Felicity Heaton's Blog, page 107
October 30, 2011
Fantastic Halloween Spooktacular Giveaway #3
It's time for the third of my fantastic Halloween Spooktacular daily giveaways! Are you all excited? Remember, even if you won a giveaway already, you can still enter this giveaway! We're making the switch to angels for the bookmark thongs now!
Enter Giveaway #3 To Win:1 x signed paperback of your choice! Choose from Seventh Circle, Winter's Kiss, Hunter's Moon, Love Immortal, Forbidden Blood, Ascension, Her Angel (Her Angel books 1-3) or Her Guardian Angel1 x signed book swag as per the picture below!1 x angel hero beaded bookmark thong made by me! That's right. Hand-made by this paranormal romance author. It doesn't get much more personal and special than that. See the picture below.
This giveaway runs until 00:01 EST on 1st November 2011.
If the GFC box isn't showing on the left side bar of the blog, hit refresh until it appears. It should be above the NetworkedBlogs box but it's very temperamental.
Remember to click the instructions links so you know exactly what to do to make your entries count!
Enter Now:
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Enter Giveaway #3 To Win:1 x signed paperback of your choice! Choose from Seventh Circle, Winter's Kiss, Hunter's Moon, Love Immortal, Forbidden Blood, Ascension, Her Angel (Her Angel books 1-3) or Her Guardian Angel1 x signed book swag as per the picture below!1 x angel hero beaded bookmark thong made by me! That's right. Hand-made by this paranormal romance author. It doesn't get much more personal and special than that. See the picture below.
This giveaway runs until 00:01 EST on 1st November 2011.
If the GFC box isn't showing on the left side bar of the blog, hit refresh until it appears. It should be above the NetworkedBlogs box but it's very temperamental.
Remember to click the instructions links so you know exactly what to do to make your entries count!
Enter Now:
<a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&am... need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.
vampire romance book - Seventh Circle - extended excerpt
I've already posted extended excerpts from two books in my
Vampires Realm series
, so now it's time to add a third. You've met the heroine of
Seventh Circle
, Lilith, in a character interview and have met her hero, Lincoln, in Friday's flash fiction piece. Here's your chance to meet them in a little more detail and catch a glimpse of their vampire romance book.
As usual, I'll post some information about the vampire romance book and a teaser chapter to give you a taste, plus the link to the PDF download.
Seventh Circle
F E Heaton
Born with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a vampire.
Lincoln is a powerful pureblood with a problem. He's caught up in a prophecy and has little time left to unravel the mystery of the contract between his lord and the Devil before he dies. When witches foretell that a vampire hunter will save his life, he's prepared to work with his most hated enemy, but he isn't prepared for the forbidden desire he feels when he meets her.
Their mutual attraction becomes difficult to deny as they work together but when Lincoln reveals the truth about her powers, will Lilith find the strength to embrace a side of herself that she wished didn't exist? And when they discover Lilith's role in the prophecy, how far will Lincoln go to save her?
Dark, sensual and fast-paced, Seventh Circle is a story of forbidden love so strong that it will save the world.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 106112 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2008
Book 7 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDO68/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seventh-Circle/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000800973/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-seventhcircle-620973-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/seventh-circle/_/R-400000000000000249275
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Seventh-Circle/mix-ZGYNJZH8-kmDBm5GV0YlJg/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7734
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDO68/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978579/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978579/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seventh-circle-f-e-heaton/1021362622
EXCERPTBlood.
No matter where she looked, she couldn't escape it. It spotted his face and arched over his jaw from the wound on his throat. It seeped into his damp blond hair, darkening the whole side of his head. Turning away, she swallowed her desire to be sick and stared at the ground. Crimson coated the grass until it glistened under the harsh sodium streetlight on the cemetery path. The acrid smell thickened the air, filled her nostrils and choked her lungs. Cold stole through her, rising up from her knees where they pressed into the wet dirt close to his body, chilling her as it swept towards her soul.
"Jackson!" Lilith's frantic patting of his cheek did nothing to rouse him. Her rough, erratic breathing and the thundering beat of her heart filled her ears as she stared down at him. Panic consumed her. "Jackson, don't you die on me, Jackson."
His eyes opened, igniting a spark of hope inside her. The darkness of despair extinguished it when they closed lazily again a second later.
She was losing him.
"Jackson." She patted his cheek again, faster this time, a constant drumming that matched her pulse. Her other hand pressed the wad of material harder against the wound. Sticky, warm blood coated her fingers, sickening her. "Don't give up. I won't lose you!"
He convulsed and his face contorted into a look of sheer agony. A thin line of darkest red crept from the corner of his lips. She held him down, restraining him in the hope of stopping him from killing himself, and her eyes widened as the crimson trail eased down towards his ear.
Everything became still.
Her ears rang with it, with the numb and icy cold filling her, sending sweeps of shivers over her skin as what was happening finally sunk in.
This was no way to feel, so drained of life and welcoming death with open arms, watching for it. Not when the creature that had done this was still nearby.
Waiting.
She focused again, searching for it while applying more pressure to the wound on Jackson's throat. Was it to stem the flow of blood, or the flow of hope as it left her?
There was no way she could save him.
He was pale now, barely breathing. Tears blurred her eyes, hot against her cold face. Not five minutes ago, he'd been so full of life, full of jokes that had always annoyed her for some reason. Funny how it could disappear so quickly. You thought you were strong, indestructible. In reality you were as fragile as a butterfly when faced with one of them–one of the pure bloodlines.
A low laugh sent a shudder through her.
She knew what it found so amusing.
Jackson was dead.
She closed her eyes, touched his cheek as a goodbye and prayed that he had found a better place on the other side.
Picking herself up, she shut down the side of her that wanted to throw itself over his body and cry her heart out for him, and for her own loss. She had a job to do. He'd understand. It had been his job too.
She stood and stared down at him. The world seemed strangely blue and quiet. Cold. He looked peaceful lying there on the grass, darkness shrouding his body while the streetlight crowned his head in golden light.
Almost angelic.
Her gaze fell to her hands as she brought them out in front of her, palms facing the heavens. She frowned at the dark liquid coating them and then at the torn sleeve of her shirt. So much blood but she felt nothing as she stared at it. This was no time for mourning. She could do that later. Right now, she had business to attend to.
She wiped her hands on her black combat trousers and then retrieved her wooden stake from the grass.
A breeze.
A sigh.
The world blurred as she turned on a pinpoint and blocked the vampire's attack.
It grinned at her, teeth sharp and eyes bright, challenging her to make a move. She knew what it wanted. It wanted her to run, or scream, or at least give it a good fight before it finally killed her. It was playing with her.
Well, she wasn't about to play with it.
This man, this thing, was going to die for what it had done to Jackson.
It turned and the streetlights caught its eyes, making them flash like mother of pearl. She gave no quarter, turning with it and keeping their arms locked. Its weight pressed against her and she pushed back, her eyes never leaving its. It could throw her if it wanted to. It was far stronger than she was.
That smile it wore wasn't fading. It was beginning to unnerve her. It curved the vampire's face, cutting across it in a sinful line that exposed the points of its bloodied teeth. Jackson hadn't stood a chance.
She didn't stand a chance.
Neither of them had ever fought one of the pure bloods. Those that did rarely survived to tell the tale. She'd never heard of anyone managing to kill one.
Before she could blink, it had disappeared and she stumbled forwards from the release of pressure against her. She turned sharply in all directions, panic guiding her movements, and then forced herself to slow down. Her senses reached outwards into the inky night, desperate to locate the vampire so it couldn't attack without her noticing.
The early spring breeze tousled her honey hair, sending a shiver dancing down her spine as its cold fingers worked their way under the hem of her black shirt and into her collar. When she faced Jackson, she sniffed back her tears and tried not to look at him. This was no time to lose focus, or she'd be joining him in the afterlife.
Something shifted.
She tensed and then relaxed when it didn't move again.
The graveyard was quiet. Too quiet.
It could only mean one thing. The vampire was stalking her. It had slipped into the shadows to watch her. She could feel its eyes on her, touching her, studying her. It was looking for a weak spot, a momentary drop in her defences when it could slip in and kill her with a single move. Her heart thumped hard against her breastbone at that thought and she steadied her breathing in an attempt to slow it down. Panic made her hands shake and her body threatened to join them.
Her fingers flexed around the stake several times. It did nothing to soothe her nerves as she'd hoped. If she didn't calm down and regain her focus, she didn't stand a chance. The vampire would be able to sense her fear. It would drive it on. It would make it hungrier for her blood. She had to do all she could to maintain control and a steady heartbeat. Only then would she have the slightest chance of killing before she was killed.
Doubts crept in at the corners of her mind, sending the edges of her thoughts black and sinister. She pushed them away, not wanting the distraction that the memory of seeing Jackson killed was bringing, and not wanting to lose her concentration by imagining herself suffering a similar fate.
No one, not a human and definitely not a vampire, was going to bite her neck.
Ever.
She frowned into the distance where the darkness swallowed the trees and nothing but the night reigned. She had nothing to fear. An elite hunter had no fear.
Her training had been the same as Jackson's and the rest of her company, except she'd always excelled where they had merely passed. She'd taken the rank of elite hunter three years earlier than expected. She was one of only a handful to hold that title.
She could defeat this vampire.
She would win.
She had a gift.
Her eyes rolled closed and she released her breath, emptying herself. Her hands came up in front of her, close to her chest, her stake held steady in her right and her left joining it. Her heart rate slowed to a steady beat and her blood rushed through her veins. There was such strength in it if only she'd be brave enough to embrace it.
Her soul surrendered to the call of the night.
The world blackened.
She didn't need to see the change to know it happened. Everything felt different. The air tasted metallic, like blood. The rising of her instincts made her senses razor-sharp and sent painful throbs down her spine from her aching head.
She could only hold this for seconds or she'd fall into the darkness she could feel encroaching at the corners of her soul.
A few seconds would be enough.
A flicker of movement and she could see the world through her closed eyes. Silvery threads outlined everything, scribbled onto the darkness like rough chalk drawings on a blackboard. She saw the trees sway in the breeze. She saw Jackson. She saw death.
Her eyes shot open and she gasped at air to save herself from drowning in the shadows. It filled her lungs, burned them and her blood. She ran regardless.
She ran straight at the vampire.
One hand on top of the stone sarcophagus was enough to vault her over it and she landed with precise grace on the other side, right beside her quarry.
Her hand came down in a blurred arc, so fast that the vampire couldn't fully evade her attack. She missed the heart as the vampire dived to the side. Her stake caught its shoulder, scraped hard against bone. The vampire growled and then roared at her. She flipped backwards before it could attack and gave herself over to the fight, letting her instincts guide her as her senses locked onto the vampire. She could almost see its movements before it made them, a ghost of it shone in her eyes.
Except time was running out.
The lingering effect of her gift would soon disappear, leaving her to fight without these sharpened senses.
She would be vulnerable.
She would be weak from calling on her gift.
That was the price.
She cart-wheeled away, still gripping the stake. The moment the vampire closed in, she stopped and swept her leg around in a fast, hard kick, grunting with effort. The vampire laughed and slid to the side, away from danger. Before she could put her foot down and attack again, it had hit her in the chest with a kick of its own, sending her flying backwards into a tombstone.
Her breath left her on impact, a red hot bar across her back marking where she'd hit the heavy stone. She needed a moment to recover, only she didn't have one. The vampire was on her before she could blink and she was barely able to block it. She crossed her arms against its chest, holding it off her.
It snarled and snapped its jaw.
With each gnash of its teeth and each millimetre closer it got to her, her heart accelerated, until it was racing so fast she had trouble breathing. Adrenaline mixed with the panic coiled deep inside her. For the first time in her life, she could taste death, could see it coming, and it had red eyes and sharp teeth, and a mane of black tousled hair. It bore down on her, its body pressed hard against hers, trapping her between it and the headstone.
She clutched the stake, hands trembling as she weakened.
The vampire growled.
There was no chance of escape, but blind panic and a will to live forced her to try.
She pushed with all her might, shoving her left hand against the flat end of the stake as she drove it forwards.
The vampire sprung backwards the moment the stake made contact with its shoulder. She didn't give it a chance to escape. She threw herself at it in a last ditch attempt to be the victor in this deadly dance.
She tumbled to the floor with it, wrestling for control. The world blurred and sped by. The pain of the vampire's blows barely registered in her tired body as she struggled to keep it away from her neck and get her stake against its chest. The noise was deafening–the rush of her breathing, the snarls of the vampire, and the harsh pounding of her heart.
Then silence.
She was on top.
Her stake plunged deep into its chest.
Her gaze locked with his.
It was a man now in her eyes.
He was breathing, fast gasping breaths. His eyes were wide, wild, as he clawed at his chest and the wooden shaft protruding from it.
She pulled the stake out and stood, looking down on him, watching him die. Her body shook from the adrenaline and the exertion. Her fingers loosened and the stake fell to the grass with a soft thud. Exhaustion surrendered to shock. She couldn't believe it. She'd killed it. She'd killed a pure blood.
His eyes rolled closed and then he began to disintegrate as time raced to catch up with him. Before a minute had passed, he was nothing more than ashes scattering in the breeze.
She swept a hand over her sandy blonde hair and sighed.
It was over.
No, it had only just begun.
She'd never heard of a vampire of the pure bloodlines travelling into this area. There had been reports of hunters meeting them in London, but never out here, so far from the capital. She'd only ever fought vampires from the weaker bloodlines.
What had he been doing out here?
She remembered the flash of his red eyes. A Vehemens? The violent. The last she'd heard, they rarely ventured outside Scandinavia. All the stories she'd heard had been of hunters encountering vampires from the other bloodlines–the Caelestis, Aurorea, and even sometimes Venia or Validus. Never the Vehemens, Tenebrae or Nocens.
So what had brought him here?
She frowned at the patch of dust that represented him now. Maybe she should've asked him. Her superiors weren't going to be pleased with her. A pure blood in her area and she killed it without any attempt to extract information.
A shiver bolted up her spine and she rubbed her bare arm.
The report was going to be hell to write.
What was worse, a voice at the back of her mind was screaming that what she'd done tonight was going to have repercussions. The pure bloods didn't take lightly to hunters killing their kind.
Leaning over, she picked up her stake and pocketed it. Her dark eyes scanned the cemetery, searching the shadows for any sign of danger. The moon broke free of the clouds, illuminating even the darkest corner and chasing the shadows away into the trees. Nothing came to her. It was silent and empty. It filled her with cold and dread.
Her gaze fell to Jackson's body. The pain she'd been stifling all this time broke to the surface.
She would have to file a full report on his death too. How could she write what she'd seen? Jackson hadn't stood a chance. The vampire had torn his throat open before she'd even sensed its approach. She'd had no chance of saving him, not even with her gift.
Her heart ached to see him lying on the grass, motionless and cold. It could have easily been her in his place. Would he have managed to kill the vampire? It didn't bear thinking about. She had survived. Jackson was dead.
She walked towards him and her knees buckled when she reached his side. Their impact with the dirt sent pain shooting up her spine and jolted the tears from her eyes. They dashed down her cheeks, turning into freezing streaks of ice as the wind blew against them.
She let them come, no longer able to hold back the surging tide of her emotions and needing to get them out of her before she returned to the compound. She couldn't let the others see her like this. Reaching into her pocket, she pressed the alarm button on her phone. It would trigger the GPS back at base and send them to her. She had fifteen minutes to gain control of herself. She would need every second.
Her hand found Jackson's and she held it, not caring how cold it felt in hers, or the way it made her feel as though she was touching death itself.
The sobs started out slow but built until she was gasping at air, her throat tight and chest aching as she stared down at Jackson's peaceful face.
She couldn't let them think she was weak.
She was the strongest they had.
Jackson would tell her that if he was still alive. He'd always told her that. He'd always been there for her, getting her out of scrapes and protecting her.
She'd failed to protect him.
Leaning forwards, she rested her head against his still chest and closed her eyes. Silence engulfed her as she lay with him, her mind empty. The night called her. She always felt this way after she'd used her gift–close to the darkness, at one with the shadows. She didn't understand the words drifting around her head or the tugging sensation in the depths of her heart. She felt the meaning though. It wanted her.
She curled up.
It couldn't have her.
She was a hunter.
The elite.
She killed those that heard the call of the night.
She killed any vampire she came across.
Nothing was going to change that.
* * * *
Lilith trudged into the mansion house, desperate for the solitude of her quarters. The team had arrived to find her standing beside Jackson's body, all sign of her emotions wiped from her face. She had given them instruction to take him back to the compound and had then told them that she would walk back. The thought of travelling with Jackson's body in the back of the van had been unbearable. The night had offered her so much comfort, the darkness hiding her feelings from the world, and she'd taken it all. The walk back had been long and had given her time to regain true control of herself.
Only now, she was walking the halls where they'd once walked. It was a painful reminder that only one of them had returned, while the other lay in the morgue below her feet.
No one ever spoke of the morgue.
It was as though by never mentioning it, they could make it go away, make all the deaths of their friends disappear.
"What happened?" A sharp voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she found she was standing in the entrance hall staring down at the floor, seeing straight through it to the cold grey morgue below.
She raised her head, looked Daniel in the eye, and then turned away. Her throat was too tight to speak. If she tried, she would lose what little control she'd regained and would start to cry again. She'd never lost a friend on routine patrol before. She hadn't lost anyone since her sister.
He caught her arm before she could pass him, stopping her dead. She knew better than to break free of his grasp. As her superior, he commanded her respect. Her hands came up in front of her and she stared at her palms, at the dried and cracked blood that still coated them. Nausea swept through her, cramping her stomach, clenching her heart. Numbness followed it, stealing away the sickness until she felt nothing. It was so hard to breathe. Everything was so hard. She was too weak from the fight and the drain of controlling her emotions.
"Jackson. Son of a bitch got Jackson," she said, voice steady and showing no trace of the turmoil inside of her. "We didn't hear it coming. I didn't feel it."
She stared into Daniel's green eyes. The amount of concern in them surprised her. He gave a sympathetic smile, causing crow's feet to surround his eyes. When had he become so old? He seemed so grey now when before he'd always been the young man she'd first known when she had been a child. She looked around the hall, wanting to avoid his questioning gaze. Everything seemed so grey and different.
"It was one of them, a Vehemens," she said. "What in God's name is one of them doing around here?"
Daniel didn't look at all shocked by her news. His expression remained unchanged and he removed his hand from her arm only to place it lightly on her shoulder. She frowned at the strange sensation that filled her–something was wrong.
"Did you kill it?" he said.
"Of course." She went to move past him again. His hand tensed, gripping her shoulder and stopping her. She sighed. "Daniel, I really need a shower and bed. Can't the debrief wait until morning?"
"It can, I wouldn't want to make you talk about what happened until you're ready... but... I need to speak to you about a contract that just came in."
Her right eyebrow rose. It had been a while since Section Seven had been contracted by anyone. They were rare and required only the elite hunters.
It piqued her curiosity and almost made her agree. The ache inside her overruled it though. It had become a dull throbbing and she knew that warning well enough. She was close to collapse.
"Can't that wait too?" she said, hopeful.
"I don't think the client will wait any longer."
Her eyes widened. "They're here?"
"They've been waiting all night for your return," he said. "I know this isn't the best time, but it has to be now. It can't wait."
Staring into his eyes, she could see that he wasn't going to budge on this. She had to meet the client tonight. He was right. It would be rude to keep them waiting until she'd had a chance to get some rest and she didn't want to blow her first contract.
"I'll clean up first if that's okay?"
He nodded. "He's waiting in my office."
She watched Daniel walk away. He? She wondered what kind of problem they had as she walked. Someone was in the first bathroom she came to so she carried on along the hall until she was near the cafeteria. She avoided going in. By now, news of Jackson's death would be spreading and she didn't have the energy to meet her client let alone field all the questions people would have. A couple of men from her company walked out of the room. She dived into the nearest bathroom, desperate to hide from them. Locking the door, she pressed her back against it and stared at herself in the mirror.
She looked like hell.
Moving closer to the mirror, she gingerly prodded the cuts and bruises on her face and arms. The vampire had done a real number on her. At the time, she hadn't noticed. The adrenaline and shock had taken all feeling away. Washing her cuts, she stared into her brown eyes and thought about what had happened tonight. Why hadn't she sensed it? Normally she could sense vampires before they got within twenty metres of her. Normally she was fighting weaklings.
Were those of pure blood really so superior?
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she didn't need to check it to know it would be Daniel. She finished making herself look more presentable and then stared at her torn shirt. She couldn't do anything about that.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she hurried down the hall. She turned the corner that led to the commanders' offices and bumped into a woman from her company.
Her eyes fell to the woman's black jacket. "Can I borrow that?"
The woman hesitated for a moment, looked her over with a raised eyebrow, and then peeled the jacket off. "Important meeting, huh?"
"You could say that. Do you know about the client?"
"I heard someone arrived... walked in through the door with the section chief from London... but I didn't see him."
Lilith slipped the jacket on and buttoned it up.
"Thanks for the loan." She waved idly and walked away, her thoughts now firmly fixed on her client. A man that had arrived with the section chief. Whoever he was, he had to be important to garner that kind of escort.
Reaching Daniel's door, she rapped her knuckles against the mahogany and waited.
"Come in." Daniel's muffled voice drifted through it.
She paused, needing a few seconds to gather herself and push her fatigue and feelings to the back of her mind, and then opened the door and walked into the large office.
Directly in front of her was a heavy mahogany desk. Daniel was leaning against it with his arms folded and a wary look on his face. The tall curtains of the office's two windows framed him. They were drawn. She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was nearing six in the morning. The sun would be rising by now. It was unusual for Daniel to keep the curtains drawn against the sunrise.
She sensed her client's presence. He was sharp, focused, watching her and studying her movement across the room. There was something familiar about that.
She stopped in front of Daniel. Worry had joined the concern she'd seen in his eyes earlier. He knew she wasn't in the mood for this meeting. If he hadn't been so insistent, she would have continued to refuse his orders until he backed down. His words, however, had made it clear that this client was important and he wasn't one to wait any longer for an audience with her.
Her eyes roamed the room, seeking the man out. They scanned along the packed bookshelves and their leather-bound tomes. They found him masked in the shadowed recess to the side of the bright fire. Darkness shrouded his face and obscured his figure. Her senses spoke to her.
Here was a dangerous man.
Here was one who demanded respect and commanded power.
"Lilith, our client," Daniel said behind her.
The man stepped forwards and the warm firelight instantly chased the shadows from his face. He was young, handsome in a way that had her staring. In fact, she couldn't take her eyes off him. He ran slender fingers over his short black hair and then around the back of his neck, drawing her attention to it. She frowned at the scars there. Bite marks? Was he a victim of a vampire attack? Her eyes darted to his mouth, absorbing the gentle bow of his lips, and then rose to meet his.
His dark eyes met hers and a shiver of recognition bolted down her spine and sent alarm bells ringing in her head.
His mouth became a thin line and tilted into a cruel smile, one that fitted him perfectly.
She'd been wrong.
He wasn't young.
His appearance betrayed his age.
Here was one older than she'd ever met.
She stepped forwards, defiant in the face of him, and reached for her stake.
Anger rose inside her and everything faded until there was only him.
He was no victim.
He was a murderer.
"Vampire." She sneered, assuming a fighting stance.
He growled and she felt that command deep in her soul.
She refused follow it.
To drop her stake would be to leave herself open to attack.
"Lilith!" Daniel said, his hand on her wrist making her tense. He lowered it for her.
She looked at him, stunned. Her eyes slid warily to the vampire, her anger not abating. How had he fooled her? She'd thought him nothing more than a man. She'd found him attractive. Her stomach rolled with that thought. Only the darkness in his eyes had betrayed him and lifted the veil from hers.
"Mr. Lincoln is our client."
She glared at the vampire. He had a name.
They'd never had names before.
They'd been nameless, faceless demons for her to eradicate. Now there was one whose name she knew, and for some terrible reason, it made him seem more human.
The vampire smirked, a challenge, the same as the one in the cemetery had issued her. She amused him. He meant to provoke her.
"I am not working with it!" She flung her arm around to point at the vampire at the same time as she turned to face Daniel. There was no need to look at the vampire to know he was glaring at her. The heat of it caressed her skin until she was burning wherever it touched. She shook the feeling away, and the attraction she'd felt towards him, and focused with all her effort on Daniel. "For all we know this could be bullshit. It could want to drain me dry."
The vampire snorted contemptuously, as though that was one thought that would never cross his mind.
"I'm being serious."
Daniel just shifted position, folding his arms across his chest and giving her the impression that her tirade had fallen on deaf ears. The only one paying the remotest of attention was the vampire. Her eyes roamed to him against her will. A brief glance was all it took to see he was still standing in the same spot in front of the fire, staring at her with intense dark eyes. She told herself that look wasn't making her body burn. It was anger and the fire.
A sigh drew her attention back to Daniel.
When she looked at him this time, she could see that he wasn't happy. She frowned at the floor. The section chief from London had brought Mr. Lincoln to this place to meet with her and Daniel. Daniel had as little choice in this matter as she did. The vampire had cleverly gone over their heads and left her superior powerless, unable to get her out of this mission.
Her eyes narrowed on the vampire. He smirked and nodded. If he'd had a hat, she swore he would've tipped it. Her fists clenched and she wished to God that she could wipe the smug look off his face. Taking a deep breath, she clawed back a little control. He wasn't going to provoke her. He didn't frighten her. She was going to find out what this contract was about and then do everything she could to either get rid of him as soon as possible or get out of it.
"So what do you want, vampire?" she said, striding up to him until she was close enough to see he wasn't breathing.
He was very old then, and he was powerful. At this range, she could feel it radiating off him, sparking her senses and making her instincts kick into gear. They told her to run. She stood her ground.
"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Lilith," he said in a mixed accent. There was a lot of English in there and an equal amount of European too. If she had to guess, she'd say he'd spent a lot of time in Scandinavia and wasn't a weakling.
"What bloodline are you?" Her tone was nothing short of venomous. Her eyes searched his, trying to discern whether he was going to lie to her or ignore this question too.
He straightened to his full height and looked down on her.
"Vehemens."
That one word made her stomach drop and broke the restraints that had been holding her anger at bay. Before she could stop herself, her hand was around his throat and she was forcing him backwards towards the fire. She growled when he planted his left foot against the cast-iron fireguard behind him, effectively stopping himself from moving, and yanked her hand away from his neck.
It went straight for the stake in her pocket. She grabbed it and lunged at him with it. He caught her wrist and twisted it until she had to kneel in order to stop him from breaking her arm. His eyes darkened. Her heart sped, fear saying he was going to attack.
He surprised her by releasing her the moment her knees touched the floor. She was back on her feet before he could move, the stake still held firmly in her hand.
"Lilith!" Daniel stepped between them, his hand on her shoulder forcing her backwards. She moved farther away and pocketed her stake to show him that she wasn't going to attack again. He went back to his desk. She glared at the vampire.
"Bastard!" She spat it at him with as much hatred as she could muster. "It was your fault wasn't it? You're the reason they were here!"
He looked confused, a trait she'd not witnessed in one before. She hated him even more for it–for attempting to look human by reflecting such emotions. She had no doubt that he knew what she was talking about. It couldn't be chance that two Vehemens had arrived in her city in the same night.
"I wish to discuss the contract in private with you." His words were calm, measured.
Her attack hadn't shaken him in the slightest. The idea of that made her feel weak and fatigue crept in again as she remembered watching Jackson die. She'd been powerless then, and she was powerless now.
"Discuss it in private all you want, but I'll still have to write it all in my report anyway, and everyone will know. Hell, I might post on the bulletin board that you're a vampire and sit back and watch the show." She hoped that her words carried all the spite behind them. It was childish, but she wasn't about to make anything easy for the vampire. If she couldn't attack him physically, words would have to do.
"Lilith," Daniel warned again. She sighed and ignored him.
"Why do you hate my kind so much?" the vampire said. It caught her off guard.
She stared at him, knowing that she looked like a rabbit in headlights and that she needed to recover herself before he realised that he'd rattled her.
"You seem very driven to hate us... to kill us."
Her eyes never left his. She held his gaze even as the barrier around her heart came back up as swift as a dart, shutting out his attempt to peer into her innermost thoughts and feelings. She wished she could shut out the pain as easily. She turned away from him and walked to the door.
"Come with me," she said and stepped outside the office.
Lincoln stared at the open door and the hall beyond. He frowned, dark thoughts stirring at the back of his mind and plaguing him. A glance at her superior told him that he wasn't pleased with the way his subordinate was acting. She seemed headstrong and wilful. Perhaps a little too wilful.
"She openly detests my kind," he said, getting the superior's attention. In his world, a superior wouldn't tolerate such behaviour from one below him. He had never tolerated it. "Are we going to have a problem?"
The man looked thoughtful. "No. Today has been hard on her. She'll work with you as agreed in your contract with us."
"I would like to know one thing."
"And that is?" The man pushed away from his desk and walked around it to sit in the plush leather chair.
"Why does she hate vampires so much?" he said with another glance towards the door.
He could feel her waiting in the hall, knew that she would be able to hear him. She hadn't answered his question, and he needed a reply. The idea that she would hate him contradicted everything he'd been told.
The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Her sister was murdered by a vampire," he said and then looked at the open door, "and tonight Jackson was killed. He was Lilith's closest friend and he died at the hands of a Vehemens."
Lincoln frowned. That explained her outburst. She was probably right. Not many of his bloodline lived outside the safe houses scattered across Europe or the family mansion in Oslo. The Vehemens had been here because of him.
"I think it's understandable that she should hate your kind... you." There was so much anger in the man's voice, so much loathing and disgust in his words. He'd never realised the extent of the humans hatred towards his species. "No one here is going to welcome you with open arms... no matter how much you pay our superiors."
He gave the man a dark look, matching his glare and tipping the balance in his favour. The man looked away, turning towards the closed curtains. Lincoln turned towards the door and reached out with his senses, focusing them on the woman. Lilith.
Had they been wrong about her?
Could one so fixated on destroying his kind truly save him?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
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As usual, I'll post some information about the vampire romance book and a teaser chapter to give you a taste, plus the link to the PDF download.
Seventh Circle
F E Heaton
Born with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a vampire.
Lincoln is a powerful pureblood with a problem. He's caught up in a prophecy and has little time left to unravel the mystery of the contract between his lord and the Devil before he dies. When witches foretell that a vampire hunter will save his life, he's prepared to work with his most hated enemy, but he isn't prepared for the forbidden desire he feels when he meets her.
Their mutual attraction becomes difficult to deny as they work together but when Lincoln reveals the truth about her powers, will Lilith find the strength to embrace a side of herself that she wished didn't exist? And when they discover Lilith's role in the prophecy, how far will Lincoln go to save her?
Dark, sensual and fast-paced, Seventh Circle is a story of forbidden love so strong that it will save the world.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 106112 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2008
Book 7 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDO68/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seventh-Circle/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000800973/
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Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7734
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDO68/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978579/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978579/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seventh-circle-f-e-heaton/1021362622
EXCERPTBlood.
No matter where she looked, she couldn't escape it. It spotted his face and arched over his jaw from the wound on his throat. It seeped into his damp blond hair, darkening the whole side of his head. Turning away, she swallowed her desire to be sick and stared at the ground. Crimson coated the grass until it glistened under the harsh sodium streetlight on the cemetery path. The acrid smell thickened the air, filled her nostrils and choked her lungs. Cold stole through her, rising up from her knees where they pressed into the wet dirt close to his body, chilling her as it swept towards her soul.
"Jackson!" Lilith's frantic patting of his cheek did nothing to rouse him. Her rough, erratic breathing and the thundering beat of her heart filled her ears as she stared down at him. Panic consumed her. "Jackson, don't you die on me, Jackson."
His eyes opened, igniting a spark of hope inside her. The darkness of despair extinguished it when they closed lazily again a second later.
She was losing him.
"Jackson." She patted his cheek again, faster this time, a constant drumming that matched her pulse. Her other hand pressed the wad of material harder against the wound. Sticky, warm blood coated her fingers, sickening her. "Don't give up. I won't lose you!"
He convulsed and his face contorted into a look of sheer agony. A thin line of darkest red crept from the corner of his lips. She held him down, restraining him in the hope of stopping him from killing himself, and her eyes widened as the crimson trail eased down towards his ear.
Everything became still.
Her ears rang with it, with the numb and icy cold filling her, sending sweeps of shivers over her skin as what was happening finally sunk in.
This was no way to feel, so drained of life and welcoming death with open arms, watching for it. Not when the creature that had done this was still nearby.
Waiting.
She focused again, searching for it while applying more pressure to the wound on Jackson's throat. Was it to stem the flow of blood, or the flow of hope as it left her?
There was no way she could save him.
He was pale now, barely breathing. Tears blurred her eyes, hot against her cold face. Not five minutes ago, he'd been so full of life, full of jokes that had always annoyed her for some reason. Funny how it could disappear so quickly. You thought you were strong, indestructible. In reality you were as fragile as a butterfly when faced with one of them–one of the pure bloodlines.
A low laugh sent a shudder through her.
She knew what it found so amusing.
Jackson was dead.
She closed her eyes, touched his cheek as a goodbye and prayed that he had found a better place on the other side.
Picking herself up, she shut down the side of her that wanted to throw itself over his body and cry her heart out for him, and for her own loss. She had a job to do. He'd understand. It had been his job too.
She stood and stared down at him. The world seemed strangely blue and quiet. Cold. He looked peaceful lying there on the grass, darkness shrouding his body while the streetlight crowned his head in golden light.
Almost angelic.
Her gaze fell to her hands as she brought them out in front of her, palms facing the heavens. She frowned at the dark liquid coating them and then at the torn sleeve of her shirt. So much blood but she felt nothing as she stared at it. This was no time for mourning. She could do that later. Right now, she had business to attend to.
She wiped her hands on her black combat trousers and then retrieved her wooden stake from the grass.
A breeze.
A sigh.
The world blurred as she turned on a pinpoint and blocked the vampire's attack.
It grinned at her, teeth sharp and eyes bright, challenging her to make a move. She knew what it wanted. It wanted her to run, or scream, or at least give it a good fight before it finally killed her. It was playing with her.
Well, she wasn't about to play with it.
This man, this thing, was going to die for what it had done to Jackson.
It turned and the streetlights caught its eyes, making them flash like mother of pearl. She gave no quarter, turning with it and keeping their arms locked. Its weight pressed against her and she pushed back, her eyes never leaving its. It could throw her if it wanted to. It was far stronger than she was.
That smile it wore wasn't fading. It was beginning to unnerve her. It curved the vampire's face, cutting across it in a sinful line that exposed the points of its bloodied teeth. Jackson hadn't stood a chance.
She didn't stand a chance.
Neither of them had ever fought one of the pure bloods. Those that did rarely survived to tell the tale. She'd never heard of anyone managing to kill one.
Before she could blink, it had disappeared and she stumbled forwards from the release of pressure against her. She turned sharply in all directions, panic guiding her movements, and then forced herself to slow down. Her senses reached outwards into the inky night, desperate to locate the vampire so it couldn't attack without her noticing.
The early spring breeze tousled her honey hair, sending a shiver dancing down her spine as its cold fingers worked their way under the hem of her black shirt and into her collar. When she faced Jackson, she sniffed back her tears and tried not to look at him. This was no time to lose focus, or she'd be joining him in the afterlife.
Something shifted.
She tensed and then relaxed when it didn't move again.
The graveyard was quiet. Too quiet.
It could only mean one thing. The vampire was stalking her. It had slipped into the shadows to watch her. She could feel its eyes on her, touching her, studying her. It was looking for a weak spot, a momentary drop in her defences when it could slip in and kill her with a single move. Her heart thumped hard against her breastbone at that thought and she steadied her breathing in an attempt to slow it down. Panic made her hands shake and her body threatened to join them.
Her fingers flexed around the stake several times. It did nothing to soothe her nerves as she'd hoped. If she didn't calm down and regain her focus, she didn't stand a chance. The vampire would be able to sense her fear. It would drive it on. It would make it hungrier for her blood. She had to do all she could to maintain control and a steady heartbeat. Only then would she have the slightest chance of killing before she was killed.
Doubts crept in at the corners of her mind, sending the edges of her thoughts black and sinister. She pushed them away, not wanting the distraction that the memory of seeing Jackson killed was bringing, and not wanting to lose her concentration by imagining herself suffering a similar fate.
No one, not a human and definitely not a vampire, was going to bite her neck.
Ever.
She frowned into the distance where the darkness swallowed the trees and nothing but the night reigned. She had nothing to fear. An elite hunter had no fear.
Her training had been the same as Jackson's and the rest of her company, except she'd always excelled where they had merely passed. She'd taken the rank of elite hunter three years earlier than expected. She was one of only a handful to hold that title.
She could defeat this vampire.
She would win.
She had a gift.
Her eyes rolled closed and she released her breath, emptying herself. Her hands came up in front of her, close to her chest, her stake held steady in her right and her left joining it. Her heart rate slowed to a steady beat and her blood rushed through her veins. There was such strength in it if only she'd be brave enough to embrace it.
Her soul surrendered to the call of the night.
The world blackened.
She didn't need to see the change to know it happened. Everything felt different. The air tasted metallic, like blood. The rising of her instincts made her senses razor-sharp and sent painful throbs down her spine from her aching head.
She could only hold this for seconds or she'd fall into the darkness she could feel encroaching at the corners of her soul.
A few seconds would be enough.
A flicker of movement and she could see the world through her closed eyes. Silvery threads outlined everything, scribbled onto the darkness like rough chalk drawings on a blackboard. She saw the trees sway in the breeze. She saw Jackson. She saw death.
Her eyes shot open and she gasped at air to save herself from drowning in the shadows. It filled her lungs, burned them and her blood. She ran regardless.
She ran straight at the vampire.
One hand on top of the stone sarcophagus was enough to vault her over it and she landed with precise grace on the other side, right beside her quarry.
Her hand came down in a blurred arc, so fast that the vampire couldn't fully evade her attack. She missed the heart as the vampire dived to the side. Her stake caught its shoulder, scraped hard against bone. The vampire growled and then roared at her. She flipped backwards before it could attack and gave herself over to the fight, letting her instincts guide her as her senses locked onto the vampire. She could almost see its movements before it made them, a ghost of it shone in her eyes.
Except time was running out.
The lingering effect of her gift would soon disappear, leaving her to fight without these sharpened senses.
She would be vulnerable.
She would be weak from calling on her gift.
That was the price.
She cart-wheeled away, still gripping the stake. The moment the vampire closed in, she stopped and swept her leg around in a fast, hard kick, grunting with effort. The vampire laughed and slid to the side, away from danger. Before she could put her foot down and attack again, it had hit her in the chest with a kick of its own, sending her flying backwards into a tombstone.
Her breath left her on impact, a red hot bar across her back marking where she'd hit the heavy stone. She needed a moment to recover, only she didn't have one. The vampire was on her before she could blink and she was barely able to block it. She crossed her arms against its chest, holding it off her.
It snarled and snapped its jaw.
With each gnash of its teeth and each millimetre closer it got to her, her heart accelerated, until it was racing so fast she had trouble breathing. Adrenaline mixed with the panic coiled deep inside her. For the first time in her life, she could taste death, could see it coming, and it had red eyes and sharp teeth, and a mane of black tousled hair. It bore down on her, its body pressed hard against hers, trapping her between it and the headstone.
She clutched the stake, hands trembling as she weakened.
The vampire growled.
There was no chance of escape, but blind panic and a will to live forced her to try.
She pushed with all her might, shoving her left hand against the flat end of the stake as she drove it forwards.
The vampire sprung backwards the moment the stake made contact with its shoulder. She didn't give it a chance to escape. She threw herself at it in a last ditch attempt to be the victor in this deadly dance.
She tumbled to the floor with it, wrestling for control. The world blurred and sped by. The pain of the vampire's blows barely registered in her tired body as she struggled to keep it away from her neck and get her stake against its chest. The noise was deafening–the rush of her breathing, the snarls of the vampire, and the harsh pounding of her heart.
Then silence.
She was on top.
Her stake plunged deep into its chest.
Her gaze locked with his.
It was a man now in her eyes.
He was breathing, fast gasping breaths. His eyes were wide, wild, as he clawed at his chest and the wooden shaft protruding from it.
She pulled the stake out and stood, looking down on him, watching him die. Her body shook from the adrenaline and the exertion. Her fingers loosened and the stake fell to the grass with a soft thud. Exhaustion surrendered to shock. She couldn't believe it. She'd killed it. She'd killed a pure blood.
His eyes rolled closed and then he began to disintegrate as time raced to catch up with him. Before a minute had passed, he was nothing more than ashes scattering in the breeze.
She swept a hand over her sandy blonde hair and sighed.
It was over.
No, it had only just begun.
She'd never heard of a vampire of the pure bloodlines travelling into this area. There had been reports of hunters meeting them in London, but never out here, so far from the capital. She'd only ever fought vampires from the weaker bloodlines.
What had he been doing out here?
She remembered the flash of his red eyes. A Vehemens? The violent. The last she'd heard, they rarely ventured outside Scandinavia. All the stories she'd heard had been of hunters encountering vampires from the other bloodlines–the Caelestis, Aurorea, and even sometimes Venia or Validus. Never the Vehemens, Tenebrae or Nocens.
So what had brought him here?
She frowned at the patch of dust that represented him now. Maybe she should've asked him. Her superiors weren't going to be pleased with her. A pure blood in her area and she killed it without any attempt to extract information.
A shiver bolted up her spine and she rubbed her bare arm.
The report was going to be hell to write.
What was worse, a voice at the back of her mind was screaming that what she'd done tonight was going to have repercussions. The pure bloods didn't take lightly to hunters killing their kind.
Leaning over, she picked up her stake and pocketed it. Her dark eyes scanned the cemetery, searching the shadows for any sign of danger. The moon broke free of the clouds, illuminating even the darkest corner and chasing the shadows away into the trees. Nothing came to her. It was silent and empty. It filled her with cold and dread.
Her gaze fell to Jackson's body. The pain she'd been stifling all this time broke to the surface.
She would have to file a full report on his death too. How could she write what she'd seen? Jackson hadn't stood a chance. The vampire had torn his throat open before she'd even sensed its approach. She'd had no chance of saving him, not even with her gift.
Her heart ached to see him lying on the grass, motionless and cold. It could have easily been her in his place. Would he have managed to kill the vampire? It didn't bear thinking about. She had survived. Jackson was dead.
She walked towards him and her knees buckled when she reached his side. Their impact with the dirt sent pain shooting up her spine and jolted the tears from her eyes. They dashed down her cheeks, turning into freezing streaks of ice as the wind blew against them.
She let them come, no longer able to hold back the surging tide of her emotions and needing to get them out of her before she returned to the compound. She couldn't let the others see her like this. Reaching into her pocket, she pressed the alarm button on her phone. It would trigger the GPS back at base and send them to her. She had fifteen minutes to gain control of herself. She would need every second.
Her hand found Jackson's and she held it, not caring how cold it felt in hers, or the way it made her feel as though she was touching death itself.
The sobs started out slow but built until she was gasping at air, her throat tight and chest aching as she stared down at Jackson's peaceful face.
She couldn't let them think she was weak.
She was the strongest they had.
Jackson would tell her that if he was still alive. He'd always told her that. He'd always been there for her, getting her out of scrapes and protecting her.
She'd failed to protect him.
Leaning forwards, she rested her head against his still chest and closed her eyes. Silence engulfed her as she lay with him, her mind empty. The night called her. She always felt this way after she'd used her gift–close to the darkness, at one with the shadows. She didn't understand the words drifting around her head or the tugging sensation in the depths of her heart. She felt the meaning though. It wanted her.
She curled up.
It couldn't have her.
She was a hunter.
The elite.
She killed those that heard the call of the night.
She killed any vampire she came across.
Nothing was going to change that.
* * * *
Lilith trudged into the mansion house, desperate for the solitude of her quarters. The team had arrived to find her standing beside Jackson's body, all sign of her emotions wiped from her face. She had given them instruction to take him back to the compound and had then told them that she would walk back. The thought of travelling with Jackson's body in the back of the van had been unbearable. The night had offered her so much comfort, the darkness hiding her feelings from the world, and she'd taken it all. The walk back had been long and had given her time to regain true control of herself.
Only now, she was walking the halls where they'd once walked. It was a painful reminder that only one of them had returned, while the other lay in the morgue below her feet.
No one ever spoke of the morgue.
It was as though by never mentioning it, they could make it go away, make all the deaths of their friends disappear.
"What happened?" A sharp voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she found she was standing in the entrance hall staring down at the floor, seeing straight through it to the cold grey morgue below.
She raised her head, looked Daniel in the eye, and then turned away. Her throat was too tight to speak. If she tried, she would lose what little control she'd regained and would start to cry again. She'd never lost a friend on routine patrol before. She hadn't lost anyone since her sister.
He caught her arm before she could pass him, stopping her dead. She knew better than to break free of his grasp. As her superior, he commanded her respect. Her hands came up in front of her and she stared at her palms, at the dried and cracked blood that still coated them. Nausea swept through her, cramping her stomach, clenching her heart. Numbness followed it, stealing away the sickness until she felt nothing. It was so hard to breathe. Everything was so hard. She was too weak from the fight and the drain of controlling her emotions.
"Jackson. Son of a bitch got Jackson," she said, voice steady and showing no trace of the turmoil inside of her. "We didn't hear it coming. I didn't feel it."
She stared into Daniel's green eyes. The amount of concern in them surprised her. He gave a sympathetic smile, causing crow's feet to surround his eyes. When had he become so old? He seemed so grey now when before he'd always been the young man she'd first known when she had been a child. She looked around the hall, wanting to avoid his questioning gaze. Everything seemed so grey and different.
"It was one of them, a Vehemens," she said. "What in God's name is one of them doing around here?"
Daniel didn't look at all shocked by her news. His expression remained unchanged and he removed his hand from her arm only to place it lightly on her shoulder. She frowned at the strange sensation that filled her–something was wrong.
"Did you kill it?" he said.
"Of course." She went to move past him again. His hand tensed, gripping her shoulder and stopping her. She sighed. "Daniel, I really need a shower and bed. Can't the debrief wait until morning?"
"It can, I wouldn't want to make you talk about what happened until you're ready... but... I need to speak to you about a contract that just came in."
Her right eyebrow rose. It had been a while since Section Seven had been contracted by anyone. They were rare and required only the elite hunters.
It piqued her curiosity and almost made her agree. The ache inside her overruled it though. It had become a dull throbbing and she knew that warning well enough. She was close to collapse.
"Can't that wait too?" she said, hopeful.
"I don't think the client will wait any longer."
Her eyes widened. "They're here?"
"They've been waiting all night for your return," he said. "I know this isn't the best time, but it has to be now. It can't wait."
Staring into his eyes, she could see that he wasn't going to budge on this. She had to meet the client tonight. He was right. It would be rude to keep them waiting until she'd had a chance to get some rest and she didn't want to blow her first contract.
"I'll clean up first if that's okay?"
He nodded. "He's waiting in my office."
She watched Daniel walk away. He? She wondered what kind of problem they had as she walked. Someone was in the first bathroom she came to so she carried on along the hall until she was near the cafeteria. She avoided going in. By now, news of Jackson's death would be spreading and she didn't have the energy to meet her client let alone field all the questions people would have. A couple of men from her company walked out of the room. She dived into the nearest bathroom, desperate to hide from them. Locking the door, she pressed her back against it and stared at herself in the mirror.
She looked like hell.
Moving closer to the mirror, she gingerly prodded the cuts and bruises on her face and arms. The vampire had done a real number on her. At the time, she hadn't noticed. The adrenaline and shock had taken all feeling away. Washing her cuts, she stared into her brown eyes and thought about what had happened tonight. Why hadn't she sensed it? Normally she could sense vampires before they got within twenty metres of her. Normally she was fighting weaklings.
Were those of pure blood really so superior?
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she didn't need to check it to know it would be Daniel. She finished making herself look more presentable and then stared at her torn shirt. She couldn't do anything about that.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she hurried down the hall. She turned the corner that led to the commanders' offices and bumped into a woman from her company.
Her eyes fell to the woman's black jacket. "Can I borrow that?"
The woman hesitated for a moment, looked her over with a raised eyebrow, and then peeled the jacket off. "Important meeting, huh?"
"You could say that. Do you know about the client?"
"I heard someone arrived... walked in through the door with the section chief from London... but I didn't see him."
Lilith slipped the jacket on and buttoned it up.
"Thanks for the loan." She waved idly and walked away, her thoughts now firmly fixed on her client. A man that had arrived with the section chief. Whoever he was, he had to be important to garner that kind of escort.
Reaching Daniel's door, she rapped her knuckles against the mahogany and waited.
"Come in." Daniel's muffled voice drifted through it.
She paused, needing a few seconds to gather herself and push her fatigue and feelings to the back of her mind, and then opened the door and walked into the large office.
Directly in front of her was a heavy mahogany desk. Daniel was leaning against it with his arms folded and a wary look on his face. The tall curtains of the office's two windows framed him. They were drawn. She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was nearing six in the morning. The sun would be rising by now. It was unusual for Daniel to keep the curtains drawn against the sunrise.
She sensed her client's presence. He was sharp, focused, watching her and studying her movement across the room. There was something familiar about that.
She stopped in front of Daniel. Worry had joined the concern she'd seen in his eyes earlier. He knew she wasn't in the mood for this meeting. If he hadn't been so insistent, she would have continued to refuse his orders until he backed down. His words, however, had made it clear that this client was important and he wasn't one to wait any longer for an audience with her.
Her eyes roamed the room, seeking the man out. They scanned along the packed bookshelves and their leather-bound tomes. They found him masked in the shadowed recess to the side of the bright fire. Darkness shrouded his face and obscured his figure. Her senses spoke to her.
Here was a dangerous man.
Here was one who demanded respect and commanded power.
"Lilith, our client," Daniel said behind her.
The man stepped forwards and the warm firelight instantly chased the shadows from his face. He was young, handsome in a way that had her staring. In fact, she couldn't take her eyes off him. He ran slender fingers over his short black hair and then around the back of his neck, drawing her attention to it. She frowned at the scars there. Bite marks? Was he a victim of a vampire attack? Her eyes darted to his mouth, absorbing the gentle bow of his lips, and then rose to meet his.
His dark eyes met hers and a shiver of recognition bolted down her spine and sent alarm bells ringing in her head.
His mouth became a thin line and tilted into a cruel smile, one that fitted him perfectly.
She'd been wrong.
He wasn't young.
His appearance betrayed his age.
Here was one older than she'd ever met.
She stepped forwards, defiant in the face of him, and reached for her stake.
Anger rose inside her and everything faded until there was only him.
He was no victim.
He was a murderer.
"Vampire." She sneered, assuming a fighting stance.
He growled and she felt that command deep in her soul.
She refused follow it.
To drop her stake would be to leave herself open to attack.
"Lilith!" Daniel said, his hand on her wrist making her tense. He lowered it for her.
She looked at him, stunned. Her eyes slid warily to the vampire, her anger not abating. How had he fooled her? She'd thought him nothing more than a man. She'd found him attractive. Her stomach rolled with that thought. Only the darkness in his eyes had betrayed him and lifted the veil from hers.
"Mr. Lincoln is our client."
She glared at the vampire. He had a name.
They'd never had names before.
They'd been nameless, faceless demons for her to eradicate. Now there was one whose name she knew, and for some terrible reason, it made him seem more human.
The vampire smirked, a challenge, the same as the one in the cemetery had issued her. She amused him. He meant to provoke her.
"I am not working with it!" She flung her arm around to point at the vampire at the same time as she turned to face Daniel. There was no need to look at the vampire to know he was glaring at her. The heat of it caressed her skin until she was burning wherever it touched. She shook the feeling away, and the attraction she'd felt towards him, and focused with all her effort on Daniel. "For all we know this could be bullshit. It could want to drain me dry."
The vampire snorted contemptuously, as though that was one thought that would never cross his mind.
"I'm being serious."
Daniel just shifted position, folding his arms across his chest and giving her the impression that her tirade had fallen on deaf ears. The only one paying the remotest of attention was the vampire. Her eyes roamed to him against her will. A brief glance was all it took to see he was still standing in the same spot in front of the fire, staring at her with intense dark eyes. She told herself that look wasn't making her body burn. It was anger and the fire.
A sigh drew her attention back to Daniel.
When she looked at him this time, she could see that he wasn't happy. She frowned at the floor. The section chief from London had brought Mr. Lincoln to this place to meet with her and Daniel. Daniel had as little choice in this matter as she did. The vampire had cleverly gone over their heads and left her superior powerless, unable to get her out of this mission.
Her eyes narrowed on the vampire. He smirked and nodded. If he'd had a hat, she swore he would've tipped it. Her fists clenched and she wished to God that she could wipe the smug look off his face. Taking a deep breath, she clawed back a little control. He wasn't going to provoke her. He didn't frighten her. She was going to find out what this contract was about and then do everything she could to either get rid of him as soon as possible or get out of it.
"So what do you want, vampire?" she said, striding up to him until she was close enough to see he wasn't breathing.
He was very old then, and he was powerful. At this range, she could feel it radiating off him, sparking her senses and making her instincts kick into gear. They told her to run. She stood her ground.
"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Lilith," he said in a mixed accent. There was a lot of English in there and an equal amount of European too. If she had to guess, she'd say he'd spent a lot of time in Scandinavia and wasn't a weakling.
"What bloodline are you?" Her tone was nothing short of venomous. Her eyes searched his, trying to discern whether he was going to lie to her or ignore this question too.
He straightened to his full height and looked down on her.
"Vehemens."
That one word made her stomach drop and broke the restraints that had been holding her anger at bay. Before she could stop herself, her hand was around his throat and she was forcing him backwards towards the fire. She growled when he planted his left foot against the cast-iron fireguard behind him, effectively stopping himself from moving, and yanked her hand away from his neck.
It went straight for the stake in her pocket. She grabbed it and lunged at him with it. He caught her wrist and twisted it until she had to kneel in order to stop him from breaking her arm. His eyes darkened. Her heart sped, fear saying he was going to attack.
He surprised her by releasing her the moment her knees touched the floor. She was back on her feet before he could move, the stake still held firmly in her hand.
"Lilith!" Daniel stepped between them, his hand on her shoulder forcing her backwards. She moved farther away and pocketed her stake to show him that she wasn't going to attack again. He went back to his desk. She glared at the vampire.
"Bastard!" She spat it at him with as much hatred as she could muster. "It was your fault wasn't it? You're the reason they were here!"
He looked confused, a trait she'd not witnessed in one before. She hated him even more for it–for attempting to look human by reflecting such emotions. She had no doubt that he knew what she was talking about. It couldn't be chance that two Vehemens had arrived in her city in the same night.
"I wish to discuss the contract in private with you." His words were calm, measured.
Her attack hadn't shaken him in the slightest. The idea of that made her feel weak and fatigue crept in again as she remembered watching Jackson die. She'd been powerless then, and she was powerless now.
"Discuss it in private all you want, but I'll still have to write it all in my report anyway, and everyone will know. Hell, I might post on the bulletin board that you're a vampire and sit back and watch the show." She hoped that her words carried all the spite behind them. It was childish, but she wasn't about to make anything easy for the vampire. If she couldn't attack him physically, words would have to do.
"Lilith," Daniel warned again. She sighed and ignored him.
"Why do you hate my kind so much?" the vampire said. It caught her off guard.
She stared at him, knowing that she looked like a rabbit in headlights and that she needed to recover herself before he realised that he'd rattled her.
"You seem very driven to hate us... to kill us."
Her eyes never left his. She held his gaze even as the barrier around her heart came back up as swift as a dart, shutting out his attempt to peer into her innermost thoughts and feelings. She wished she could shut out the pain as easily. She turned away from him and walked to the door.
"Come with me," she said and stepped outside the office.
Lincoln stared at the open door and the hall beyond. He frowned, dark thoughts stirring at the back of his mind and plaguing him. A glance at her superior told him that he wasn't pleased with the way his subordinate was acting. She seemed headstrong and wilful. Perhaps a little too wilful.
"She openly detests my kind," he said, getting the superior's attention. In his world, a superior wouldn't tolerate such behaviour from one below him. He had never tolerated it. "Are we going to have a problem?"
The man looked thoughtful. "No. Today has been hard on her. She'll work with you as agreed in your contract with us."
"I would like to know one thing."
"And that is?" The man pushed away from his desk and walked around it to sit in the plush leather chair.
"Why does she hate vampires so much?" he said with another glance towards the door.
He could feel her waiting in the hall, knew that she would be able to hear him. She hadn't answered his question, and he needed a reply. The idea that she would hate him contradicted everything he'd been told.
The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Her sister was murdered by a vampire," he said and then looked at the open door, "and tonight Jackson was killed. He was Lilith's closest friend and he died at the hands of a Vehemens."
Lincoln frowned. That explained her outburst. She was probably right. Not many of his bloodline lived outside the safe houses scattered across Europe or the family mansion in Oslo. The Vehemens had been here because of him.
"I think it's understandable that she should hate your kind... you." There was so much anger in the man's voice, so much loathing and disgust in his words. He'd never realised the extent of the humans hatred towards his species. "No one here is going to welcome you with open arms... no matter how much you pay our superiors."
He gave the man a dark look, matching his glare and tipping the balance in his favour. The man looked away, turning towards the closed curtains. Lincoln turned towards the door and reached out with his senses, focusing them on the woman. Lilith.
Had they been wrong about her?
Could one so fixated on destroying his kind truly save him?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDO68/
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Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7734
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDO68/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978579/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978579/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seventh-circle-f-e-heaton/1021362622
Interview with an ex-alpha werewolf - Nicolae
You've already met his heroine, Tatyana, in a previous interview so now it's time to introduce you to Nicolae, an ex-alpha werewolf from my
Vampires Realm
series...
Nicolae is the hero of my vampire / werewolf romance book, Hunter's Moon, in which he fell in love with Tatyana, a vampire of the Nocens bloodline. In my Vampires Realm series, that's a series no-no and more often than not is a death sentence!
I caught up with him in my rather lovely interview room... picture dark red walls, wooden floor, crackling log fire with an ornate marble surround, and two very comfy black velvet armchairs and that's my interview room. The best place to lure my paranormal people into.
If you haven't met him already, here's the lowdown on Nicolae. Nicolae is a dark, sexy, and rugged ex-alpha werewolf with a past that could make any woman want to kiss the guy. He's strong, a loner since the events that led to him fleeing Europe, and can be charming when he needs to be. He's a born leader and extremely protective, and very territorial. He won't let anything happen to anyone or anything in his territory, even if that person is a vampire.
FH: I have Nicolae here with me today to talk about his book, Hunter's Moon. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Nicolae: Ah, what like? I mean, is it alright to talk about that stuff?
FH: *nods* You can tell us anything. It's all cool.
Nicolae: Alright then. I'm Romanian, although I have lived in Canada for the past century, and I'm a werewolf. Hell, it still sounds crazy when I say that aloud, even though I've been a werewolf for two centuries now. I was turned in Romania and lived with my pack there. It was peaceful until the vampires came for us. We didn't stand a chance. My sire, the alpha of the pack, and I, and the other warriors amongst us tried to fend them off. They rounded us up and took us all to the compound. It was hell. I don't want to think about it even now. We had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment and abuse. Our pack had lived in peace, keeping to ourselves, never treading into vampire territory. When I finally managed to put an escape plan into action, I only made things worse. I lost my entire pack that night… and fled here, to a place where I was free of the vampires.
FH: Here being the remotest place on Earth. It must have been hard for you to deal with everything that had happened, and I'm sure many women's hearts have gone out to you already. Can you tell us about what happened in your story, Hunter's Moon?
Nicolae: It was around a century after I had escaped Romania and the nightmare of losing my pack, and I was finally learning to deal with it all in my own way. A night time hunt with the local timber wolf pack turned that all on its head. The peace I had found was shattered by a group of hunters and a woman. Tatyana. A vampire. It was difficult for me to accept her presence in my territory after everything I had suffered at the hands of the vampires, but the threat of the human hunters drove me to take her back to my cabin and help her heal. I had needed to know what she did so I could protect the local werewolf pack and the timber wolves. I thought she had brought them with her… I couldn't have been more wrong.
FH: In Hunter's Moon, you meet Tatyana. How did you meet and how did you feel about her initially?
Nicolae: Looking back now, I can't believe that I ever wanted to leave her in that clearing to die from her wounds or the sunlight. She's everything to me. The reason for my existence. It was difficult to get past everything that had happened to me, all the pain in my past, and accept her in my life and my territory. I was never sure whether I was coming or going at first. She tied me in knots and challenged everything that I believed about the vampires, and I'm glad that she did. We've both had hatred bred into us, and it was time for us both to open our eyes and look at each other for ourselves, not have our judgement coloured by what we've been told to believe and what had happened to us in our past.
FH: You have a lot of history with the vampires of Europe and it's generally frowned upon for a werewolf to enter into a relationship with a vampire. Was it difficult to get past the terrible thing that the vampires did to you and your pack, and fall in love with Tatyana?
Nicolae: Of course it was, but Tatyana's bloodline weren't responsible for what happened to me. The European vampires are often at war with each other, squabbling over territory and other petty things. Her bloodline, the Nocens, probably hate the Tenebrae bloodline as much as I do. I know that it was difficult for Tatyana too, and I think that helped me cope with my feelings and face them. Werewolves don't have laws against relationships with another species, but vampires do. Tatyana is risking a lot by being with me. When we eventually return to Europe, we'll have to be careful about it. If the Law Keepers discover that Tatyana is with a werewolf, they'll hunt her down and kill her. Not that I would let them get close enough to try, but it's always there at the back of my mind.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
Nicolae: Peaceful. It might sound crazy, and sometimes I feel as though I'm dreaming, but everything has settled down again since the end of our story. Tatyana is slowly building a relationship with the local werewolves, and even the local timber wolf pack is beginning to accept her. She's hunted a few times with us, and has learnt that catching the deer we're chasing isn't the way into a wolf's heart. She lets the timber wolves have the glory now, and they're getting along better for it. Hell, even I wanted to snarl at her when she beat us to the deer that time. *laughs* She'll make a good pack member one day, when she stops trying to be the alpha female. She'll tell you different of course. Sometimes, when we hunt together and it's just us, I let her win. Don't tell her I said that. She'll wring my neck if she thinks I'm letting her beat me to the prize… but it's all worth it. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy and proud… that's something I'll do anything for. Even losing a hunt. She's beautiful when she's standing over a fresh kill, empowered by her victory. And hell… she's a saucy vixen afterwards too. My little alpha female.
FH: Your story, Hunter's Moon, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
Nicolae: Shouldn't you be the one telling me that? *laughs again* I'm sure we'll cross paths again at some point. The series you write based on the werewolves of my home continent and the vampires of the pure European bloodlines truly reflects the darkness and the danger of our world, but also the intense passion and the deep love we feel for our mates, even if the ones we fall for happen to be the enemy.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
Nicolae: I'm thinking. *looks pensive* Failure springs to mind, but Tatyana would argue about that. Let's see. She would say… complicated. I would probably say… possessive. It's the wolf in me. *cracks a charming smile*
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Nicolae: Only that I want your solemn promise not to mention any of what I've said when you interview Tatyana. If she comes back knowing any of this, I'm hunting you down.
FH: Hmm, I'm not sure that's much of a threat. I would probably pay to have you hunt me down. *looks at audience* Wouldn't you?
You can read more about Nicolae in his vampire / werewolf romance book, Hunter's Moon...
Hunter's Moon
F E Heaton
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal vampire / werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
Nicolae is the hero of my vampire / werewolf romance book, Hunter's Moon, in which he fell in love with Tatyana, a vampire of the Nocens bloodline. In my Vampires Realm series, that's a series no-no and more often than not is a death sentence!
I caught up with him in my rather lovely interview room... picture dark red walls, wooden floor, crackling log fire with an ornate marble surround, and two very comfy black velvet armchairs and that's my interview room. The best place to lure my paranormal people into.
If you haven't met him already, here's the lowdown on Nicolae. Nicolae is a dark, sexy, and rugged ex-alpha werewolf with a past that could make any woman want to kiss the guy. He's strong, a loner since the events that led to him fleeing Europe, and can be charming when he needs to be. He's a born leader and extremely protective, and very territorial. He won't let anything happen to anyone or anything in his territory, even if that person is a vampire.
FH: I have Nicolae here with me today to talk about his book, Hunter's Moon. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Nicolae: Ah, what like? I mean, is it alright to talk about that stuff?
FH: *nods* You can tell us anything. It's all cool.
Nicolae: Alright then. I'm Romanian, although I have lived in Canada for the past century, and I'm a werewolf. Hell, it still sounds crazy when I say that aloud, even though I've been a werewolf for two centuries now. I was turned in Romania and lived with my pack there. It was peaceful until the vampires came for us. We didn't stand a chance. My sire, the alpha of the pack, and I, and the other warriors amongst us tried to fend them off. They rounded us up and took us all to the compound. It was hell. I don't want to think about it even now. We had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment and abuse. Our pack had lived in peace, keeping to ourselves, never treading into vampire territory. When I finally managed to put an escape plan into action, I only made things worse. I lost my entire pack that night… and fled here, to a place where I was free of the vampires.
FH: Here being the remotest place on Earth. It must have been hard for you to deal with everything that had happened, and I'm sure many women's hearts have gone out to you already. Can you tell us about what happened in your story, Hunter's Moon?
Nicolae: It was around a century after I had escaped Romania and the nightmare of losing my pack, and I was finally learning to deal with it all in my own way. A night time hunt with the local timber wolf pack turned that all on its head. The peace I had found was shattered by a group of hunters and a woman. Tatyana. A vampire. It was difficult for me to accept her presence in my territory after everything I had suffered at the hands of the vampires, but the threat of the human hunters drove me to take her back to my cabin and help her heal. I had needed to know what she did so I could protect the local werewolf pack and the timber wolves. I thought she had brought them with her… I couldn't have been more wrong.
FH: In Hunter's Moon, you meet Tatyana. How did you meet and how did you feel about her initially?
Nicolae: Looking back now, I can't believe that I ever wanted to leave her in that clearing to die from her wounds or the sunlight. She's everything to me. The reason for my existence. It was difficult to get past everything that had happened to me, all the pain in my past, and accept her in my life and my territory. I was never sure whether I was coming or going at first. She tied me in knots and challenged everything that I believed about the vampires, and I'm glad that she did. We've both had hatred bred into us, and it was time for us both to open our eyes and look at each other for ourselves, not have our judgement coloured by what we've been told to believe and what had happened to us in our past.
FH: You have a lot of history with the vampires of Europe and it's generally frowned upon for a werewolf to enter into a relationship with a vampire. Was it difficult to get past the terrible thing that the vampires did to you and your pack, and fall in love with Tatyana?
Nicolae: Of course it was, but Tatyana's bloodline weren't responsible for what happened to me. The European vampires are often at war with each other, squabbling over territory and other petty things. Her bloodline, the Nocens, probably hate the Tenebrae bloodline as much as I do. I know that it was difficult for Tatyana too, and I think that helped me cope with my feelings and face them. Werewolves don't have laws against relationships with another species, but vampires do. Tatyana is risking a lot by being with me. When we eventually return to Europe, we'll have to be careful about it. If the Law Keepers discover that Tatyana is with a werewolf, they'll hunt her down and kill her. Not that I would let them get close enough to try, but it's always there at the back of my mind.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
Nicolae: Peaceful. It might sound crazy, and sometimes I feel as though I'm dreaming, but everything has settled down again since the end of our story. Tatyana is slowly building a relationship with the local werewolves, and even the local timber wolf pack is beginning to accept her. She's hunted a few times with us, and has learnt that catching the deer we're chasing isn't the way into a wolf's heart. She lets the timber wolves have the glory now, and they're getting along better for it. Hell, even I wanted to snarl at her when she beat us to the deer that time. *laughs* She'll make a good pack member one day, when she stops trying to be the alpha female. She'll tell you different of course. Sometimes, when we hunt together and it's just us, I let her win. Don't tell her I said that. She'll wring my neck if she thinks I'm letting her beat me to the prize… but it's all worth it. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy and proud… that's something I'll do anything for. Even losing a hunt. She's beautiful when she's standing over a fresh kill, empowered by her victory. And hell… she's a saucy vixen afterwards too. My little alpha female.
FH: Your story, Hunter's Moon, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
Nicolae: Shouldn't you be the one telling me that? *laughs again* I'm sure we'll cross paths again at some point. The series you write based on the werewolves of my home continent and the vampires of the pure European bloodlines truly reflects the darkness and the danger of our world, but also the intense passion and the deep love we feel for our mates, even if the ones we fall for happen to be the enemy.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
Nicolae: I'm thinking. *looks pensive* Failure springs to mind, but Tatyana would argue about that. Let's see. She would say… complicated. I would probably say… possessive. It's the wolf in me. *cracks a charming smile*
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Nicolae: Only that I want your solemn promise not to mention any of what I've said when you interview Tatyana. If she comes back knowing any of this, I'm hunting you down.
FH: Hmm, I'm not sure that's much of a threat. I would probably pay to have you hunt me down. *looks at audience* Wouldn't you?
You can read more about Nicolae in his vampire / werewolf romance book, Hunter's Moon...
Hunter's Moon
F E HeatonThe horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal vampire / werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
Introducing the Her Angel romance series
I've been talking a lot about vampires and werewolves during this Halloween Spooktacular event so I wanted to take a moment to introduce you some of my other paranormal / supernatural creatures.
Judging by comments left by you throughout this event, there's a large amount of you who are already familiar with my sexy angels (and not familiar with my vampires, which is something I'll have to rectify!), but for those of you who haven't had a chance to meet them yet, here's a little about them and links to where you can find out more, including excerpts of each of their stories and reviews.
At the moment, you can get the first book in the series, Her Dark Angel, for a special price of $0.99 at Amazon Kindle, direct from my site, and other major retailers like Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBookstore, Sony and Kobo stores.
The Her Angel romance series books are also available in paperback. There's an anthology of the three novellas - Her Dark Angel, Her Fallen Angel, and Her Warrior Angel - plus the novel Her Guardian Angel available.
All of the stories in the Her Angel romance series to stand alone as it's more about the world than a continuing story arc at the moment, so you can read them out of order if you want. I am listing them in series order below though, from book 1 to book 4.
Her Dark Angel
Felicity Heaton
An angel without a mission, Apollyon lives trapped in Hell guarding the bottomless pit. Surrounded by endless darkness, he longs to fly free on Earth once more but his master hasn't called him in centuries. When the call finally comes, it's to serve a new master, a beautiful woman he has often watched over, a woman who has always captivated him.
Serenity is shocked when a gorgeous black-winged angel shows up in her city of Paris claiming that she called him when she was only casting a simple vengeance spell. He's no other than the angel of death! When Apollyon offers to obey her and help her have revenge on her cheating ex-boyfriend, she can't resist the temptation, but can she resist him? Can an angel as dark as Apollyon ever fall for a mortal woman like her?
Dark, passionate and erotic, Her Dark Angel is a tale of intense desire and deepest forbidden love guaranteed to get your heart racing.
SPECIAL OFFER: Her Dark Angel is only $0.99! (Normally $2.99)
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Dark%20Angel
Her Fallen Angel
Felicity Heaton
Annelie fell for Lukas the moment he walked into her pub three years ago. He's stunning, his vivid green eyes lending to his otherworldly beauty, but he's seriously out of her league. When he tells her that she's beautiful and confesses that he wants her, she can't resist him and his passionate kiss. She unleashes her desire and seizes the moment and Lukas with both hands. But Lukas has a secret, one that will test Annelie's love for him and threaten to tear them apart.
He's an angel.
Annelie can't believe it when Lukas says that their feelings for each other aren't a sin, but she can believe his pain when he tells her the reason he's on Earth. He is fallen, cast out of Heaven as punishment for a crime he didn't commit. Lukas isn't about to give up and accept his fate though. He's determined to prove both his innocence and his love for Annelie, and to show her that the intense passion they share is real.
When Lukas and Apollyon discover who framed him, will he be able to stop them from going after Serenity and Annelie? Will he be able to protect the woman he loves and fly away with her into their forever after?
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Fallen%20Angel
Her Warrior Angel
Felicity Heaton
Einar is one of Heaven's best hunters and he's on a mission to uncover why an angel was working with demons. When he finds the first demon fighting a beautiful woman named Taylor, he intervenes and saves her life. Taylor has spent her whole life protecting London from the lowest demons and she's not about to let an angel waltz into her city and take over her job, and she's certainly not about to fall in love with him, even if he is gorgeous. The reason why she can't is simple—she's half demon.
There is no love in this world more forbidden than that between an angel and a demon.
Sense tells Taylor to get out before she gets her heart broken, but she winds up convincing Einar to partner with her instead. Einar is certain that working with Taylor is a bad idea, and not only because he can't focus when he's around her, but he can't let her go. The mission leads them deep into the city's underworld, where old flames burn Taylor while new flames of passion and fear of the consequences consume them, and the threat of Einar's demons hangs over them both.
Can a love so forbidden ever have a happy ending or are they destined to break each other's hearts?
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Warrior%20Angel
Her Guardian Angel
Felicity Heaton
A simple mission becomes a fight for survival in this fantastic instalment in the Her Angel series.
A guardian angel dedicated to his duty, Marcus will do whatever Heaven asks of him, but even his loyalty has its limits. When his superior orders him to gain Amelia's trust through seduction, Marcus starts to question his mission and his feelings for the beautiful woman he has watched over since her birth.
Amelia has gone from one bad relationship to another, so when a gorgeous guy moves in next door looking like Mr Right, she hopes he doesn't turn out to be another black knight in disguise. But there's more to Marcus than meets the eye, and when he rescues her from three demonic men, Amelia is thrust into his nightmarish world—a world where God and the Devil exist, and only one angel can save her from death—Marcus, the angel she's falling in love with.
On the run from demonic angels and the Devil himself, aided by Marcus's angel friends and their amazing women, fighting for survival against the odds, Marcus and Amelia discover a love that will last forever.
A love so strong it will shake Heaven and Hell.
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Guardian%20Angel
Are you all ready to find out if feathers can be as sexy as fangs?
Judging by comments left by you throughout this event, there's a large amount of you who are already familiar with my sexy angels (and not familiar with my vampires, which is something I'll have to rectify!), but for those of you who haven't had a chance to meet them yet, here's a little about them and links to where you can find out more, including excerpts of each of their stories and reviews.
At the moment, you can get the first book in the series, Her Dark Angel, for a special price of $0.99 at Amazon Kindle, direct from my site, and other major retailers like Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBookstore, Sony and Kobo stores.
The Her Angel romance series books are also available in paperback. There's an anthology of the three novellas - Her Dark Angel, Her Fallen Angel, and Her Warrior Angel - plus the novel Her Guardian Angel available.
All of the stories in the Her Angel romance series to stand alone as it's more about the world than a continuing story arc at the moment, so you can read them out of order if you want. I am listing them in series order below though, from book 1 to book 4.
Her Dark Angel
Felicity Heaton
An angel without a mission, Apollyon lives trapped in Hell guarding the bottomless pit. Surrounded by endless darkness, he longs to fly free on Earth once more but his master hasn't called him in centuries. When the call finally comes, it's to serve a new master, a beautiful woman he has often watched over, a woman who has always captivated him.
Serenity is shocked when a gorgeous black-winged angel shows up in her city of Paris claiming that she called him when she was only casting a simple vengeance spell. He's no other than the angel of death! When Apollyon offers to obey her and help her have revenge on her cheating ex-boyfriend, she can't resist the temptation, but can she resist him? Can an angel as dark as Apollyon ever fall for a mortal woman like her?
Dark, passionate and erotic, Her Dark Angel is a tale of intense desire and deepest forbidden love guaranteed to get your heart racing.
SPECIAL OFFER: Her Dark Angel is only $0.99! (Normally $2.99)
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Dark%20Angel
Her Fallen Angel
Felicity HeatonAnnelie fell for Lukas the moment he walked into her pub three years ago. He's stunning, his vivid green eyes lending to his otherworldly beauty, but he's seriously out of her league. When he tells her that she's beautiful and confesses that he wants her, she can't resist him and his passionate kiss. She unleashes her desire and seizes the moment and Lukas with both hands. But Lukas has a secret, one that will test Annelie's love for him and threaten to tear them apart.
He's an angel.
Annelie can't believe it when Lukas says that their feelings for each other aren't a sin, but she can believe his pain when he tells her the reason he's on Earth. He is fallen, cast out of Heaven as punishment for a crime he didn't commit. Lukas isn't about to give up and accept his fate though. He's determined to prove both his innocence and his love for Annelie, and to show her that the intense passion they share is real.
When Lukas and Apollyon discover who framed him, will he be able to stop them from going after Serenity and Annelie? Will he be able to protect the woman he loves and fly away with her into their forever after?
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Fallen%20Angel
Her Warrior Angel
Felicity HeatonEinar is one of Heaven's best hunters and he's on a mission to uncover why an angel was working with demons. When he finds the first demon fighting a beautiful woman named Taylor, he intervenes and saves her life. Taylor has spent her whole life protecting London from the lowest demons and she's not about to let an angel waltz into her city and take over her job, and she's certainly not about to fall in love with him, even if he is gorgeous. The reason why she can't is simple—she's half demon.
There is no love in this world more forbidden than that between an angel and a demon.
Sense tells Taylor to get out before she gets her heart broken, but she winds up convincing Einar to partner with her instead. Einar is certain that working with Taylor is a bad idea, and not only because he can't focus when he's around her, but he can't let her go. The mission leads them deep into the city's underworld, where old flames burn Taylor while new flames of passion and fear of the consequences consume them, and the threat of Einar's demons hangs over them both.
Can a love so forbidden ever have a happy ending or are they destined to break each other's hearts?
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Warrior%20Angel
Her Guardian Angel
Felicity HeatonA simple mission becomes a fight for survival in this fantastic instalment in the Her Angel series.
A guardian angel dedicated to his duty, Marcus will do whatever Heaven asks of him, but even his loyalty has its limits. When his superior orders him to gain Amelia's trust through seduction, Marcus starts to question his mission and his feelings for the beautiful woman he has watched over since her birth.
Amelia has gone from one bad relationship to another, so when a gorgeous guy moves in next door looking like Mr Right, she hopes he doesn't turn out to be another black knight in disguise. But there's more to Marcus than meets the eye, and when he rescues her from three demonic men, Amelia is thrust into his nightmarish world—a world where God and the Devil exist, and only one angel can save her from death—Marcus, the angel she's falling in love with.
On the run from demonic angels and the Devil himself, aided by Marcus's angel friends and their amazing women, fighting for survival against the odds, Marcus and Amelia discover a love that will last forever.
A love so strong it will shake Heaven and Hell.
Read more about it: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Her%20Guardian%20Angel
Are you all ready to find out if feathers can be as sexy as fangs?
Interview with a vampire - Valentine
You've read the interview with his mate and lover, Prophecy, and now you get to read about the man himself, well vampire, Valentine!
Valentine is from my Vampires Realm series and first appeared in Prophecy: Child of Light, which is book one in the Prophecy Trilogy, in which he is the hero (for all three books, of course). He has also made appearances in other Vampires Realm stories, such as Seventh Circle and Spellbound, with Prophecy at his side (and Venturi too). More recently, he showed up in Masquerade, which is due out in January 2012.
I caught up with Valentine in my rather lovely interview room... picture dark red walls, wooden floor, crackling log fire with an ornate marble surround, and two very comfy black velvet armchairs and that's my interview room. The best place to lure my paranormal people into.
If you want to get a feel for Valentine, then you can read more about him at the Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com/vampire_valentine.php
(Valentine enters the room and settles himself in the black velvet armchair opposite me. He neatly arranges his dark red knee-length military-style jacket and then sweeps his long fingers over his black hair. His green eyes fix on mine. I clear my throat. Valentine is always a little tetchy around humans so I hope I don't end up as dinner)
FH: So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
Valentine: Things have been busy. My bloodline has learned to behave themselves and accept my rule, but now I am constantly working. I had been privy to the inner workings of a bloodline during my position as a hunter, but I had not anticipated that it would be so much work. Lord Kalinor made it appear easy.
FH: I bet it's anything but easy, but at least you finally have them on your side. You say that you're constantly working, so does that mean you don't get to spend much time with Prophecy?
Valentine: She often comes to visit, but at the moment it is difficult for me to find time to go to her, even when I desire to. Cornelius is a competent Chosen Son, but he lacks the leadership skills and respect required to run a bloodline. Often when I leave, the house is in pandemonium by the time I return.
FH: What about Xavier? As your head guard, isn't he able to control them?
(Valentine sighs emphatically, the first sign I've seen of him breathing. As a vampire of almost three hundred, he rarely breathes.)
Valentine: Little woman, I thought that during the documentation process of my species history you would have learned that such a thing would be a disaster. A guard has no place in commanding a bloodline when one of the leaders is there. If Xavier were to step in, the bloodline would lose all respect for Cornelius.
(I shrink into my black velvet armchair, bringing my feet up onto the seat, feeling like a chided youngling)
FH: I see. I don't confess to being any good at politics. Don't you miss Prophecy?
(The barest hint of a smile touches his lips and a shine enters his green eyes)
Valentine: With all of my heart.
FH: Aww.
(Valentine glares at me, his eyes briefly changing to blue, their vampiric state. I swallow and silently take back what I did)
Valentine: (He looks down at his hands in his lap and then back at me) Prophecy understands that I must spend time with my bloodline, but sometimes I am able to go to her. We often find time to walk the city together.
FH: (grins) Yeah, she told me all about your moonlit walks and how you kill for her. Super sweet.
Valentine: (raises an eyebrow) A mate should provide for his beloved. I am only following my nature as a vampire. I am sure humans do similar things, such as a male requesting that a female joins him for dinner in a restaurant. It is the same thing.
FH: That puts a new twist on the phrase "dining out". (I smile at him when he glowers at me) I get what you're saying though. You want to spend quality time with Prophecy and can't do that at either mansion, so you head off into the city for some alone time. Do you ever get away for longer periods?
Valentine: We have sometimes gone to stay at one of the apartments I keep in various cities around Europe. Prophecy is terrible at abusing her right to use her bloodline's private jet and often insists that we go to Italy for only a night or two at a time. She is still researching her mother's life.
FH: The witch? It's nice that you help her with that. It means a lot to her.
Valentine: (comes as close to smiling as he gets)
FH: So, do you have any other adventures planned? Prophecy mentioned that Venturi had something in the pipeline. Are you involved in that too?
Valentine: (nods) Yes, we have been to Romania to see him about a problem that he has with the gate there. It is still active and causing trouble for him on a regular basis. We need to find a way to close it permanently.
FH: That sounds a little more tame than your previous adventures. Are you expecting trouble?
Valentine: Prophecy has been seeing visions recently, none of them good, and some of them involving the gate, so we must go to Romania again to see if there is something we perhaps overlooked during our first visit.
FH: Your romance with Prophecy is still pretty hot, and I can see that you really love her. What's it like having another man in your life though?
(Valentine growls)
FH: I mean, in a non-sexual way. Prophecy said that you two aren't really into that side of the relationship.
Valentine: As long as he stays within the boundaries of our agreement, and does not attempt to take Prophecy away from me, or take up all of her time, then I do not mind his occasional visits.
FH: Spoken like a man who doesn't want to share his toys with the other boys in the playground. I can't blame you. It must be strange allowing your mate to be with another man.
Valentine: (looks sour) She knows her place, and knows not to overstep the boundaries. She is my mate, and can feel everything that I do. I do not believe that she would ever betray me with Venturi.
(the door opens and Prophecy rushes in and lands on Valentine's lap. She loops her arms around his neck and kisses him)
Prophecy: I would never hurt you. I love you too much. (she strokes his face) If you commanded it, I would never look at Venturi again. My heart is yours.
Valentine: (smiles broadly and I almost keel over from witnessing such a rare thing) And mine yours.
(Prophecy peppers kisses all over his face. It's strange to see him smiling properly. I give them a moment and then clear my throat. They both look at me.)
FH: Maybe I should wrap this up and give you some alone time. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
Valentine: Dark red.
FH: And your favourite smell?
Valentine: Fresh blood, or Prophecy's scent.
FH: Your favourite possession?
Valentine: (squeezes Prophecy's waist) The beautiful woman in my arms. (She frowns at him)
Prophecy: I'm a possession now?
Valentine: The only thing I ever wanted. (That gets a smile from Prophecy)
FH: Favourite thing to do?
Valentine: Walk the grounds or the city with Prophecy on my arm. I like nothing more than being alone with her (he gives me a pointed look)
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
Valentine: Winter. The nights are long and the city is quiet, and my workload is lighter. I can spend more time with Prophecy then.
(Prophecy starts kissing him again)
FH: Well, it was... yeah... maybe I'll leave you alone now. (I get up, taking my notes on my next interviewees with me, and sneak out of the room)
Did you all enjoy this interview with Valentine?
If you would like to learn more about Valentine and Prophecy, and their story, then the first book in the Prophecy Trilogy is available in ebook for just $0.99!
Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]
F E Heaton
A vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever.
Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable to ignore the vision of them that he saw in her blood, Valentine goes against his orders to execute Prophecy and kidnaps her instead. The attraction between them grows as they search for the truth behind the prophecy, battle a dark evil that threatens to destroy the world, and attempt to evade their families and the Law Keepers.
When the truth about her is revealed, will Prophecy be strong enough to face it? Will they discover a way to save the world from Hell? And will they finally see past the hatred bred into them by their families and surrender to their love?
The first novel in the Vampires Realm series, Prophecy: Child of Light, is part one in an epic tale of love and war that is sure to capture your heart and leave you craving more.
ebook price: $0.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 135000 words
rating: sultry
released: March 2007
Book 1 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Prophecy:%20Child%20of%20Light%20[book%201]
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Prophecy/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000801048/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-prophecychildoflight-601470-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/prophecy/_/R-400000000000000248920
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Prophecy-Child-Of-Light/mix-rDOnD6cECkGermYtAHD9Dw/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7757
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Valentine is from my Vampires Realm series and first appeared in Prophecy: Child of Light, which is book one in the Prophecy Trilogy, in which he is the hero (for all three books, of course). He has also made appearances in other Vampires Realm stories, such as Seventh Circle and Spellbound, with Prophecy at his side (and Venturi too). More recently, he showed up in Masquerade, which is due out in January 2012.
I caught up with Valentine in my rather lovely interview room... picture dark red walls, wooden floor, crackling log fire with an ornate marble surround, and two very comfy black velvet armchairs and that's my interview room. The best place to lure my paranormal people into.
If you want to get a feel for Valentine, then you can read more about him at the Vampires Realm website: http://www.vampiresrealm.com/vampire_valentine.php
(Valentine enters the room and settles himself in the black velvet armchair opposite me. He neatly arranges his dark red knee-length military-style jacket and then sweeps his long fingers over his black hair. His green eyes fix on mine. I clear my throat. Valentine is always a little tetchy around humans so I hope I don't end up as dinner)
FH: So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
Valentine: Things have been busy. My bloodline has learned to behave themselves and accept my rule, but now I am constantly working. I had been privy to the inner workings of a bloodline during my position as a hunter, but I had not anticipated that it would be so much work. Lord Kalinor made it appear easy.
FH: I bet it's anything but easy, but at least you finally have them on your side. You say that you're constantly working, so does that mean you don't get to spend much time with Prophecy?
Valentine: She often comes to visit, but at the moment it is difficult for me to find time to go to her, even when I desire to. Cornelius is a competent Chosen Son, but he lacks the leadership skills and respect required to run a bloodline. Often when I leave, the house is in pandemonium by the time I return.
FH: What about Xavier? As your head guard, isn't he able to control them?
(Valentine sighs emphatically, the first sign I've seen of him breathing. As a vampire of almost three hundred, he rarely breathes.)
Valentine: Little woman, I thought that during the documentation process of my species history you would have learned that such a thing would be a disaster. A guard has no place in commanding a bloodline when one of the leaders is there. If Xavier were to step in, the bloodline would lose all respect for Cornelius.
(I shrink into my black velvet armchair, bringing my feet up onto the seat, feeling like a chided youngling)
FH: I see. I don't confess to being any good at politics. Don't you miss Prophecy?
(The barest hint of a smile touches his lips and a shine enters his green eyes)
Valentine: With all of my heart.
FH: Aww.
(Valentine glares at me, his eyes briefly changing to blue, their vampiric state. I swallow and silently take back what I did)
Valentine: (He looks down at his hands in his lap and then back at me) Prophecy understands that I must spend time with my bloodline, but sometimes I am able to go to her. We often find time to walk the city together.
FH: (grins) Yeah, she told me all about your moonlit walks and how you kill for her. Super sweet.
Valentine: (raises an eyebrow) A mate should provide for his beloved. I am only following my nature as a vampire. I am sure humans do similar things, such as a male requesting that a female joins him for dinner in a restaurant. It is the same thing.
FH: That puts a new twist on the phrase "dining out". (I smile at him when he glowers at me) I get what you're saying though. You want to spend quality time with Prophecy and can't do that at either mansion, so you head off into the city for some alone time. Do you ever get away for longer periods?
Valentine: We have sometimes gone to stay at one of the apartments I keep in various cities around Europe. Prophecy is terrible at abusing her right to use her bloodline's private jet and often insists that we go to Italy for only a night or two at a time. She is still researching her mother's life.
FH: The witch? It's nice that you help her with that. It means a lot to her.
Valentine: (comes as close to smiling as he gets)
FH: So, do you have any other adventures planned? Prophecy mentioned that Venturi had something in the pipeline. Are you involved in that too?
Valentine: (nods) Yes, we have been to Romania to see him about a problem that he has with the gate there. It is still active and causing trouble for him on a regular basis. We need to find a way to close it permanently.
FH: That sounds a little more tame than your previous adventures. Are you expecting trouble?
Valentine: Prophecy has been seeing visions recently, none of them good, and some of them involving the gate, so we must go to Romania again to see if there is something we perhaps overlooked during our first visit.
FH: Your romance with Prophecy is still pretty hot, and I can see that you really love her. What's it like having another man in your life though?
(Valentine growls)
FH: I mean, in a non-sexual way. Prophecy said that you two aren't really into that side of the relationship.
Valentine: As long as he stays within the boundaries of our agreement, and does not attempt to take Prophecy away from me, or take up all of her time, then I do not mind his occasional visits.
FH: Spoken like a man who doesn't want to share his toys with the other boys in the playground. I can't blame you. It must be strange allowing your mate to be with another man.
Valentine: (looks sour) She knows her place, and knows not to overstep the boundaries. She is my mate, and can feel everything that I do. I do not believe that she would ever betray me with Venturi.
(the door opens and Prophecy rushes in and lands on Valentine's lap. She loops her arms around his neck and kisses him)
Prophecy: I would never hurt you. I love you too much. (she strokes his face) If you commanded it, I would never look at Venturi again. My heart is yours.
Valentine: (smiles broadly and I almost keel over from witnessing such a rare thing) And mine yours.
(Prophecy peppers kisses all over his face. It's strange to see him smiling properly. I give them a moment and then clear my throat. They both look at me.)
FH: Maybe I should wrap this up and give you some alone time. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
Valentine: Dark red.
FH: And your favourite smell?
Valentine: Fresh blood, or Prophecy's scent.
FH: Your favourite possession?
Valentine: (squeezes Prophecy's waist) The beautiful woman in my arms. (She frowns at him)
Prophecy: I'm a possession now?
Valentine: The only thing I ever wanted. (That gets a smile from Prophecy)
FH: Favourite thing to do?
Valentine: Walk the grounds or the city with Prophecy on my arm. I like nothing more than being alone with her (he gives me a pointed look)
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
Valentine: Winter. The nights are long and the city is quiet, and my workload is lighter. I can spend more time with Prophecy then.
(Prophecy starts kissing him again)
FH: Well, it was... yeah... maybe I'll leave you alone now. (I get up, taking my notes on my next interviewees with me, and sneak out of the room)
Did you all enjoy this interview with Valentine?
If you would like to learn more about Valentine and Prophecy, and their story, then the first book in the Prophecy Trilogy is available in ebook for just $0.99!
Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]
F E HeatonA vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever.
Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable to ignore the vision of them that he saw in her blood, Valentine goes against his orders to execute Prophecy and kidnaps her instead. The attraction between them grows as they search for the truth behind the prophecy, battle a dark evil that threatens to destroy the world, and attempt to evade their families and the Law Keepers.
When the truth about her is revealed, will Prophecy be strong enough to face it? Will they discover a way to save the world from Hell? And will they finally see past the hatred bred into them by their families and surrender to their love?
The first novel in the Vampires Realm series, Prophecy: Child of Light, is part one in an epic tale of love and war that is sure to capture your heart and leave you craving more.
ebook price: $0.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 135000 words
rating: sultry
released: March 2007
Book 1 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Prophecy:%20Child%20of%20Light%20[book%201]
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Prophecy/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000801048/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-prophecychildoflight-601470-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/prophecy/_/R-400000000000000248920
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Prophecy-Child-Of-Light/mix-rDOnD6cECkGermYtAHD9Dw/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7757
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDNV4/
vampire werewolf romance book - Hunter's Moon - extended excerpt
Jumping back to my
Vampires Realm
series for this extended excerpt from my vampire werewolf romance book,
Hunter's Moon
. You've already met Tatyana, the heroine of this book, in a character interview I did on Friday. Now's your chance to find out more about her story and meet her hero too, the ever-so-sexy ex-alpha werewolf Nicolae.
As usual, I'll post a link to the downloadable PDF long excerpt of this vampire werewolf romance book and also a teaser chapter to get you all started...
Hunter's Moon
F E Heaton
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
EXCERPTCrisp air rushed through Nicolae's black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each other's shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.
Nicolae obeyed.
He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.
Nicolae wasn't interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.
Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.
Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Casey's horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.
That he hadn't participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.
That he wasn't a wolf.
A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.
The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.
A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.
He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.
The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.
There were men on the mountain.
Men who didn't belong there.
Nicolae ran down the other side of the hillock and rejoined the wolves, running close to them now, amongst the pack. The sense of calm and playfulness disappeared. The wolves were hunting, a sliver of fear flowing through the entire pack, alertness that called to his instincts. He focused on the woods ahead, mapping them and monitoring for a sign of the men. It was unusual for hunters to come onto the mountains at night, especially when winter's grip was closing on the area.
A distant noise snapped the group to attention. The alpha snarled. Nicolae stretched his superior senses farther ahead of them. They whispered of danger. He sniffed and caught the scent of men on the wind. No one that he recognised. The grey alpha snarled again, this time in Nicolae's direction. Nicolae answered with a growl. There was no reason to fear the humans.
He would protect them if it came to a fight.
He doubted that it would. Humans rarely hurt the wolves and never bothered him. They were probably looking for deer. He glanced at the moon. It was late to be hunting, and not just in the year. The sun had set hours ago and midnight was approaching. What prey were they after? The bears were already heading into hibernation, and deer didn't come this far up the mountain in winter. The only animals up here were small game and the timber wolves.
A trickle of fear slithered down his spine. His hackles rose in response.
Were they after the wolves?
Nicolae snarled, sending a message to the pack.
They turned and moved in a silent dark stream down into the valley, away from the hunters. Nicolae lumbered onwards alone, towards the hunters he could sense in the distance. It was rocky ground where they were and the sparse trees would offer him little cover, but it was a risk he had to take. If the hunters saw him, he would head back down towards the valley, where the forest was thicker. He had to make sure that these men weren't a threat. He needed to protect the wolves.
Nicolae slowed to a trot as he reached the stony ground and lowered himself until his softer stomach fur brushed the leaf litter and rocks. He crawled forwards, moving as quietly as possible, stalking the hunters. They stood in a clearing, the moon highlighting them with threads of silver. Nicolae stopped behind the broad trunk of the nearest tree, as close as he could get without them noticing him.
Their murmured conversation masked the sound of his soft huffs. His heart thumped against his ribs.
Four men. Dark haired. They were difficult to make out even in the moonlight. He could tell they were tall, and that the two who had their backs to him were broad built, possibly even bigger than he was in human form. Their black fatigues caused them to blend into each other and the woods beyond, and he couldn't make out any of their faces or the builds of the other two men.
"I'm telling you she's gone down towards that valley," one of the men whispered, his accent local sounding enough. He was Canadian at least. Nicolae couldn't see him clearly from his position behind the tree and bushes, but he couldn't risk moving.
"Did you see how she moved? I've never seen something move that fast. Is that normal?" This voice had a tremor in it that spoke of inexperience and fear.
What were they hunting? Referring to animals as female was nothing new to him but it didn't sound as though they were hunting bear or deer. Were his suspicions correct and they were after the wolves?
Nicolae looked down towards the valley. The local timber wolf pack were all there and most of them had been with him all night. The distant howl that had alerted them to the presence of the hunters had been a scout. It hadn't given word of an altercation with the men. If there had been one, the wolf would have reported it to the pack.
He glanced the other way, towards the peak of the plateau and his cabin. Beyond it was the settlement. Were they hunting his sort of wolf? Impossible. No one in these parts knew of the werewolves. They lived quietly amongst the humans, blending in and keeping to themselves. None more so than him. He didn't belong to that pack. He didn't belong to anyone.
He cast his gaze over each hunter in turn, scrutinising them with his senses and putting their scents to memory. What were they doing on the mountain? One of the men looked in the direction of the valley and Nicolae stilled. They weren't dark haired. They were all wearing black woollen hats, and the one he could see had night-vision goggles on.
Nicolae shuffled back a step and hunkered down when the man turned towards him. Even the bushes around the trees had lost their foliage this far up the mountain. If he moved so much as a millimetre, the man would spot him through the infrared goggles. His heartbeat doubled and it felt impossible to keep still. He wasn't sure what sort of weaponry they had, but with the goggles, the men already had the advantage. They would be able to see him at a distance. There would be no quick escape into the darkness. Anticipation sent adrenaline to his muscles and they coiled in readiness. The wolf pack howled in the distance. The man turned away. Nicolae dared to peek through the twigs of the bushes at the men.
The one who had looked towards him was facing the others again, his hand hovering on the hilt of a vicious-looking hunting knife that hung from his utility belt. Nicolae glanced at the man next to him. A similar knife hung from his belt. Were they armed only with knives? He tried to see their hands but most of the men had them in front of them, or the bodies of the others hid them. They started talking again, calm and unfazed by the surrounding darkness and distant wolf howls.
Something about them didn't feel right. Their poise, their calmness, set them apart from the casual hunters that often came to the area, and gave him the impression that they were experienced in night manoeuvres and possibly trained in combat. In fact, he would hazard a guess that either they were in the military or they used to be. The only one who didn't feel like a threat was the one who was afraid. His heart pounded faster than the other three men's did, pushing at Nicolae's desire to attack. He clawed for control, his focus turning inward for a moment as he struggled against his animal instincts.
"I say we go down." The one in the middle of the group this time. His agreement with the first voice caused a murmur to run through them. The three men who had spoken turned towards the fourth, tallest, man.
The man stepped forwards, into the clearing, and Nicolae got a good look at him. The cold calculating edge to his expression warned Nicolae that this man was more than a hunter of animals. He had seen such faces before, in his past, on merciless killers that were acquainted with death and cruelty, and revelled in it.
Nicolae slunk further into the shadows, battling dark splintered memories that branded his mind with horrific images of violence and bloodshed, and seared his body with fierce pain. Each scar on his skin turned to flame beneath his black fur and he fought the urge to snarl. It had been so long since he had relived the nightmare of his past that he had forgotten how to deal with the pain. It threatened to cripple him, to force him from his animal state and expose him to the hunters. He battled the memories, using every ounce of his strength and willpower to remain hidden and as a wolf, but his control began to slip.
Screams taunted him, pleas for mercy and desperate cries for protection. His muscles bunched tight, bordering on cramping, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he relived everything in such vivid detail that it felt as though he had been transported back to that time, to the hellhole in which they had tortured him and his blood kin. Images of them swam in his mind, shifting in and out of focus, bloodied and beaten, eyes full of despair that turned to hope as they fell on him. He felt himself reaching out to them even though he couldn't move, trying to grasp the fragile visions as frantic need to comfort them flooded him. They slipped through his fingers, faces turning hollow and emaciated as they screamed, clutching themselves. His limbs shook, weak down to his bones, and he tried to shun the images, not wanting to witness their deaths again.
Not wanting to relive the horror of his failings.
He ground his teeth, biting down hard until his sharp canines cut into his gums and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The metallic scent brought darker memories with it. They crowded his mind, driving him to the edge of despair, and threatening to break his hold on his wolf form. He couldn't lose it here. The hunters would see him. They would kill him before he had a chance to fully transform and escape into the woods. He would expose everyone to danger. He fought to remain focused, clamping his jaw and sucking in deep gulps of night air through his nose. The crisp edge to the air and the scent of the woods grounded him enough that he could shift his focus to the present and his surroundings, pushing away the terrifying memories.
"We go down," the hunter said at last, snapping Nicolae back to them and giving him a point of focus to hold on to, helping him clear his mind.
He breathed hard, gradually bringing himself back under control. The smell of the night soothed him and his pulse began to level again, his blood no longer blazing in his veins.
Nicolae looked up at the moon through the trees, needing to see it and see that he was free. His past laid thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago. Out here in the wild, he was free of the world that had once enslaved him. He was free of the vampires.
Two of the men moved past the one who Nicolae had decided was their leader. They brought their night-vision goggles down over their eyes and shouldered weapons that caused Nicolae to hesitate. The fourth man moved and did a sweep of the area.
Nicolae stared at the crossbow and the shiny tip of the dart aimed straight at him, his breathing faltering at the sight of it. The man moved on, scanning behind the group, and then followed them down into the woods.
Bows?
When was the last time he had seen a hunter use a bow? He couldn't recall one in recent years. Everyone used high-powered rifles with accurate sights now. Even he did.
The timber wolves howled in the valley.
Nicolae tried to make out what they were saying but it was difficult with the men distracting him. He crawled through the undergrowth, tracking them from a distance. Whenever one of the men turned his way, sweeping the area with their crossbow, he flattened himself against the ground and waited. Their progress through the forest was slow but they were heading towards the wolves. If they came too close to the pack, he would break cover and head down to warn them.
The hunters maintained their silence as they wove through the woods, giving Nicolae difficulty. It was hard to move without making a sound when the leaf litter was so deep and crisp. He placed each paw carefully, moving with stealth and keeping far enough away that they wouldn't hear him.
"I still say that she went up," one of the men whispered after they had been walking for over twenty minutes and Nicolae caught sight of the leader through the dense tree trunks.
The man held his hand up in a fist and the group halted. Nicolae stopped too, one paw in the air. It trembled with the exertion of holding it there. He gradually lowered it to the ground, holding his breath as he did so, and then exhaled when none of the hunters looked his way. The leader turned towards the man who had spoken and something silent passed between them.
Nicolae knew a threat when he felt it. It seemed the man who had spoken did too because he bent his head and remained silent as the group continued down towards the glade. Nicolae reached out with his senses, searching for both the wolf pack and the prey of the hunters. Could it be a bear?
They had talked about her being quick. Bears were fast when they had to be. He'd been on the receiving end of a few charges in his lifetime. They weren't as fast as wolves though.
He sensed the timber wolf pack on the grazing land far below. The alpha howled and Nicolae paid him no heed, only using the sound to confirm their position on his senses was correct. He couldn't feel any other animals besides a few birds and small creatures. The high-tech crossbows these men were packing said that they weren't after prey smaller than a wolf, not unless they enjoyed a challenge. Even then, they would probably go after big game. Hunting large animals with only a bow would be more exciting and dangerous. A challenge most hunters would relish. Which brought him back around to bears.
The men stopped a few hundred metres up the mountain from the glade. Their leader raised his goggles, looked towards the rugged horizon, and then turned towards the other three.
"She might have gone to ground." It was the one who had almost seen him. The leader looked thoughtful, his face shadowed and difficult to make out.
Two of the men he hadn't got a good look at earlier were in broken moonlight now, their night-vision goggles pushed up on their foreheads. They were young, one of them around his late twenties and the other into his thirties. Nicolae suspected it had been the youngest man who had sounded scared. The other one had a hard set to his jaw and coldness in his eyes. The sort of look a man got after seeing a lot of death.
Nicolae had that look sometimes.
"I shot her." There was certainty in the man's gravelly voice. None of the others looked as though they were about to doubt him.
Nicolae sniffed, trying to catch a scent on the chill air. If they had shot whatever animal they were after, then it would be bleeding. He would be able to track it.
"The poison will take care of her in that case."
Nicolae froze. Poison? He looked at the bolts loaded in the crossbows. Just what was it they had shot and now wanted to find? Hunters didn't normally poison their prey.
Not unless their prey was strong enough to survive arrows and bullets and come after them. He shook that thought away. There was no reason for him to get jittery. In the century he had lived in the area, not once had anyone attacked the werewolves.
"I don't want to risk it. I want to find her." The leader this time.
The alpha wolf howled again and Nicolae listened.
Blood.
They were hunting something.
Nicolae tensed, torn between breaking cover and heading down to see what the wolves had smelt, and remaining to listen to the men and ensure they left the mountain.
He raised his nose to the breeze and sniffed. He could smell it now, sharp and coppery, coming up from the valley.
A bolt zipped past him, thudding into a tree barely inches from his nose. Nicolae ran, keeping his rear down and weaving through the narrow gaps between the trees to cover himself. Another bolt narrowly missed him.
"Don't waste ammo unless you're sure it's what we're here after," the leader said.
Nicolae pounded through the forest, away from the men and down towards the valley. He picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail. It grew stronger, fresh and sharp in the clear air, cutting through it. He sniffed the ground at intervals, trying to see if the animal had bled onto it so he could investigate the scent and determine what sort of creature it was.
The pine trees grew dense around him as he neared the glade. Their scent obscured the subtler one of the blood, making it impossible for him to tell what it belonged to. It didn't smell animal.
It wasn't werewolf.
He rounded a tree and spotted something in the clearing ahead.
Human.
The timber wolves broke out of the woods on the other side to Nicolae, heading for the body. His heart slammed against his ribs and he crashed through the undergrowth and out into the glade. He dashed across the open ground, passing the body, and leapt into the group, snarling and snapping at them, driving them back. His teeth clashed with those of the more persistent wolves but he was careful not to draw blood. His attack wasn't about hurting them. It was purely to force them to leave the human alone. It was to protect them. If they ate the body, the locals would hunt them down and slaughter them all. He couldn't allow that to happen.
The alpha growled.
The rest of the pack cowered, lowering their rears and bowing their heads. Some of the younger ones at the back whimpered and whined.
The grey alpha came forward, smaller than Nicolae but bigger than the other wolves, and stared at him.
Nicolae breathed hard and held the alpha's yellow gaze.
The pack was hungry. With winter setting in, it was important that they fed well, but he couldn't allow them to harm this human. The alpha didn't move. Nicolae could understand his need to protect his pack and provide for them.
He huffed, turning the air misty for a second with his warm breath, and then came to a decision. He looked deep into the alpha's eyes, communicating with him alone. He would hunt and leave them a deer at his cabin in exchange for the human. Was that acceptable?
The alpha wolf stared at him a moment longer and then turned and trotted silently into the forest. The pack followed.
Nicolae huffed again.
He would do as he had promised and give them a deer as soon as he could go out and hunt. During harsher winters, he often provided for them. Wolves were a proud race, just like their werewolf brethren, but this pack no longer took offence at his offerings.
Nicolae knew the pain of not being able to provide for the pack, of failing in his duty to protect them, and because of those experiences he knew that he had asked a lot of the alpha tonight. He was grateful the wolf had chosen to accept the deer and, to show it, he would find the largest one he could.
He turned and sniffed his way back to the human. She lay on the leaf litter, motionless and pale. Covered in blood. It had a strange smell. Some part of it was human but the scent was different, familiar. Was it the poison that made it smell so wrong?
The woman's eyes were closed, her fair hair spread across the ground in a golden wave. Moonlight shone down into the glade, the bare branches of the trees splitting it into bright shafts that bathed her. He sniffed again and listened. No heartbeat but he couldn't be sure. Twin darts punctured her black fatigues, one in the left of her chest, up from her heart, and the second in the right side of her stomach. Could she have survived that?
He caught the scent of the hunters on the darts.
Why had they killed her?
She was dressed like them.
Nicolae listened again for a pulse. None came.
There were some things that he couldn't do as a wolf. He shuffled back a few paces to give himself more room and then focused. His bones popped and body twisted, the black fur on it slowly disappearing as he transformed back into his normal form. He grimaced and growled quietly, containing his pain for fear of alerting the hunters to his presence. He wasn't sure if they had gone and he wasn't sure if the woman was dead. He couldn't let either of them know what he was. His ribs stretched and his limbs cracked back into human forms still covered in patches of fur. It swept backwards, towards his shoulders, revealing deformed fingers that pushed out into normal shapes. His muzzle compressed, his teeth receding, and he moved onto his hind legs, standing with a wobble. Pain ripped down his spine with the final shift of his bones beneath his now human skin, and he bit back his desire to throw his head back and scream out his agony.
Nicolae clenched his fists and breathed deep, waiting with closed eyes for the pain to pass and his heartbeat to level again.
Centuries of life as a werewolf and whenever he spent too long in his animal form, he still felt the pain as he had during the first change.
The moment it subsided, he crouched beside the woman, naked and unashamed. He touched her throat. She was cold and he couldn't feel a pulse. Dead.
He ran his hand over his messy dark hair and frowned, thinking over what he should do.
His gaze assessed the two darts. Blood saturated the black material around them. He touched it, brought his fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He could smell the poison. Strong. Why had the hunters killed her? If he had found her before coming across the hunters, he would have said they had belonged to the same party. Only this woman wasn't armed.
Nicolae looked around the clearing for a weapon.
When he looked back at the woman, she was staring at him with dark eyes.
Her left fist flew towards him.
Nicolae rolled backwards into a crouch, barely avoiding the punch. She lunged, trying to grab him, gasping and wheezing. Blood pumped from around the arrow in her abdomen. The dart must have punctured her lung.
His gaze met hers again and he froze. The words of warning to keep still fled his lips.
Fiery orange eyes pinned him with the deadliest of stares.
Nocens.
She bore her fangs and Nicolae backed away, his eyes still locked with hers, panic sending an icy wave through his blood.
What was a vampire of the Nocens bloodline doing in Canada?
She snarled and then slumped backwards, hitting the dirt hard. Nicolae didn't move. He couldn't tell if she was dead or not but he wasn't about to risk his neck by checking her. His gaze darted between the arrows. There was a lot of blood on her, and around the glade. The arrows were poisoned. He dragged in a shaky breath.
The scent of her blood hit him and, now that he knew why he recognised it, he couldn't bear the smell.
Nicolae shook his head at the first assault of memories, desperate to keep them at bay. He wasn't there now. He was free. He had paid for it in blood and death, but he was free. The images came, relentless, horrifying visions of violence and pain, punishment in dark barred corridors, screams that echoed through the entire compound. He fell forwards, breathing hard, clawing the dirt into his fists and holding on. Cries. Blood. The sting of the whip against his back. He arched forwards and growled, his teeth elongating. The laughter of his cruel masters. His neck burned, aching under the pressing weight of an iron collar. The humiliation of his brethren.
Blood ran in a fetid river before his eyes, trickling over damp dark stones and along the gutter in front of the cells, mixing with faeces and urine. Shackles clanked in the dim light. Bars rattled under the duress of a fruitless attack by a prisoner.
He wasn't there.
Nicolae yelled his rage at the starlit sky. It burst from him, desperate and feral in its sound, and echoed around the distant mountains. A disconsolate howl from the valley answered him. The alpha. The sound of it and the message it contained soothed him and granted him relief. He shut the pain down, clearing his mind of the past and focusing on the present, but there was no comfort in it now.
His gaze snapped to the vampire.
He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood over her, staring with hatred burning in his gut. The hunters were still searching for her, and it wouldn't be long before they reached where he was. They would finish her off. If she managed to survive both the hunters and the poison until daybreak, then nature would take care of her. The sky was clear. When the sun rose, it would spill into the glade. She wouldn't be strong enough to escape it. Her kind deserved to feel pain.
He would never involve himself with vampires.
He strode away from her.
No matter how beautiful they were.
That thought arrested his steps. He frowned over his shoulder at her. The cold air curled around him, chilling and stiffening his bare body. He stared at the vampire and then at the horizon through the trees, and realised with self-loathing that he wasn't strong enough to do it. As much as he despised her kind, he wasn't a monster like them. She wasn't the same bloodline as the ones who had enslaved him. She had done nothing to deserve his bitterness. If he left her, it would plague him and he would regret it. If he needed a reason to help her, he would do it for the sake of information about the hunters. They had to be the reason that she was so far from home.
Nicolae went back to her. She looked small and fragile as she lay on the dirt. Her appearance belied her true nature but it couldn't fool his senses. When she had come around, he had felt her strength. Was she strong enough to fight the poison? He placed his palm against her forehead. She wasn't burning up yet. If the poison was the type most vampire hunters used, then there was still time to help her.
Part of him said to leave her. Her kind had given him nothing but pain. She should feel it in return.
He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. Watching a dying vampire succumb to the sun and poison would be a petty form of vengeance. His heart had let go of his desire for revenge almost fifty years ago now, cleansed by his quiet life in the wilderness. Only the nightmarish memories kept it alive in him.
Nicolae sighed and picked her up, shifting her into his arms and cradling her against his bare chest in a way that didn't disturb the bolts. If she woke again, he would drop her in a flash and distance himself. He doubted that she would though. She had probably used the last of her strength fighting him.
Was he really going to do this? If he brought her into his home, if he helped her heal, then he would be helping the enemy.
In times of war, it was acceptable to help the enemy of your enemy. The hunters had tried to kill her. They were a threat to everything he had built here, and everyone that he knew.
He had to help her.
Even when he knew it would place him in danger.
The hunters were after her.
They would be after him too now.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
As usual, I'll post a link to the downloadable PDF long excerpt of this vampire werewolf romance book and also a teaser chapter to get you all started...
Hunter's Moon
F E HeatonThe horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
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Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
EXCERPTCrisp air rushed through Nicolae's black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each other's shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.
Nicolae obeyed.
He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.
Nicolae wasn't interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.
Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.
Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Casey's horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.
That he hadn't participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.
That he wasn't a wolf.
A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.
The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.
A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.
He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.
The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.
There were men on the mountain.
Men who didn't belong there.
Nicolae ran down the other side of the hillock and rejoined the wolves, running close to them now, amongst the pack. The sense of calm and playfulness disappeared. The wolves were hunting, a sliver of fear flowing through the entire pack, alertness that called to his instincts. He focused on the woods ahead, mapping them and monitoring for a sign of the men. It was unusual for hunters to come onto the mountains at night, especially when winter's grip was closing on the area.
A distant noise snapped the group to attention. The alpha snarled. Nicolae stretched his superior senses farther ahead of them. They whispered of danger. He sniffed and caught the scent of men on the wind. No one that he recognised. The grey alpha snarled again, this time in Nicolae's direction. Nicolae answered with a growl. There was no reason to fear the humans.
He would protect them if it came to a fight.
He doubted that it would. Humans rarely hurt the wolves and never bothered him. They were probably looking for deer. He glanced at the moon. It was late to be hunting, and not just in the year. The sun had set hours ago and midnight was approaching. What prey were they after? The bears were already heading into hibernation, and deer didn't come this far up the mountain in winter. The only animals up here were small game and the timber wolves.
A trickle of fear slithered down his spine. His hackles rose in response.
Were they after the wolves?
Nicolae snarled, sending a message to the pack.
They turned and moved in a silent dark stream down into the valley, away from the hunters. Nicolae lumbered onwards alone, towards the hunters he could sense in the distance. It was rocky ground where they were and the sparse trees would offer him little cover, but it was a risk he had to take. If the hunters saw him, he would head back down towards the valley, where the forest was thicker. He had to make sure that these men weren't a threat. He needed to protect the wolves.
Nicolae slowed to a trot as he reached the stony ground and lowered himself until his softer stomach fur brushed the leaf litter and rocks. He crawled forwards, moving as quietly as possible, stalking the hunters. They stood in a clearing, the moon highlighting them with threads of silver. Nicolae stopped behind the broad trunk of the nearest tree, as close as he could get without them noticing him.
Their murmured conversation masked the sound of his soft huffs. His heart thumped against his ribs.
Four men. Dark haired. They were difficult to make out even in the moonlight. He could tell they were tall, and that the two who had their backs to him were broad built, possibly even bigger than he was in human form. Their black fatigues caused them to blend into each other and the woods beyond, and he couldn't make out any of their faces or the builds of the other two men.
"I'm telling you she's gone down towards that valley," one of the men whispered, his accent local sounding enough. He was Canadian at least. Nicolae couldn't see him clearly from his position behind the tree and bushes, but he couldn't risk moving.
"Did you see how she moved? I've never seen something move that fast. Is that normal?" This voice had a tremor in it that spoke of inexperience and fear.
What were they hunting? Referring to animals as female was nothing new to him but it didn't sound as though they were hunting bear or deer. Were his suspicions correct and they were after the wolves?
Nicolae looked down towards the valley. The local timber wolf pack were all there and most of them had been with him all night. The distant howl that had alerted them to the presence of the hunters had been a scout. It hadn't given word of an altercation with the men. If there had been one, the wolf would have reported it to the pack.
He glanced the other way, towards the peak of the plateau and his cabin. Beyond it was the settlement. Were they hunting his sort of wolf? Impossible. No one in these parts knew of the werewolves. They lived quietly amongst the humans, blending in and keeping to themselves. None more so than him. He didn't belong to that pack. He didn't belong to anyone.
He cast his gaze over each hunter in turn, scrutinising them with his senses and putting their scents to memory. What were they doing on the mountain? One of the men looked in the direction of the valley and Nicolae stilled. They weren't dark haired. They were all wearing black woollen hats, and the one he could see had night-vision goggles on.
Nicolae shuffled back a step and hunkered down when the man turned towards him. Even the bushes around the trees had lost their foliage this far up the mountain. If he moved so much as a millimetre, the man would spot him through the infrared goggles. His heartbeat doubled and it felt impossible to keep still. He wasn't sure what sort of weaponry they had, but with the goggles, the men already had the advantage. They would be able to see him at a distance. There would be no quick escape into the darkness. Anticipation sent adrenaline to his muscles and they coiled in readiness. The wolf pack howled in the distance. The man turned away. Nicolae dared to peek through the twigs of the bushes at the men.
The one who had looked towards him was facing the others again, his hand hovering on the hilt of a vicious-looking hunting knife that hung from his utility belt. Nicolae glanced at the man next to him. A similar knife hung from his belt. Were they armed only with knives? He tried to see their hands but most of the men had them in front of them, or the bodies of the others hid them. They started talking again, calm and unfazed by the surrounding darkness and distant wolf howls.
Something about them didn't feel right. Their poise, their calmness, set them apart from the casual hunters that often came to the area, and gave him the impression that they were experienced in night manoeuvres and possibly trained in combat. In fact, he would hazard a guess that either they were in the military or they used to be. The only one who didn't feel like a threat was the one who was afraid. His heart pounded faster than the other three men's did, pushing at Nicolae's desire to attack. He clawed for control, his focus turning inward for a moment as he struggled against his animal instincts.
"I say we go down." The one in the middle of the group this time. His agreement with the first voice caused a murmur to run through them. The three men who had spoken turned towards the fourth, tallest, man.
The man stepped forwards, into the clearing, and Nicolae got a good look at him. The cold calculating edge to his expression warned Nicolae that this man was more than a hunter of animals. He had seen such faces before, in his past, on merciless killers that were acquainted with death and cruelty, and revelled in it.
Nicolae slunk further into the shadows, battling dark splintered memories that branded his mind with horrific images of violence and bloodshed, and seared his body with fierce pain. Each scar on his skin turned to flame beneath his black fur and he fought the urge to snarl. It had been so long since he had relived the nightmare of his past that he had forgotten how to deal with the pain. It threatened to cripple him, to force him from his animal state and expose him to the hunters. He battled the memories, using every ounce of his strength and willpower to remain hidden and as a wolf, but his control began to slip.
Screams taunted him, pleas for mercy and desperate cries for protection. His muscles bunched tight, bordering on cramping, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he relived everything in such vivid detail that it felt as though he had been transported back to that time, to the hellhole in which they had tortured him and his blood kin. Images of them swam in his mind, shifting in and out of focus, bloodied and beaten, eyes full of despair that turned to hope as they fell on him. He felt himself reaching out to them even though he couldn't move, trying to grasp the fragile visions as frantic need to comfort them flooded him. They slipped through his fingers, faces turning hollow and emaciated as they screamed, clutching themselves. His limbs shook, weak down to his bones, and he tried to shun the images, not wanting to witness their deaths again.
Not wanting to relive the horror of his failings.
He ground his teeth, biting down hard until his sharp canines cut into his gums and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The metallic scent brought darker memories with it. They crowded his mind, driving him to the edge of despair, and threatening to break his hold on his wolf form. He couldn't lose it here. The hunters would see him. They would kill him before he had a chance to fully transform and escape into the woods. He would expose everyone to danger. He fought to remain focused, clamping his jaw and sucking in deep gulps of night air through his nose. The crisp edge to the air and the scent of the woods grounded him enough that he could shift his focus to the present and his surroundings, pushing away the terrifying memories.
"We go down," the hunter said at last, snapping Nicolae back to them and giving him a point of focus to hold on to, helping him clear his mind.
He breathed hard, gradually bringing himself back under control. The smell of the night soothed him and his pulse began to level again, his blood no longer blazing in his veins.
Nicolae looked up at the moon through the trees, needing to see it and see that he was free. His past laid thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago. Out here in the wild, he was free of the world that had once enslaved him. He was free of the vampires.
Two of the men moved past the one who Nicolae had decided was their leader. They brought their night-vision goggles down over their eyes and shouldered weapons that caused Nicolae to hesitate. The fourth man moved and did a sweep of the area.
Nicolae stared at the crossbow and the shiny tip of the dart aimed straight at him, his breathing faltering at the sight of it. The man moved on, scanning behind the group, and then followed them down into the woods.
Bows?
When was the last time he had seen a hunter use a bow? He couldn't recall one in recent years. Everyone used high-powered rifles with accurate sights now. Even he did.
The timber wolves howled in the valley.
Nicolae tried to make out what they were saying but it was difficult with the men distracting him. He crawled through the undergrowth, tracking them from a distance. Whenever one of the men turned his way, sweeping the area with their crossbow, he flattened himself against the ground and waited. Their progress through the forest was slow but they were heading towards the wolves. If they came too close to the pack, he would break cover and head down to warn them.
The hunters maintained their silence as they wove through the woods, giving Nicolae difficulty. It was hard to move without making a sound when the leaf litter was so deep and crisp. He placed each paw carefully, moving with stealth and keeping far enough away that they wouldn't hear him.
"I still say that she went up," one of the men whispered after they had been walking for over twenty minutes and Nicolae caught sight of the leader through the dense tree trunks.
The man held his hand up in a fist and the group halted. Nicolae stopped too, one paw in the air. It trembled with the exertion of holding it there. He gradually lowered it to the ground, holding his breath as he did so, and then exhaled when none of the hunters looked his way. The leader turned towards the man who had spoken and something silent passed between them.
Nicolae knew a threat when he felt it. It seemed the man who had spoken did too because he bent his head and remained silent as the group continued down towards the glade. Nicolae reached out with his senses, searching for both the wolf pack and the prey of the hunters. Could it be a bear?
They had talked about her being quick. Bears were fast when they had to be. He'd been on the receiving end of a few charges in his lifetime. They weren't as fast as wolves though.
He sensed the timber wolf pack on the grazing land far below. The alpha howled and Nicolae paid him no heed, only using the sound to confirm their position on his senses was correct. He couldn't feel any other animals besides a few birds and small creatures. The high-tech crossbows these men were packing said that they weren't after prey smaller than a wolf, not unless they enjoyed a challenge. Even then, they would probably go after big game. Hunting large animals with only a bow would be more exciting and dangerous. A challenge most hunters would relish. Which brought him back around to bears.
The men stopped a few hundred metres up the mountain from the glade. Their leader raised his goggles, looked towards the rugged horizon, and then turned towards the other three.
"She might have gone to ground." It was the one who had almost seen him. The leader looked thoughtful, his face shadowed and difficult to make out.
Two of the men he hadn't got a good look at earlier were in broken moonlight now, their night-vision goggles pushed up on their foreheads. They were young, one of them around his late twenties and the other into his thirties. Nicolae suspected it had been the youngest man who had sounded scared. The other one had a hard set to his jaw and coldness in his eyes. The sort of look a man got after seeing a lot of death.
Nicolae had that look sometimes.
"I shot her." There was certainty in the man's gravelly voice. None of the others looked as though they were about to doubt him.
Nicolae sniffed, trying to catch a scent on the chill air. If they had shot whatever animal they were after, then it would be bleeding. He would be able to track it.
"The poison will take care of her in that case."
Nicolae froze. Poison? He looked at the bolts loaded in the crossbows. Just what was it they had shot and now wanted to find? Hunters didn't normally poison their prey.
Not unless their prey was strong enough to survive arrows and bullets and come after them. He shook that thought away. There was no reason for him to get jittery. In the century he had lived in the area, not once had anyone attacked the werewolves.
"I don't want to risk it. I want to find her." The leader this time.
The alpha wolf howled again and Nicolae listened.
Blood.
They were hunting something.
Nicolae tensed, torn between breaking cover and heading down to see what the wolves had smelt, and remaining to listen to the men and ensure they left the mountain.
He raised his nose to the breeze and sniffed. He could smell it now, sharp and coppery, coming up from the valley.
A bolt zipped past him, thudding into a tree barely inches from his nose. Nicolae ran, keeping his rear down and weaving through the narrow gaps between the trees to cover himself. Another bolt narrowly missed him.
"Don't waste ammo unless you're sure it's what we're here after," the leader said.
Nicolae pounded through the forest, away from the men and down towards the valley. He picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail. It grew stronger, fresh and sharp in the clear air, cutting through it. He sniffed the ground at intervals, trying to see if the animal had bled onto it so he could investigate the scent and determine what sort of creature it was.
The pine trees grew dense around him as he neared the glade. Their scent obscured the subtler one of the blood, making it impossible for him to tell what it belonged to. It didn't smell animal.
It wasn't werewolf.
He rounded a tree and spotted something in the clearing ahead.
Human.
The timber wolves broke out of the woods on the other side to Nicolae, heading for the body. His heart slammed against his ribs and he crashed through the undergrowth and out into the glade. He dashed across the open ground, passing the body, and leapt into the group, snarling and snapping at them, driving them back. His teeth clashed with those of the more persistent wolves but he was careful not to draw blood. His attack wasn't about hurting them. It was purely to force them to leave the human alone. It was to protect them. If they ate the body, the locals would hunt them down and slaughter them all. He couldn't allow that to happen.
The alpha growled.
The rest of the pack cowered, lowering their rears and bowing their heads. Some of the younger ones at the back whimpered and whined.
The grey alpha came forward, smaller than Nicolae but bigger than the other wolves, and stared at him.
Nicolae breathed hard and held the alpha's yellow gaze.
The pack was hungry. With winter setting in, it was important that they fed well, but he couldn't allow them to harm this human. The alpha didn't move. Nicolae could understand his need to protect his pack and provide for them.
He huffed, turning the air misty for a second with his warm breath, and then came to a decision. He looked deep into the alpha's eyes, communicating with him alone. He would hunt and leave them a deer at his cabin in exchange for the human. Was that acceptable?
The alpha wolf stared at him a moment longer and then turned and trotted silently into the forest. The pack followed.
Nicolae huffed again.
He would do as he had promised and give them a deer as soon as he could go out and hunt. During harsher winters, he often provided for them. Wolves were a proud race, just like their werewolf brethren, but this pack no longer took offence at his offerings.
Nicolae knew the pain of not being able to provide for the pack, of failing in his duty to protect them, and because of those experiences he knew that he had asked a lot of the alpha tonight. He was grateful the wolf had chosen to accept the deer and, to show it, he would find the largest one he could.
He turned and sniffed his way back to the human. She lay on the leaf litter, motionless and pale. Covered in blood. It had a strange smell. Some part of it was human but the scent was different, familiar. Was it the poison that made it smell so wrong?
The woman's eyes were closed, her fair hair spread across the ground in a golden wave. Moonlight shone down into the glade, the bare branches of the trees splitting it into bright shafts that bathed her. He sniffed again and listened. No heartbeat but he couldn't be sure. Twin darts punctured her black fatigues, one in the left of her chest, up from her heart, and the second in the right side of her stomach. Could she have survived that?
He caught the scent of the hunters on the darts.
Why had they killed her?
She was dressed like them.
Nicolae listened again for a pulse. None came.
There were some things that he couldn't do as a wolf. He shuffled back a few paces to give himself more room and then focused. His bones popped and body twisted, the black fur on it slowly disappearing as he transformed back into his normal form. He grimaced and growled quietly, containing his pain for fear of alerting the hunters to his presence. He wasn't sure if they had gone and he wasn't sure if the woman was dead. He couldn't let either of them know what he was. His ribs stretched and his limbs cracked back into human forms still covered in patches of fur. It swept backwards, towards his shoulders, revealing deformed fingers that pushed out into normal shapes. His muzzle compressed, his teeth receding, and he moved onto his hind legs, standing with a wobble. Pain ripped down his spine with the final shift of his bones beneath his now human skin, and he bit back his desire to throw his head back and scream out his agony.
Nicolae clenched his fists and breathed deep, waiting with closed eyes for the pain to pass and his heartbeat to level again.
Centuries of life as a werewolf and whenever he spent too long in his animal form, he still felt the pain as he had during the first change.
The moment it subsided, he crouched beside the woman, naked and unashamed. He touched her throat. She was cold and he couldn't feel a pulse. Dead.
He ran his hand over his messy dark hair and frowned, thinking over what he should do.
His gaze assessed the two darts. Blood saturated the black material around them. He touched it, brought his fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He could smell the poison. Strong. Why had the hunters killed her? If he had found her before coming across the hunters, he would have said they had belonged to the same party. Only this woman wasn't armed.
Nicolae looked around the clearing for a weapon.
When he looked back at the woman, she was staring at him with dark eyes.
Her left fist flew towards him.
Nicolae rolled backwards into a crouch, barely avoiding the punch. She lunged, trying to grab him, gasping and wheezing. Blood pumped from around the arrow in her abdomen. The dart must have punctured her lung.
His gaze met hers again and he froze. The words of warning to keep still fled his lips.
Fiery orange eyes pinned him with the deadliest of stares.
Nocens.
She bore her fangs and Nicolae backed away, his eyes still locked with hers, panic sending an icy wave through his blood.
What was a vampire of the Nocens bloodline doing in Canada?
She snarled and then slumped backwards, hitting the dirt hard. Nicolae didn't move. He couldn't tell if she was dead or not but he wasn't about to risk his neck by checking her. His gaze darted between the arrows. There was a lot of blood on her, and around the glade. The arrows were poisoned. He dragged in a shaky breath.
The scent of her blood hit him and, now that he knew why he recognised it, he couldn't bear the smell.
Nicolae shook his head at the first assault of memories, desperate to keep them at bay. He wasn't there now. He was free. He had paid for it in blood and death, but he was free. The images came, relentless, horrifying visions of violence and pain, punishment in dark barred corridors, screams that echoed through the entire compound. He fell forwards, breathing hard, clawing the dirt into his fists and holding on. Cries. Blood. The sting of the whip against his back. He arched forwards and growled, his teeth elongating. The laughter of his cruel masters. His neck burned, aching under the pressing weight of an iron collar. The humiliation of his brethren.
Blood ran in a fetid river before his eyes, trickling over damp dark stones and along the gutter in front of the cells, mixing with faeces and urine. Shackles clanked in the dim light. Bars rattled under the duress of a fruitless attack by a prisoner.
He wasn't there.
Nicolae yelled his rage at the starlit sky. It burst from him, desperate and feral in its sound, and echoed around the distant mountains. A disconsolate howl from the valley answered him. The alpha. The sound of it and the message it contained soothed him and granted him relief. He shut the pain down, clearing his mind of the past and focusing on the present, but there was no comfort in it now.
His gaze snapped to the vampire.
He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood over her, staring with hatred burning in his gut. The hunters were still searching for her, and it wouldn't be long before they reached where he was. They would finish her off. If she managed to survive both the hunters and the poison until daybreak, then nature would take care of her. The sky was clear. When the sun rose, it would spill into the glade. She wouldn't be strong enough to escape it. Her kind deserved to feel pain.
He would never involve himself with vampires.
He strode away from her.
No matter how beautiful they were.
That thought arrested his steps. He frowned over his shoulder at her. The cold air curled around him, chilling and stiffening his bare body. He stared at the vampire and then at the horizon through the trees, and realised with self-loathing that he wasn't strong enough to do it. As much as he despised her kind, he wasn't a monster like them. She wasn't the same bloodline as the ones who had enslaved him. She had done nothing to deserve his bitterness. If he left her, it would plague him and he would regret it. If he needed a reason to help her, he would do it for the sake of information about the hunters. They had to be the reason that she was so far from home.
Nicolae went back to her. She looked small and fragile as she lay on the dirt. Her appearance belied her true nature but it couldn't fool his senses. When she had come around, he had felt her strength. Was she strong enough to fight the poison? He placed his palm against her forehead. She wasn't burning up yet. If the poison was the type most vampire hunters used, then there was still time to help her.
Part of him said to leave her. Her kind had given him nothing but pain. She should feel it in return.
He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. Watching a dying vampire succumb to the sun and poison would be a petty form of vengeance. His heart had let go of his desire for revenge almost fifty years ago now, cleansed by his quiet life in the wilderness. Only the nightmarish memories kept it alive in him.
Nicolae sighed and picked her up, shifting her into his arms and cradling her against his bare chest in a way that didn't disturb the bolts. If she woke again, he would drop her in a flash and distance himself. He doubted that she would though. She had probably used the last of her strength fighting him.
Was he really going to do this? If he brought her into his home, if he helped her heal, then he would be helping the enemy.
In times of war, it was acceptable to help the enemy of your enemy. The hunters had tried to kill her. They were a threat to everything he had built here, and everyone that he knew.
He had to help her.
Even when he knew it would place him in danger.
The hunters were after her.
They would be after him too now.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44186
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
October 29, 2011
vampire romance book - Love Immortal - extended excerpt
It's time to step away from my vampire romance series books and shine a little light on one that is a stand alone. Love Immortal is an epic vampire romance book that is packed with action, drama, heart-wrenching moments, and love. It has been phenomenally well received by readers and reviewers alike, and has a 4.6 / 5 star rating on Amazon from 22 reviews, and a 4.2 / 5 star rating on Goodreads from 52 ratings. It has gained 5 star reviews from review sites and a top pick award from Night Owl Reviews.
Tonight I'm posting the 10 chapter PDF excerpt for you all to download, plus a teaser excerpt to get you started with this vampire romance book!
Love Immortal
Felicity Heaton
Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she's ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she's the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.
With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?
Can she crack the armour around Julian's heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he's been through?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $12.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 157000 words
rating: sultry
released: January 2011
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HYHHME/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-loveimmortal-613574-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/love-immortal/_/R-400000000000000340123
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Love-Immortal/book-OyQ9CMW5Jkaf0K_UwfVfGw/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/36609
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004HYHHME/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456487884/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456487884/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/9781456487881/
EXCERPTMonsters existed.
Lauren had always suspected it to be true, and now she had all the evidence she needed.
One was standing twenty feet in front of her.
It towered over her, yellow eyes glowing in the dim alley between the old redbrick houses of her neighbourhood. Tufted black wiry fur covered it from tail to pointed ears, from the long claws on its colossal paw-like hands to the thick trunks of its hind legs. Her fevered mind said that it was only an escaped wolf from London Zoo, but Lauren couldn't bring herself to believe it. She'd seen the wolves once. This creature was nothing like them. This was something else.
Its mouth opened to reveal jagged teeth, each the size of her thumb.
Why Grandma, what big teeth you have.
All the better to eat you with.
Icy fingers clutched her heart and Lauren trembled, cold sweat trickling down her back beneath the skinny-fit brown t-shirt. The mad rush of her pulse made her dizzy and unexpended adrenaline stole her strength. Whoever had said that adrenaline made you invincible was a liar. Her legs were shaking so much that they were close to buckling, the gym bag on her shoulder was too heavy, and her thick black winter jacket felt impossibly tight, as though it was squeezing the air from her lungs.
Instinct told her to run.
If only her feet would cooperate.
Her shoulders slumped when the monster took a step towards her and her kit bag dropped to the ground. The shinai case slid down her other arm but she caught it at the last second. The feel of the bamboo sword through the black canvas bag was reassuring and instilled a strange sense of calm in her. Lauren tried to remember her kendo training and everything she had just practiced in class but nothing came to her. She stared at the monster, still trying to comprehend what was happening.
Instinct changed its mind.
Her other hand automatically reached across and undid the ties on the shinai bag. Lauren swallowed and kept her movements slow, not wanting to startle the beast into reacting. The end of the bag flapped open and she reached inside, locking her right hand tightly around the white leather hilt of the bamboo sword. She drew it and let the carry-case fall to the ground.
This was insane.
Her shinai would last five seconds against such a huge creature.
It didn't matter. Her only chance of escape was to stun it with a direct hit and run for her life. Her knees wobbled. That was, if she could run.
Taking deep breaths, Lauren shuffled backwards as the beast advanced and moved into a fighting stance. She brought her shinai around in front of her, clutching it so tightly with both hands that her knuckles turned white.
One breath. Two. Three.
With a loud cry, she launched herself at the creature. It reacted slowly, glowing yellow eyes widening. Lauren struck it between its ears and it yelped. The sound brought a smile to her face.
It was a short-lived smile.
The monster lashed out, flinging a heavy paw into her stomach and sending her flying into the wall of the alley. Her breath left her on impact and pain blasted through every inch of her. She grunted and fell onto the hard tarmac. Another huge paw flew at her and she rolled forwards to avoid being pulverised. She turned at the last moment and grabbed her shinai, desperate to protect herself. She was too damn young to die.
A low snarl sent a shudder down her spine and fear stole her breath away. Lauren scrambled to her feet and backed off, her bamboo sword trembling in front of her. The moon peeked out from behind a cloud and lit the world. Her heart stopped.
Holy God, the monster was more frightening in the light than it had ever been in the darkness. Long strings of saliva rolled down its fangs and dark fur tufted down its spine, raised like hackles. It wasn't a wolf, but it wasn't a man either. It was somewhere in between. An abomination. Something straight out of her dreams.
She'd dreamt of wolves and monsters before, and each time she had ended up fighting for her life.
It lowered its head and snarled again, hunkering down. It was going to attack.
This wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare.
Lauren's fight left her and she moved backwards, faster now. Her heart started at a pace, thumping erratically in her throat. She clutched her shinai and glanced around. It was only just gone ten at night. Someone would pass by. Her neighbourhood wasn't normally this quiet. Any moment now, someone would come and help her. She'd only left her kendo class fifteen minutes ago and she'd been first out of the door. A couple of the men in her class lived near her. One of them would come. Someone would. Anyone? Thirty-four was definitely too young to die. She didn't want to be killed in the night as her parents had been.
She opened her mouth to call out for help but no sound left her lips. Her voice had died the moment her eyes had locked with the monster's ones. She saw her death reflected in them, saw how easily it would tear her to shreds and how she wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Emptiness settled in her mind, ringing in her ears.
Cold stillness shrouded the world.
The beast leapt.
Her heart leapt too.
Shrieking, Lauren raised the bamboo sword to defend herself and flinched away, screwing her eyes shut. Only sound came to her.
The sing of metal cutting through air, an ear-splitting howl of pain, and then a wet slapping noise.
Silence followed.
Lauren breathed hard, hunched up with her bamboo sword still held in front of her face. Her rough gulps of air filled the night. When everything had been quiet for a minute, she realised that something had happened to the monster and that she wasn't dead. She cracked an eye open.
The first thing she saw made her retch.
Spread across the alley were guts, blood and the two halves of a naked man. Her stomach rolled in response to the gruesome sight and she took a step backwards. It hadn't been a man a moment ago. Her eyes hadn't been lying to her even though her mind had. It had been a monster—a wolf that could stand on its hind legs, over six feet tall, and had tried to kill her. She looked at her bamboo sword. Splatters of blood covered the length of it, soaking into the white leather cap at the end. She couldn't have killed him with it. It wasn't possible.
The sound of steel sliding against something made her look up.
Her eyes widened and she dropped her weapon.
A tall man stood opposite her on the other side of the dead person. His long black coat fitted snugly to his slim frame and the stand up collar rose so high that it created a funnel that masked the lower half of his face, held closed by two thick bands of bright gleaming metal across the front. The wind tousled the finger-length spiked strands of his dark hair, shifting them across his pale forehead.
Shimmering silver eyes stared at her, pupils wide in the low light.
Her heart thudded in response to the jolt she felt when her eyes met his.
How many times had she looked at someone and not felt anything? Every day she met the eye of people on the Tube or at work, or even her opponent in kendo, but she'd never experienced a jolt that shook her to her core.
Never had she been so aware of making eye contact.
The longer she looked into his eyes, the calmer and warmer she felt, until she wanted to stare into them for forever. Something about those eyes, about this man, was so familiar. She was sure that she didn't know him, but at the same time, she was certain she did.
He stood unmoving, a sense of resolve about him. Everything suddenly felt like nothing but a nightmare, a vivid dream that this man had roused her from. His eyes narrowed. Invisible arms wrapped around her, holding her as soothing whispered words filled her mind. She was safe now.
Instinctively, she took a step towards him.
He lowered his head, giving Lauren the impression that he was bowing to her, awaiting a command or perhaps something else.
The man raised his head a fraction, so his eyes met hers again.
She snapped out of her trance when, without any sign of emotion, and with precise and practiced grace, he slid the long curved katana he held into the sheath hanging at his waist. The blade was clean but blood splattered his hands.
Lauren swallowed her heart and the fear that rushed through her again. Lost in his eyes, she'd forgotten what had happened. Everything had seemed so normal and the monster hadn't existed. Now she was back in reality, standing in an alley with a dead man at her feet and the man who had killed him opposite her.
His silver eyes flashed in the moonlight.
Another monster?
She made no move to run, or to look away, not when he approached her and not even when he stopped two feet away, towering over her. She couldn't move. His eyes had mesmerised her again. They melted from brightest silver to ice blue and she didn't even try to convince herself that she'd imagined it. They had changed. Ribbons of black hair caressed his forehead and her fingers itched to brush them away, to stroke his skin in their place and sweep them from his eyes so she could see them more clearly. A strange wave of calm washed over her again, only this time the feeling went deeper. She felt at peace with the world.
Because no matter what happened, this man would protect her.
He extended his hand to her. Before she could consider what she was doing, she was reaching for him.
"We must leave." His voice was smooth and sensual, deep and accented in a way she couldn't place but she knew that she liked it because the sound of it added to her boneless feeling.
Without hesitation or fear, Lauren placed her hand into his. His fingers closed over hers.
A sense of connection filled her.
"It is not safe here," he said and, without thinking, she nodded.
His hand left hers and claimed her upper arm. He strode at a pace so quick that she was almost jogging. Lauren gazed at the back of his head, catching glimpses of his profile.
It seemed right to go with him. Something inside her said that she knew him and she knew he would never hurt her. He had saved her from the monster.
She didn't care where they were going. She ran with him, empty and unable to think clearly. Her mind raced over everything that had happened, darting back and forth through her encounter with the monster. The man was right. It wasn't safe. A monster had attacked her and she had a feeling that more were coming, some sense of imminent danger that she couldn't ignore. She had to run and she had to stay with the swordsman. Only he could keep her safe.
"What was that thing?" she said between breaths and tried to look over her shoulder towards the dead man. The world wobbled so much she couldn't focus.
"They are after us."
Her stomach fluttered and she looked at the swordsman. It was worth asking, even if it would only confirm that she'd gone insane.
"Who are they?" Her voice trembled enough that she was certain he would know that she was frightened of asking that question.
He stopped and looked at her, his pale blue eyes narrowing with his frown. Lauren wished she could see the rest of his face, could open the collar that obscured the lower half of it. She hadn't realised until now just how much of what a person was thinking showed in their expression. His eyes betrayed nothing.
"The monsters?" he said and her heart skipped a beat. "I almost lost you in the alley. I was foolish but I will not allow it to happen again. We must hurry."
When he looked past her, she glanced over her shoulder. Two men were coming down the street. She stepped towards them, convinced that they were from her kendo class, but the man held on to her arm, stopping her. She looked at him and then back at the two men. The streetlights highlighted their faces and she realised that she didn't know them. The sense of danger inside her worsened and the voice at the back of her mind told her to keep running. They were coming for her.
Before she could speak, the swordsman was running with her again. His grip on her arm was unrelenting, his pace so fast that she struggled not to trip.
Lauren looked over her shoulder. The men were following them. She rushed on, her thoughts running at a million miles per hour now. Was she really safe with the swordsman? She wasn't so sure, but he did seem to be the lesser of two evils. If the two men that were following them were actually monsters then she'd probably chosen the right side.
A flash of silver eyes crossed her turbulent mind.
Perhaps she hadn't. The swordsman was possibly as much a monster as the wolf-man had been. She glanced at the man's hand and then at his face. He had his eyes fixed on the distance, his jetty eyebrows knitted tight. She had to get away before something happened. The man had said they were after them, but she couldn't believe that. What reason would they have to be after her? She hadn't done anything in her life to enrage monsters or make a single enemy. It had been quiet and safe. Now she felt as though she'd fallen into someone else's life and she wanted her own boring one back. She had to get away.
It wasn't far to her house now.
The man turned down a side road between two houses, heading towards her street. He knew where she lived? Sodium lights flickered on the walls high above. The heavy stomp of boots echoed in her stomach and she turned as the swordsman stopped. The men had caught up with them. They came to a halt a short distance away and the swordsman moved to stand in front of her. Lauren had the terrible feeling she was about to witness a showdown.
"Stay close," the swordsman said.
He threw his arm out, sending his long coat swirling from the waist down and revealing his katana. In one swift, graceful move, he drew it and was in a fighting stance. Lauren backed into the wall, fascinated but frightened.
A low growl caught her attention. Her knees threatened to give out when the men tore their t-shirts off and dark fur erupted in waves across their skin. Their bodies twisted and distorted, limbs elongating as their noses and chins pushed outwards and became muzzles. Ears sprouted from the top of their heads and their eyes changed to yellow. They snarled in unison and she pressed hard into the wall.
It was real.
The swordsman changed position, raising his katana. He looked over his shoulder at her. His silver eyes gleamed as brightly as his blade in the streetlight.
Oh God, it was real.
The swordsman disappeared. A loud cry split the silence a moment later. No, he hadn't disappeared. The monsters and the man were both moving so fast that it was hard for her to keep track of them. They were a blur in her eyes, shifting violent shapes as they passed her. Turning, she clung to the wall and watched the fight. She had never seen a man move with such agility or fight with such astounding grace. Each attack was beautiful and polished. Each counter by the monsters just as fluid. A deadly ballet.
A perfect chance.
He couldn't stop her and the monsters at the same time. They wanted him, not her. She hadn't done anything to upset them. If she just left quietly, perhaps they would leave her alone. She could go the long way round to her house, get some things and then leave before the swordsman could find her. She could go to her friends' house and hide until everything was sane again.
Backing away into the shadows, Lauren breathed slow and shallow, afraid that even that sound could alert either the man or the monsters to the fact that she was leaving. Her hands trailed along the brick wall, rough under her fingertips, a feeling that grounded her and kept her going. The darkness engulfed her but she didn't take her eyes away from the blur of the fight, not until the very last second when her hand finally ran out of wall.
With a sigh, she turned away and then froze.
Black tufted fur filled her vision. Her gaze rose to take in the massive bulk of the wolf-like monster and stopped when it reached its jaw. Sharp teeth greeted her as its jowls peeled back in a snarl.
She began to shake her head.
The monster backhanded her, sending her crashing into the wall. Pain erupted across her skull as her head hit the pavement and a trembling sickness passed over her. She pushed herself up on unsteady arms and looked towards the man where he fought the other monster, keeping it at the other end of the alley, and then behind her at the one that had hit her.
It was coming.
Vivid yellow eyes filled the darkness. She couldn't look away. The sound of fighting swam in her ears and then drifted into the distance, replaced by the noise of heavy feet pounding the tarmac. She threw a glance back towards the man to see the other monster coming for her. Her stomach heaved. She had been wrong. The monsters weren't after the man at all.
Lauren froze right down to the marrow of her bones.
They were after her.
Turning back to face the one nearest her, she screamed when she saw that it was almost on her. Its sharp jaws opened.
Blood exploded up the wall and the monster tumbled to the ground. Lauren shuffled backwards, away from it, not even thinking about the other monster that had been coming at her from behind.
Her hand hit a puddle.
Only it hadn't been raining.
And puddles weren't warm.
Sick to her stomach, she snatched her hand back and retched when she saw the blood covering it. She frantically wiped it on her jeans, her heart fluttering against her ribcage. Both men were dead, cleaved cleanly in two. Her stomach heaved but nothing came up. Bending over, she grasped the pavement with both hands and tried to be sick again. Nothing.
The swordsman grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. The motion jarred her vision and made her headache worsen.
"Are you hurt?" he said, voice soothing. Lauren looked up at him, instantly lost in his silver eyes.
He frowned when she didn't respond and then touched her forehead above her right eyebrow. It stung and Lauren flinched away. His touch lightened, becoming so tender that it felt like a lover's caress rather than a simple concerned touch. She stared into his eyes as he inspected what she presumed was a cut. The pain seemed so distant. Everything did. His eyes gradually changed from stunning silver to icy blue again and she found herself wondering why he worried so much about her safety.
And why she felt as though she knew him.
His hand caught her wrist and they were moving again. She almost tripped when they passed one of the bodies and it began to disintegrate before her eyes.
"Stay close," the swordsman said.
Lauren glanced at him and then down at his hand on her wrist. She didn't think that she had much choice. The strength in his grip was incredible.
Why was he protecting her? What did he want from her? Why were monsters after her?
She had to be insane to be running around London with a man she didn't know and fighting monsters that were after her for some reason.
The man turned down another street. Lauren yanked her hand free and started back in the opposite direction. This had gone on long enough. She wasn't sure where she intended to go but she had to get away before it all got crazier. She didn't think it could, but something deep inside said that it was going to if she kept letting the madman drag her around.
He grabbed her wrist again.
Lauren tried to tug it free but his grip tightened. When she hit his hand, he let go and backed away a step. Was he trying to calm her down?
Finding her courage, she avoided looking him in the eye and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm leaving and you'd better not try to stop me," she said and it sounded quite convincing to her own ears.
The man stepped back again. His coat fell open to reveal the hilt of his sword.
"There is no going back," he said. "They will find you again."
Her head was splitting now that she'd stopped moving and threatening a man with a sword suddenly didn't seem so clever.
She edged backwards.
"There is no going back," he repeated, his tone as calm as a millpond, instilling a sense of peace in her. He was right. She told herself that he wasn't. He was wrong and he could do strange things to her with his voice and his eyes. She had to escape. "If you do, you will die."
Lauren's head snapped up, her eyes locking with his. She wasn't sure whether he was threatening her or insinuating that the monsters would kill her.
"But my bag," she whispered, desperate for a reason to get away.
"Is there anything in it that could link you to tonight?" he said and she thought for a moment. She touched her jeans pockets and then her jacket pockets. Her purse, keys and mobile phone were all with her. The only thing in her bag was her kendo armour.
She shook her head.
"Forget it then." With a move so fast that she didn't even see it happen, he snatched her wrist and began walking. She stumbled along behind him, trying to prise his fingers off her. As a last resort, she slapped his hand again but this time he didn't let go. "My duty is to protect you. We must leave before others come."
Great, now she had her own Terminator and she wasn't even sure how she'd come to have him. Was she someone important?
Important enough to protect?
The swordsman had fought to defend her. He'd killed three monsters for her sake and she got the feeling that he would kill more if he had to. Her gaze roamed over the strong line of his shoulders and up the funnel neck of his coat to his face. His eyes remained fixed on the distance. She had an overwhelming urge to pull down the collar of his coat so she could see what he looked like. His eyes were incredible but something told her that collar hid a face that was more than that.
"Where are we going?" she said, her voice weak.
No answer.
Lauren was about to ask again when the redbrick Victorian houses of her street came into view. She'd never been so glad to see her home with its bay sash-windows and red door. Memories of her childhood and her parents came flooding back, filling her with a strange mixture of warmth and cold, and reminding her that no comforting arms waited for her in the house, not anymore. Her parents were gone and the pain of losing them hadn't faded in the months since their deaths. At the door, Lauren fumbled with her keys and then breathed a sigh of relief when she finally managed to slot the key in and turn it.
The slam of her house door behind her was comforting and she leaned back against it. The house was quiet and cold, but it still made her feel safe. She glanced at the man where he stood to her right, looking around her messy living room. When his gaze came back to meet hers, her heart began to slow and her breathing came normally. He'd saved her and for some reason she didn't feel threatened by him. She felt safe. A dry laugh pushed past her lips. She was definitely going crazy.
Or was she?
Everything that had happened seemed so incredible and impossible, yet she knew that it was real. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back into the door, sighing on an exhale.
The alley flashed across her closed eyes, the scene playing out again in the darkness of her mind. She'd never seen anything so horrible.
Her eyes shot open when she remembered all the blood. She raised her hands and stared at the crimson stains, her breathing laboured and throat dry. Her fingers shook, wavering so much that she couldn't focus on them. If the blood was on her hands. She looked down at her chest. Black lines criss-crossed her brown t-shirt. Where else had it hit her? With trembling fingers, she touched her face and felt sick when she found wet patches.
Lauren raced up the stairs in front of her, following them around the corner, and ran into the small peach coloured bathroom at the top. She slammed into the sink and grasped it with both hands.
Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw her reflection in the cabinet mirror.
Red streaks marked her face, matching the colour of her hair.
The monsters flashed before her eyes, followed by the swordsman.
Her gaze fell to her hands and she raised them palm upwards. The blood had seeped into the cracks of her skin, leaving dark jagged lines. Her fingers trembled and her stomach twisted. She turned on the tap and tried scrub the marks away with a nailbrush, rubbing her skin raw. A tight swirling feeling mounted inside her. The blood wouldn't go away. Each glance at her hands revealed it was still there, coating them as it had in the street. It wasn't going away. She wanted it to go away.
She didn't want monsters to be real. They weren't real. She clawed at the blood. It wouldn't come off. A noise from downstairs made her tense and she stared wide-eyed into the mirror. The man was coming. He was a murderer. Any feeling of safety he'd given her was just an illusion. It was her mind playing tricks, just as the monsters had been.
Monsters.
She saw them again, bisected and dead.
Why wouldn't the blood come off?
Lauren locked the bathroom door, yanked the shower curtain aside, turned the shower on, and stepped under the warm jet. It soaked her clothes through but the blood on her hands still wouldn't go away. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face in them as she sobbed, weak and tired. The water bounced off her back and trickled over her scalp. It dripped from the ends of her near-shoulder length red hair and masked her tears as she rocked back and forth.
Was it real or was she going insane?
Why was the swordsman so familiar and why did she want him to come to her, need him close by?
Her eyes widened and she stared at the water running down the plughole.
She had a horrible feeling that he was right.
The monsters were after her.
And only he could protect her.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HYHHME/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-loveimmortal-613574-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/love-immortal/_/R-400000000000000340123
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Love-Immortal/book-OyQ9CMW5Jkaf0K_UwfVfGw/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/36609
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004HYHHME/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456487884/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456487884/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/9781456487881/
Tonight I'm posting the 10 chapter PDF excerpt for you all to download, plus a teaser excerpt to get you started with this vampire romance book!
Love Immortal
Felicity HeatonRescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she's ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she's the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.
With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?
Can she crack the armour around Julian's heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he's been through?
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $12.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 157000 words
rating: sultry
released: January 2011
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HYHHME/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-loveimmortal-613574-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/love-immortal/_/R-400000000000000340123
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Love-Immortal/book-OyQ9CMW5Jkaf0K_UwfVfGw/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/36609
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B004HYHHME/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456487884/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456487884/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/9781456487881/
EXCERPTMonsters existed.
Lauren had always suspected it to be true, and now she had all the evidence she needed.
One was standing twenty feet in front of her.
It towered over her, yellow eyes glowing in the dim alley between the old redbrick houses of her neighbourhood. Tufted black wiry fur covered it from tail to pointed ears, from the long claws on its colossal paw-like hands to the thick trunks of its hind legs. Her fevered mind said that it was only an escaped wolf from London Zoo, but Lauren couldn't bring herself to believe it. She'd seen the wolves once. This creature was nothing like them. This was something else.
Its mouth opened to reveal jagged teeth, each the size of her thumb.
Why Grandma, what big teeth you have.
All the better to eat you with.
Icy fingers clutched her heart and Lauren trembled, cold sweat trickling down her back beneath the skinny-fit brown t-shirt. The mad rush of her pulse made her dizzy and unexpended adrenaline stole her strength. Whoever had said that adrenaline made you invincible was a liar. Her legs were shaking so much that they were close to buckling, the gym bag on her shoulder was too heavy, and her thick black winter jacket felt impossibly tight, as though it was squeezing the air from her lungs.
Instinct told her to run.
If only her feet would cooperate.
Her shoulders slumped when the monster took a step towards her and her kit bag dropped to the ground. The shinai case slid down her other arm but she caught it at the last second. The feel of the bamboo sword through the black canvas bag was reassuring and instilled a strange sense of calm in her. Lauren tried to remember her kendo training and everything she had just practiced in class but nothing came to her. She stared at the monster, still trying to comprehend what was happening.
Instinct changed its mind.
Her other hand automatically reached across and undid the ties on the shinai bag. Lauren swallowed and kept her movements slow, not wanting to startle the beast into reacting. The end of the bag flapped open and she reached inside, locking her right hand tightly around the white leather hilt of the bamboo sword. She drew it and let the carry-case fall to the ground.
This was insane.
Her shinai would last five seconds against such a huge creature.
It didn't matter. Her only chance of escape was to stun it with a direct hit and run for her life. Her knees wobbled. That was, if she could run.
Taking deep breaths, Lauren shuffled backwards as the beast advanced and moved into a fighting stance. She brought her shinai around in front of her, clutching it so tightly with both hands that her knuckles turned white.
One breath. Two. Three.
With a loud cry, she launched herself at the creature. It reacted slowly, glowing yellow eyes widening. Lauren struck it between its ears and it yelped. The sound brought a smile to her face.
It was a short-lived smile.
The monster lashed out, flinging a heavy paw into her stomach and sending her flying into the wall of the alley. Her breath left her on impact and pain blasted through every inch of her. She grunted and fell onto the hard tarmac. Another huge paw flew at her and she rolled forwards to avoid being pulverised. She turned at the last moment and grabbed her shinai, desperate to protect herself. She was too damn young to die.
A low snarl sent a shudder down her spine and fear stole her breath away. Lauren scrambled to her feet and backed off, her bamboo sword trembling in front of her. The moon peeked out from behind a cloud and lit the world. Her heart stopped.
Holy God, the monster was more frightening in the light than it had ever been in the darkness. Long strings of saliva rolled down its fangs and dark fur tufted down its spine, raised like hackles. It wasn't a wolf, but it wasn't a man either. It was somewhere in between. An abomination. Something straight out of her dreams.
She'd dreamt of wolves and monsters before, and each time she had ended up fighting for her life.
It lowered its head and snarled again, hunkering down. It was going to attack.
This wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare.
Lauren's fight left her and she moved backwards, faster now. Her heart started at a pace, thumping erratically in her throat. She clutched her shinai and glanced around. It was only just gone ten at night. Someone would pass by. Her neighbourhood wasn't normally this quiet. Any moment now, someone would come and help her. She'd only left her kendo class fifteen minutes ago and she'd been first out of the door. A couple of the men in her class lived near her. One of them would come. Someone would. Anyone? Thirty-four was definitely too young to die. She didn't want to be killed in the night as her parents had been.
She opened her mouth to call out for help but no sound left her lips. Her voice had died the moment her eyes had locked with the monster's ones. She saw her death reflected in them, saw how easily it would tear her to shreds and how she wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Emptiness settled in her mind, ringing in her ears.
Cold stillness shrouded the world.
The beast leapt.
Her heart leapt too.
Shrieking, Lauren raised the bamboo sword to defend herself and flinched away, screwing her eyes shut. Only sound came to her.
The sing of metal cutting through air, an ear-splitting howl of pain, and then a wet slapping noise.
Silence followed.
Lauren breathed hard, hunched up with her bamboo sword still held in front of her face. Her rough gulps of air filled the night. When everything had been quiet for a minute, she realised that something had happened to the monster and that she wasn't dead. She cracked an eye open.
The first thing she saw made her retch.
Spread across the alley were guts, blood and the two halves of a naked man. Her stomach rolled in response to the gruesome sight and she took a step backwards. It hadn't been a man a moment ago. Her eyes hadn't been lying to her even though her mind had. It had been a monster—a wolf that could stand on its hind legs, over six feet tall, and had tried to kill her. She looked at her bamboo sword. Splatters of blood covered the length of it, soaking into the white leather cap at the end. She couldn't have killed him with it. It wasn't possible.
The sound of steel sliding against something made her look up.
Her eyes widened and she dropped her weapon.
A tall man stood opposite her on the other side of the dead person. His long black coat fitted snugly to his slim frame and the stand up collar rose so high that it created a funnel that masked the lower half of his face, held closed by two thick bands of bright gleaming metal across the front. The wind tousled the finger-length spiked strands of his dark hair, shifting them across his pale forehead.
Shimmering silver eyes stared at her, pupils wide in the low light.
Her heart thudded in response to the jolt she felt when her eyes met his.
How many times had she looked at someone and not felt anything? Every day she met the eye of people on the Tube or at work, or even her opponent in kendo, but she'd never experienced a jolt that shook her to her core.
Never had she been so aware of making eye contact.
The longer she looked into his eyes, the calmer and warmer she felt, until she wanted to stare into them for forever. Something about those eyes, about this man, was so familiar. She was sure that she didn't know him, but at the same time, she was certain she did.
He stood unmoving, a sense of resolve about him. Everything suddenly felt like nothing but a nightmare, a vivid dream that this man had roused her from. His eyes narrowed. Invisible arms wrapped around her, holding her as soothing whispered words filled her mind. She was safe now.
Instinctively, she took a step towards him.
He lowered his head, giving Lauren the impression that he was bowing to her, awaiting a command or perhaps something else.
The man raised his head a fraction, so his eyes met hers again.
She snapped out of her trance when, without any sign of emotion, and with precise and practiced grace, he slid the long curved katana he held into the sheath hanging at his waist. The blade was clean but blood splattered his hands.
Lauren swallowed her heart and the fear that rushed through her again. Lost in his eyes, she'd forgotten what had happened. Everything had seemed so normal and the monster hadn't existed. Now she was back in reality, standing in an alley with a dead man at her feet and the man who had killed him opposite her.
His silver eyes flashed in the moonlight.
Another monster?
She made no move to run, or to look away, not when he approached her and not even when he stopped two feet away, towering over her. She couldn't move. His eyes had mesmerised her again. They melted from brightest silver to ice blue and she didn't even try to convince herself that she'd imagined it. They had changed. Ribbons of black hair caressed his forehead and her fingers itched to brush them away, to stroke his skin in their place and sweep them from his eyes so she could see them more clearly. A strange wave of calm washed over her again, only this time the feeling went deeper. She felt at peace with the world.
Because no matter what happened, this man would protect her.
He extended his hand to her. Before she could consider what she was doing, she was reaching for him.
"We must leave." His voice was smooth and sensual, deep and accented in a way she couldn't place but she knew that she liked it because the sound of it added to her boneless feeling.
Without hesitation or fear, Lauren placed her hand into his. His fingers closed over hers.
A sense of connection filled her.
"It is not safe here," he said and, without thinking, she nodded.
His hand left hers and claimed her upper arm. He strode at a pace so quick that she was almost jogging. Lauren gazed at the back of his head, catching glimpses of his profile.
It seemed right to go with him. Something inside her said that she knew him and she knew he would never hurt her. He had saved her from the monster.
She didn't care where they were going. She ran with him, empty and unable to think clearly. Her mind raced over everything that had happened, darting back and forth through her encounter with the monster. The man was right. It wasn't safe. A monster had attacked her and she had a feeling that more were coming, some sense of imminent danger that she couldn't ignore. She had to run and she had to stay with the swordsman. Only he could keep her safe.
"What was that thing?" she said between breaths and tried to look over her shoulder towards the dead man. The world wobbled so much she couldn't focus.
"They are after us."
Her stomach fluttered and she looked at the swordsman. It was worth asking, even if it would only confirm that she'd gone insane.
"Who are they?" Her voice trembled enough that she was certain he would know that she was frightened of asking that question.
He stopped and looked at her, his pale blue eyes narrowing with his frown. Lauren wished she could see the rest of his face, could open the collar that obscured the lower half of it. She hadn't realised until now just how much of what a person was thinking showed in their expression. His eyes betrayed nothing.
"The monsters?" he said and her heart skipped a beat. "I almost lost you in the alley. I was foolish but I will not allow it to happen again. We must hurry."
When he looked past her, she glanced over her shoulder. Two men were coming down the street. She stepped towards them, convinced that they were from her kendo class, but the man held on to her arm, stopping her. She looked at him and then back at the two men. The streetlights highlighted their faces and she realised that she didn't know them. The sense of danger inside her worsened and the voice at the back of her mind told her to keep running. They were coming for her.
Before she could speak, the swordsman was running with her again. His grip on her arm was unrelenting, his pace so fast that she struggled not to trip.
Lauren looked over her shoulder. The men were following them. She rushed on, her thoughts running at a million miles per hour now. Was she really safe with the swordsman? She wasn't so sure, but he did seem to be the lesser of two evils. If the two men that were following them were actually monsters then she'd probably chosen the right side.
A flash of silver eyes crossed her turbulent mind.
Perhaps she hadn't. The swordsman was possibly as much a monster as the wolf-man had been. She glanced at the man's hand and then at his face. He had his eyes fixed on the distance, his jetty eyebrows knitted tight. She had to get away before something happened. The man had said they were after them, but she couldn't believe that. What reason would they have to be after her? She hadn't done anything in her life to enrage monsters or make a single enemy. It had been quiet and safe. Now she felt as though she'd fallen into someone else's life and she wanted her own boring one back. She had to get away.
It wasn't far to her house now.
The man turned down a side road between two houses, heading towards her street. He knew where she lived? Sodium lights flickered on the walls high above. The heavy stomp of boots echoed in her stomach and she turned as the swordsman stopped. The men had caught up with them. They came to a halt a short distance away and the swordsman moved to stand in front of her. Lauren had the terrible feeling she was about to witness a showdown.
"Stay close," the swordsman said.
He threw his arm out, sending his long coat swirling from the waist down and revealing his katana. In one swift, graceful move, he drew it and was in a fighting stance. Lauren backed into the wall, fascinated but frightened.
A low growl caught her attention. Her knees threatened to give out when the men tore their t-shirts off and dark fur erupted in waves across their skin. Their bodies twisted and distorted, limbs elongating as their noses and chins pushed outwards and became muzzles. Ears sprouted from the top of their heads and their eyes changed to yellow. They snarled in unison and she pressed hard into the wall.
It was real.
The swordsman changed position, raising his katana. He looked over his shoulder at her. His silver eyes gleamed as brightly as his blade in the streetlight.
Oh God, it was real.
The swordsman disappeared. A loud cry split the silence a moment later. No, he hadn't disappeared. The monsters and the man were both moving so fast that it was hard for her to keep track of them. They were a blur in her eyes, shifting violent shapes as they passed her. Turning, she clung to the wall and watched the fight. She had never seen a man move with such agility or fight with such astounding grace. Each attack was beautiful and polished. Each counter by the monsters just as fluid. A deadly ballet.
A perfect chance.
He couldn't stop her and the monsters at the same time. They wanted him, not her. She hadn't done anything to upset them. If she just left quietly, perhaps they would leave her alone. She could go the long way round to her house, get some things and then leave before the swordsman could find her. She could go to her friends' house and hide until everything was sane again.
Backing away into the shadows, Lauren breathed slow and shallow, afraid that even that sound could alert either the man or the monsters to the fact that she was leaving. Her hands trailed along the brick wall, rough under her fingertips, a feeling that grounded her and kept her going. The darkness engulfed her but she didn't take her eyes away from the blur of the fight, not until the very last second when her hand finally ran out of wall.
With a sigh, she turned away and then froze.
Black tufted fur filled her vision. Her gaze rose to take in the massive bulk of the wolf-like monster and stopped when it reached its jaw. Sharp teeth greeted her as its jowls peeled back in a snarl.
She began to shake her head.
The monster backhanded her, sending her crashing into the wall. Pain erupted across her skull as her head hit the pavement and a trembling sickness passed over her. She pushed herself up on unsteady arms and looked towards the man where he fought the other monster, keeping it at the other end of the alley, and then behind her at the one that had hit her.
It was coming.
Vivid yellow eyes filled the darkness. She couldn't look away. The sound of fighting swam in her ears and then drifted into the distance, replaced by the noise of heavy feet pounding the tarmac. She threw a glance back towards the man to see the other monster coming for her. Her stomach heaved. She had been wrong. The monsters weren't after the man at all.
Lauren froze right down to the marrow of her bones.
They were after her.
Turning back to face the one nearest her, she screamed when she saw that it was almost on her. Its sharp jaws opened.
Blood exploded up the wall and the monster tumbled to the ground. Lauren shuffled backwards, away from it, not even thinking about the other monster that had been coming at her from behind.
Her hand hit a puddle.
Only it hadn't been raining.
And puddles weren't warm.
Sick to her stomach, she snatched her hand back and retched when she saw the blood covering it. She frantically wiped it on her jeans, her heart fluttering against her ribcage. Both men were dead, cleaved cleanly in two. Her stomach heaved but nothing came up. Bending over, she grasped the pavement with both hands and tried to be sick again. Nothing.
The swordsman grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. The motion jarred her vision and made her headache worsen.
"Are you hurt?" he said, voice soothing. Lauren looked up at him, instantly lost in his silver eyes.
He frowned when she didn't respond and then touched her forehead above her right eyebrow. It stung and Lauren flinched away. His touch lightened, becoming so tender that it felt like a lover's caress rather than a simple concerned touch. She stared into his eyes as he inspected what she presumed was a cut. The pain seemed so distant. Everything did. His eyes gradually changed from stunning silver to icy blue again and she found herself wondering why he worried so much about her safety.
And why she felt as though she knew him.
His hand caught her wrist and they were moving again. She almost tripped when they passed one of the bodies and it began to disintegrate before her eyes.
"Stay close," the swordsman said.
Lauren glanced at him and then down at his hand on her wrist. She didn't think that she had much choice. The strength in his grip was incredible.
Why was he protecting her? What did he want from her? Why were monsters after her?
She had to be insane to be running around London with a man she didn't know and fighting monsters that were after her for some reason.
The man turned down another street. Lauren yanked her hand free and started back in the opposite direction. This had gone on long enough. She wasn't sure where she intended to go but she had to get away before it all got crazier. She didn't think it could, but something deep inside said that it was going to if she kept letting the madman drag her around.
He grabbed her wrist again.
Lauren tried to tug it free but his grip tightened. When she hit his hand, he let go and backed away a step. Was he trying to calm her down?
Finding her courage, she avoided looking him in the eye and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm leaving and you'd better not try to stop me," she said and it sounded quite convincing to her own ears.
The man stepped back again. His coat fell open to reveal the hilt of his sword.
"There is no going back," he said. "They will find you again."
Her head was splitting now that she'd stopped moving and threatening a man with a sword suddenly didn't seem so clever.
She edged backwards.
"There is no going back," he repeated, his tone as calm as a millpond, instilling a sense of peace in her. He was right. She told herself that he wasn't. He was wrong and he could do strange things to her with his voice and his eyes. She had to escape. "If you do, you will die."
Lauren's head snapped up, her eyes locking with his. She wasn't sure whether he was threatening her or insinuating that the monsters would kill her.
"But my bag," she whispered, desperate for a reason to get away.
"Is there anything in it that could link you to tonight?" he said and she thought for a moment. She touched her jeans pockets and then her jacket pockets. Her purse, keys and mobile phone were all with her. The only thing in her bag was her kendo armour.
She shook her head.
"Forget it then." With a move so fast that she didn't even see it happen, he snatched her wrist and began walking. She stumbled along behind him, trying to prise his fingers off her. As a last resort, she slapped his hand again but this time he didn't let go. "My duty is to protect you. We must leave before others come."
Great, now she had her own Terminator and she wasn't even sure how she'd come to have him. Was she someone important?
Important enough to protect?
The swordsman had fought to defend her. He'd killed three monsters for her sake and she got the feeling that he would kill more if he had to. Her gaze roamed over the strong line of his shoulders and up the funnel neck of his coat to his face. His eyes remained fixed on the distance. She had an overwhelming urge to pull down the collar of his coat so she could see what he looked like. His eyes were incredible but something told her that collar hid a face that was more than that.
"Where are we going?" she said, her voice weak.
No answer.
Lauren was about to ask again when the redbrick Victorian houses of her street came into view. She'd never been so glad to see her home with its bay sash-windows and red door. Memories of her childhood and her parents came flooding back, filling her with a strange mixture of warmth and cold, and reminding her that no comforting arms waited for her in the house, not anymore. Her parents were gone and the pain of losing them hadn't faded in the months since their deaths. At the door, Lauren fumbled with her keys and then breathed a sigh of relief when she finally managed to slot the key in and turn it.
The slam of her house door behind her was comforting and she leaned back against it. The house was quiet and cold, but it still made her feel safe. She glanced at the man where he stood to her right, looking around her messy living room. When his gaze came back to meet hers, her heart began to slow and her breathing came normally. He'd saved her and for some reason she didn't feel threatened by him. She felt safe. A dry laugh pushed past her lips. She was definitely going crazy.
Or was she?
Everything that had happened seemed so incredible and impossible, yet she knew that it was real. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back into the door, sighing on an exhale.
The alley flashed across her closed eyes, the scene playing out again in the darkness of her mind. She'd never seen anything so horrible.
Her eyes shot open when she remembered all the blood. She raised her hands and stared at the crimson stains, her breathing laboured and throat dry. Her fingers shook, wavering so much that she couldn't focus on them. If the blood was on her hands. She looked down at her chest. Black lines criss-crossed her brown t-shirt. Where else had it hit her? With trembling fingers, she touched her face and felt sick when she found wet patches.
Lauren raced up the stairs in front of her, following them around the corner, and ran into the small peach coloured bathroom at the top. She slammed into the sink and grasped it with both hands.
Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw her reflection in the cabinet mirror.
Red streaks marked her face, matching the colour of her hair.
The monsters flashed before her eyes, followed by the swordsman.
Her gaze fell to her hands and she raised them palm upwards. The blood had seeped into the cracks of her skin, leaving dark jagged lines. Her fingers trembled and her stomach twisted. She turned on the tap and tried scrub the marks away with a nailbrush, rubbing her skin raw. A tight swirling feeling mounted inside her. The blood wouldn't go away. Each glance at her hands revealed it was still there, coating them as it had in the street. It wasn't going away. She wanted it to go away.
She didn't want monsters to be real. They weren't real. She clawed at the blood. It wouldn't come off. A noise from downstairs made her tense and she stared wide-eyed into the mirror. The man was coming. He was a murderer. Any feeling of safety he'd given her was just an illusion. It was her mind playing tricks, just as the monsters had been.
Monsters.
She saw them again, bisected and dead.
Why wouldn't the blood come off?
Lauren locked the bathroom door, yanked the shower curtain aside, turned the shower on, and stepped under the warm jet. It soaked her clothes through but the blood on her hands still wouldn't go away. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face in them as she sobbed, weak and tired. The water bounced off her back and trickled over her scalp. It dripped from the ends of her near-shoulder length red hair and masked her tears as she rocked back and forth.
Was it real or was she going insane?
Why was the swordsman so familiar and why did she want him to come to her, need him close by?
Her eyes widened and she stared at the water running down the plughole.
She had a horrible feeling that he was right.
The monsters were after her.
And only he could protect her.
» DOWNLOAD EXTENDED EXCERPT PDF
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Interview with an ex-vampire hunter - Lilith
Keeping with my vast
Vampires Realm
world for the next few interviews. This time, I've invited the very lovely Lilith into my interview room. I thought it was about time we heard from another heroine. If you're not familiar with her, Lilith was the heroine in my vampire romance novel
Seventh Circle
and at the start of the book she was working as a vampire hunter for Section Seven.
(Lilith enters my interview room, casually dressed in a rich dark purple jumper and blue jeans. She smiles, gives a little wave, and then comes over and takes her seat opposite me. She toes her black trainers off and settles her feet on the black velvet armchair. Her glance back to the closed door is filled with longing. I smile)
FH: Thinking about Lincoln?
LILITH: (turns to me and smiles) I'm that transparent? (laughs and it's hard for me to remember that she's a vampire now, and the lady of her bloodline the Vehemens) You sort of called me in mid-kiss so you can't blame me for being a little distracted. Lincoln can be such a stickler though. He made me stop and come in. I'm glad that he's always mindful of his duty and those sorts of things, as it really helped me when I was adjusting, but I would have liked to have finished that kiss.
FH: I'm sure it will be there waiting for you when you get back to him. So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
LILITH: I've finally taken control of the bloodline. It's still difficult for me but Lincoln is really helping me with all the politics of it and he really runs the bloodline for me. I just listen to his advice and do whatever he suggests. I don't think he's noticed yet that he's really running the bloodline. (giggles) I could probably disappear again for a few months and they wouldn't notice if he was there. It's nice having someone I can count on though.
FH: And how has your romance with Lincoln been doing? You showed up recently at the centenary Creator Day masquerade and seemed very happy together. I think you made a few women jealous that night.
LILITH: I did? (looks astonished, her fair eyebrows rising high on her forehead) I think I was so wrapped up in concentrating on behaving as a lady should that I didn't even notice anything that was happening around me. It's a little nerve wracking to be surrounded by so many vampires and have everyone watching you. I felt as though they were waiting for me to slip up. It was my first official engagement as lady of the Vehemens. Unfortunately there are some things I can't just let Lincoln handle. I would have felt calmer and more relaxed if Eve had been there.
FH: Eve is your twin, and she's also a Vehemens vampire now. Has she joined the bloodline in Oslo?
LILITH: Yes. Tor and Oneiric brought her to us over two years ago now. I was a little shocked when Tor came in with Eve in tow that night, his hand clutching hers. I was convinced for a moment it was to stop Eve from running away. Lincoln didn't seem very shocked. The sight of Tor... I mean... you have to see the man, he's immense and cold as ice... holding my sister's hand and treating her so gently was very troubling at first. Eve assures me that Tor loves her but it just doesn't seem possible.
FH: I am familiar with Tor. He doesn't exactly come across as the sort of man you want your sister dating, but I'm sure that Eve is right and that Tor loves her. He seems very protective of her, a little like Lincoln is with you.
LILITH: (smiles) Yes, Lincoln is very protective of me. I don't think it's just because I'm his mate either. He's always been protective me, ever since we first met... back when I was still a vampire hunter. It was a strange thing for me to grasp back then. A vampire desiring to protect a vampire hunter. Lincoln is a very complicated man though and knows his heart, and I'm glad that he made me realise my feelings for him and kept fighting for me.
FH: That's so sweet. Anyone who saw you dancing at the masquerade would be able to tell you that he's really madly in love with you. I swear he didn't let you out of arm's reach all night and spent most of it on the dance floor with you.
LILITH: Who's to say that we were there for all those dances because of him? I wasn't about to let him step more than a foot away from me when there were so many beautiful women looking for partners and a chance to dance with a powerful vampire of another bloodline. I was staking my territory.
FH: Well, it certainly worked. You managed to keep your mate in your arms all evening. I don't think you would have had a problem with him though. Lincoln only has eyes for you. He would have ignored any dance requests that came from other women. In fact, he probably wouldn't have even heard them in the first place. The man is completely absorbed by you.
LILITH: The feeling is quite mutual.
FH: I really enjoyed writing down your story, Seventh Circle, and working with you on it. What was it like to have your story told and know that people have been reading it?
LILITH: It was exciting and definitely a story that needed to be told. Section Seven is one of the pure bloodlines' deadliest enemies and the things they have done deserve to be documented, as well as our fight against them, and of course my romance with Lincoln. It was strange at first to think that people were reading our story but now I've grown used to the idea. It's exciting that readers have picked up the book and know about mine and Lincoln's love story now.
FH: I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
LILITH: Hmm, I'm not a fan of one colour in particular. I do like red when it colours Lincoln's eyes because it makes me realise how hungry he still is for me.
FH: And your favourite smell?
LILITH: Lincoln's aftershave mixing with the scent of the lake, the trees and the snow on the mountains when we've escaped to the cabin together. He likes to sit out under the stars on the picnic table and have me seated between his thighs with my back to him, holding me. It's very romantic.
FH: It sounds it. Your favourite possession?
LILITH: I heard that Lord Valentine called Lady Prophecy his favourite possession. If that's allowed then it has to be Lincoln, although I would never call him a possession. He's the best thing in my life, together with my sister.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
LILITH: Walk the grounds of the Oslo mansion at night with my sister talking about men. (laughs) We always start out on another subject entirely, like how stressful it is running a bloodline and how busy we've been... and then somehow we end up on Lincoln and Tor. If they ever heard the things we said about them, they would have egos bigger than the house!
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
LILITH: I still love summer. In Oslo, summer is terrible because there's such little night, but it hasn't changed my love of that season. I like the warmth in the air and the sense that all is well in the world it brings with it.
FH: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I'll let you get back to that kiss now. I'm sure Lincoln is waiting for you.
(Lilith smiles, slips her trainers back on, and leaves in a hurry)
Did you all enjoy this catch up with Lilith?
If you're not familiar with Lilith and her story, you can read more about it below...
Seventh Circle
F E Heaton
Born with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a vampire.
Lincoln is a powerful pureblood with a problem. He's caught up in a prophecy and has little time left to unravel the mystery of the contract between his lord and the Devil before he dies. When witches foretell that a vampire hunter will save his life, he's prepared to work with his most hated enemy, but he isn't prepared for the forbidden desire he feels when he meets her.
Their mutual attraction becomes difficult to deny as they work together but when Lincoln reveals the truth about her powers, will Lilith find the strength to embrace a side of herself that she wished didn't exist? And when they discover Lilith's role in the prophecy, how far will Lincoln go to save her?
Dark, sensual and fast-paced, Seventh Circle is a story of forbidden love so strong that it will save the world.
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 106112 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2008
Book 7 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDO68/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seventh-Circle/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000800973/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-seventhcircle-620973-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/seventh-circle/_/R-400000000000000249275
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Seventh-Circle/mix-ZGYNJZH8-kmDBm5GV0YlJg/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7734
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDO68/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978579/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978579/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seventh-circle-f-e-heaton/1021362622
(Lilith enters my interview room, casually dressed in a rich dark purple jumper and blue jeans. She smiles, gives a little wave, and then comes over and takes her seat opposite me. She toes her black trainers off and settles her feet on the black velvet armchair. Her glance back to the closed door is filled with longing. I smile)
FH: Thinking about Lincoln?
LILITH: (turns to me and smiles) I'm that transparent? (laughs and it's hard for me to remember that she's a vampire now, and the lady of her bloodline the Vehemens) You sort of called me in mid-kiss so you can't blame me for being a little distracted. Lincoln can be such a stickler though. He made me stop and come in. I'm glad that he's always mindful of his duty and those sorts of things, as it really helped me when I was adjusting, but I would have liked to have finished that kiss.
FH: I'm sure it will be there waiting for you when you get back to him. So, what have you been up to since we last saw you?
LILITH: I've finally taken control of the bloodline. It's still difficult for me but Lincoln is really helping me with all the politics of it and he really runs the bloodline for me. I just listen to his advice and do whatever he suggests. I don't think he's noticed yet that he's really running the bloodline. (giggles) I could probably disappear again for a few months and they wouldn't notice if he was there. It's nice having someone I can count on though.
FH: And how has your romance with Lincoln been doing? You showed up recently at the centenary Creator Day masquerade and seemed very happy together. I think you made a few women jealous that night.
LILITH: I did? (looks astonished, her fair eyebrows rising high on her forehead) I think I was so wrapped up in concentrating on behaving as a lady should that I didn't even notice anything that was happening around me. It's a little nerve wracking to be surrounded by so many vampires and have everyone watching you. I felt as though they were waiting for me to slip up. It was my first official engagement as lady of the Vehemens. Unfortunately there are some things I can't just let Lincoln handle. I would have felt calmer and more relaxed if Eve had been there.
FH: Eve is your twin, and she's also a Vehemens vampire now. Has she joined the bloodline in Oslo?
LILITH: Yes. Tor and Oneiric brought her to us over two years ago now. I was a little shocked when Tor came in with Eve in tow that night, his hand clutching hers. I was convinced for a moment it was to stop Eve from running away. Lincoln didn't seem very shocked. The sight of Tor... I mean... you have to see the man, he's immense and cold as ice... holding my sister's hand and treating her so gently was very troubling at first. Eve assures me that Tor loves her but it just doesn't seem possible.
FH: I am familiar with Tor. He doesn't exactly come across as the sort of man you want your sister dating, but I'm sure that Eve is right and that Tor loves her. He seems very protective of her, a little like Lincoln is with you.
LILITH: (smiles) Yes, Lincoln is very protective of me. I don't think it's just because I'm his mate either. He's always been protective me, ever since we first met... back when I was still a vampire hunter. It was a strange thing for me to grasp back then. A vampire desiring to protect a vampire hunter. Lincoln is a very complicated man though and knows his heart, and I'm glad that he made me realise my feelings for him and kept fighting for me.
FH: That's so sweet. Anyone who saw you dancing at the masquerade would be able to tell you that he's really madly in love with you. I swear he didn't let you out of arm's reach all night and spent most of it on the dance floor with you.
LILITH: Who's to say that we were there for all those dances because of him? I wasn't about to let him step more than a foot away from me when there were so many beautiful women looking for partners and a chance to dance with a powerful vampire of another bloodline. I was staking my territory.
FH: Well, it certainly worked. You managed to keep your mate in your arms all evening. I don't think you would have had a problem with him though. Lincoln only has eyes for you. He would have ignored any dance requests that came from other women. In fact, he probably wouldn't have even heard them in the first place. The man is completely absorbed by you.
LILITH: The feeling is quite mutual.
FH: I really enjoyed writing down your story, Seventh Circle, and working with you on it. What was it like to have your story told and know that people have been reading it?
LILITH: It was exciting and definitely a story that needed to be told. Section Seven is one of the pure bloodlines' deadliest enemies and the things they have done deserve to be documented, as well as our fight against them, and of course my romance with Lincoln. It was strange at first to think that people were reading our story but now I've grown used to the idea. It's exciting that readers have picked up the book and know about mine and Lincoln's love story now.
FH: I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
LILITH: Hmm, I'm not a fan of one colour in particular. I do like red when it colours Lincoln's eyes because it makes me realise how hungry he still is for me.
FH: And your favourite smell?
LILITH: Lincoln's aftershave mixing with the scent of the lake, the trees and the snow on the mountains when we've escaped to the cabin together. He likes to sit out under the stars on the picnic table and have me seated between his thighs with my back to him, holding me. It's very romantic.
FH: It sounds it. Your favourite possession?
LILITH: I heard that Lord Valentine called Lady Prophecy his favourite possession. If that's allowed then it has to be Lincoln, although I would never call him a possession. He's the best thing in my life, together with my sister.
FH: Favourite thing to do?
LILITH: Walk the grounds of the Oslo mansion at night with my sister talking about men. (laughs) We always start out on another subject entirely, like how stressful it is running a bloodline and how busy we've been... and then somehow we end up on Lincoln and Tor. If they ever heard the things we said about them, they would have egos bigger than the house!
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
LILITH: I still love summer. In Oslo, summer is terrible because there's such little night, but it hasn't changed my love of that season. I like the warmth in the air and the sense that all is well in the world it brings with it.
FH: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I'll let you get back to that kiss now. I'm sure Lincoln is waiting for you.
(Lilith smiles, slips her trainers back on, and leaves in a hurry)
Did you all enjoy this catch up with Lilith?
If you're not familiar with Lilith and her story, you can read more about it below...
Seventh Circle
F E HeatonBorn with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a vampire.
Lincoln is a powerful pureblood with a problem. He's caught up in a prophecy and has little time left to unravel the mystery of the contract between his lord and the Devil before he dies. When witches foretell that a vampire hunter will save his life, he's prepared to work with his most hated enemy, but he isn't prepared for the forbidden desire he feels when he meets her.
Their mutual attraction becomes difficult to deny as they work together but when Lincoln reveals the truth about her powers, will Lilith find the strength to embrace a side of herself that she wished didn't exist? And when they discover Lilith's role in the prophecy, how far will Lincoln go to save her?
Dark, sensual and fast-paced, Seventh Circle is a story of forbidden love so strong that it will save the world.
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $9.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 106112 words
rating: sultry
released: November 2008
Book 7 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Seventh%20Circle
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDO68/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seventh-Circle/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000800973/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-seventhcircle-620973-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/seventh-circle/_/R-400000000000000249275
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Seventh-Circle/mix-ZGYNJZH8-kmDBm5GV0YlJg/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7734
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDO68/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDO68/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978579/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978579/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seventh-circle-f-e-heaton/1021362622
paranormal hottie number two - Damon Salvatore
Halloween can't be all about tricks. There has to be some treats too... and what better treat is there than the super-hotties that grace our televisions in our favourite paranormal series?
Each day I'll be posting scrummy mancandy pictures of our favourite paranormal hotties for you all to purr over.
Today I'm posting that slice of vampire gorgeousness that is Damon Salvatore, played by the delectable Ian Somerhalder. Yes, I know that some people actually like Stefan, but let's be honest, it's my blog and I prefer the dark bad boy type vampire...
Do we all have the anti-drool covers on our keyboards? Then I'll begin...
I left my personal favourite picture until last... which one do you think is scrummiest?
Each day I'll be posting scrummy mancandy pictures of our favourite paranormal hotties for you all to purr over.
Today I'm posting that slice of vampire gorgeousness that is Damon Salvatore, played by the delectable Ian Somerhalder. Yes, I know that some people actually like Stefan, but let's be honest, it's my blog and I prefer the dark bad boy type vampire...
Do we all have the anti-drool covers on our keyboards? Then I'll begin...
I left my personal favourite picture until last... which one do you think is scrummiest?
Interview with a vampire - Winter
Well, it's the moment Kiki... I mean, everyone has been waiting. I've lured Winter into my interview room for a chat. Yes, we're back to
Vampires Realm
people now. Winter is the hero of my werewolf/vampire romance novel
Winter's Kiss
and he shares a very forbidden relationship with Nika, his young werewolf lover. You can learn a little more about Winter at my Vampires Realm website:
http://www.vampiresrealm.com/vampire_winter.php
(The door opens and Winter enters. I'm not surprised to see that he's head to toe in black. His stand-up-collared jacket that reaches midway down his thigh is very crisp and his black riding boots are so shiny they reflect the light of the fireplace beside me. He's the epitome of a guard who takes his job seriously. I'm actually surprised he's not wearing his armour, cloak and his dragon-like helmet)
FH: Winter. It's good to see you again. So, what have you been up to since we last met?
WINTER: After the fiasco that happened at the centenary masquerade, things have been slowly getting back to normal. The bloodline has returned to the mansion and I have returned to my duties, both those of commander and envoy. I am due to visit the werewolf bastion again soon with information about the hunters and to collect the information they gathered at the masquerade too. It all needs to be entered into the database. Thankfully, that is a job for someone else.
FH: Of course, I completely believe that you're going to the bastion just to exchange some information. The werewolf you're going to meet for this exchange wouldn't be fair haired, quite young, and pretty, would she?
WINTER: (face remains completely impassive) You know I cannot answer such a question.
FH: It's not as though I said you would be doing anything with said werewolf besides exchanging intelligence. I could have asked if you were going to swap spit too or perhaps other bodily fluids. (grins at him)
WINTER: You are a dirty little wench at times, you do know that, do you not?
FH: (nods) Yes, but it's so fun to tease you. Look around you, Winter, there aren't any Law Keepers present and I'm not interviewing any of them at this time either, so you're perfectly safe to talk about your relationship. No one will tell on you.
WINTER: (his deep blue eyes scour the room and then he relaxes into the black velvet armchair) Very well. I will be exchanging the information with Nika. We did not get to spend much time together at the ball and it was so difficult to see her there and not be able to speak with her.
FH: I bet both of you were longing to spend some time alone together. How has your romance with Nika been doing?
WINTER: As well as it can under the circumstances. Every night that I wake alone I regret waiting and losing my chance to turn Nika. I only have myself to blame, and it pains me greatly. I want to wake with her in my arms. The only time I can have that is when I am at the werewolf bastion. When she comes to the mansion to visit me as an envoy she cannot stay in my room. It is so difficult. Many of the bloodline would understand and not speak of anything they see or sense, but many more would report us. I am not fortunate enough to have the respect that Lord Hyperion commands. No one in our bloodline would dare expose his relationship. Just as they didn't dare turn Ineru over to the Law Keepers.
FH: Ineru is home again now, isn't she?
WINTER: She should not be. Her exile was reinstated but she often leaves the castle and returns to us. It is much easier for her now that she has River back in her life. He can teleport them straight from inside the castle where she is exiled to inside the Validus mansion.
FH: That sounds like a handy trick. Your relationship with Nika is obviously very forbidden, so what was it like to have me write your story and have others read it?
WINTER: Unnerving. I agreed to it so readily, without really thinking it through. It wasn't so much the fact that my relationship with Nika is illegal and therefore it was a great risk to allow you to write about us... it was the fact that once we began writing the story together, I realised how deeply you delved into the emotions involved and knowing that people would be reading my innermost thoughts and feelings, and my pain, made me feel a little uncomfortable.
FH: I wouldn't worry about that. You have some fans out there because of how open you were and everything that you went through with Nika emotionally. Women love that sort of stuff. (smiles at him) It won you Nika, didn't it?
WINTER: (smiles and looks distant, giving me the impression his thoughts are elsewhere) It did indeed.
FH: You really are yearning for her at the moment, aren't you? What if I told you she's here because I've brought her to be interviewed too?
WINTER: (sits forwards) She is here? In that case, I desire you to end my interview and point me in her direction.
FH: Okay. Hold your horses. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
WINTER: Green... the colour of Nika's eyes.
FH: And your favourite smell?
WINTER: Nika. She smells so sweet. She sometimes sprays her perfume on my pillows so I can smell her when she is away from me. It is a divine sort of torture.
FH: Your favourite possession?
WINTER: I had only one possession, and that was Midnight, my horse. A brave steed. Lord Hyperion has given me a new horse, but it cannot replace Midnight. I feel it will be many long years before I have developed such a bond with this new horse as I had with Midnight.
FH: Midnight was very special to you. I'm sure in time you'll get used to your new horse. Favourite thing to do?
WINTER: Visit Nika at the bastion because I know I can stay close to her then and sleep the day away with her in my arms.
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
WINTER: Any time of the year that I am with Nika. She makes all of the seasons special. I have never seen someone who reacts to each so differently but with such youthful excitement and fascination.
FH: I think she only sparkles in your eyes because you're so in love with her. (he scowls at me) It's true, don't bother trying to deny it. Anyway, thank you for coming to talk to me and Nika is through that door over there.
(Winter is gone in a flash)
FH: He's going to be annoyed when Nika mentions I'm interviewing her soon.
Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this little interlude with Winter.
If you want to know more about him then you can read his vampire/werewolf romance book, Winter's Kiss. Here's a little more about it.
Winter's Kiss
F E Heaton
Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
(The door opens and Winter enters. I'm not surprised to see that he's head to toe in black. His stand-up-collared jacket that reaches midway down his thigh is very crisp and his black riding boots are so shiny they reflect the light of the fireplace beside me. He's the epitome of a guard who takes his job seriously. I'm actually surprised he's not wearing his armour, cloak and his dragon-like helmet)
FH: Winter. It's good to see you again. So, what have you been up to since we last met?
WINTER: After the fiasco that happened at the centenary masquerade, things have been slowly getting back to normal. The bloodline has returned to the mansion and I have returned to my duties, both those of commander and envoy. I am due to visit the werewolf bastion again soon with information about the hunters and to collect the information they gathered at the masquerade too. It all needs to be entered into the database. Thankfully, that is a job for someone else.
FH: Of course, I completely believe that you're going to the bastion just to exchange some information. The werewolf you're going to meet for this exchange wouldn't be fair haired, quite young, and pretty, would she?
WINTER: (face remains completely impassive) You know I cannot answer such a question.
FH: It's not as though I said you would be doing anything with said werewolf besides exchanging intelligence. I could have asked if you were going to swap spit too or perhaps other bodily fluids. (grins at him)
WINTER: You are a dirty little wench at times, you do know that, do you not?
FH: (nods) Yes, but it's so fun to tease you. Look around you, Winter, there aren't any Law Keepers present and I'm not interviewing any of them at this time either, so you're perfectly safe to talk about your relationship. No one will tell on you.
WINTER: (his deep blue eyes scour the room and then he relaxes into the black velvet armchair) Very well. I will be exchanging the information with Nika. We did not get to spend much time together at the ball and it was so difficult to see her there and not be able to speak with her.
FH: I bet both of you were longing to spend some time alone together. How has your romance with Nika been doing?
WINTER: As well as it can under the circumstances. Every night that I wake alone I regret waiting and losing my chance to turn Nika. I only have myself to blame, and it pains me greatly. I want to wake with her in my arms. The only time I can have that is when I am at the werewolf bastion. When she comes to the mansion to visit me as an envoy she cannot stay in my room. It is so difficult. Many of the bloodline would understand and not speak of anything they see or sense, but many more would report us. I am not fortunate enough to have the respect that Lord Hyperion commands. No one in our bloodline would dare expose his relationship. Just as they didn't dare turn Ineru over to the Law Keepers.
FH: Ineru is home again now, isn't she?
WINTER: She should not be. Her exile was reinstated but she often leaves the castle and returns to us. It is much easier for her now that she has River back in her life. He can teleport them straight from inside the castle where she is exiled to inside the Validus mansion.
FH: That sounds like a handy trick. Your relationship with Nika is obviously very forbidden, so what was it like to have me write your story and have others read it?
WINTER: Unnerving. I agreed to it so readily, without really thinking it through. It wasn't so much the fact that my relationship with Nika is illegal and therefore it was a great risk to allow you to write about us... it was the fact that once we began writing the story together, I realised how deeply you delved into the emotions involved and knowing that people would be reading my innermost thoughts and feelings, and my pain, made me feel a little uncomfortable.
FH: I wouldn't worry about that. You have some fans out there because of how open you were and everything that you went through with Nika emotionally. Women love that sort of stuff. (smiles at him) It won you Nika, didn't it?
WINTER: (smiles and looks distant, giving me the impression his thoughts are elsewhere) It did indeed.
FH: You really are yearning for her at the moment, aren't you? What if I told you she's here because I've brought her to be interviewed too?
WINTER: (sits forwards) She is here? In that case, I desire you to end my interview and point me in her direction.
FH: Okay. Hold your horses. I have a few silly questions that I like to ask the people I'm interviewing. Firstly, what's your favourite colour?
WINTER: Green... the colour of Nika's eyes.
FH: And your favourite smell?
WINTER: Nika. She smells so sweet. She sometimes sprays her perfume on my pillows so I can smell her when she is away from me. It is a divine sort of torture.
FH: Your favourite possession?
WINTER: I had only one possession, and that was Midnight, my horse. A brave steed. Lord Hyperion has given me a new horse, but it cannot replace Midnight. I feel it will be many long years before I have developed such a bond with this new horse as I had with Midnight.
FH: Midnight was very special to you. I'm sure in time you'll get used to your new horse. Favourite thing to do?
WINTER: Visit Nika at the bastion because I know I can stay close to her then and sleep the day away with her in my arms.
FH: And finally, what's your favourite time of year?
WINTER: Any time of the year that I am with Nika. She makes all of the seasons special. I have never seen someone who reacts to each so differently but with such youthful excitement and fascination.
FH: I think she only sparkles in your eyes because you're so in love with her. (he scowls at me) It's true, don't bother trying to deny it. Anyway, thank you for coming to talk to me and Nika is through that door over there.
(Winter is gone in a flash)
FH: He's going to be annoyed when Nika mentions I'm interviewing her soon.
Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this little interlude with Winter.
If you want to know more about him then you can read his vampire/werewolf romance book, Winter's Kiss. Here's a little more about it.
Winter's Kiss
F E HeatonTheir lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter's world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he's fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he's torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2009
Book 8 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Winter's%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000802090/
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-winter039skiss-620974-139.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7932
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle France: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456489895/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Winters-Kiss/F-Heaton/e/9781456489892/
