by Kayleigh Sky
Also by Kayleigh Sky
Backbone - re-release planned for 2020
Pretty Human - to be released
Doll Baby
Trinkets
Angel Dork - a short story
Jesus Kid
No Luck
A Vampire’s Vow - free for newsletter signup!
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A Vampire’s Heart
A Vampire’s Vow
A Vampire’s Honor
Bagging Santa’s Elf
Contents
A Vampire’s Heart
A Vampire’s Promise
A Vampire's Honor
BONUS CONTENT
Don’t go yet!
About the Author
Doll Baby
Trinkets
Angel Dork
Jesus Kid
No Luck
Bagging Santa’s Elf
The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2018 by Kayleigh Sky
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
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Published 2018.
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For information, address Kiss Drunk Books in writing at 712 Bancroft Road, Ste 277, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.
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ISBN: 978-1-7329134-0-0 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-7329134-1-7 (paper)
ISBN: 978-1-7329134-9-3 (box set)
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Editorial services: Susan Selva
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Cover: Tiferet Designs / tiferetdesign.com
THE ELLOWYN ROYAL FAMILIES
In order of rank
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Dinallah
Nezzaram
Orla
Gennarah
Lotis
Senera
Wrythin
CAST OF CHARACTERS
In alphabetical order
Bettina, vampire, the Senera’s cook and mother figure to Jessa
* * *
Brillen Acalliona, vampire, the murder victim
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Fritt, vampire, the Senera’s butler, bane of Mal’s life
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Isaac, human, works as a blood donor for Comity House, a friend of Jessa and also his donor
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Jessamine “Jessa” Senera, half human, half vampire, a prince and also a “drainer” who can only survive on real blood instead of the synthetic product most other vampires drink
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Malia “Mal” Senera, vampire, a princess, sexy, intense, and protective of her little brother, Jessa
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Mateo, human, a blood donor for Comity House, implicated in the murder of a vampire
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Moss Goran, vampire, Zev’s cousin and confidant
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Otto Jones, human, a detective with the Comity police, angry and embittered, seeking the murderer of his sister, Maisie
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Prydwen “Wen” Wrythin, vampire, owner of Comity House and social climber, betrothed to Jessa in order to improve his family’s royal ranking
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Rune Senera, vampire, a prince and head of the Senera family, challenged his father Qudim in order to end the war with the humans and abdicated his position as the future King
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Solomon Frenn, vampire, artist, and owner of True Heart Consignments
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Upwood Prosper, vampire, a detective and Otto’s partner
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Uriah, vampire, protects Rune in his travels, former enforcer for Qudim, and cousin of the Seneras
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Zeveriah “Zev” Dinallah, King of the Vampires, accepted Rune’s abdication
1
The Run-in
The Second Bloom was a dumb-ass name for a bar, but Otto liked the dark interior and the usually quiet customers.
Tonight, of all nights, he didn’t want conversation.
“No fucking reason to bother anymore,” Otto muttered as he sped past the pink neon sign and swung his car around the block.
With any luck his heart would explode and do away with his shit life. It threatened to anyway, not that he gave a damn, because it wasn’t like it mattered. Until he remembered. You aren’t done yet, asshole.
After he pulled to the curb, he locked up and headed down a short alleyway to a private parking lot for the nearby businesses. A single light fixture attached to the building at the end of the alley lit his way.
At first, the only sound was his footsteps until a chuckle reached his ears, and he tensed at the mean-ass sound of it. The slow drum of his heartbeat eased some of the pressure inside as he crept to the end of the alley. The parking lot wasn’t large, mostly for people who worked at the businesses on the block. In the center of the space at the edge of illumination from a street lamp, three guys surrounded another guy, oblivious to Otto. One of the guys smacked the one they surrounded on the shoulder and rocked him back a step. Their target wore jeans and a hoody, arms wrapped around a satchel he held in front of him.
“Say you’re sorry,” said the ringleader.
“Sorry,” came a mumbled reply.
“Faggot.”
Humans. Only humans gave a fuck about that kind of thing anymore. Vamps didn’t give a damn who they screwed, and they called the shots now no matter how it looked on the outside.
Another slam on the shoulder knocked the guy back again while one of the other guys grabbed onto his bag and jerked it out of his grip. It smacked the damp pavement, and the guys laughed until Otto strode forward and drew their attention.
Three gazes swung his way.
He yanked his badge out of his jacket pocket. A few millimeters over and he’d have grabbed his gun. So close. He didn’t trust himself anymore, and these assholes didn’t know how close they’d come to something a lot worse than a pissed-off cop about to shoo them away.
“Fuck you doin’?” he growled.
“Nothing,” said one.
“Nothing? Looks like fuckin’ assault to me, assholes.”
“Officer—”
“Detective. Get the fuck outta here.”
Not only did Otto not want the temptation of taking his rage out on the kind of people he hated most, he wanted a drink, not a trip to the station and an hour of paperwork. He was good with sending their asses scattering.
“Go!”
They bolted between the cars and fled toward the busy street.
Christ, no fucking balls. That was the trouble with bullies. They gave no satisfaction the minute anybody bit back.
He flipped the cover closed on his badge and slipped it back into his pocket.
The other guy knelt on the pavement outside the rim of the light. Otto’s shadow drowned him in darkness. With a frantic jerkiness he swept a pile of… romances?... toward the mouth of his bag.
The image of a guy’s naked torso and a woman’s body held tight in the curve of a bulging arm decorat
ed one of the front flaps. His Saving Grace.
Romances.
The guy wiped the covers off on his jeans before he crammed them back into his bag. His hands shook, and Otto frowned. Was that nail polish? Yeah, it was. And whatever the color, it was dark and chipped. The guy had short, nibbled-down nails. Not much to decorate. Every bit of tension seeped out of Otto’s body, and a weird pain stabbed him in the chest and stole his breath instead. He swallowed a gasp at the shock of it and yanked back the hand he’d stretched to the frantic figure stuffing books into his bag.
Tenderness swamped him.
Maisie.
This bewildering rush of emotion had to be a flashback to Maisie, the most unromantic person Otto had ever known, and her collection of romantic novels. “Find me a guy like this,” she’d laughed, tapping the bare-chested hottie on the cover, “and I’ll give up my wicked ways.”
Too late.
Well, this guy didn’t need his help anymore, and Otto was a long way from hero material anyway.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be out by yourself,” he snapped.
“Sorry… I—”
The guy threw a glance upward and Otto caught a glimpse of dark eyes and nostrils pinched thin in the cold. But it was cool out, not cold, so maybe a skinny nose was normal for him.
The guy lurched up with his bag. “I’m going.”
Well, he wasn’t a kid, not with that voice. It had a good weight to it, though he was light on his feet. Otto stared as he bolted out of sight down the alley.
Glowering at the energies raging inside him now, Otto squeezed the back of his neck and continued across the parking lot. He entered the bar through its back door and spotted a pair of vampires sitting at the counter.
Fuck my life.
Vampires everywhere. Even at work. Especially at work. His boss’s voice jangled in his head. “Otto. Come over here and meet your new partner. Upwood Prosper.”
Maybe if he drank himself blind, he’d wake up in the morning and discover today was one big cosmic joke and Upwood Prosper was still only a lousy memory he’d never have to deal with again.
Previously an enforcer in one of the underground cities, Prosper had been among the first vampire hires to a human police force—and the asshole who’d botched the investigation into the murder of Otto’s sister. After the case went cold and his father died, Otto had moved almost seventy miles away, never expecting he’d have to deal with Prosper again. A million years of never setting eyes on the bastard sounded good to Otto, but no, the vamp had to go and apply for a detective opening in Otto’s new town, and now… Now he was Otto’s partner.
A second drink warmed his belly but brought none of the fuzziness he wanted. Too much adrenaline from the encounter in the parking lot.
Romances.
The guy was a walking target. Was that why they’d picked him to bully?
Otto hated bullies. And hated he actually was one a lot of the time, but his resolve to be better always dissolved at—
The vampires at the other end of the counter laughed.
Jesus fucking Christ. They sounded human. That was the kind of thing that held Otto up—twisted his insides into a knot only booze could loosen. He hated vampires and the way they congregated at every café and coffee shop. The pair at the end of the counter played a game with a handful of colored stones. They were weird with their games, like kids. One flashed its fangs, the glistening curves shadowed with tattoos Otto was too far away to see in detail. The creepy things grew back like lizards’ tails. Otto guessed that made sense though. Each fang had a vein in it that pulled blood into a hollow chamber where it mixed with an enzyme that catalyzed the breakdown of proteins. The enzyme was fragile in the open air, so they had to bite to survive. Nothing personal.
Until Otto was thirteen, the world had been normal. Then a fracking accident by Nova Energies sparked a flurry of earthquakes along a web of underground faults and the vampires fled their collapsing cities.
They were the things of myths and nightmares.
Murderers.
Otto pushed his empty glass across the bar, still with no relief from the sharp edges inside him. As afraid as he’d been of humans, that little romance lover in the parking lot was probably terrified of vampires.
So?
Why the hell did Otto’s thoughts keep returning to him?
Better than thinking about vampires.
He picked up his fresh glass and took a swallow.
Nothing. Nothing but a fire in his belly.
He oughta go home, but he wasn’t going to. He oughta eat his gun, but he wasn’t going to do that either. Not until he found Maisie’s murderer.
Not until he made the bastard pay.
2
The Murder
The whore bit his lip, heart pounding a little faster at the sight of the empty field across the street. He hugged the edge of the building, staying away from the spill of light from the street lamp. Ghostly buildings, still and silent, surrounded him. He’d fucked and fed a lot of guys in darkened alleyways, but he was afraid this time. His stomach was a knot of nerves and hunger, and it was the hunger that drove him here. All he had to do was get through the next half hour and find the nearest restaurant. He didn’t care what kind of food, he’d eat anything right now, but he really, really wanted a burger. A green chili cheeseburger. His mouth watered at the thought. With French fries. And maybe a beer, though a Coke would be good too. But that burger…
His stomach twisted.
Maybe the guy wouldn’t show up. He edged closer to the curb, out in the open now, but still no one approached him, no one called out. His throat tightened, and tears stung his eyes. He was too old to cry about this, and he’d gone too long to give up. Sooner or later they’d find him, but he was goddamned if he’d go easy.
He stepped onto the street. The touch of cool fingers against his neck shot terror through him. He whirled around, back pedaling. A vampire raised his hands, palms out. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You fucking snuck up on me in the middle of the night. Jesus.”
The vampire chuckled. “I love the taste of adrenaline.”
Sicko.
But he wasn’t about to say that and chase the guy away. “I thought you changed your mind,” he muttered.
“No. Not at all.” The guy approached, one hand still up, until he was near enough to slide an arm around him and steer him to the field. “Come on. Let’s enjoy the night.”
A half hour. A green chili cheeseburger. It would be over soon.
He let out a nervous laugh when the vampire took his hand.
“Are you afraid of me?” the guy asked.
“No. Of course not.”
But he was. He was slipping into dangerous places, chased by hunger and fear. But he told himself he didn’t need to be. The guy he was meeting had a donor card though this was a private transaction, and he wasn’t about to turn down twice his usual fee. Maybe that was the thing that scared him. He’d do it for pocket change.
“Why this place?” he asked.
They were in the middle of the field now. The dark hulk of a warehouse stood behind them, commercial businesses all around. All dark and still. The sounds of life were so close. Would anyone hear him if he screamed?
The vampire pulled him into a hug and held him close to his chest.
“I like to be out in the open,” said the vampire. “It’s such a treat.”
He shivered at the tingly scrape of fangs over his jugular. Feeding was… orgasmic in itself. The melting of bones in rapturous warmth. And he got paid. One more day free and alive. But a longing in him—a longing for a love he’d long ago lost—clouded his mind with grief for a moment. Until the vampire’s chuckle dragged him back. Remembering himself, he pushed his stiffening cock into the guy’s palm. The whisper in his ear came from miles away.
“Tell me… Do you feed Jessamine?”
A sudden unease stirred the hairs on the back of his neck. Who? Shit. He had no idea
if he was supposed to know the guy. The name was familiar, but… “Who?”
“The prince. Jessamine. I believe he is a client?”
Was he? “The prince? I… No.”
Cool air brushed his crotch. He gazed down at the open fly. The vampire pulled him out of his pants. A car passed in the distance. All so normal.
“Who?” asked the vampire.
A tongue swiped his neck. A nibble of teeth. Fingers stroked, and a breath warmed his skin. His limbs dragged at him, and he slumped against the body holding him.
“What?”
“Who feeds Jessamine?”
“I don’t…” He racked his brain, rummaging through his memory. A name floated up to him. “Isaac,” he whispered.
The pain of the fangs sinking into his neck shot fire into him. Through the bliss, fear rose. Too close. Too close to his jugular. He jerked while his hips bucked of their own accord.
The vampire hummed.
Darkness swept over him, clouding his mind, but a voice clamored in his head. This isn’t right. Run! Run!
The city lights flashed and dimmed. He sank, falling…
Crashing onto the ground. Adrenaline spiked through him, and he rolled away and staggered up into a billowing fog. As he ran, he gasped and sawed at the air. The ground resisted him, pitted and soft. He fell, crawled, and sprang to his feet again. At the parking lot, he stumbled and glanced back in a panic, but nobody pursued him. Nothing was there at all. Only the dark.
