One Crow Sorrow
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove
Book Two
Jessica MacIntyre
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No one does anything alone, especially an indie writer, so at this time I’d like to thank a few people who have helped make the first book such a success, along with helping me piece together this one.
Firstly to my husband. Your encouragement and belief made this possible. Thank you for being there every step of the way.
To my best friend Tiffany. Your friendship means the world and without your support, both book wise and life wise I’m not sure this would have happened, so thank you. Thank you for not looking at me like I had two heads when I told you I was writing it.
To my friend Michelle. Your reaction to the first book spurred me on to keep going. Thank you for your honesty and your enthusiasm.
To my good friend Mauro. Thank you for pulling me in off the creative ledge time and again. I hope I’ve done the same for you over the years.
And lastly, to anyone who read the last book and helped spread the word via Facebook or Twitter, or simply told a friend or neighbour. Your contribution means more than you know.
I have about a million more people I could name but the acknowledgements would be the same length as the book. So just know that if you’ve helped me, encouraged me or simply took the time just to read the book, please know that your support means the world, and from the bottom of my heart….THANK YOU!
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my children, Holly and Angus. Don’t wait until you can do something perfectly before you try. Otherwise you’ll never do anything fun.
Mama loves you!
Prologue
He could always smell a human in distress even before he saw one. That mix of nervous sweat and quick flowing blood, moving faster than it should be, just beneath the skin. It was like the touch of an old lover. One you constantly fantasized about unbeknownst to your mate. His mate was safely tucked away in her bed for the night, he made sure of that, before embarking on this little excursion. He had come out for the last few nights hoping for something like this. Watching and waiting for an opportunity to reacquaint himself with the proverbial old flame. That first look, first touch, first kiss, after a long absence made him tremble with excitement. His hands were actually shaking. Quite an emotional response for someone as old as he was.
The sound of the bike chain dragging along the ground as the unknown male, B negative, came closer, made him clench his jaws in an effort to keep his fangs from releasing. His eyes were beginning to grow warm as well and he held his palms over them in determination to calm himself. Seeing his eyes turn to black would scare the human and he didn’t want that. Not because there was any hope of him getting away, but because he didn’t want any of the others to hear. His instinct to kill had returned with a vengeance and the decision was made. This human, whomever he was, walked the isolated road of Soldiers Cove alone, every step bringing him closer to his final end.
At last the moment was here. The cyclist came directly into his path and with one long stride the vampire stepped out in front of him. Clearing his throat he prepared to put on his best Cape Breton accent and turn on the charm.
The twenty-something kid jolted with surprise, but quickly got hold of himself. “Holy shit,” he said, clutching a hand to his chest. “Where did you come from?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you b’y. Nice night for a walk. What’s the problem there?” he said, pointing to the broken chain.
“Oh, I did that back in town. Feels like I’ve been walking forever.” The vampire inhaled discretely and took in the entire scent of the man’s body. He had indeed been walking for a long time. The smell of perspiration and exhaustion drifted out of the stranger and filled his nose with a smell so sweet he almost lost his head. Closing his eyes he swallowed hard, attempting to maintain his composure. Getting too excited might cause him to go in for the quick kill, and he wanted to enjoy this.
“Something wrong?” the man said.
“No, just tired myself, been working all day. Hey, I’ve got some tools in my shed up there,” he said, gesturing to the edge of the dirt road. “I live in the house just up on that hill. Why don’t you come up and see if we can fix that?”
Visibly relieved the cyclist smiled and extended his hand. “Thanks so much. My name is Rick by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Rick,” he said. “If we can’t fix that just now I’ll drive you back into town so you can get a room.”
Overcome at his good fortune Rick heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you. I heard you people out here were real friendly but I didn’t think it was true. I thought people didn’t care about each other anymore no matter where you went.”
“Oh no,” he said, turning on his charm with a wide disarming smile. “Things are different around here. We help each other out as much as we can. I know what it’s like to be lost and hungry,” the vampire said, licking his lips in anticipation of the moment. He was hungry, but in a few minutes if all went well he wouldn’t be. The stranger, feeling complete trust in his fellow man, allowed himself to unknowingly be led by the predator he did not anticipate. Sizing him up he thought the man looked like the corporate, overachieving type. The kind who likes to focus on all things self-improvement, but there was no motivational seminar in the world that could have prepared Mr. Tony Robbins worshiper for what was about to happen.
It was well after dark, but that was no concern to the vampire. His eyes adjusted to see in whatever conditions they needed to. The human, however, walked slowly being careful not to lose his footing.
When he figured they were in the woods deep enough he stopped. This was far enough, he wouldn’t let him scream for too long, just long enough to satisfy his craving. Of course he could blood influence and drain him without any fuss or noise, but where was the fun in that? It would be like fucking a dead body. Although, god knows in the many years he had lived he had come across his share of people with that fetish. Now those people were weirdoes.
They were far enough into the woods now that the prey was beginning to suspect something wasn’t right. The slight smell of fear emanating from the man tickled his nose and sent a twist of nervous excitement through his body like an electrical current.
“Where is your house exactly?”
“Here, let me take that for you,” he said, ignoring the question while at the same time relieving the man of his bike and leaning it up against a tree. “You won’t need it anymore.” Finally he allowed his nature to show itself. Turning back to face the man, his eyes blackened and his fangs grew in hunger. The look of sheer horror that slid across Rick’s face was the reward he had been waiting for. It was the first kiss after a long absence and he wanted to savor it. Rick froze. That was no fun, he needed him to run.
Hoping to prod Rick’s fear along a little more he took a giant step toward him, but the man was cemented in place, mouth open and unmoving. After another long second of simply staring in shock, his brain trying to wrap itself around what it was seeing, Rick’s survival instinct kicked in and he bolted hard in the other direction.
There we go, he thought. Run away, run as fast as you can Rick. Run for your pathetic little human life.
Rick ran full out, pumping his legs for all they were worth after having almost worn them out from his long walk. He was in good shape, the vampire had to give him that. Rick took care of himself figuring it would pay off in the long run. Too bad for him, it had been time wasted.
Walking slowly he kept sight of the man as he neared the edge of the woods. He was almost back at
the road, and in his mind, almost back toward safety or help. Just as he reached the edge of the treeline the vampire, figuring his food had been seasoned enough by fear and adrenalin, zipped to the roadway and stood before him.
Rick stopped dead in his tracks. For a moment the vampire thought he was going to say something, and stayed silent in anticipation of the man’s final words, but none came. The only thing that came out of Rick’s mouth was a whimper of defeat as he seemed to resign himself to his fate. He knew there was no hope of escape, and so simply looked at the creature who would take him to his final resting place with a sense of dreadful wonderment.
Not wanting to waste any more time he grabbed his victim by the neck and whizzed back to the spot they had just been standing in.
Finally the moment was here. The moment he had dreamed about for the last few weeks. He had only been out of the sanctuary a few months and had felt like a caged animal almost the whole time. Upon leaving, the freedom had overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what to do with it this time and knew he had to let it out somehow. He had attempted to broach the subject of taking a trip to the open hunting grounds with his mate, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She ‘wasn’t ready for that yet’. It’s too bad. If she had opened herself up to the experience perhaps poor Rick would have made it home to whoever was waiting for him in whatever part of the world he was from. His curiosity got the better of him just then.
“Where are you from Rick?” he said. The soon to be dead man opened his mouth and let out the words in a sad little squeak.
“Boston.”
“Boston eh? How nice,” he said, lowering his head to his neck so he could lick the sweaty salt from his skin. “Welcome to Soldiers Cove.”
With that the vampire struck hard and fast, tearing open the muscle and fatally rupturing the jugular vein. Pressing his mouth hard to the wound he sucked and swallowed as fast as he could. Rick’s heart had been racing and his life’s blood was rushing out, almost faster than the vampire could drink it.
After a moment there was enough blood loss that good old Rick went limp in his arms. He lowered the cyclist’s lean frame to the ground and kept going, kept consuming the delicacy he had so hungered for since he’d been set free. The taste of the brutally injured, the taste of the dying, the taste of the dead.
Rick convulsed once, his body shaking violently for half a second before the final beat of his heart, and then it was over.
Collapsing on the ground next to the man he lay on the soft mossy earth, looking up at the stars. There was work to be done, a hole to be dug, and a bicycle to be hidden. He’d keep it as a prize, or perhaps give it as a gift. It was top of the line, and all it needed was a new chain. For the time being however the hunter was content to just lay back and watch the heavenly bodies do their slow and beautiful dance. It was a nice night for this time of year, and he drank it in, his arm draped over his last meal.
After a time he went about his work, and when he was sure his tracks were completely covered he shifted into his other form and made his way home as fast as he could.
Chapter One
In the cool of the mid-September night I made my way down to the rocky shore line that sat at the end of a small dirt road. Six months had passed since the night of my transformation, and three since the night of my wedding. The adjustment from human to vampire was still incomplete and sometimes unsettling, but sitting there, watching the Bras d’Or lakes ebb and flow with the tide, I was totally at peace. A year ago I wouldn’t have been caught dead sitting outside in the middle of the night by myself, but once you are turned the night doesn’t inspire the fear it once did, especially when you are potentially something which men should fear. One of those things which is thought to be only the stuff of nightmares. A vampire. And here in Soldiers Cove, we are many.
The transformation had brought with it an end to what had been thought to be a terrible mental illness, Psychotic Depression, and had brought a beginning to new and heightened senses including long range hearing and telepathy. Also the ability of pyrokenisis, the talent to start fires by simply thinking about it, both of which had been very useful when our clan here in Soldiers Cove had come under threat.
In the last few months however, with the threat eliminated, and all of the political backlash over my surprise transformation seeming to have settled down, my husband Gavin and I settled into a routine. Gavin’s transformation had not been an easy one either and his coming out of the sanctuary had brought with it a period of hard adjustment
.
Having lived on my own for so long I wasn’t used to having someone around me all the time and so these nightly escapes to the rocky shore had become a welcome means of solitude. I sunk into the ground, breathed in the salt air and intended to stay a good long while.
My peace was short lived. The hard iron grip of a man’s hand clamped down around my throat. I froze.
“On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?” he said.
I smiled to myself. “You’re showing your age you fucking seventies reject.”
Gripping his arm I yanked as hard as I could and flipped Gavin onto his back in the rocks, his weight shattering some of them beneath him into pebbles.
“Ow!” he said.
I jumped on top, straddling him and pinning his arms above his head. “Well that’s what you get for sneaking up on a vampire.” .
“You’re right, I should know better.” He was smiling from ear to ear. I loved his smile, it was wide and lit up his whole face. His beautiful nest of curly dirty blonde hair framed his face and for a moment I just looked at him. “What are you gonna do with me?”
I leaned down and put my mouth next to his ear. “I’m going to have to punish you for that. I’m afraid you’re not going to like it.”
I could feel how hard he was, his breath shallow and heart beating wildly. “I bet you say that to all the boys.” Gavin moved his head to the side exposing his neck and I licked him up and down tasting his salty skin and feeling his pulse through my tongue. My fangs ran out immediately. “Do it,” he said.
I bit down as hard as I could and sucked to keep the blood flowing. His body rocked back and forth as he moaned at full volume. Letting go of his neck I kissed him hard. His fangs were out now too and the pupil had overtaken his eyes turning them from their usual beautiful blue to solid black.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” he said finally overpowering me. Now I was the one on my back. Gavin was much older and stronger so his submission had been playful. Mine however was not. He had me pinned. “You’re caught little missy. You’re mine now. Any last words?”
“Bite me!” I said. And with that he drove his teeth into my neck, bearing down and sucking as hard as he could. Moments later all our clothing was gone and we were taking turns biting each other all over. The bites healed within seconds but the sensation was incredible. The biting and the sexual play was like racing a million miles an hour and being on fire all at once. Gavin emitted a low animalistic growl as he worked his way up and down my body, biting and then licking the wound to taste the blood.
“Rachel,” he growled in between tastes, “You’re all mine, you’re finally mine. Tell me you’re mine.”
I turned my head away, teasing him. I wanted to hear the longing in his voice once again as he asked for the affirmation he was so desperately craving. “Mmmm….no,” I whispered.
He pressed his entire weight down on top of me, taking a handful of my hair and pulling my face toward his. “Who do you belong to?” he breathed. “Tell me.”
“To you,” I said finally. “To you, and only to you, forever.” Gavin breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had expected to hear me give another answer.
“Yes,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine, his ragged breath now making him sound both relieved and desperate all at once. “Yes, you’re mine. You’re finally mine, and you’ll always be mine.”
I brought his ear close to my lips, kissing it tender
ly while running my free hand through his soft curls. “I’ll always be yours,” I said. He pulled away, and we looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. This was peace and danger wrapped all in one.
Finally he was inside me thrusting so hard that no mortal woman could have survived it. I, however, was not mortal and so I met every thrust with as much strength as he gave to it. It was ferocious and bloody and beautiful. Every cell and every nerve ending was alive as the intensity built, and we climaxed over and over again.
Suddenly my abnormally strong hearing picked up on footsteps in the distance.
“Shit! Someone’s coming.” Gavin grabbed our clothes and we zipped into the woods seconds before the unknown stranger could see us. Peeking out from the trees we spotted our neighbor making her way to the beach with a flashlight. She noticed something in the place we had just been and bent down to pick it up. My underwear.
Gavin closed his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. When she was gone we dressed and began our walk through the woods toward home.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: One Crow Sorrow Page 1
