Primal
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Bleeding Heart
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
Skin & Bone
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
Angel-Claimed
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
Primal Kiss
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
EPILOGUE
PRAISE FOR AUTHORS OF PRIMAL
MICHELLE ROWEN
“Rowen never disappoints!”
—Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author
“Rowen’s characteristic wit, infused with a dark edge. A great read!”
—Kelley Armstrong, New York Times bestselling author
“A high-octane thrill ride to a fresh, new, dark and sexy world.”
—Eve Silver, national bestselling author
AVA GRAY
“Ava Gray is a must read!”
—Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author
“Sexy, clever, and tightly plotted.”
—Lauren Dane, national bestselling author
“Riveting romantic suspense … [The] chemistry sizzles.”
—Publishers Weekly
JORY STRONG
“Never a dull moment within this blazing read.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“The passion is going to blow your darn mind.”
—Dark Angel Reviews
“Jory Strong will leave you hooked.”
—Romance Junkies
LORA LEIGH
“Lora Leigh delivers on all counts.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Erotic, fast-paced, funny, and hard-hitting.”
—Fresh Fiction
“The incredible Leigh pushes the traditional envelope.”
—Romantic Times
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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2011 by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
“Bleeding Heart” by Michelle Rowen copyright © by Michelle Rouillard.
“Skin & Bone” by Ava Gray copyright © by Ann Aguirre.
“Angel-Claimed” by Jory Strong copyright © by Valerie Christenson.
“Primal Kiss” by Lora Leigh copyright © by Christina Simmons.
Excerpt from Nightshade by Michelle Rowen copyright © by Michelle Rouillard.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / February 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Primal / Lora Leigh … [et al.].—Berkley Sensation trade paperback ed.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-48632-0
1. Occult fiction, American. 2. Love stories, American. 3. Paranormal romance stories, American. I. Leigh, Lora.
PS648.O33P75 2011
813.087660806—dc22
2010046257
http://us.penguingroup.com
Bleeding Heart
MICHELLE ROWEN
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The events in Bleeding Heart take place a few days after those in Nightshade.
ONE
“She’s the chick with the vamp-killing blood?”
The loud voice pulled me out of a thick cloud of nightmares about pale-skinned monsters with sharp teeth and claws. I opened my eyes wide and stared up at the peeling white paint on the motel room’s ceiling.
“Yeah, her name’s Jill,” was the reply. Both voices—one familiar and one not—came from outside, and I could hear them clearly through the thin door.
“So, what are you? Like, her protector or something?”
“Something like that.”
“Shit, man. You’re not forgetting you’re half vampire, right? What if you get a taste of her? Will it kill you, too?”
“I don’t drink blood, so I’m not planning on finding out.”
I slipped out of the lumpy bed and moved toward the window to the left of the door so I could peek outside. The view was the same as it had been for three days—a very unglamorous gray cement parking lot with a dying twenty-foot-tall palm tree blocking my view of the main street.
Declan Reyes stood with his back to the green door, his profile clearly visible to me. He’d lost his left eye a long time ago, and the damage was covered by a black eye patch. His face was scarred around that patch from old injuries, just like the rest of his body. Dhampyrs like Declan—half human and half vampire—healed fast, but scarred from every flesh wound they received. They also didn’t have the benefits of immortality like a vampire did. Thanks to his human side, Declan was every bit as mortal as I was.
He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he faced a darkhaired man only a couple inches short of his six-four. The man looked tough, like a bouncer or a bodyguard.
Or, more likely, a vampire hunter.
Declan had said he was going to contact one of his old pals here in Los Angeles to see if he could help us out. This must have been the pal in question. Nice of him to make house calls.
The idea of anyone else getting involved with my problems didn’t set my mind
at ease, but I was trying not to complain. I’d recently become extremely guarded about my privacy. It was safer that way.
The man’s lips parted to show straight white teeth as he grinned. “Wait. I think I get it. You’re doing her, aren’t you?”
“Doing her?” Declan replied dryly.
His smile widened. “Got to say, I’m surprised. Rumor had it that you were … uh, how do I put it?”
“What?”
“Neutered. Don’t take it the wrong way, but that’s what I heard. That serum you were on before—the shit that kept your vamp side at bay—I heard it fucked with your libido. Always wondered why you were never that interested in hitting the titty bars with me. I guess now I know, right?”
Declan glared at him without speaking, and I gripped the window ledge, worried that there would be a fight between them. This was one of Declan’s friends? He sounded like a Grade-A asshole, enough to make my skin crawl.
I actually jumped when Declan laughed a second later. It was a humorless sound.
“My sex life is none of your fucking business, Jackson.”
“I’ll take that as an affirmative.” Jackson was laughing, too. “What about the permanent drug you’re on now? Does that—”
“It works the same as before. Actually, it feels even stronger than the other one. I’m with Jill to keep her safe until we find a way to get the Nightshade formula out of her blood.” Declan’s jaw tensed. “That’s all.”
“So you’re not fucking her.”
“It’s none of your damn business either way. But no.”
Jackson’s shit-eating grin didn’t waver. “But you have. No wonder you’re so into this chick. Memories of a great lay can fuel a guy for a long damn time. I bet she’s hot. When can I meet her?”
“She’s sleeping.”
I pushed open the door, leveling my gaze with the nosy hunter I’d already decided to dislike. “I’m awake now. Hard to have an afternoon nap when there’s so much testosterone flying around.”
“You heard all that?” Jackson scanned the length of me. I’d slept in jeans and a black tank top so I was already fully dressed.
“I heard enough.”
He glanced into the room, his gaze stopping at a plastic baby bottle and pile of disposable diapers. “Did I wake the baby?”
“There’s no baby,” I said, with a sharp look at Declan.
Jackson frowned. “Just collecting kid paraphernalia in case one suddenly appears out of nowhere?”
“I was looking after a baby for someone, but Declan took her elsewhere yesterday and won’t tell me where.” I sounded as pissed as I felt. I had a hard time hiding my feelings, especially when it came to the things that were totally out of my control.
A vampire—a vampire king, actually—named Matthias had asked me to protect his newborn daughter. It was his last request he’d made just before he’d died from drinking my blood.
He was gone. But the promise I’d made remained.
The promise that Declan had taken out of my hands.
“Jill …” Declan looked at me out of the corner of his good eye.
“Am I lying?”
“It’s better this way.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”
I did agree that my current life was nowhere a baby should be, and I’d be the first to acknowledge I wasn’t born with strong maternal instincts, but it bothered me that he’d made this choice alone and refused to tell me where she was—only that she was safe and being cared for. Declan believed the baby was in danger and that any vampire who wanted to find her could mentally influence my weak human mind to learn where she was. She was a dhampyr like Declan. Because of that, her infant blood was worth its weight in diamonds to vampires who believed the rumors that it imbued true immortality when consumed.
Maybe Declan was right to take her somewhere she’d be better looked after than with us, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
He was just damn lucky I’d come to trust his judgment about shit like this.
The vampire hunter extended his hand. “Jackson Gale. Great to meet you, Jill.”
I glanced at Declan, but his expression was unreadable. Another one of his drug’s side effects, apart from impotence, was keeping my dhampyr traveling companion virtually emotionless. It was a difficult thing to get used to.
Finally, I grasped Jackson’s hand and shook it. “Charmed, I’m sure. So what’s going on? Or would you like to continue talking about what a great lay I am?”
Jackson grinned. “Nice.”
Declan’s expression tensed. “I wish you hadn’t overheard that.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
For an emotion-free dhampyr, he now looked a little bit embarrassed.
“Declan’s filled me in on the Nightshade formula in your blood.” Jackson eyed me. “How do you feel?”
I paused for a moment, deciding how much I wanted to share with this stranger, then figured what the hell. “I’ve felt better. But I haven’t had any side effects for a few days.”
“What kind of side effects were you getting before?” He leaned against the wall next to the open motel door. I hadn’t yet stepped outside. I glanced around to make sure nobody but the three of us was within hearing distance.
“After I was first injected, I got nausea from hell. And lots of pain. Those side effects have leveled off, but this poison will kill me unless I find a way to get it out.”
“Damn.” He watched me, his brow creased. “Then lucky for you I’m here. I’ve been looking into things, and I know where you need to go.”
“Where?” I failed to keep the naked eagerness out of my voice.
“The parachemist who created the Nightshade formula in the first place—everyone thought he worked alone, but they were wrong.”
Declan crossed his arms. “He didn’t?”
Jackson shook his head. “He had a partner a couple years ago, Dr. Victor Reynolds. He works out of a covert research facility on the edge of the city. He wants to meet you—both of you—to see if he can do anything to fix this.” His previously amused expression faded, and I was surprised to see concern now etched there. “Look, I don’t know you, Jill, but I can see that you’ve been through a lot of bad shit. You’re not a part of this world. You shouldn’t have been dragged into it.”
“You’re right, she shouldn’t have,” Declan said, and we shared a look. I’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time and come between him, his gun, and a man who’d used me as a hostage before injecting me with Nightshade—the only sample of it there was.
Only a week ago I didn’t know vampires were real. That there was a branch of science that specialized in the paranormal. That a formula could be developed that would make my scent irresistible to vampires, but one taste would turn them into fire and ash. I’d fallen head first down the rabbit hole, and I’d been looking for a way out ever since. Looked like Jackson just might have a map for me.
While I could never forget everything I’d seen and experienced, I was ready for this roller-coaster ride to be over once and for all.
“When can I meet Dr. Reynolds?” I asked.
Jackson looked at each of us in turn. “How does now sound?”
WE DROVE WITH Jackson forty minutes across Los Angeles to what looked like a small, run-down warehouse on the edge of the city. Declan parked about two hundred yards away from it, shielding the car behind a Dumpster.
“You’re sure this is the right place?” I asked as I stepped out of the passenger side of the car and warily eyed the unfamiliar location.
Jackson slammed the rear car door behind him. “Yeah. It’s a secret research facility. Emphasis on the secret part, which is why it doesn’t look like much from up here. It’s all underground. The place goes twenty stories down.”
“What kind of research do they do here?” Declan asked.
“What kind do you think?”
Declan looked at the building. “They keep vampires here?”
&nbs
p; Jackson nodded. “Locked up in the basement. If you’re doing research, you gotta have some guinea pigs at the ready. A few days starved off blood and they make for better test subjects; their vampiric traits can’t be hidden anymore. Saving mankind from the monsters is hard work.” He grinned. “Come on. I promise nobody’s going to get bit.”
Funny guy. All his flippant comment did was give me second thoughts about this. A shiver went down my arms, and my stomach began to churn. I had to remember that guys like Jackson were used to this sort of thing and could find the humor where I didn’t. Still, things felt off. I didn’t like the prospect of being anywhere where I knew vampires were hanging around, even if it was against their will.
However, my motivation for getting rid of the Nightshade was strong. I really wanted to live, so I summoned all the courage I could and followed him.
We walked around to the front of the building, and Jackson pushed open the large front door. There was a security camera mounted up to the left on a ledge to keep an eye on visitors.
I grabbed Declan’s arm before he went inside. “Can I talk to you?”
He flicked a glance at Jackson. “Give us a minute.”
“I’ll wait inside.” Jackson entered the warehouse and closed the door behind him.
Declan turned to me. “What is it?”
“You sure you trust this guy?”
“Yes. I’ve known him ten years—we trained together. He’s always known I’m a dhampyr and he never held it against me like some of the others did. He’s a good guy.”
I could tell that he meant every word.
I was quiet for a moment. “You know, he kind of reminds me of somebody.”
“Who?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You.”
Declan snorted humorlessly “You mean, if I wasn’t all scarred up and pumped full of drugs that make me into a robot.”