A Vampire's Bane

by Raven Steele

  His grip on her chin slowly tightened until she yelped. He stared into her eyes and gave one last order. “Cut your head off. I am no longer in need of it.”

  “No!” I cried and attempted to move but the bottom half of my body wouldn’t respond. Panic surged through me. If I could just stall for sixty seconds, maybe a little more, I might heal. “Look at me, Faithe!”

  With both hands, she inched the blade upward and outward, her hands beginning to shake.

  “Faithe!” I used my palms to pull me along the cold and filthy floor. Pain lit every nerve ending in white-hot fire, threatening to overwhelm my mind with sheer agony. Sweat broke from my pores.

  “That’s a good girl,” Korin cooed. “Keep going.”

  Tears filled her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. The tip of the sword began to turn toward her throat.

  “Stop! I order you!” I cried, but any parental bond I might’ve had with her had shattered centuries ago.

  “Do it!” Korin yelled, spittle flying from his mouth and landing on her upper lip.

  “No! Listen to me!” I was almost to her. I reached out to grab her leg; my fingers skimmed the sheer material of her skirt.

  Faithe was silently crying now, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she fought against his compulsion, trying to survive just one more day.

  Just as I was to grab her, Korin kicked me in the face. My vision exploded into an array of colors, and I dropped to the ground.

  He returned his deadly gaze to Faithe. “Cut. Your. Head. Off.”

  She swung the tip of the blade to the side of her, her desperate gaze flickering to mine.

  “Mother,” she whimpered. A flash of silver sliced through the air, followed by a spray of blood all around me. The crimson droplets stung my face.

  I moaned in agony as her body decomposed right in front of me, until all that remained of my precious daughter was a mess of tangled hair and bubbling fat mixed with the ashes from her bones. I touched the remains as if I could still gather her to me, but she slipped through my fingers.

  The shell around my heart crumbled into a thousand charred pieces with sharp, deadly edges. And as it fell away, a new dark and ugly beast took its place. This time, I eagerly welcomed the power that came with it. The fire of hell and the breath of a thousand demons raced through my veins.

  Without bending my body even a little, I rose to my feet as if lifted by the ghosts of the animals around me who had been slaughtered not long ago.

  A slow smile spread across Korin’s face. He stared deeply into my eyes, pleased by what he saw. “There you are.”

  I snapped my hand forward to crush his larynx but just as I reached him, his body dematerialized, leaving me grasping at empty air.

  His laughter echoed against the walls. “See you soon, Samira.”

  Chapter 36

  The Eternal Night’s Kiss flowed through me, licking at my veins and whispering words of death and destruction. I didn’t bridle it, for if I did, I would feel all the crippling emotions: sorrow, guilt, regret, sadness. I didn’t want any of that weakness right now. I needed strength, rage, raw power. The Kiss gave me all of that.

  I strode down the sidewalk toward Briar’s house, aware of everything around me. A dog whining in a house the next block over, a conversation between lovers, the way each pebble depressed the soles of my feet, wind carrying the scent of a textile plant across town. I missed nothing.

  My steps slowed the closer I came to home. Briar was speaking to Luke, her voice pained. They’d found Lynx unconscious a mile out from White Pine. Roma was with her upstairs, trying to bring her out of it. Mateo was there, too. I couldn’t hear him, but I could smell him and feel him. The darkness inside me craved his body and drove me forward to screw him. This urge alone I stifled. The rest, I unleashed.

  Before I reached the back door, it flung open and Mateo’s body filled the space.

  “Where have you been?” he demanded.

  I brushed past him and entered the kitchen to drink from my thermos until it was empty. I licked my lips, needing more. The pangs of hunger still burned my stomach.

  “Hey!” Briar said from behind me. “Mateo asked you a question. Where were you? You disappeared.”

  “I had something to do.” I left them to go into the basement to get more blood bags, but when I opened my small fridge, I groaned. I can’t believe I’d forgotten; I only had one left. I drank it and returned to the kitchen to grab a bottle of Vodka from on top of the fridge. Alcohol would temporarily numb the pain.

  Briar gripped my arm before I could take a swig. “What is going on with you? You’re more,” she searched for a word, “bitchy than usual. You haven’t even asked about Lynx.”

  “Roma’s taking care of her.” I shook off her grip and swallowed the alcohol. I relished its burn all the way to my stomach.

  “Listening in and asking about her are two very different things. And you still haven’t told us where you were.”

  I stared in her eyes, barely able to contain the power within me. “Because it’s none of your business.”

  “Samira,” Mateo warned.

  Briar’s left eye twitched, and her nostrils flared.

  Looking from Briar to him, I stepped back. I needed to get out of here before I did something terrible. I didn’t belong in this house anymore, not how I was.

  “I have to go, but I’ll be back to check on Lynx.”

  “Go?” Briar’s eyes bulged from her head. “What the hell is going on? Something happened, I know it!”

  A pang of guilt and sadness swelled within me, but the Kiss devoured it and buried it with the rest of my emotions.

  Mateo reached for me but I moved away from him, closer to the back door. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Talk to us. Please,” he urged.

  I placed my hand on the doorknob. “The Phoenix has come for blood. We need to prepare.”

  “What does that mean, Samira?” Briar snapped. “Or whoever you are right now.”

  “And we will.” Mateo’s voice was soft and gentle. I didn’t let my gaze linger on the worry bleeding from his eyes. “Just stay with me.”

  A breath caught in my lungs. “You don’t want to be anywhere near me.”

  Before either of them could disagree, I bolted out the door and into the darkness, super speeding like lightning across the city, away from everything I’d come to love. My friends, Mateo. They couldn’t be a part of what came next. Yes, I would use them to help me take down Korin and the Phoenix, but beyond that, I must keep them at arm’s reach. Eternal Night’s poisonous kiss would destroy them otherwise.

  I came to an abrupt stop in the seedy part of Rouen where drugs and crime flourished. Hell’s Peak. The filthy streets and run-down buildings pulled darkness to it like an addict to his fix. Light didn’t exist in this place. Those who ran the Hell’s Peak wouldn’t allow it. The Ames de la Terra had attempted to remove the supernaturals and humans in control, but their strangling hold ran deep through many political circles. Even Dominic hadn’t managed to gain control over this area.

  Predatory instincts burned deep within my bones, honing all my senses. All around me, night life was very much alive. Prostitutes strutted freely, exchanging money and sex in the shallowest of shadows. Drugs were as abundant as the clubs and bars, drug dealers and their thugs outnumbering the police ten to one. And what officers dared to brave the streets this time of night only did so that they might participate in all that Hell’s Peak had to offer.

  I zeroed in on a tall man with tan skin and long hair. Scabs marked his face and arms. He stood across the street speaking in harsh tones to two prostitutes. By the looks of the women, halter tops, short skirts and long stockings, they had seen better days. One of them had her arm bandaged, and the other reeked of alcohol and urine.

  Crossing the street to him, I removed my jacket and pulled my tank top down to reveal the swell of my breasts. The man spotted me approaching and shooed the women away. He stared at my breasts only look
ing up at me when I stopped in front of him.

  He licked his chapped lips. “How may I have the pleasure of serving you?”

  I twisted the front of his shirt and brought him close to me, staring deep into his eyes. My powers of compulsion flowed into him. “Follow me.”

  His dark pupils dilated, then returned to normal. I let him go and sauntered toward an alley blacker than night, my heart thundering in my chest and heat burning between my legs. His footsteps echoed behind me, adding to my pleasure. I’d forgotten how much I loved to be obeyed.

  I turned around and smiled at him as I stepped backwards into the darkness, fingering him to come with me. The beat of his heart stuttered and fear flashed in his eyes, but his body followed after me. It didn’t have a choice.

  Darkness swallowed us, its cool breath whispering across my flesh. Fangs grew long in my mouth, and I parted my lips to make room for them. The man must’ve seen a glint of them in the darkness because he moved to bolt, but I appeared in front of him, making him stumble back. He reached into his jacket pocket and fumbled with something inside. A gun appeared in my face, shaking within his grip.

  “What the hell are you?” he gasped.

  My hand struck forward and knocked the weapon from his hand. It clattered to the cracked pavement. “I am Samira Chevoky, barer of the Kiss of Eternal Night. And your time running these streets with the rest of the filth is over. I’m going to give you all the Kiss of death.”

  I jerked his head to the side and plunged my fangs into his weathered skin. Warm blood coated my tongue and ran down the back of my throat. I moaned in ecstasy. It had been too long since I’d indulged.

  But not anymore.

  I gave into the Kiss and let its power consume me. I stoked its raging fire further, whispering words to the darkness, promising blood and violence. Vowing revenge. With it, I might just stand a chance against Korin. And right now, that’s all that mattered.

  The final beat of the man’s heart echoed through my veins. I unlatched before death could claim me, too. I sucked in a great breath and stared toward the night sky, blood running down my chin.

  Lingering thoughts of my friends, Mateo, and even my daughter were all gone. Only my hatred for Korin remained.

  Before all of this was over, one of us was going to die. And if fate chose me, then I’d be damn sure to go down destroying everything that belonged to him.

  The night was young, after all.

  A Vampire’s Bane

  Download the next book in the series, A Vampire’s Fury

  “The monster isn’t under my bed. It’s screaming inside my head.”

  * * *

  Cursed by the Kiss of Eternal Night, Samira lives her life as an ancient and powerful vampire, guarding her emotions carefully. One slip up and the darkness inside her could send her on a rage-filled, bloodlust path of death and destruction. It’s happened once before, and it could easily happen again.

  For over a century, she’s managed to keep the beast inside her at bay, but when someone from her past shows up unexpectedly, her emotions hang by a thread. Especially when she finds out they are working with the Phoenix, the source of the growing evil in Rouen.

  Maybe it’s time she stops controlling the monster inside her. It may be the only way she can save those she loves.

  Continue this dark and hilarious journey with a SNARKY shifter, BADASS Vampire, and POWERFUL witch TODAY!

  Coming soon!

  Pre-order TODAY

  While you are waiting for Samira’s story to continue, read more about Samira’s other friends in Coast City, including the infamous Aris Crow Vampire Legend who is coming to Rouen soon! Download A Monster’s Death, book 5 in the Rouen Chronicles.

  “The city doesn't need another hero. It needs a monster.”

  Aris has lived beneath the streets all his life while a growing evil overtook the city he loved. He’s watched the people suffer, smelled their fear, and heard their cries for mercy. All while living under the control of the ruthless man who murdered his parents.

  But the time has come for Aris to rise from the darkness. He’s trained his whole life for this moment and, unlike the justice system, he will not fail the people of Coast City, or the woman he fell in love with as a child, the woman who believes him dead.

  But no one told him that sometimes heroes aren’t enough. Sometimes people need a monster.

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  Other books by Raven Steele:

  Raven Steele is a coauthor pen name for Rachel McClellan. You can find her other books on her website at RachelMcClellan.com.

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