Requiem For A Loud Novels & Stories

Instead of showing concern for Judy like he had in the past, he had cut her off and accused her instead. Judy was clearly frightened by how serious Dad was. She forced herself to smile and explained. "Yes, but only because you were resting. I just wanted you to have a good sleep, and I didn't want anyone unimportant to disturb you—" "Those so-called unimportant people you speak of are my mate and pup!" Dad roared. There was a grief in his eyes that I had never seen before. "Ray's dead! She ate your raw meat and died of an allergic reaction! You killed her!"

The world has become a study in shades of gray and decay, but the sound of Carlos’s axe biting into the padlock of the auto shop’s rear gate was a brilliant, shocking note of clarity. It wasn’t a delicate sound. It was a percussive, violent clang of steel meeting steel, a noise that seemed to tear a hole in the oppressive silence that had settled over this part of the city. I flinched, my knuckles turning white where they gripped the cold, familiar weight of my pistol. Every loud sound felt like a blasphemy now, a challenge issued to the dead who were always, always listening.