Changeling: Zombie Dawn (26 page)

Trey cast his eyes about, stopping and smiling when he saw Alexa remonstrating with a middle-aged man who, despite his outward appearance, Trey knew to be a terrifying-looking demon with claws and teeth that grew in proportion to how threatened it felt. He almost wished he could Change to see just how long his teeth had become as a result of the tongue-lashing he was getting from the boss’s daughter right now. He walked over to them.

‘. . . so if it’s not
too
much to ask, I’d like you to do it again. And this time—’

‘Hi, Lex,’ Trey said, interrupting. ‘Hi, Howard. I wonder if you could give us a few minutes?’

‘With pleasure!’ the demon said, casting him a grateful look and hurrying back to his desk.

‘What is it?’ Alexa said, turning towards him, her face displaying her annoyance.

Trey put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. ‘It’s lunchtime.’

‘I don’t have time for lunch, Trey. There’s been another portal breach and—’

‘I wasn’t asking you, Lex. I was telling you. It’s lunchtime. I’ve phoned Claudia at the cafe on the corner and asked her to reserve us some of her special lasagne. I’ve told her to have coffees ready and that we’d be there in five minutes.’ He looked at the people about him. ‘This lot are more than capable of dealing with a portal breach. If it gets out of hand they can contact us on the mobile, and we can come back.’

She looked into his eyes and he watched her expression soften a little.

‘You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?’

‘Lucien made me promise to look out for you while he was away. That’s what I’m doing. Besides, there are always going to be nether-creatures coming through to this realm from their own. We’ll stop as many as we can, and deal with those that we can’t. That’s what we do.’

She nodded at him then suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

‘Special lasagne, you say?’

‘And coffee.’

‘OK, let’s go.’

Alexa couldn’t resist calling out some last-minute instructions to members of the team as they made their way to the elevator. They stepped inside and Trey pressed the button for the ground floor.

‘I might need you to go to Oxford,’ she said as the doors closed. ‘There’s a Shadow Demon on the loose up there.’

Trey smiled and nodded. Til look into it after lunch.’

I found writing the last book in the Changeling series a difficult thing to do. And I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help, encouragement and support of some fabulous people along the way.

I’d especially like to express thanks to:

Ruth Alltimes, my new editor extraordinaire, who assuaged all my fears and proved to be every bit as wonderful as people said she would. Thank you for all your hard work and insightful suggestions. I really look forward to working with you on our next project.

My agent, Catherine Pellegrino at Rogers, Coleridge and White, for her support and good advice.

The industrious team at Macmillan who do all the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes my books possible. In particular I’d like to mention my publicist and friend Dom Kingston. Thank you for everything you’ve done on my behalf. I will miss you.

I’d like to thank my fans for their emails and tweets and blogs – you are a source of inspiration and joy that keeps me going when the ‘worry worm’ visits.

Finally I’d like to thank Zoe, Hope and Kyran for all their love. Without it I would not be able to do what I do.

Steve Feasey lives with his family in Hertfordshire. He once trained as a spy for a television programme. He now coaches junior rugby and likes to win! He’s passionate about reading and spends a lot of time visiting schools to talk about the Changeling series, the best horror movies ever, his favourite books and his next series, which will launch in 2012. You can find him on both Twitter and Facebook.

The Changeling series by Steve Feasey

First published 2011 by Macmillan Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-4472-0308-7 EPUB

Copyright © Steve Feasey 2011

The right of Steve Feasey to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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