Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel)

by Linsey Hall

  I strode toward the head of my security force, determined to get it done quickly and protect her. Then I would leave her alone. No matter how damned hard it was, I would do that for her. I had to.

  And yet, I knew there was no way I could say goodbye to her. Not a chance in hell.

  Carrow

  Three days later, it was finished. The necromancer was dead, and Beatrix’s murderer would go to jail for his crimes. He had confessed, and the police had taken him into custody. I hadn’t seen the Devil since he’d bitten me, but I’d heard through the grapevine that my name had been cleared with the police department. Corrigan had confirmed that Banks had led the charge against me with the wanted posters, and that he’d been reprimanded for bias.

  I was no longer a wanted woman.

  More importantly, the woman that we’d rescued was safe and sound, her memory wiped of everything bad.

  Unfortunately, after the cops had searched my flat, someone had broken in and stolen everything. I’d taken it as a sign.

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Mac grinned at me. “I’m so happy.”

  “Thanks for helping me figure it out.” I looked at the green door that was now our green door. I held the key to the top-floor flat, right above Mac.

  I’d cleared my name in the human world, but I didn’t want to return. It was dim and miserable there, an awful half life where I tried to use my magic to help but ended up on the sidelines.

  No. I wanted a new life—one full of color and excitement and friends. And the best way to have that was to move to Guild City. To the flat above Mac’s, in fact. I was going to hang up my shingle as a mystery-solver of some kind. I still didn’t know all the details, but I knew I was going to sell my services to those who needed them.

  “You’re going to do great,” Mac said. “Your magic is so strong, everyone will want to hire you.”

  I had a reputation now, apparently. The fact that I’d held the necromancer’s gem with my bare hand had gotten around town. We still didn’t know exactly what the gem did, but it was powerful. So insanely powerful that it was supposed to be impossible to hold.

  Yet I had.

  I could still barely control my gift, but I could hold that gem.

  I didn’t understand it, but maybe one day, I would.

  I’d considered handing the gem over to the Council of Guilds. I didn’t want to possess something created from such darkness, no matter how powerful it was. But I didn’t trust them, so I wore it on a chain around my neck. For now, at least.

  “Go on.” Mac gestured to the door. “Go check out your new place.”

  I smiled at her and turned the key in the lock. I took the stairs two at a time, leaving Mac at her place as I continued up to my own. As I pressed my hand to my door, the strongest sense of possibility yawned through me.

  A grin stretched my face as I pushed open the door to my new flat.

  It was as cheerful and bright as I remembered it, but two things caught my eye. A small stack of books in the middle of the floor . . . and Cordelia.

  The fat little raccoon looked at me, and a voice echoed in my mind. Not a bad place we have here.

  I gaped at her. “You can talk?”

  I’m your familiar. Of course I can talk.

  “But…but…”

  I like to dig through rubbish bins, but that doesn’t mean you should make assumptions about my ability to hold a conversation.

  “Um. True.”

  Mac appeared at my side, having followed me up the stairs.

  She pointed to a pile of books on the floor. “What are those?”

  I frowned in recognition. They were the ones that Beatrix had given me. The ones I’d had to leave behind at my old flat and hadn’t been able to find after my name had been cleared. “Did you bring me those?”

  No. That Devil bloke had them delivered.

  Grey had them delivered?

  My heartbeat fluttered. “She says the Devil delivered them.”

  “Oooh, I don’t know about that,” Mac said.

  I looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You heard what the Oracle said. He’s dangerous to you. Cursed Mates.”

  “You believe her?”

  “Of course I do. Did you see her? She looks totally legit. And Fated Mates are a thing, so Cursed Mates could be one too.”

  “I know I’m not up for that kind of thing.”

  “Then you know what they say. Don’t make a deal with the devil.”

  I nodded. I would avoid him. It was the only smart thing to do.

  But more than ever, I had that feeling that we were two stars spinning through space, about to collide with each other. I would see him again. I was sure of it.

  I thought of his bite, and how I wanted more. It was crazy, but I wanted more.

  This was all happening too fast. Magic. A familiar. Gifts from a vampire. A new life.

  I liked it.

  I’d had a bite of this new life, and despite the danger and craziness of it, I wanted more.

  I grinned at Cordelia and Mac. “How about a girls’ night?”

  A girls’ night! I will consult the rubbish bins for a treat.

  “Could do,” I replied, leaning out the window to look at the restaurant below. “But why don’t we spring for a kebab? My treat, to celebrate our new life.”

  ~~~

  I hope you liked Once Bitten! Book two will be here next month. Sign up for my newsletter at www.LinseyHall.com to get info about when it comes out, as well as a novella about other characters in this world.

  THANK YOU FOR READING!

  I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are so helpful to authors. I really appreciate all reviews, both positive and negative. If you want to leave one, you can do so at Amazon or GoodReads.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.

  Thank you to Jena O’Connor, Lexi George, and Ash Fitzsimmons for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! And thank you to Maximillian, Susie, and Richard for your keen eye for errors.

  Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art.

  For my friend Caethes.

  Author’s Note

  Hey there! I hope you enjoyed Once Bitten. Most of the historical elements from this book were inspired by research trips to Romania and London. I often draw from history, and in cases where I modify it to suit the story, I like to share that.

  The most important one to mention is the hero, the Devil of Darkvale, because he shares a name with someone but was not based specifically on that person. Vlad III Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) is Romania’s greatest folk hero. He was the ruler of Wallachia, a region in Transylvania, three times during his life in the mid fifteenth century. During his life, he had no connections with vampirism, but his reputation for aggressive acts of violence on behalf of his region inspired the name of Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula (published 1897). He is a historical figure who is greatly admired for protecting his people, though the way he accomplished this often seems gruesome.

  I have obviously gone in the same direction as Bram Stoker — using the name as inspiration for my vampire hero but not the actual person. As with Bram Stoker, my hero is not inspired by the real Vlad III Dracula, just by the myths.

  For this story, nearly every aspect of my Vlad the Impaler is the product of my imagination, but Guild City is based upon his birthplace of Sighișoara in Transylvania. It is a beautiful medieval city surrounded by a roughly circular wall that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As with Guild City, there are towers built into the wall that were once owned and maintained by various guilds (such as the tailors, bookmakers, butchers, tinsmiths, and rope makers). The guild towers were responsible for the defense of the city when it came under attack, and each one is different and fascinating. As soon as I as I saw them, I was imaging Guild City.

  On the English side of things, Temple
Church is based upon a real church in London that I visited with the author C.N. Crawford (so if you like my books, you may want to check out hers). It has a rich history, starting with its construction by the Knight’s Templar in the twelfth century.

  That’s it for the history and myth in this book, though I will go into more detail about the very cool guild towers in future books. Thank you for reading, and I hope you stick around with Carrow and the Devil to find out more.

  About Linsey

  Before becoming a writer, Linsey Hall was a nautical archaeologist who studied shipwrecks from Hawaii and the Yukon to the UK and the Mediterranean. She credits fantasy and historical romances with her love of history and her career as an archaeologist. After a decade of tromping around the globe in search of old bits of stuff that people left lying about, she settled down and started penning her own romance novels. Her Dragon’s Gift series draws upon her love of history and the paranormal elements that she can't help but include.

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright 2020 by Linsey Hall

  Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.

  ISBN 978-1-942085-98-0

  Linsey@LinseyHall.com

  www.LinseyHall.com

  https://www.facebook.com/LinseyHallAuthor