But there was no mistaking it. The girl lying in a heap in front of me was definitely the same girl as before. And she smelled, distinctly, of animal.
I kept hoping she’d move, or at least groan, from the pain of the head trauma. Ignoring the feminine details of her bare body, I stared hard at her shoulders and chest, looking for any sign that might indicate breathing. I didn’t see any. And I knew, deep down, that I wouldn’t.
My hands began to shake. Maybe from the cold, but I was too numb to feel the temperature against my skin. I took a step back and stumbled.
Hands closed around me, keeping me upright. I jolted and tried to jerk away from the unexpected contact. A strangled scream escaped my lips as the hands whirled me around to face my attacker.
“Whoa. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t really remember how to speak at the moment and if I could, it would’ve been a scream anyway. My breath came in uneven gasps and he waited until I got myself under control.
There was concern in his eyes but that didn’t go very far with me. I noticed vaguely that his eyes were the same exact color as his hair, a sort of bronzed brown. The color was fascinating; unlike anything I’d ever seen, and they seemed to hold some dark edge that hinted at danger, no matter how gentle they got. The rest of him wasn’t bad either. His face matched his eyes, rugged and hard edges from his cheekbones to his jaw. When he’d spun me around, I’d grabbed out to steady myself and even now my hands still rested on his shoulders, where I’d first gripped. Underneath my fingers, and the leather of his jacket, was solid muscle.
The fact that I was actually checking him out – just moments after killing a girl - was my first clue I was in shock.
“Are you alright?” His gaze swept over me without waiting for an answer, critically inspecting the rest of my body, not unlike the once over I’d just given him.
It dawned on me that he was trying to help, and thankfully, that dialed back my panic enough for me to find my voice. Then again, now that my brain was convinced the danger had truly passed, some switch seemed to release, giving me permission to officially freak out. “I think so.” I answered automatically, without really knowing if I was or not. I felt numb and strange inside my own skin.
“Did she bite you?”
His voice seemed to come from inside a tunnel. I blinked to try and clear the fog. “What?”
“Did she bite you?” His voice was firmer now and his hands pressed down on my shoulders, trying to keep my attention.
“No,” I answered, finding it easier to concentrate if I stared into his unwavering, gold flecked eyes.
“Good.” A look of genuine relief passed over his features before his eyebrows arched downward with new worry. “Are you alone out here? Do you have a way home?”
“I-” I struggled to remember and kept my eyes fixed on his while I waited for the answer to come. “I was taking the bus. My ride left earlier.”
His brows curved deeper at that and he shot an almost imperceptible glance at the exposed body lying behind me. His hands finally dropped away from my shoulders. “Well, I’m not going to just leave you here,” he mumbled, almost to himself. He seemed to debate something a moment longer and then pulled a phone out of his pocket, hitting a single button.
“Jack, its Wes. We’ve got a situation. Liliana’s dead.” There was a pause as he listened to whoever was on the other end. Then, “No, it wasn’t like that. It was a girl but it’s … confusing. I can’t get a read on her at all.” Another pause and then, “I’m in the alley behind Fleet Street. She’ll be in the dumpster until you get here… No, not the girl, Liliana.”
I blanched at that and felt new panic rising as he finished his call. Whatever else he said didn’t make it past the warning bell ringing in my ears. He must’ve seen the look on my face, though, because he quickly put his hands, palms up, in front of him, and spoke soothingly. “I meant her- the girl you fought with. I didn’t mean you.”
I nodded, inhaling deeply to wash away the adrenaline that was coursing through me. I really needed to get a handle on myself. This was ridiculous. I probably looked and sounded like a moron, and the fact that I was shivering didn’t help, either. It reminded me of the way the girl had been shaking, right before she-
“What’s your name?”
His voice snapped me out of it, cutting off the replay my brain had been about to give me. “Tara,” I answered in a voice that sounded much weaker than I’d intended. “Tara Godfrey,” I repeated, louder.
“Tara, I’m Wes and I’m going to help you, if you’ll let me. Can I give you a ride home?”
“A ride? Seriously?” I gaped at him. “I just killed that girl. We need to call the police, a coroner, somebody.”
“I made a call and someone is on his way to take care of it.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, that didn’t exactly sound official. And you called her by name. Liliana. You know her? What’s going on?”
“Look, obviously you saw what’s going on,” he said, a little impatient. “That girl wasn’t human. And I don’t think either of us wants to answer the questions that would come with admitting that to the police. Not that they would believe you in the first place. So, I’m taking care of it - discreetly. And unless you want to end up in a padded room, you’ll do the same.”
Okay, he had a point – especially about the padded room part. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes and I was still having a hard time with it all. I could guess how it would sound, trying to explain it to police or doctors.
It didn’t feel good, lying about something like this, though. I’d just killed a girl – or dog – or whatever. But, maybe I’d be willing to deal with it – if I had some answers about what the hell was actually happening.
“Fine, I’ll do it your way. But you have to give me something in return,” I said.
He eyed me, wary. “What?”
“Answers. An explanation. I mean, seriously, this kind of stuff isn’t real. Or isn’t supposed to be, but here it is. And you seem to know a lot about it, so what’s the deal?”
He sighed in response but didn’t argue my demand. Maybe he’d been expecting it. “I’ll tell you in the car. For now, we’ve gotta’ get out of this alley before someone sees us. Come on.”
“No way. We talk here and then I’ll take the bus, like I planned.”
He glanced down at my shirt with a wry half smile. “I don’t think that would be wise. You would draw a considerable amount of …attention.”
I glanced down, too, and noticed for the first time that my shirt was all but destroyed. It hung off me like a rag with long slash marks running up both sides of my abdomen, along my ribs. Underneath the fabric, I could see shallow slash marks on my skin. The wounds were raised and red and looked like I’d faced off with a cat. Oh wait. Dog.
I reached down to zip my jacket and remembered I wasn’t wearing it.
“Here,” he said, holding it out to me.
“Thanks.” I took it and put it on, fully preparing to just zip it up to cover the damage. No such luck. The zipper wasn’t just broken; it was completely gone, as was a huge chunk of my sleeve, near my wrist. Apparently the she-wolf had gotten closer than I thought with her teeth.
“Crap.” I sighed, long and loud, letting him know exactly how I felt about this idea. “Fine, you can take me home.”
“Let’s go.”
He turned and started walking, slowing his pace to match mine and blocking my view of the girl as we passed by on our way back down the alley. We ended up in the public parking lot. The lot was lit with yellow-bulbed street lights at each corner and in the middle. They were like glaring spotlights compared to the pitch darkness of the alley. My senses kicked into overdrive. Something in me snapped. Maybe I was finally coming out of the shock I’d been in – or maybe I’d hit a new level of “freaking out”. Either way, at the sight of the lights, I froze.
I tried putting one foot in front of the other b
ut it just wouldn’t happen. I was shaking badly now, enough to make my teeth chatter, though I felt weirdly numb and unaffected by the cold. I didn’t even have stupid goose bumps anymore. My heart began pounding, echoing loudly in my ears. Behind that was a rushing sound that made me lightheaded.
“Tara?” I heard Wes calling my name. I hadn’t even noticed him standing there.
“Tara, we need to go. My car’s over here.” His hand closed over my arm and sent me over the edge.
I jumped away, startling both of us, and stared back at him in panicked fear. This was all just too much.
“Tara.” Wes’ voice was low and soothing. “I know you’re scared but I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to help you. Let me help you.” He took a step closer.
Some closed off part of my brain was yelling at me, telling me to shake it off and stop acting like a complete lunatic. But I couldn’t seem to calm down.
“I can see that you’re in shock,” Wes said, still edging closer while I fought the urge to bolt. “I can’t afford to take you somewhere to be treated so I’m going to do something for you. I’m going to help you forget – just for now. It should wear off in the morning, and if not, I’ll help you remember. But for right now, it’s better if you just forget for awhile. Okay?”
I didn’t answer. Partly because I was scared if I tried to talk, I’d scream like a banshee, and partly because not a single thing he’d just said made any kind of sense.
Apparently he took my silence as agreement because he nodded and said, “Good, now just relax.” He was using that same patronizing tone, the one meant to be soothing. But he was looking at me like I was some wild animal, ready to bolt. And he kept his distance. “Now just keep your eyes on mine. That’s right. Just focus on me…” He murmured reassurances and somewhere around the third or fourth one, I felt myself being drawn in. I looked down but my body hadn’t moved. It was my mind, something inside me, that seemed to pull closer and closer until I felt like I could reach up and touch him. “Right here, Tara. Just look here, in my eyes. It’s going to be okay.” I looked up and our eyes locked. His held a piercing stare that seemed to stab all the way through me and out the other side.
Then, it all disappeared.
Need more? Get it now! Dirty Blood
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Acknowledgements are next ;)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, this book has been my baby for the past eight months, and a village has helped me raise it.
Heather Hildenbrand: When I started out on this writing journey, the only thing I was sure of was that I would come out the other end with a book. I never thought I would find you in the process. I knew I needed someone along the way to help me create a better book and to be a better writer, and when I put out the call for this special person, you answered. You have been more to me than a critique partner. You have been my mentor and my sounding board, but most of all, my friend. This book wouldn’t be what it is without you. Thank you for your faith in me, teaching me that it’s okay for my dialogue to sound real, and giving me courage when it was hard for me to find it on my own. You’re the Louise to my Thelma.
Jenn Sommersby: You caught my friendship by being one of the funniest people I have ever met, but you held it with your pure heart and brilliant mind. Our late night chats and worrying spirals mean more to me than I could ever express. I can’t imagine my life now without you in it. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better writer, and a better person. You are truly gifted, and I have been blessed to see how the sculptor molds her words. Your touch is prominent among these pages. Oh, yeah, and we’re going to go GLOBAL!
Annie Duckworth: You’ve been one of my best friends ever since the seventh grade. You were there for me at the beginning of this journey and someone that I could go to when I didn’t have anyone else. Thank you for believing in me enough to hear me ramble on about my dream.
Hannah White: You’re my prison buddy in this crazy place we call life. Although distance stands between us, you have never been far away. Thank you for always being there for me and talking me through the rough patches.
K.C. Neal: Revising this story was most definitely the hardest part of this journey. On days when I was almost too petrified to continue, you were there to urge me forward. You said the things that I needed to hear to beat down those walls that I had built before my dream. Nothing bonds two people more than surviving a tough experience. Thank you for having my back as we crawled through the trenches.
Megan Duncan: You were the second writer I met when I jumped into the writing and publishing pool. And you’re still here. Thank you for your support and encouragement when I felt I was floundering.
Matthew Merrick: You have been the biggest surprise to me of all. You started out as my funniest tweeter and ended up giving my book enough polish that it shined as brightly as it does. Your feedback and the detail in which you gave it, means more to me than I can ever express. You are a genius and the ladies reading this book should thank you for helping me make Mirko that much hotter. Thank you. For everything.
Jessica Estep: You run a tight ship in the blogging world, and I am so blessed to have you. Your input into the blogging and marketing world has given me an edge that I don’t think I can ever repay you for. You are one of the nicest, most clever people that I know. Thank you for helping set up the blog tour and answering every question I could ever think of!
Kelly Frew: Thank you for being the Croatian language specialist that I needed.
I know this is getting long (I did say a village), so I’ll cut to my family. Mom, thank you for always believing in me. I have always felt that my dreams were attainable, because you knew I could reach them. Brandon, thank you for trusting me enough to let me run with my dream. And thank you for all the nights you went to bed lonely because I had other people talking in my head. I love you forever, and God truly shined down on me when he sent you to unclog my sink. Brian, Spring, Serena, and Trent; I am the person I am today because of your love and support. I couldn’t ask for better brothers and sisters, or friends. I love you.
About the Author
Angeline Kace writes young adult paranormal romance. She's a Scorpio living in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two dogs. She loathed dogs and their “stick everywhere” hair until she fell in love with a pit bull.
For information on new releases, giveaways, or anything else to do with Descended by Blood or Angeline Kace, visit her website at:
www.angelinekace.com
Table of Contents
1 - Predator vs. Predator
2 - Dimples Are Cute
3 - Coward
4 - Not Fair
5 - He's Following Me
6 - He Was There
7 - He Tarnished It
8 - His Mouth Was Warm
9 - Catalyst
10 - I’m Mirko
11 - You'll Have to Earn It
12 - Run
13 - We Came Here Together
14 - I’ll Kill ’Em
15 - Training, Not Fanging
16 - I’d Rather Die
17 - I Felt That
18 - The Man of Your Dreams
19 - The Fight of Your Life
20 - Until I’m Dead
21 - Taste Your Temptation
22 - Your Body Will Require Blood
23 - A Lair within a Lair
24 - I Don’t Give Second Chances
25 - I Intend to Keep You
26 - Enjoy the Little Things
27 - I’ll Go
28 - I’ll Kill You for This
29 - Let. Me. Go.
30 - Resistance Ends Now
31 - This Is for Lijepa
32 - What is It?
Teaser Chapter
&
nbsp; Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
Descended by Blood Page 22
