Kevin McLaughlin

Paladin 2: Chapter 10

For a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity, Kira tumbled headfirst down into darkness. Then her instincts kicked in and she shoved her hands out to either side. Her palms slammed into the steel sides of the duct, breaking her fall. The jolt almost made her drop the blaster she’d swiped, but she hung onto the thing.

The pain where the blaster shots struck were screaming fo...

Paladin 2: Chapter 9

Jace found he was enjoying the party in spite of himself. He truly hadn't expected to. Parties, finery, and fancy drinks were alright for other people, he supposed. But, on the whole, he'd rather be home with his family any day of the week. The appetizers being passed around the banquet hall were nice enough, but they were nothing compared to the ones his wife would have made.

Neve...

Paladin 2: Chapter 8

Kira cut through the water with grace and ease. It was a wonderful feeling, this sense of immersion and free movement, and at the same time an incredibly odd sensation. She couldn’t remember ever swimming in water before, although the way she took to it, the way her muscles all remembered what they were supposed to do, told her that she certainly had. Kira was enjoying a swim for the f...

Paladin 2: Chapter 7

Two dusty white hover-cars pulled into the long driveway which led to the Government Center. That wasn't strange; there had been plenty of vehicles arriving over the past day or so. Some were deliveries or staff to manage the event, while others bore guests.

One of the vehicles, a boxy thing of the sort most of the caterers used, pulled off into the lane which led to the undergroun...

Paladin 2: Chapter 6

Tristan enjoyed the thought of Kira spending time in the pool as he rode the elevator back down to the tenth floor, where the main security office waited for him. She was a remarkable person, and while it had cost him some favors to make that happen, it felt more than worthwhile once he saw the look on her face. That was one woman who was stunningly difficult to surprise, and he...

Paladin 2: Chapter 5

Happy New Year, everyone!!! :) -Kevin

Kira followed Jace toward the main entrance. It was elaborate, long panels of glass framing the entire thing for twenty feet on either side of the doors, which were also glass. She opened and held the door for Jace, then stepped through. The climate inside the place was day and night different from that outside. The heat outs...

Paladin 2: Chapter 4

Kira rode shotgun all the way into the city, while Jace relaxed in the comfort of the passenger compartment. Jace had tried to convince her to join him, but she wanted to be where she could see the road, where it would be possible to watch for threats. Her bag was neatly set on the air-car’s floor between her legs, the blaster within easy reach if anything went sideways.

Which it...

Paladin 2: Chapter 3

The elevator dinged, bringing Tristan’s attention back to the present. He’d been distracted all week, his mind overloaded with all the security preparations for this event. Most of the time, he was thrilled to have this job. He’d worked hard enough to get it, so feeling a certain sense of satisfaction was a serious plus. The leaders of a mercenary unit couldn’t be too picky about...

Paladin 2: Chapter 2

Kira was up with the dawn, the next morning. Even though she and Jace had a long trip to take, the farm chores wouldn’t do themselves. The Haven teens were also up and helping, but running a farm was a lot of work, and it wasn’t fair to leave the kids handling all of it, so Kira put in an hour pushing through as much work as she could manage. With her strength and stamina, that was q...

Paladin 2: Chapter 1

Kira froze. If she moved even a muscle, she’d alert her prey, and that would be the end of this whole thing. She held herself perfectly still and just waited. A few more moments, that’s all she needed to hold out for. She tried to focus on being part of the rocks beside her.

The hot desert sun beat down, and she could feel her skin starting to redden and burn. That wasn’t anywhere o...

Paladin 1 Recap:

What follows are SPOILERS! :) The book we're going to be doing next here, as a brief break from Castle's story, is the second in a fun space-western style SF series, so this post is to get you caught up before you dig into the story.

If you want to read the actual book, you can grab it here: https://geni.us/paladin1

I...

Chapter 135 - The Next Right Thing

It wasn’t that simple, of course. First we had to care for all the former werewolves. Most of them were wounded, but thanks to how many of us had Heal spells now, that was the simplest of their problems to resolve. The trauma of being changed into a monster would take them much longer to manage, if they ever did. Most of them didn’t remember much of the time. Just snippets of memory,...

Chapter 134 - What Time Cannot Heal

I dearly hoped I’d made the right call. My gut said I was on the right side here, that I had done the right thing. There was no way to know for sure, of course. If Cerberus didn’t show up where we’d arranged to meet, what should I do? Hunt him down? I still felt he wasn’t a threat to humanity anymore, but how could I be certain?

It took some serious effort to put those worr...

Chapter 133 - What Makes A Leader?

Maggie stood her ground as the werewolves rushed her position. She’d organized the defenders, gotten them working together again instead of fighting as individuals. So far, it had been enough, but she really hoped Cam would hurry up and take the big bad out. If he was right, that would wipe out all the remaining werewolves, too. The curse would snap, and they’d all revert to...

Chapter 132 - A Good Boy

Chapters might be a little oddly timed, this week. I'm off to visit family tomorrow and driving all day, so I probably will not be able to get one out to you tomorrow, although I'll try! :) There's only a couple of chapters left in this one, though. After that, I'll be taking a brief break from Cameron to work on the end of an SF novel, which I'll share (the whole book!) with you ov...