The Archaeologist's Mistress

by Jamie MacFrey

"Fucking great," I said, hopping up out of the chair and hauling my pants on.

  "Do you want to stay?" asked Murado.

  "No, James, I appreciate it, but not today. I'm...I'm going for a trip, I think. A vacation, even."

  "Well, when you get back, then."

  "Yeah, when I get back," I said. "Where're the chips?"

  "They're here," said Murado, taking out a case. He popped the chip I'd just used out of the chair and threw it in with Mari's and Theed's originals, handing the whole thing to me.

  "Thanks, James. I really appreciate all this."

  "You did blackmail me," he said.

  "I did, but we had some fun all the same, didn't we?" I asked.

  "Yes, we had some fun."

  "So, look, thanks. For the fun."

  "You're welcome. Have fun on your trip."

  "Thanks," I said, opening the door. He waved goodbye.

  I hailed an autocab from my optical from Murado's front walk. On the curb were the trash, recycling, and junk electronics bins. Guess it was pick-up day. I hauled open the top of the electronics bin and tossed the case of neurochips on top of it, shaking the bin so they'd sink off the top. Somebody else's problem now.

  I got two steps before I saw the pickup truck coming down the road. I turned around, leaping back to the electronics bin and flipping the lid back open and fished through the whole pile of junk until I found the case again.

  I popped it open, making sure they were all still there. I don't know why. I don't know what I would've done if they'd just fallen out. I'd like to think I would've just taken my lumps, but part of me knows I would've had a long afternoon pouring through discarded junk until I found the three little chips I needed.

  I pocketed the chips, waiting for my ride to appear. And then, who the fuck knew? The ThorGen payment hadn't been anything close to what Theed's would have been, but ThorGen wasn't tricking me into getting involved, so they'd dealt in real numbers. And, you know, it wasn't bad exactly. Good enough for a wild week in Xingang playing slots and cards and picking up whatever pieces of the nightlife would be willing to come back to bed with me. I usually did all right there. I could again, provided Anto Chan didn't want me to repay my debt first.

  He probably would, the bastard.

  My optical blared. An unknown number was calling me.

  "Hello?" I said, answering it.

  "Sare Jeffries?" came an older male voice. The wheeze of some grey beard.

  "Speaking."

  "The private detective? Sare Jeffries, the private detective?"

  "Speaking," I repeated, in case he was deaf.

  "I have a job for you," he said.

  I wanted to shout at him. I wanted to take his head off. Didn't he fucking know that I was going for a trip? That I was going on the most epic bender of all time in Xingang, and I was going to get good and drunk, and gamble and get laid? That I'd had it up to here with being a private eye? That I'd seen three dead bodies in just about the same number of days, which, by any sane person's reckoning is three too many? That, even beyond that, it'd cost me a cushy job working for the System Police Department and killed my girlfriend? And here was this bastard, calling me up and saying he had a job for me, like it was nothing, like he was doing me a favor. Who did he think he was? Because, by my figuring, he was in for the most well deserved ass-kicking of his entire life.

  But I didn't say any of that.

  Part of me wanted to just hang up, to just leave him there, on the other end of the line. I didn’t need this anymore. I could go find an actual, reliable job with a decent salary. Theed had made money in private security. I could do that. I could do that ten times better than he ever had. I didn’t need to go climbing through gutters and poring over financial records or photographing spouses getting their rocks off with people other than my clients.

  But I didn’t hang up, either.

  Instead, I sighed, and I let the itch that always needed to be scratched get some relief.

  "What's the job?" I asked.

  Also by Jamie MacFrey

  Other books in the Sare Jeffries: Martian Private Eye Series

  The Regular’s Favorite

  Nobody cares about the death of one of the dancers at the Randy Hound co-op strip club in New Angeles, Mars. Nobody except her friends, who owned the club with her, and Sare Jeffries, a down-on-her-luck private detective who’d rather drink and sleep her way through her demons. Luckily, this client will allow her to do both, and make a quick buck while she’s at it.

  But while you can take the tiger out of the jungle, you can’t take the detective out of Sare Jeffries, even in the midst of one night of absolute hedonism on the center stage. All the signs are pointing to one of the club’s most trusted regulars, and Sare’s determined to find out the truth, even if it means getting closer to him than she thought possible.

  The Regular’s Favorite is an introductory ~10,000 word short story to the Sare Jeffries: Martian Private Eye erotica books, a cyberpunk mystery series of steamy and explicit tales, full of action of all sorts and strong language to boot.

  The Dragon Jade Chronicle Series

  The Warrior and the Warlock

  The ancient Guild of Sorcerers is weakening and, at their lowest moment, their oldest enemies, the barbaric Dragon Clans, have launched an invasion of the Metropolises of the East. And this time the Clans are winning.

  Pol Burr doesn't know he's a warlock until he accidentally saves the life of a knight in green armor. Lady Kiera vai Ullan was born to be noble warrior but finds herself captivated by her scoundrel saviour. Brought together through unlikely circumstances, the mismatched pair develop an equally unlikely attraction. But falling in love might be easier than staying alive, especially when they hold the key to defeating the Dragon Clans once and for all.

  The Warrior And The Warlock is a 160,000 word fantasy novel combining sorcerers and sex, princesses and passion, legends and love. With scorching sex scenes, breakneck pace and a surprising amount of heart, this erotic adventure is a must for all epic fantasy fans.

  The Duke And The Dragon

  Pol Burr - once the greatest Sorcerer of the age - has been left powerless in the aftermath of the war with the Dragon Clans. A dragon jade arrowhead in his shoulder is disintegrating and will kill him if he ever performs magic again. His only hope for regaining his power rests on myths and legends of the power of dragons. But with the last dragons in the Metropolises having died centuries ago, he will have to travel a thousand leagues across the sea in search of one.

  Where Pol goes, Lady Kiera will be at his side, having given up everything to help the man she loves. And following her is the brutal Varomar, a general of the Dragon Clans now sworn to her service. Together they travel to the Island of Ishmere in an attempt to restore Pol to the man he was. But Ishmere is a very different society from the Eastern Metropolises, ruled with an iron fist by the Grand Duke of Ogdin who keeps all Sorcerers in bondage. Caught up in political plotting, Pol might not live long enough for the dragon jade to kill him.

  The Duke And The Dragon is a 120,000 word fantasy novel combining high intrigue and deep passion. Pol, Kiera and Varomar find many willing partners amongst the action, making this erotic adventure a must for all epic fantasy fans.

  The Vampire Coven of Cambridge

  Boston, 1905. A mysterious spate of murders, each featuring pairs of puncture wounds on the victims' bodies, troubles the city and its surrounding neighborhoods. Only the Fellows of the Boston Society for the Unexplainably Macabre suspect the true cause: Vampires! However, as well-to-do society men, no one will take them seriously. Meanwhile, the murders continue.

  That is, until Theodore Tate, a fellow at the B.S.U.M., meets the mysterious and alluring Cassandra Voisin. Drawn to her by some unknown force, Theo is instantly seduced by the beguiling Cassie, who may have some connection to the murders. Now Theo must navigate the dangerous twists and turns of a trio of vampires or pay a high cost for his carelessness as he attempts to balance his de
sire for Cassie against the safety of his friends and himself.

  The Vampire Coven of Cambridge is a sizzling erotic horror vampire novella of around 30,000 words set in pre-war New England written as a pastiche of old turn of the century horror novels. It contains strong steamy content, language, and horror elements.