The man gave him a small, cold smile. “This case is closed. There’s no need for any further action.”
“But I just got it.”
The tall man fished in his jacket pocket for a pack of Morley cigarettes, shook one out, clicked on the flame from a steel lighter, and took a long drag.
“Excuse me,” said Albritton, “they don’t let us smoke down here. The ventilation is bad.”
The man exhaled blue smoke. “We can get the ventilation fixed, agent.”
He glanced down at the closed folder.
“Be seeing you around.”
And he left, leaking smoke from his nostrils like a dragon.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Chris Carter, Gillian Anderson, and The X-Files team. Thanks to Josh Izzo at Fox for helping me navigate the minefields. Special thanks to my editor/publisher, Erin Stein, and my fellow X-Files chronicler, Kami Garcia. Thanks to Ted Adams of IDW Publishing for first inviting me in to play in the world of aliens, monsters, and conspiracies. Thanks to Ashleigh Ammari for Japanese translations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times–bestselling author and five-time Bram Stoker Award winner. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, and steampunk, for adults, teens, and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Rot & Ruin, Mars One, and Captain America, which is in development for a feature film. He writes comics for Marvel, Dark Horse, and IDW and is the editor of such high-profile anthologies as The X-Files, V-Wars, Out of Tune, Baker Street Irregular, Nights of the Living Dead, and Scary Out There. He lives in Del Mar, California. Visit him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Part One: Angels and Demons
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Part Two: The Larger World
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Part Three: The Red Age
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
The X-Files™ & © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
All rights reserved.
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First hardcover edition 2017
eBook edition January 2017
eISBN 9781250119599