Digital Knight

Vampires are Real—
but Everything You Thought You
Knew About Them is Wrong!

When freelance information specialist Jason Wood found that a suspected drug kingpin didn’t appear on photographs, he decided to investigate, suspecting that the kingpin was actually a vampire. But things wouldn’t turn out to be that simple, and he soon found he was in danger from the last person he would have suspected. Trying to survive in a bizarre night world, Jason learns not only that vampires and werewolves really exist, but that they are part of a universe stranger than he ever imagined. . . .

Cover art by Gary Ruddell

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2003

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-7434-7161-X

Copyright 2003 by Ryk E. Spoor

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

This book is dedicated to:

Jim Baen, for giving me a chance;
My wife, Kathleen, for her constant support;
The "Butcher of Baen" for his invaluable help.

The yard was very dark; no lights were on in the house to which it was attached, the fence was high, and my eyes were still accustomed to the streetlights. But I could make out something on the ground, about thirty or forty feet away . . . and it seemed to me that across the yard there was a movement, another gate opening, and someone going through. There was nothing I could put my finger on . . . but something about that distant, moving figure sent a sudden shiver down my spine. "Hello?" I said tentatively.

There was no answer, though I heard a faint clack noise of the other gate shutting in the distance. "Sorry to intrude, but I heard something . . . ?"

Still no answer, but no sudden attacks from darkness either. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, walking slowly towards the object lying on the ground in front of me. Even before I reached it I had a very nasty feeling I knew what it was. I pulled out my keyring and turned on the mini-flashlight, pointing it downward.

Lying on the ground before me was a dead man.

"Oh, for crissakes," I heard myself say. "I'm on vacation, dammit!"