Undead (An urban fantasy set in a Post-Apocalyptic World: Book One)

by Kim Petersen

  “You came here for the blood – you can have it!” His fingers shook as he reached into his jacket pocket to produce the vial. “Take it – but hear this, blood-sucker – the time will come when the earth will know reckoning; an era when the Blood Legend will appear to right the wrongs of your kind and claim vengeance on all kindred. You will fall and you will fail.” He tossed the vial at me. “And I’ll be laughing from my grave.”

  I gave a half laugh. Failure already blackened my heart. I slipped the vial in my pocket before lifting my arms in a sweeping gesture. When I spoke, my voice was hollow.

  “Bleed the pigs.”

  Black everything.

  I lunged for ginger-beard as he swung the machete. The blade pierced my stomach but I felt nothing. His hair was like matted straw as I gripped his forehead. Bloodshot eyes swelled and brimmed from sunken sockets. Screams and wails reverberated across the room. Avila and Sun screeched as talons tore through flesh and fangs sunk into skin. I dug my fingers into his face. He didn’t even struggle as I looked into his eyes and gave him a black smile.

  “You stole a part of my soul and now I’ll take yours with me to hell.”

  I roared before abruptly twisting his head between my hands. The sound of bone crunched beneath the impact, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. A red haze filled my vision as I tore his head from his neck in one fluid action. Blood sprayed over me. My eyes closed and I saw Scarla.

  Warm honeyed eyes. Long dark lashes. Soft skin, platinum locks and sensual hips. Lips and love; my love. Bella donna. She smiled and reached for me as my heart cracked and my soul yearned for one last touch – one final kiss. And then she was gone, and everything was black and bloody, and curdling cries filled the air as I looked at the unfolding massacre.

  Black everything.

  I turned away and left the cottage. I bolted through the forest. My feet were like wings. My heart pumped darkness. I stopped at the edge of the sea to gaze down at the footprints that spread like golden illusions beneath the pale moonlight.

  My fingers felt like steel as I reached for the vial of rare blood; blood that had the power to transform me into something more powerful than any other vampire on earth. The same blood that took my girls.

  I removed the lid from the vial, dropped to my knees and gazed at the dark sea. The cold water rushed all around me with the incoming tide. I felt nothing. Nothing.

  “Did you ever want to step into someone else’s feet?”

  Scarla’s voice taunted the edge of my soul as I recalled the last of our conversations.

  “Don’t you mean shoes?”

  “No.”

  I threw the vial into the receding waves and called her name. My voice was instantly stolen in the wind.

  “Thousands of footprints have marked this beach over just as many years; I’d give anything to step in any one of them.”

  I stretched to my feet. Her name was a whisper on my lips as I began following the prints back up the beach toward the road.

  “But then you wouldn’t be here with me in this moment.”

  Prints that would haunt me forever.

  Jett’s story is set to continue in Blood Legends: Rebirth and will be available to grab right now! Meanwhile, see below for an EXCLUSIVE preview – the first chapter of the original Blood Legends Series!

  * * *

  Blood Legends: Undead is a part of Kim Petersen’s Blood Legends series. If you loved this story and want to be alerted when the next Blood Legends book is released, follow the link to subscribe to get exclusive Blood Legends email-alerts straight to you: Email-alerts

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Petersen is a USA Today Bestselling Author, author of The Ascended Angels Chronicles, and co-author of the Stone the Crows series. Her debut novel, Millie’s Angel received a gold award in the 2017 Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards.

  Join Kim’s Reader Tribe and Grab a Free Read:

  https://forms.aweber.com/form/72/1801730872.htm

  Find Kim at:

  Whispering Ink: https://whisperinginkpress.com/

  Excerpt - Blood Legends Book One

  1

  2070 - Three Streams Village

  Ten miles west of the Norbury City Ruins

  Blood is treated like wine, or so I had heard from those fortunate enough to have lived to tell of cadaverous creatures. I lived in a hidden village nestled within the walls of an intricate web of caves miles from the ruined city. The elders called the village Three Streams because it intersected with three flowing, fresh rivers. They call us the Leavings. We are among the last surviving humans on earth, the ones the Vampiric Virus had left behind decades ago. About fifty Leavings called Three Streams home, needless to say it wasn’t a shortage of water that threatened our existence. It was the kindred clans stalking us for the blood pushing through our veins that jeopardized the survival of humanity. We had become pawns between two vampire clans plaguing the land with a bloody war fought beneath the cloak of a night sky.

  The vitality of the velvety, plasma-rich liquid that pumps through vessels, and fuels the hearts in all living creatures cannot be disputed. Without blood, humans could not exist. Now, blood has turned into a deadly, fast-moving commodity, during days when pale faces, cyclopean eyes, and sharp fangs reign supreme over the earth. Vampires now dominated the earth; humans had become the minority.

  Some called me a Blood Legend. Those words weighed heavy on me. I resented every syllable. My parents had even named me Eva because of the rare blood flowing through my veins. Eva means ‘life’. My parents were convinced that my blood, and the blood of my younger sister Kaia offered the life-force, the solution, perhaps, the legacy for the resurrection of humanity.

  The birth of every Leaving child is followed with a simple blood test our predecessors had salvaged from the ruined city, that’s how we come to know our blood types. It’s how they’d discovered that Kaia and I happened to possess the world’s most sought-after blood. The AB-positive blood type was rare even before the Vampiric era. Now, it had become priceless. The two clans that governed the ruined city lived their every moment in pursuit of our blood. Above all else, the Mysticus Clan and the Cruentus Clan scoured the desolate ruins for those with our blood type. It was their nucleus, the lore of their kind. The prize that would provide its host the power to defeat the other clan forever.

  I guess you could say we were special.

  Special was the last thing I felt right now, though. Beads of sweat stung my dark eyes and clung to my lashes as I wiped my brow with the back of my hand and clasped my wooden Samurai training sword with my other. Then I feigned a sigh, dropping my chin while gazing up at my sensei as if in defeat.

  Astrid circled me warily. Her tightly bound ponytail hung glossy like liquorice under the morning sun as her supple feet glided along, her sword poised in slender hands. Her lips stretched briefly. I knew she thought she had me worn down for the session, but that’s what I wanted her to think.

  “Had enough, sunshine?”

  She swivelled her sword between her fingers. The smooth timber saber followed her fluid movements gracefully.

  I shrugged and grinned back, mirroring her motion with my own sword.

  “Is that sweat glistening in your hair?” I asked. “Have you had enough, sunshine?”

  Astrid was the type of person who made everything seem effortless. I had barely seen her break out in a smile, much less a sweat.

  “I’ve had enough of your mouth,” she said, scowling.

  Her lips tightened as she moved like a firebolt and swung her sword toward my head.

  I ducked and spun my boots in the earth while bringing my own sword around fast to connect with the back of her knees. I just caught the fleeting grimace on her face as her legs went slightly concave and she stumbled back.

  I flashed her a wide grin and squinted at her brow line.

  “It’s sweat,” I said, nodding before glancing around the training yard and spotting my best friend, Thayer.

/>   He was sitting on a sandstone boulder at the side of the training range, sharpening a stake and watching the session. His thick eyebrows lifted with his grin as he paused to smile at me.

  My small, sweet victory didn’t last. I should’ve known; I had just broken the cardinal rule of combat. I had taken my eyes off my opponent, and this one had a nature like a Pit Bull Terrier out for blood. Astrid didn’t take well to any kind of defeat.

  In a matter of seconds, she was on her feet, her sword thrown aside in the dirt while her black almond eyes bore holes into the back of my head. I could’ve sworn I felt the heat of her stare at the same time as Thayer’s face darkened in warning. But I was too late. She had already caught me in a headlock and I was crashing to the ground beneath her suffocating grip.

  As much as I hated to admit it, Astrid was an excellent fighter, and highly disciplined in the principles of an array of Japanese martial arts. That’s why Hendric, our village leader, had assigned Kaia and me under her care following our parents’ disappearance. It was imperative that every village member learned to defend themselves to the best of their abilities, but considering our rare blood, Kaia and I had the most gruelling training regimen of all.

  As I squirmed under Astrid’s unrelenting, vice-like brace, I was certain the word ‘care’ might have been a little misleading in describing Hendric’s selection of her as our guardian. The woman was nervy and as fearless as a summer storm. Seldom had I experienced her softer side, but I knew it was there somewhere – hidden beneath her hard-ass, Japanese exterior. Well, I thought it had to be.

  “Enough now?” Her voice whisked into my ears like a warm gush of wind while her bony elbow pressed under my chin. It didn’t feel so good.

  I stamped my fists into the dirt before I choked to death, and glared at her as she released me and offered her hand.

  “You looked away.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, taking her hand and rising to my feet next to her.

  She shook her head, the ends of her long raven hair sweeping across her shoulders.

  “Why?”

  My eyes darted to Thayer and then back to her. I shrugged as I tried to push away the beginnings of a blush. I failed.

  Her brows lifted, but she didn’t say a word. Instead, she took her stance before me and we bowed to one another, formally signalling the end of our session. I was grateful to graze my eyes over my feet for a few seconds.

  By the time I’d straightened up, she was walking away from me.

  “Now you can go to the fields and collect the supply of cabbages for the village before they turn,” she called over her shoulder.

  “What? Why?”

  It wasn’t my job to tend to the fields. When I wasn’t on scouting expeditions, I took care of collecting fresh water and making sure our village barrels were always topped up.

  Astrid whirled around and gave me a stern look. “Because collecting cabbages might remind you that distractions are a weakness in combat.”

  I rolled my eyes and loosened the elastic holding back my hair. I could feel a headache coming on.

  “Seriously? I’m twenty years old. I think I know how not to be distracted in combat.”

  “Go tell that to the cabbage,” she quipped before striding away.

  My face screwed up with my scowl. Then I spotted Beck emerging from the clearing with his buddies, a smirk firmly impressed across his sharp features. My face began to ache at the sight of him.

  “Got secrets for the cabbage, Eva?” he asked, picking up a training sword for his session. “I’ll bet I know what your secrets are all about.”

  I was definitely feeling a headache coming on now. My fingers dug into my hips as I faced him, my jaw clenched. “I’ll bet I know how to beat the living shit out of your secrets,” I snarled, tossing my long, dark-amber braid.

  He dropped the sword lower, holding it loosely by his side as he stalked closer to me. The ends of his short-cropped, sallow hair caught the sun and glowed over his scalp. His thick lips twisted.

  “You wanna go there with me, cabbage-patch?”

  I inflated my chest and squared my shoulders. No way was I going to back down from this dick.

  “Anytime.”

  His brown eyes narrowed on me as he contemplated his options. We both knew I was the better trained fighter, yet he was a good foot taller than me and possessed a male’s strength – which I obviously did not. Still, would he risk losing face in front of his friends?

  We didn’t have to find out because, suddenly, Thayer was practically stepping on my toes and pressing his nose against Beck’s as he pushed himself between us.

  “Alright, alright. Save your beef for our real enemies, you two!” he said, gesturing to the beyond with a nod. “You know those bloodsuckers are out there. Let’s not lose sight of that fact.”

  His dark hair fell to the side while his inky eyes focused on me. I guess he did have a point, even if the three of us had never actually seen a vampire.

  Beck shook his head as he began to wander away with a shrug. “Maybe she needs to talk to the cabbage about them vampires before she ends up their main blood-cow. I hear cabbage helps with distractions,” he added.

  I scrunched up my face and gave him my filthiest look as his friends gawked and laughed behind him. Asshole.

  “C’mon, I’ll help you in the field, cabbage-patch,” Thayer said, tugging on my arm.

  I yanked my arm free.

  “Eat shit, I’ll do it myself!” I scowled, before storming away.

  His laughter echoed behind me, his footsteps thudding in the earth as he gripped my wrist and pulled me to a stop. I whirled around with a belly full of anger and a whole lot of words ready to fling at him, but all of it melted somewhere at my feet when I caught sight of the smile in his eyes. I tried to ignore my flipping stomach as he squeezed my hand with his next words.

  “I don’t want to eat shit.”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  He shrugged.

  “Takes one to know one.”

  I laughed, shaking my head as I allowed him to lead me from the training grounds with his words still circling through my head. Vampires were the real enemies. Gone were the days of a world brimming with vibrant city lights and fast cars, when movies graced the screens of every household and fresh food was available at every street corner. That was a time when people could walk the city in safety, day and night. A time that preoccupied my daydreams and stirred an indescribable longing within me. But those days would forever elude me – they were stolen away long ago when the Vampiric Virus violated the world.

  Nobody knows the real origins of the Vampiric Virus. Some say it was an experiment gone wrong. Others are convinced it began with a conspiracy. I think the real truth died along with the source. Either way, the rancid virus leached into the bloodstreams of millions like a merciless curse, leaving most of the population either infected or killed by the thirst of newborn vampires.

  I had been trained to kill vampires from the moment I could walk, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they’d spill this far west. With that thought, I stifled the sudden giddiness in my belly.

  Would I be ready to face the undead when the time came?

  I wasn’t so sure.

  The air hung like a heavy blanket as we snaked deeper into the woods and trekked silently through a shroud of trees until the damp forest canopy gave way to a stretch of fields edging along a cliff-face.

  I tramped through rows of cabbages and cauliflower until I reached the edge of the escarpment, where I dropped to my knees and squinted against the sun, breathing in the thin, warmer air blowing up from below. The ruined city of Norbury spanned out like a haze in the far distance. From here, the crumbling city appeared lazy and peaceful, much like a painting on a canvas. But I knew that was a farce. It was death and evil that lurked beneath those desolate buildings during the daylight hours.

  As my eyes rested on the massive dome structure looming over one half of the city, I shudd
ered. The chrome sphere glistened bright under the reflection of the sun. My stomach began to churn. Thayer was right; it would be foolish to lose sight of our real adversaries. And I didn’t know which clan was worse – the Cruentus Clan living and hunting in the ruins or the meticulously organized Mysticus Clan that farmed humans for blood under the protective UV dome structure beneath which they lived.

  Blood Legends: Undead is a part of Kim Petersen’s Blood Legends series. If you loved this story and want to be alerted when the next Blood Legends book is released, follow the link to subscribe to get exclusive Blood Legends email-alerts straight to you: Email-alerts

  Join Kim’s Reader Tribe and Grab a Free Read:

  https://forms.aweber.com/form/72/1801730872.htm

  * * *

  Find Kim at:

  Whispering Ink: https://whisperinginkpress.com/