Share
Chapter 26- Far Away
Related chapters
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 27- Guilt
Marlon, the Hunter’s commander and the most trusted man of the Master, was waiting on information—vital information—and his patience was thin even in the best of situations. It didn’t bode well that his spy was late. The man he’d recruited for this particular job was volatile and arrogant, but he was also reliable. All human spies were. Drained to within a bare inch of life, the human mind slaves were under the complete control of the sorcerer who made them. Only the most powerful among the magical race could create a human spy to do their bidding, and supernatural law had long prohibited the practice as barbaric. But who cared? The Master must wake up soon, and he needed his bloodline’s magic to do that, but now that Flora, the master’s wife, was found dead, Marlon was on edge. He didn't want to start all over. Marlon scoffed with contempt at the self-imposed, bureaucratic castration of his kind. Just one more example of why they were overdue for change. They needed strong new lead
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 28- Memories or not?
Grace wouldn’t look at James as she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head. ‘I don’t know how long I’ll be. If you leave before I get back, I’d appreciate it if you locked up. I have my keys.’Damn it. She might be hungry like she said, but James could tell by the rigid line of her spine that the woman had a point to prove here.‘Grace,’ he said, moving toward her as she reached for the apartment door. If he wanted to stop her, all it would take was a thought. James knew it, and by the look on her face as she turned to look at him now, so did she. ‘I know you’re angry about what I said earlier, but it’s the truth. You’re in no shape to go on like this.’When he took another step, concluding he might as well tell her that he’d decided to turn her over to one of his warriors for her own safety, she closed her hand around the doorknob and sharply twisted it open.Grace couldn’t have chosen a more effective weapon against him.Bright afternoon sunlight streamed in from the ves
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 29- Unexpected
James came out of a brief, light doze, fully recharged, as footsteps approached the apartment door from outside. He knew the sound of Grace’s soft but determined gait even before a key slid into the lock, announcing her arrival. She’d been gone for almost two hours. Another two and the sun would finally be gone, and he’d be free to get the hell out of there, back to his business as usual. Seated on the floor with his elbows resting on his knees, his back against the foam-padded wall, he watched as the door opened cautiously and Grace slipped inside. She didn’t seem as eager to singe him with the waning light from the hall; now she was focused on her own movements as if it took most of her concentration just to remove the key and carefully close the door behind her. A lumpy plastic grocery bag swung from her tightly fisted left hand. "Find what you need?" James asked her as she rested for a moment with her forehead pressed against the door. Her weak nod was her only reply. "Another h
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 30- James
James was delighted by the interception, whatever it might prove to gain, but if the Hunters—particularly their commander, Marlon—were expecting the package, then it must be of some importance to them. The question stuck around, why?James pulled the parcel out and sliced open the tape seals with one of the blades at his hip. The return address seemed to be one of those shared-office corporate types. Likely phony at that. His men could verify that fact, but James was betting that Marlon wouldn’t be so careless as to leave a reasonable paper trail.He tipped the box, and the contents—a thin, leather-bound book sealed in bubble wrap—slid into his hand. Skinning the cushioned plastic away from the antique, then frowned, baffled. It was just a featureless, half-empty book. A journal of some kind. Handwritten passages scribbled in what appeared to be a mixture of Latin and German covered a few of the pages; the rest were blank except for crude signs and marks doodled here and there in the
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 31- Such a jerk
Grace mentally rolled her eyes as she added. “James, whether you approve or not, I am part of this war. I didn’t go looking for it; the Hunters brought it to my door when my supposed father and grandmother died. All I’m asking is that you show me how to be more effective. I should think the Brotherhood would welcome any allies they can get.”“No!” James grumbled.“I can help.”“This isn’t about the Brotherhood and you know it.”“And why is that?”“I can't risk losing you again, Grace.” James murmured, his voice so serious that Grace thought that maybe she misheard him as he continued, “This is about revenge, an eye for an eye. Your emotions have been on a hard boil ever. They are powerful and so many against the brotherhood, against us. I need you alive, not dead.” James’s words cut into her like glass, the reality of what he said like acid poured into the wounds. Or was it concerned?“It’s about justice,” she told him sharply. “I need to make this right! Damn it, James, do I have to
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 32- New Breed
Totally unfazed, James pounced fast and hard on the Hunter he held on the floor, ripping one of his blades across the suckhead's throat. It roared and sputtered under the swift poison of the dagger's titanium edge, oozing gore as its body began a rapid meltdown. It's magic fading."Your turn," James told the other one as it attempted to scramble out of the way.The hunter threw its arm out, swiping at James with its blade. His magic buzzed on his sword, but it was a careless move, even for a hunter. When it had the chance to come at him, it hesitated, started itching to the side, drawing things out. Distracting him, James realized in the next instant when he heard the sudden crash of breaking glass coming from Grace's apartment."Son of a bitch," he growled as the woman's scream shot through the walls.The Hunter chose that second to fly at him, but James was ready for the attack. He leaped out of the suckhead's path, landing in a low crouch behind it and coming up fast with his blade
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 33- Brotherhood's Comp
James let go only to push her into the vehicle, and Grace scrambled onto the leather bench seat, her heart pounding in her chest. In a move so fast it hardly registered to her, he pivoted around, drew a dagger, and let it fly down the alleyway. From somewhere in the darkness came a shout of pain, then the low, anguished howl of a hunter meeting its demise at the end of James’s titanium blade. James dived into the SUV next to Grace and slammed the back door shut. "Make us gone, Danny. There's more on the way. Coming at us from above—"At that instant, something heavy hit the roof of the vehicle. In a peal of screeching tires, Danny threw the SUV into reverse, dislodging the Hunter onto the hood. A fast zigzagging maneuver threw it off the car completely, and as the feral vampire came up from its roll on the street, the leather-clad warrior in the passenger seat leaned out his open window and filled the Hunter with a merciless hail of bullets.The warrior squeezing the trigger shouted a
SWEET BLOOD Chapter 34- Lander
As James paused in the open doorway of the library, Lander looked up from an array of color photographs that his wife Ella had spread out before him on the squat table in the center of the room. She had a gift that extended beyond her artist’s eye for beauty: Ella’s camera lens was often drawn to vampire locations, both the brotherhood and hunter. It was in part how she and Lander met the past summer; now it wasn’t unusual for the mate to return from occasional daytime outings to the city and suburbs with pictures that proved useful to the Brotherhood’s recon efforts topside. But this particular collection was something different. Even from a distance, James’s eye was drawn to vibrant, sunlit images of the mansion's winter grounds and gardens. The ice glistened on branches like diamonds, and in one of the shots, a red cardinal was captured in close-up, a blast of shocking color amid a field of fresh white snow. A few of the pictures were taken in the city, some showing children in on
Latest chapter
