Immortal Promise: A STANDALONE Vampire Romance (Vampire Mates)
Page 8
“How’s this for ya’?” Ewan asked.
Alfie made a rough harrumph sound as he picked up the pint. After a long sip, he nodded. “Good enough. I’m warning you, though. The hours are terrible. We get nothin’ but fishermen—and some fisherwomen—and you’ll probably have to break up the occasional bar fight.”
“Been breakin’ up fights all me life, sir.” He needed this job. The few places he’d been brave enough to ask about the past three days had refused to hire him without a full set of identification papers, which he’d never be able to get without more money. And some feckin’ luck.
“Twelve dollars an hour. You work from 5:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., plus any cleaning up needs to be done afterwards. Your dinner’s included.” Alfie cocked his head and nodded towards Ewan’s duffel bag. “This place used to be a boarding house, and there’s an empty room upstairs if you want it. Consider it a perk of the job.”
This seemed too good to be true. But even if it were, Ewan couldn’t turn it down. “Wh-what would ya’ need for me to start tonight?”
“A handshake.” Straightening up to his full height, which couldn’t have been more than five-foot-eight, Alfie held out his hand. “Many years ago now, I met a man unlike any I’ve ever known. He saved my life, and when I tried to thank him, he told me one day, someone would come to me needing help. A young man who didn’t belong here.”
Ewan stiffened, still staring at Alfie’s outstretched hand. “What was the man’s name, sir?”
“Merrick.”
His every urge told him to flee. To leave St. John’s and never come back. But down to his last few dollars, he didn’t have much of a choice.
With a shiver, Ewan clasped Alfie’s knobby fingers. “Thank ya’, sir.”
“You’re welcome. But you screw up, and you’re out. No second chances. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
You’ve just read Chapter One of Immortal Hunter by Patricia D. Eddy
You can find more of this story here: https://books2read.com/u/mZNRE2
Thank you for reading Immortal Promise. If you enjoyed this novella, please keep reading for a sample of the beginning of my Blackthorne Vampires series, Blood Captive, and you can also grab my contribution to The Midnight Coven’s first season, Vampire Brides, featuring Mattias and Laney.
BLOOD CAPTIVE:
THE BLACKTHORNE VAMPIRES
PROLOGUE
The soft thud was what woke me. Not the breaking glass of the window in my mother’s bedroom, nor was it the cry for help she must’ve certainly let out. Just a soft thud. I remember that sound more vividly than anything else from that night. It was the night that changed everything. In the span of a few moments, I lost my entire life.
“Mom?” I whispered in the dark, my feet cold on the hardwood floor of the hallway that separated our rooms.
Strange gurgling noises floated out from behind her open door, and my gut clenched. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go inside. Apprehension prickled in icy patches across the back of my neck. Something was very wrong behind that door.
Then I heard it. The rasp of her voice, strangled and weak and so unlike my mother’s usual musical tone. “Liv,” she said.
“Mom?” My words trembled, almost stuck in my throat, and when I pushed open the door, terror gripped my heart and turned it to stone.
My beautiful, raven-haired mother lay in a pool of her own blood. A raw wound ran from her jaw down to her shoulder, the blood poured freely over her white nightgown. It was a sight fit for a horror movie, not my home. She stared at me, eyes glassy, mouth moving, but no words escaped. I rushed to her, kneeling in the still warm blood, my knees slipping as my hands fluttered uselessly over her. I didn’t know what to do, how to stop the bleeding without hurting her. Panic flashed across her features and I leaned down to tell her she was going to be okay, even if it wasn’t true. Instead, she whispered one word that sent ice down my spine.
“Run.”
Blood Captive: The Blackthorne Vampires
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Thank you for reading IMMORTAL PROMISE, a Vampire Mates novella. There are thirteen total novellas in this shared world, each of them a standalone paranormal romance. We, the Midnight Coven authors, hope you’ll check out all of them. For the complete list, just turn the page OR visit our website www.midnightcoven.com
And remember, these books all share a world, but can be read in any order.
Don’t miss a single mate!
The Midnight Coven will be back soon with our next collaboration—Cursed Coven. In the meantime, join our Facebook group! We’d love to see you there!
• Immortal Hexes by Amelia Hutchins
• Immortal Promise by Kim Loraine-Author
books2read.com/immortalpromise
• Immortal Hunter by Patricia D. Eddy
https://books2read.com/u/mZNRE2
• Immortal Bite by Andrea M. Long
https://books2read.com/u/bpKX8z
• Immortal Bloodlines by Jessica Cage
https://books2read.com/u/m2PO7R
• Immortal Night by Emily Goodwin
• Immortal Darkness by Lisa Manifold
https://books2read.com/Immortaldarkness
• Immortal Oath by Corinne O'Flynn
https://books2read.com/immortaloath
• Immortal Awakening by Renea Mason
• Immortal Devotion by Gwen Knight
https://books2read.com/immortaldevotion
• Immortal Enemies by Jessie Lane
https://books2read.com/immortalenemies
• Immortal Skye by KL Bone
https://books2read.com/Immortal-Skye
• Immortal Protector by Alice K. Wayne
https://books2read.com/u/3nKwrx
Also by Kim Loraine
Paranormal Romance
The Midnight Coven Collaborations
Vampire Brides
Forever Claimed
The Blackthorne Vampires
Blood Captive
Blood Traitor
Blood Heir
The Watcher Series
Waking the Watcher (FREE)
Denying the Watcher
Releasing the Watcher
The Siren Coven
Eternal Desire
Cursed Heart
Wicked Temptation
Immortal Flame
Reverse Harem
Their Vampire Princess (A Reverse Harem Romance)
Their Shadow Queen
Protecting Their Shadow Queen
Returning Their Shadow Queen (coming soon)
About the Author
Kim Loraine writes steamy romances in both the contemporary and paranormal genres. When not writing, she’s busy herding cats (raising kids), trying to keep her house sort of clean, and dreaming up cute ways for fictional couples to meet.
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