Novels by Zavier

The red dot didn't waver. It was a perfect, malevolent ruby, boring a hole through Roderic’s sweat-slicked glasses and right into the center of his panic-stricken mind."Kaia," Roderic whispered, his voice vibrating with a frequency usually reserved for dogs. "There is a laser on my face. I’m pretty sure this is the part where the laser turns into a bullet. My brain is not ready to be a mural on this planter.""Stay. Still," Kaia hissed. Her eyes were darting toward the upper floors of the twin towers flanking the sky-bridge. "Marius, can you scramble the optics?""With what, Kaia? My hopes and dreams?" Marius whispered back, his hands trembling as he clutched his rucksack. "I need a dish or a transmitter to bounce a signal that far up. Right now, I’m just a guy with a soldering iron and a high probability of being collateral damage.""I have peaches," Roderic whimpered. "Maybe they want peaches? It worked with the birds!""The Sniper Sisters don't eat peaches, Roderic. They eat peopl

The stagnant water of the sewer hissed against the concrete as Jareth’s guards stepped forward, their electrified prods crackling with a rhythmic, predatory hum. Roderic’s fingers tightened around the straps of his backpack until his joints felt like they might snap."You’re really going to kill three people over some canned fruit?" Roderic asked, his voice hitching an octave higher than he intended. "In a sewer? While wearing a suit that looks like it was made from a radioactive lime?"Jareth chuckled, a dry, papery sound that echoed off the damp walls. "The suit is vintage synthetic silk, you uncultured troglodyte. And it’s not just about the fruit. It’s about the principle of the thing. This is my bridge. My tunnel. My rules.""Your rules are trash, Jareth," Kaia snapped, her hand hovering inches from the grip of her pistol. "We’re on a deadline. Move those two gorillas before I turn them into scrap metal.""Bold words for a girl whose boots are currently submerged in three inches

"I hate the future," Roderic sobbed, his voice muffled by the rusted iron lining of the vent. "I really, really hate the future!""Will you stop whining and move your heels?" Kaia’s voice came from right behind his feet, punctuated by the metallic thud of her boots hitting the vent floor as she crawled. "Your backpack is taking up eighty percent of the structural integrity of this tunnel.""It’s not my fault! This pack was designed for a man who values survival, not a woman who falls through ceilings for a living!" Roderic grunted, his fingers scraping against a particularly sharp weld. "And for the record, this vent smells like a wet dog died inside a battery factory.""That’s the smell of the Deadzone Pigeons, you idiot," Marius shouted from somewhere behind Kaia. "Their feathers are coated in a synthetic pheromone-gas. It’s what triggers the lung-melt. Keep your head down and don't breathe too deep!""Oh, great! Don't breathe! Why didn't I think of that?" Roderic’s glasses slipped

"Wrong answer," Dorian growled, his finger tightening on the trigger.Roderic squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable spray of his own thoughts across the pavement. He wondered, in that final, terrifying second, if heaven had an organized pantry system.Click.The sound was hollow, metallic, and decidedly non-lethal. Roderic opened one eye. Dorian was grinning, showing off a row of teeth that looked like they’d been sharpened with a rust-covered file."You should see your face, kid," Dorian chuckled, lowering the shotgun. "Empty chamber. I like to see if a man’s soul leaks out when he thinks he’s meeting the Reaper. You didn't cry. That’s a plus.""I... I didn't cry because my tear ducts are currently paralyzed by sheer, unadulterated terror," Roderic gasped, clutching his chest. "You’re a psychopath. A literal, textbook psychopath.""Welcome to the neighborhood," Dorian said, gesturing for them to follow him toward the hotel. "Kaia, I’m assuming the civilian isn't just her

"I hear more of them coming," Kaia repeated, her voice a sharp contrast to the wet, echoing drips of the tunnel.Roderic wiped a smear of oily sludge from his cheek, staring at the black water soaking into his trousers. "Move? Move where? I’m currently standing in a soup of city-wide failure, Kaia. My shoes are ruined. My life is ruined. My peaches are—""Safe in your bag, mostly. Look, do you want to keep a tally of your losses or do you want to keep your head?" Kaia didn't wait for an answer. She splashed forward, her tactical boots crunching on the silt-covered concrete."I’d like both, actually! Is that too much to ask?" Roderic scrambled after her, his backpack clanking with the sound of several surviving tins. "And for the record, that wasn't a 'tactical descent.' It was a plummet. A very loud, very expensive plummet through my bedroom, my living room, and my peace of mind.""I hit the target, didn't I?" Kaia tossed over her shoulder, her blue eyes scanning the darkness ahead."

The labels had to face forward. It was the only rule that mattered anymore. If the world outside was going to be a chaotic slurry of fire and screaming, the least Roderic Ashborne could do was ensure his pantry looked like a professional grocery display."Twenty-four cans of syrup-soaked peaches," Roderic muttered, his fingers tracing the cold tin. "Expires in three years. You’ll probably outlive me, won't you, boys? Yeah. You’ve got the right idea. Just stay tucked away in the dark."He adjusted a can by a fraction of a millimeter."There. Perfection. Not that anyone's coming over for dinner. Not since the 'Great Unpleasantness' turned the neighbors into oversized, multi-limbed garden pests."He sighed, leaning back against his reinforced kitchen counter. The air in the bunker-style apartment was stale, smelling of old paper and disinfectant."Maybe I should talk to the green beans next," he said, glancing at the next shelf. "They look a bit judgmental today. What’s the matter? Not e