Chapter 16 Zachary was sitting on the ground with his back against a tombstone while Jason paced back and forth in front of him. Guy leaned against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest watching Zachary’s eyes follow Jason’s feet like a cat ready to pounce. “Where is she?” Jason demanded in a harsh whisper. “I thought you said she was going to be here tonight.” “She will be,” Zachary sighed. “It’s only a little bit after ten… she’s probably tired from last night’s… activities.” Guy smirked, “I can only imagine what those activities were.” He quickly dodged the rock Zachary threw at him. Jason stopped pacing and stared at Zachary, “You had sex in a cemetery? That’s just sick.” “Like you wouldn’t,” Zachary said then looked up at Guy, “and I was referring to the fact that she was training here last night… pervert.” He nearly rolled his eyes and added, “Wraith.” Guy lifted his hand and turned his palm out toward the oncoming wraith. His lips moved si
Chapter 17 Zachary barely had time to blink when he and Storm were suddenly in the same room with Tiara. Looking at his surroundings, he figured this was the cabin Tiara had been talking about at the cemetery. Zachary turned his gaze to her and tried to step forward so he could touch her but found his legs couldn’t move very well. It felt like they were pushing against some type of invisible memory foam that only gave a couple inches. “Where are we?” Zachary asked then looked at Storm with a frown when his voice echoed. “We are not really here… just a hair’s breadth away from her life-force,” Storm answered. “No matter where she goes, you will remain only inches from her. She won't be able to hear or see you until I return and release you from this dimension.” “You’re leaving me here alone to be a voyeur?” Zachary narrowed his eyes on his friend, wanting to touch Tiara… not spy on her. “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a pervert.” “You’re going to be thanki
Tainted Blood Blood Bound Series Book 7 Amy Blankenship, RK Melton Copyright © 2012 Amy Blankenship Second Edition Published by TekTime All rights reserved. Chapter 1 Craven walked the streets of the city having sent Nighthawk and Tiara ahead to their fortress. He’d learned the girl’s name from the Indian. He was now riding high on several different adrenalin rushes… one being that he finally had the child he’d always longed for. Craven pushed the urgency away knowing she would not wake for a while. He trusted Nighthawk not to feel the urge to hurt her in any way… he had seen as much in the Indian’s eyes and it made him curious. He’d been searching for a reason as to why the zombie-turned-Night Walker had chosen to stay with him. Now it looked like Nighthawk had simply been waiting on something… or someone. They both wanted to protect the beautiful little necromancer… even if it was for different reason
Chapter 2 Amidst the mayhem of Hollywood Cemetery, Michael looked down at the dead Spinnan at his feet and dusted his hands on his coat. “That was enjoyable,” he muttered. He glanced up just in time to see Kane rip the head off of another demon and toss it over his shoulder. Michael scrambled out of the way of the flying head and glared at Kane’s back. “Do you mind?” Michael demanded. “I’ve made it this far without getting dirty… I’d like to keep it that way.” Kane smirked at him over his shoulder, “You’re quick enough to move if something comes flying at you.” Tabatha sighed having seen enough gore to last her a lifetime. Now it just looked like the boys were playing in it. “If I didn’t know any better Kane, I would swear you’re having too much fun killing these things.” “Well, I never heard…” he stopped and thought for a moment then looked around at the dead demons then back up at Tabatha. “You’re right, I am having fun,” he shrugged unsympathetically.
Chapter 3 Damon crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the tool shed used by the caretakers of the cemetery. This area was lacking in hunters because it was in the very corner of the massive graveyard and fairly secluded. It also seemed to be a refuge for a lot of the Spinnan that had survived this long, almost as though they were trying to regroup and hide. He had promised to let Alicia practice fighting and, all in all… this was an excellent place for her to do it… as long as he was there acting as the referee. These Spinnan were weak compared to most of the things running around the city right now, but still he only allowed Alicia to fight one at a time. Every time a brave Spinnan would try to tag team her, he would shatter them before they got close enough to distract her from the one she was fighting. Destroying the monsters coming at Alicia was giving him a sense of satisfaction and Damon was quite enjoying himself. She wasn’t half bad… for a be
Chapter 4 Angelica paced back and forth in Ren’s office trying to stay within eyesight of the barrier and away from everyone else that had business in the huge room. She’d already bitten Storm’s head off when he’d informed her that staring at Zachary wasn’t going to make him wake up any faster. She glanced at Syn who was still leaning against the wall and raised an eyebrow. She was starting to believe that man could turn into a statue if he tried hard enough. He hadn't moved in hours. Maybe Storm was right, because the walls were starting to close in on her and Zachary hadn't as much as twitched. Her cell phone rang, the loud sound startling her out of her musings. Seeing the caller ID and thinking Storm was just checking on Zachary she answered the call, “No Storm. He still hasn’t woken up.” “Ren needs you at the local hospital,” Storm said seriously. “He ran into something rather nasty and has lost it somewhere in the building.” “And he needs me to track
Chapter 5 Trevor stood outside Night Light looking at the eerily silent front door with the sign ‘closed for renovations’ still hanging there. He didn’t really like doing this, but if things continued to escalate the way they had been… PIT didn’t have a choice. Opening the front door, he stepped into the cool interior and cocked an eyebrow at the light show going on over the dance floor. His sharp eyes took in the werewolves moving along the upper scaffolding, checking the connections and making sure everything was working okay. He inhaled slowly, searching for Envy’s scent and spotted the shifter clans clustered in front of the bar talking about the Halloween party. Some of the conversation he’d actually picked up on the wiretaps he had scattered through the club. They’d never been removed and this was one of the times Trevor was thankful for that. “All right, shutting it down,” Micah's voice echoed across the building. The dance lights shut off and for a mom
Chapter 6 Angelica was sitting in an overstuffed chair next to the window waiting for Zachary to wake up. PIT members had been coming and going from the castle for the last several hours but she couldn’t bring herself to leave again. She glanced up at Zachary seeing nothing had changed and sighed. Syn stood against the wall behind Angelica with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched as Angelica’s head started to relax against the high back cushion of the chair he’d placed in here for her and her eyes slowly closed. He had enjoyed their nap together but in his opinion it had been too short… only a couple of hours. Thankfully, he had regained enough of his power by then so that the sun had left his eyes. He pushed away from the wall with the intent of putting her back to bed when his attention was suddenly drawn to the phoenix within the barrier. The dark flames burning around Zachary’s body were abruptly drawn back into him giving the effect of an explosion in
Chapter 17 Zachary barely had time to blink when he and Storm were suddenly in the same room with Tiara. Looking at his surroundings, he figured this was the cabin Tiara had been talking about at the cemetery. Zachary turned his gaze to her and tried to step forward so he could touch her but found his legs couldn’t move very well. It felt like they were pushing against some type of invisible memory foam that only gave a couple inches. “Where are we?” Zachary asked then looked at Storm with a frown when his voice echoed. “We are not really here… just a hair’s breadth away from her life-force,” Storm answered. “No matter where she goes, you will remain only inches from her. She won't be able to hear or see you until I return and release you from this dimension.” “You’re leaving me here alone to be a voyeur?” Zachary narrowed his eyes on his friend, wanting to touch Tiara… not spy on her. “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a pervert.” “You’re going to be thanki
Chapter 16 Zachary was sitting on the ground with his back against a tombstone while Jason paced back and forth in front of him. Guy leaned against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest watching Zachary’s eyes follow Jason’s feet like a cat ready to pounce. “Where is she?” Jason demanded in a harsh whisper. “I thought you said she was going to be here tonight.” “She will be,” Zachary sighed. “It’s only a little bit after ten… she’s probably tired from last night’s… activities.” Guy smirked, “I can only imagine what those activities were.” He quickly dodged the rock Zachary threw at him. Jason stopped pacing and stared at Zachary, “You had sex in a cemetery? That’s just sick.” “Like you wouldn’t,” Zachary said then looked up at Guy, “and I was referring to the fact that she was training here last night… pervert.” He nearly rolled his eyes and added, “Wraith.” Guy lifted his hand and turned his palm out toward the oncoming wraith. His lips moved si
Chapter 15 Zachary was sitting in a chair gazing at the new sofa Storm had replaced the old one with… the one he’d burned to a pile of ash. He couldn’t even tell where the barrier had been, but he knew it was still there waiting to be activated. He’d watched the video footage of the entire incident and couldn’t believe he’d lost control like that. The terrifying thought of what he would have done if the barrier had been lowered… or hadn't woken up in that makeshift prison cell had plagued Zachary since he’d turned off the monitor. Jason was sprawled across that same sofa with his hands laced behind his head. His feet were propped up on the opposite arm and his eyes were closed. His mind had been on Tiara constantly since she left and he kept trying to sense if she was in danger. He felt useless as part of the team and wondered why she’d even gave him the ring if she was going to take off anyway. Opening one eye when he felt the sensation of someone staring at him,
Chapter 14 Trevor had gotten the call from one of the officers headed toward the scene and left the precinct without a second thought. All the way there, he refused to believe that something had happened to Chad. No way in hell something like a demon was going to take Sexton down. However, when he pulled up behind the ambulance and saw the patrol cars in the yard and driveway, reality gave him a slap in the face. Getting out of his car, Trevor ran inside and fought past the officers blocking his way into the kitchen. He stared down in disbelief at his friend lying in the kitchen floor with a pool of dark, thick blood surrounding him. The wound was directly over his heart, stabbing the muscle and causing him to bleed out. One of the paramedics looked up at him and shook his head. They pulled the white sheet up to cover Chad’s face. “He was already gone before we were called.” Trevor stood there for a moment, blocking all movement and sound out and listened for
Chapter 13 Trevor closed the office door, letting Boris take over the paperwork on the new recruits. He was glad the wolf had caught on as quickly as he had and seemed to be enjoying his new status. It wasn’t every day that a werewolf was in the police department on the right side of the iron bars. Titus and Micah were catching on just as fast and had taken over some precinct office space in the building across the road for privacy reasons. They had even labeled the unit as a special division of the C.I.A. so that the normal detectives wouldn’t bother them. Stepping over to the coffee maker, he smirked realizing the coffee pot he and Chad had confiscated a few days ago still hadn’t returned. He’d have to make sure to hunt it down in the break room since that seemed to be where all the lost coffee pots ended up. With coffee in hand, he strolled over to the receptionist desk to check up on them and see if they needed a break. With all the influx of calls coming in,
Chapter 12 The scenery changed so fast that Tiara began to feel a little sick to her stomach. She finally twisted around in Nighthawk’s embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes against the dizzying mode of travel. After what seemed like forever, the world stabilized again and she opened her eyes to take a look at her surroundings. “So that’s what it’s like to teleport,” she whispered hearing his calming heartbeat against her ear. Nighthawk tightened his arm around her waist, “It is not the same as your Time Walker can do. I travel through the spirit world… not time and space.” Tiara noticed they were in another cemetery and smiled in relief when she saw that there were no lost souls wandering around. “Traveling in the spirit world,” she nodded to herself. “I guess you follow the path the dead have made… right?” “I travel the road of the dead,” Nighthawk answered neither confirming nor denying the dead had created it. “Well that’ll co
Chapter 11 Jason and Guy had been hoofing it through the city for a while now but, thankfully, their argument had finally stopped. “Do you think we can talk her into coming back?” Jason asked. Guy shrugged, “I hope so. No one has really worked with her before… only with Myra. It’s hard to say how Tiara is going to react.” They finally turned the last corner on the way to the cemetery and Guy sighed heavily when he saw the police roadblock. “I’d forgotten about them,” Guy muttered. Jason frowned but remained silent as they approached the police officers on duty. “Halt,” the male officer said. “This road is closed due to a large crime scene ahead. We can’t let anyone pass.” Guy gave the officer an award winning smile, “No problem, we’re part of the team investigating the cemetery.” “Can I see your credentials?” the officer asked. Guy reached into his inner jacket pocket for the requested paperwork… only to find it wasn’t there. He quickly sea
Chapter 10 Guy was pushing the gas pedal to the floor with Jason in the passenger seat holding tight to the ‘oh shit’ bar above the door. “Think you can slow down a little bit?” Jason said loudly. “Duck your head between your knees,” Guy exclaimed and took a hairpin turn at sixty miles per hour. “You’re going to kill us before we even get there!” Jason complained. Guy glared at him, “I want to get there before Tiara disappears again. If she’s gone by the time we get there, who knows when she’ll pop up again? Plus Zachary is still there… what if he blows his top?” Jason shook his head, “Whatever.” A loud bang from the driver’s side of the car made both of them jump and the car to start wobbling erratically. The bang was followed by a noise that sounded like a machine gun being fired. Guy was forced to slow down and finally limped the car over to the side of the road. “Great!” Jason exclaimed, “Now we’re being shot at for your speeding.” “Do you
Chapter 9 Guy rolled his neck and shoulders then looked around the room. He was sitting on the floor with all of Carley’s scrolls and books scattered around him. A small smile appeared on his face as he pictured Carley, the way she had looked when she was alive, sitting in her wheelchair a few feet away with an open book in her lap. Rubbing his eyes, Guy picked up the book Carley had originally pointed to and started ruffling through the pages again. It was difficult to find a particular spell in this book due to its thickness. It was older than dirt… literally the binding was nothing more than rawhide sewn to keep the book itself from falling apart. The front and back covers were fashioned out of animal skins that had hardened over the centuries into stiff-as-wood leather. But that wasn’t what frustrated Guy about the book… it was the fact that it contained more than one thousand pages full of spells that had no order to them. He and Carley believed that this was