Kenzie grinned. “Not bad, not bad. If you wanna win next time, Myles, come to me. I’ll give you a few pointers.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Alicia said, but made a mental note to speak to Kenzie later. Just in case. She also noticed Mai narrowing her eyes wonderingly at the ex-Mossad agent. As long as she’d known Mai, Alicia had never known anyone her equal in combat. But somebody, somewhere, was better. They had to be.
Drake winced up at her, sighting the bruises, but said nothing. Dahl patted her knee consolingly, which intentionally made her heckles rise, and then Hayden rose with a glass in her hand.
“To good friends and good soldiers,” she said. “Who — no matter their differences — always have our backs.”
Her gaze went first to Mano Kinimaka, who raised his own in acknowledgement of saving her life back at the chateau. “Good friends and good soldiers,” he echoed.
“I can’t imagine never having your backs,” Drake said. “Cheers.”
Alicia toasted and so did Mai. The flames crackled and spat at the pitch-black skies. Dahl rose with cup in hand to make his own little speech.
“Never forget,” he said. “When you open your eyes in the morning always imagine the Devil dreads hearing your feet hit the floorboards. That he’s thinking, ‘Oh, fuck, what’s that bastard gonna do today?’”
“Amen,” Drake said.
And finally the quietest of them all, Yorgi, rose in the night and made a show of filling his own glass to the brim. Holding it high he declared: “And I’m the one who killed my parents in cold blood.”
For more information on the future of the Matt Drake world and David Leadbeater’s novels please read on:
With Inca Kings I tried to create something different, an action/adventure novel steeped in archaeological mystery but with an in-your-face twist of horror. Not supernatural; I have gone to great pains to ensure the words and writing do not err to the magical side of things (and always have). I hope you agree.
I am currently looking hard at developing another story along the same lines of the Drake series, with brand new, very different but likeable characters. The Drake series is still wildly popular, but I thought another series, in the same vein but with very different perspectives, would help keep both fresh and preserve their longevity. If it goes ahead this series would start after the next Drake. If you have any thoughts on this idea, please get involved and drop me a line. It does help. Several passages, story threads and events in my novels have been suggested by readers in the past.
So, next up will be Drake 16— already underway and to be released early March 2017. I have an idea that Alicia 4 will also be released in 2017. No more Disavowed yet, but I am still hoping to finish the Chosen trilogy next year.
Other Books by David Leadbeater:
The Bones of Odin (Matt Drake #1)
The Blood King Conspiracy (Matt Drake #2)
The Gates of hell (Matt Drake 3)
The Tomb of the Gods (Matt Drake #4)
Brothers in Arms (Matt Drake #5)
The Swords of Babylon (Matt Drake #6)
Blood Vengeance (Matt Drake #7)
Last Man Standing (Matt Drake #8)
The Plagues of Pandora (Matt Drake #9)
The Lost Kingdom (Matt Drake #10)
The Ghost Ships of Arizona (Matt Drake #11)
The Last Bazaar (Matt Drake #12)
The Edge of Armageddon (Matt Drake #13)
The Treasures of Saint Germain (Matt Drake #14)
Aztec Gold (Alicia Myles #1)
Crusader’s Gold (Alicia Myles #2)
Caribbean Gold (Alicia Myles #3)
Stand Your Ground (Dahl Thriller #1)
The Razor’s Edge (Disavowed #1)
In Harm’s Way (Disavowed #2)
Threat Leveclass="underline" Red (Disavowed #3)
Chosen (The Chosen Trilogy #1)
Guardians (The Chosen Tribology #2)
Walking with Ghosts (A short story)
A Whispering of Ghosts (A short story)
Connect with the author on Twitter: @dleadbeater2011
Visit the author’s website: www.davidleadbeater.com
All helpful, genuine comments are welcome. I would love to hear from you.
davidleadbeater2011@hotmail.co.uk