the remains of course.”
“Destroying?” Lie number one.
“We burned as many as we could, but time was not on our side.” Gruder shrugged again.
“Hmm. That was true, but there’s time now.” There had been for months. “Send someone into the sewer to burn the rest.”
“Of course.” Gruder nodded, but his lips thinned a bit. He’d been in charge for a while now and it seemed he wasn’t thrilled about relinquishing control.
“But...” He thrummed his fingers on his thigh. “I wasn’t talking about the creatures we had in abundance who didn’t make it. Those can be recreated.”
“Then which creatures?” Gruder’s eyes narrowed in thought for a moment. “Oh, the Accipitor.” He frowned. “Yes, that was a sad misfortune. We tried our best, but as you know, she had a weak heart. The sedation was too much for her.”
“I see.” Lie number two. “Odd that no one remembers the destruction of her remains and she’s not one of the carcasses in the tunnels.” His eyes locked with Gruder’s. “I looked. Checked every pile.” It’d been disgusting but necessary. Now more than ever he must distinguish between those truly committed to the protection of their world and those who only pretended.
“She wasn’t left in the tunnels, but”—Gruder smiled slightly—“you can rest easy knowing that no one will find a trace of her. I took care of her remains myself.”
“Really?” Conguise was impressed with the other Almighty’s skill at lying—no aversion of the eyes, not even a small flinch.
“Yes. She was my responsibility.”
“That’s right. You did inherit her, didn’t you?” His fingers stilled on his leg. That was another mystery. “Still no word from Bing?”
“Bing?”
“Yes. I thought that since the war was over, she may have appeared. The two of you were close, were you not?”
“We were but sadly, I have not heard from her.”
“Hmm.” Good, he had the other Almighty on edge. He had every intention of keeping him there. “Ableson tendered his resignation.”
“He did what?” Gruder’s eyes widened. It was the first unpracticed expression the other Almighty had made.
“He met me at my house the day I was released and quit.” Conguise shrugged. “First time anyone has quit Level Five.” And lived was the unspoken message he wanted Gruder to hear. “Apparently, some of the scientists thought they couldn’t quit. According to Hugh, Parson faked his own death to leave.” He studied the other Almighty closely. He’d been sure Gruder had arranged for Parson’s and Bing’s death, but Parson was alive. Bing may also be.
“Unbelievable.” Gruder shook his head. His face once more a mask of polite indifference.
“Exactly. The extremes some will take to leave a position when all they have to do is tender their resignation.” He frowned. “It’s not like Parson stole from me.” He looked directly at Gruder. “Were you alone when you destroyed the Accipitor’s remains?”
“What? Oh, Accipitor1. No. Silo assisted me.”
“Hmm.” His fingers drummed his thigh again. “Strange. No one has seen him since the lab was moved to the new facility.”
“That can’t be right. I’m sure I saw him the other day”—Gruder’s brow wrinkled—“or that could’ve been a week or so ago. We’ve been very busy.” His eyes met the professor’s. “Hiding everything for you.”
He’d already thanked the other Almighty for that. He would not be obsequious. “If you did see Silo, then once again you are the only one.” He raised his brow. “That seems to happen a lot with you.”
“I’m sorry?” Gruder’s face was placid, but ice filled his tone.
“You seem to be the last one to see many. Crackderr. Parson. Bing. Accipitor1. Silo.”
“I spend a lot of time in the lab, and I’m very observant.” Gruder’s tone changed. “My memory isn’t great though, so I keep a lot of notes.”
“One should be careful about that.” Conguise almost smiled at the thinly veiled threat. “Paper ignites quickly. Poor McBrid learned that the hard way when his house caught on fire.”
“I don’t keep my notes at home. They’re somewhere much safer.”
