Sinful Desires
Book One: The Hunting Darkness Series
Natalie Hancock
The right of Natalie Hancock to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it was published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Published by Hot Ink Press
Cover By Nicola Ormerod
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved.
Prologue
There was someone in the house. The creak of the floorboard jolted me upright from sleep, breathing heavily, while my heart thundered in my chest.
Swallowing heavily, I reached across the bed to flick the lamp on so I could see. Nothing was in our spacious room and nothing seemed out of place except the open window that blew ice cold air past the curtains. The moonlight peeked through the curtains as they moved, casting moving shadows across the room.
At first, I thought it was my own imagination, but the creak sounded again and I knew I wasn’t imagining it. Someone was definitely there.
I shivered and scooted closer to Shane, who was none-the-wiser. “Shane,” I whispered, but it seemed too loud in my ears and I flinched, glancing at the door in alarm. I poked him but he didn’t stir.
The floorboard creaked again, stilling me with fear. What if they’re murderers? I shook Shane violently and he jumped away, staring at me with sleepy eyes.
“Kianna?”
“There’s someone in the house,” I whispered frantically.
He jumped up straight away, moving swiftly through the room without making a sound.
I followed him and when he reached the door, he grabbed the baseball bat he always placed behind it, and reached for the handle.
He glanced back at me, his face serious. “You stay with me, don’t scream, don’t shout. Don’t make a sound. If anything happens, I need to know that you’ll run as fast as you can, and you won’t look back.”
My heart thumped hard. “Shane,” I whispered.
He turned and took my face in between his hands. “I’m not letting anything happen to you, do you understand? If anything happens, you run. Run Kianna White, and don’t bloody look back.”
I nodded quickly, tears filling my eyes. The situation was serious if Shane thought something was going to happen to cause me to run, without him.
He smiled and kissed my forehead before turning back to the door and opening it slowly. The high-pitched creak sounded like a gunshot, making us both jump at the sound.
We stood no chance against our attackers, who had been lying in wait.
One of the attackers moved with impossible speed and grabbed Shane by the neck. He flung him over his shoulder and onto the landing, where the others closed in.
I, breathing heavily, moved backwards, unable to tear my eyes away from the man as he watched me with almost hungry eyes. He was tall, long dark hair and black clothes. He looked like a Goth making a statement.
He blinked and the spell he seemed to have on me broke. I quickly glanced past him to see Shane push himself to his feet. When our eyes met, he yelled and ran towards me.
The man was faster, so much faster.
He was behind me in an instant, his long fingers wrapped around my throat, choking the life out of me. “I don’t think so,” he drawled.
Shane stepped closer, determination on his face.
The man squeezed my neck harder and lifted me until only the tips of my toes touched the floor.
I clawed at his hands, gasping for breath but he didn’t relent.
“Step closer and I will snap her pretty little neck in half, boy.”
Shane’s jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth together and fisted his hands to his sides.
I choked in air when the man eased his grip on me and put me back on the floor.
“Good boy. Grab him.”
The other men were around him before the command even left the man’s mouth. They grabbed his arms, his legs and throat—pinning him firmly on the spot.
Shane struggled, and it was obvious that he was doing so, but no inch of his body moved.
The man behind me stroked a finger down my throat and my pulsed jumped wildly at the tingling sensation he sent through me. When he pulled me back against his body, and sniffed my hair, I shivered, disgusted at how dirty I felt.
“Now that I have your attention.” The man was silent for a few seconds.
“Fuck you!” Shane yelled, as though he’d heard something the man had spoken, that I hadn’t.
The man clucked his tongue. “Shame.” He moved my hair away from my neck and tilted my neck to the side.
I saw the other men smiling, and saw their fangs. Oh no, no, no, no. This can’t be real. Vampires aren’t real. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, rooted to the spot in fear as I felt his breath on my neck.
“Wait!” Shane yelled as the man put his lips against my neck. “I’ll do it! Spare her life and I’ll become one of you—I’ll let you change me! Just spare her!”
My fear spiked. “Shane!”
He met my eyes, pleading. “I’m sorry, Kianna. I love you and I’m sorry.”
The man straightened and chuckled. “Say the words, boy.”
Shane swallowed. “I want you to change me into a vampire. Make me one of you and teach me your ways.”
“No!”
It was too late. The man threw me across the room and I hit the wall hard enough to bounce back before falling. The room spun around me, everything blurred before clearing. Ignoring the nausea swirling in my stomach, I rolled slowly onto my stomach. Something dripped into my eyes, making me blink quickly until I could see again.
The vampire was behind Shane now, tall and menacing, even compared to Shane’s muscled body. The vampire oozed power and evil from every pore of his skin. He met my eyes, winked and tilted Shane’s head to the side. He didn't waste time like he had with me. He just bit down hard.
“No,” I whispered weakly, crawling across the floor to stop the vampire from making Shane one of them.
No sooner had the vampire sank his teeth into his throat, he pulled them back out and bit into his own wrist. He put it to Shane’s lips, his blood running down his wrist and dripping onto the carpet.
I shook my head slowly. “No, please Shane, don’t.”
He met my eyes and kept them on mine when he grabbed the wrist in front of him and put it to his lips.
I sagged to the floor, tears streaming out of my eyes. I couldn’t believe Shane—my Shane—had given into power.
After a minute, he dropped to the floor, gasping for breath as though choked while blood pooled from his mouth, running down his chin.
“And so it’s done. Welcome to the family, boy.”
Shane growled low when the vampire touched his shoulder, and he shrugged him off.
Is he still with me? Did he fight it after all? I watched as he climbed to his feet and faced the vampire, nose to nose, but when the vampire smiled and his men left, Shane followed them. “Shane!” I screamed, using all my energy.
He stopped at the door and looked back at me. His eyes had changed from forest green, to blood red and his black hair stuck to the sweat on his face. He smiled, but it wasn’t a reassuring one. It was a predatory one—with fangs.
He turned and left without a word and I knew that Shane was gone forever. I put my head against my arms and cried. I�
��d never felt so alone, so vulnerable. Knowing Shane was out there as a blood thirsty creature made my skin crawl and anger replaced the hurt inside like fire, even as the room began to spin once more.
Despite the sensation, I grabbed the duvet and pulled myself up. My entire body felt as though I’d been at the gym all day, and my head pounded painfully. I staggered forward to the wall, keeping my hands on it to keep balance, and staggered out into the landing.
I opened my mouth to scream Shane’s name, when a hand closed over my mouth, silencing me. I felt the familiar tingle and struggled to get away. I was too weak, and the sudden movement caused me to sag in the vampire’s arms.
His face loomed over mine. “You didn’t really think I would let you live now, did you?” He sneered at me and his mouth opened to reveal large fangs.
I screamed as they pierced my neck and screamed louder when I felt him sucking the blood from me. It was no use. No one could hear me all the way out in the middle of nowhere, and Shane was no longer Shane. He couldn’t save me.
I tried to struggle, but it was a feeble attempt at best and all that achieved was making me feel more tired and dizzy than before. I still screamed, but the sound was becoming more silent as the seconds went by, until I couldn’t scream at all.
My heart thumped weakly in my chest, trying to pump blood that wasn’t there through my body. I was choking, unable to pull in air and my vision dimmed. Tears leaked from my eyes as my heart gave one final thump, and then stopped.
The vampire was gone in a second.
I felt myself rising, and looked down to see my pale body sprawled out on the floor—my wet azure blue eyes open and lifeless and my hand reaching out for the one person who didn’t come to save me. My dark hair was matted with blood, and my silver silk night gown covered in my own blood too, the colour bright in contrast.
Something tugged at my stomach, raising me higher off the ground, and away from the body laid on the floor until I was surrounded by the stars in the night sky and Earth was just a small sphere. A voice sounded in my head, soft and calming. Come, young one. Embrace Death and be at peace.
My thoughts answered the unknown voice without hesitation. No. I wouldn’t go out like I did. I wouldn’t leave the World run by vampires.
Your time has ended, you must come.
I have unfinished business. I can’t leave. I felt myself moving towards Earth, when something tugged my stomach again.
Come, young one.
No! The connection broke, and the voice was gone as soon as it came. I didn't know who, or what it was but I wouldn’t give in.
Heat flooded through me, blinding me in white-hot pain and I opened my mouth in a scream that was sucked away as soon as it left my lips. Was this Hell? Was I being tortured for defying an order of some higher being? Was this my punishment for being so weak?
No, young one—you are not weak, nor are you being punished. I am granting you your wish and I am giving you a helping hand. May you find peace once you are ready.
The pain ended and I felt a force shoving at my back. I tried to resist, but it was too strong, and I felt myself falling back to Earth.
I sat up straight with a scream that echoed around the abandoned house.
Chapter One
It had been a year since that horrible night, since Shane gave up on me for power instead. And in that time, I’d hunted and killed over a hundred vampires—slaughtered and tortured them for information on his whereabouts. They didn’t give in and I was no closer to finding him than I had been able to stop him from choosing the wrong side.
It was too late now. I’d hunt each and every vampire until I found him, and when I did, I’d drive my Light Dagger into his chest and end his miserable life. He wasn’t the same Shane that would risk his life to protect mine anymore. He was Shane, the vampire who would rip out my throat and drink my blood, like countless others had tried to do.
I closed my eyes against the breeze that blew against me and looked down at the people walking across the streets below, minding their own business as they headed to work, or home.
Thunder rumbled in the sky and on cue, it began to rain. I crouched down, placing the tips of my fingers on the wall beneath me, and reached for the dagger on my thigh. I watched the humans scramble to find cover from the downpour, or hurry to pull out their umbrellas.
I pulled my dagger from its strap and stood, not taking my eyes of one who hadn’t rushed to find shelter or an umbrella. He just continued to stride forward, following a woman. The wind whipped around my hair and the rain stabbed into my skin, but I barely felt it, too busy concentrating.
I rolled my shoulders and dropped off the building. Within seconds, I landed on the ground below, cracking it with the force and stood, blocking the woman he’d been following. She didn’t have a clue of the dangers around her.
The man stopped and then sneered.
The humans couldn’t see me but the man could, proving my suspicions right that he was the one I had been tracking.
I smiled and he frowned at my lack of fear. I used his distraction to my advantage and threw my dagger. It hit him square in his chest before he even realised I’d moved.
I could have attacked him while he was distracted, but I enjoyed my kills and I liked to take my time with them. Especially the newbie’s who thought they were invincible.
He stared at the hilt sticking out of him. “You think a dagger can kill me?”
“I think you underestimate my skill.”
The vampire laughed. “You’re so innocent. I know who you search for but you won’t kill him. He’s too strong for you and will tear you apart in seconds. He’s not a master vampire for nothing, little girl. No one survives his bite when he’s hungry.”
I jumped forward and knocked him to the ground. I dug my knee into his stomach and grabbed the dagger, twisting it hard before I jabbed two of my other daggers into his wrist, pinning him to the ground. Once he’d finished yelling in pain, I put my face close to his. “And yet I am still here, killing you bastards.” I tore the dagger from his chest and whispered the words that would let me control the light. The dagger shone brightly, burning white hot in my hand. The vampire’s eyes widened when I brought the weapon back down and buried it in his chest. He convulsed underneath me, his skin tearing and cracking.
Moving quickly, I jumped up onto the nearest lamppost.
He exploded into ash.
I dropped from my post and brushed ash from my clothes before I walked over to where my daggers were stuck. I pulled them from the ground and placed them securely in the straps on my thighs.
The humans walked by as though nothing had happened.
I grinned and jumped up onto the lamppost again. I searched the area, but there didn't seem to be any vampires lurking about, stalking the humans. I walked away, using my heightened senses to smell blood. The city was overrun with vampires and the humans didn’t suspect a thing—not even when a lot of people went missing, or were found with no wounds and no blood. They knew what had caused it, but didn’t want to accept it.
Five vampires stepped out from the shadows ahead of me, their lips painted in scarlet blood and their pale cheeks flushing.
I attacked first, punching one in the face and spinning to kick one that snuck up, away. I back-flipped, kicked the vampire in the face before I jumped up and kicked him hard enough to snap his neck. I dropped to the floor as soon as I landed and kicked out twice. I jumped up when another tried to touch me and tackled him to the floor. He threw punches, but I blocked them all and stabbed him in the throat. I threw the same dagger at one running at me before punching the vampire underneath me when he began to struggle.
Sinful Desires (Hunting Darkness Series) Page 1
