Albert Manlii has walked this earth for more than two thousand years, but survival on his own was never easy. Now he leads a faction of highly organized vampires who carefully guard the secret of their existence. Unlike the old days, potential recruits are carefully selected and presented with an offer.<br><br>Phillip Brewer has weeks to live -- if he lets his disease run its course. He doesn’t want to die, but given a choice, will his desire to live outweigh his concerns about the vampires’ ethics?<br><br>When the new recruit’s missteps are cause for concern, can Albert control the fallout, or will Phillip’s life once again be torn apart?

The Recruit

“And having the ability to prevent becoming said dead body is preferable, right?”


“Right,” James, the taller one, said. “Think about it. Sure, we take every precaution, and rarely face danger, let alone get ourselves killed, but it canhappen. What happens if you’re out alone and get approached by a mugger?”


Okay, sure. And Neil had to admit the beyond-James-Bond technology incorporated into the device sounded amazing. “But what happens if the mugger gets this ring before I have a chance to activate the zombie thing? Or the police confiscate it for some reason? What if they analyze it?”


“The ring itself is very low-tech,” James said. “Swipe your thumbnail through the groove on the underside and all it does is send out a unique, harmless wave. It would mean nothing to anyone who discovered it. The ring must be within an approximate arm’s length from your implant to activate the catatonic effect on nearby humans.”


Chapter 18