Hey all working on it and almost done, here is an excerpt for your reading pleasure! Don't mind the typos either.

 

This will be a stand alone novel.

 

 

 

 

Prologue

 

Three and a half months had passed since Raif turned up and started to slaughter innocent people in Santa Fe. Stripping Ian and myself of the bond we had formed, and making my heart turn black towards him. Raif had destroyed the new vampire unit the Santa Fe Police Department had set up, by turning one, who subsequently killed another, and Shelton was still doing his same old routine. He was good at interviewing and so that is what he ended up doing. It beat me, how on Earth he became a lieutenant, but then I was not in charge of giving promotions to city employees.

Martinez had been killed by his partner Jones, and I was a little baffled as to what happened to him. Pete and I had been friends, well if you could call it that. And after killing Raif I assumed Peter Jones would show up, either in a blood craze or begging not to be condemned to death for killing his partner, hell he could have been a great addition to the vamp unit for the police, however he is still nowhere to be found, and even Ian is wondering what happened to him.

Chief Aragon had called me numerous times to come and consult for him, however; I was not ready to see what kind of rookies he had on his payroll this time, he needed some good vampire hunters, but then again he can’t compete with the government as far as paying killers, and so I refused the few times I brought it upon myself to answer the phone. The last time I told him that if something bad happened in his jurisdiction by all means call me, but that I was on an undetermined leave of absence.

Since I had reaped most of the remaining kiss Raif had left behind, three of the rogue vampires decided to join Ian’s kiss, and I had my doubts as to whether they were trustworthy, but again I wasn’t in charge.

I kept my night job at Wolf’s Den, however since all the vampires in the southwest knew it was Ian’s resting place he decided to branch out and bought two more businesses in town; they were great small stores, one of which was a costume shop and the other was a food store for vampires. He also bought another one out of town near my home. It was a great spa, which catered to vampires called Twilight Springs.

Ian and I had made an uneasy truce to stay lovers, without the bonding, and finding that I felt weak after my super strength, I started to study Jujitsu with an old oriental man whom I called Sensei.

After the whole Raif experience and the amount of money I was awarded for the seek and destroy mission the government had sent me on, I decided to take a break from reaping, sure if a rogue vamp came anywhere near my vicinity he got killed, and of course I collected the reward, but I was not on call to go out of town to hunt them, and after three months of helping Ian start up his new businesses, I was getting really bored. I wanted to be washed in the blood of the undead; after all it is what I do best.

My name is Ariana Reynolds, Reaper of vampire kind, and this is my story. Laugh, cry, enjoy, I know I sure fucking will. 

 

Chapter One

 

“God damn it Sikaoki, why now?” Ian demanded as I cinched down my shoulder rig for my new P228 Sig Sauer. “You’re doing great managing Twilight Springs, why are you going back to work now? You’ve just gotten the place where you want it, I don’t understand, I thought you were happy, I thought I made you happy.”

For a vampire it seemed desperate, however; the look of anger in his face told a different story.

“Listen Ian, you knew I wanted to go back to work eventually, I just feel as if it’s the right time, I’ve been training with Sensei for three months, I feel much more capable of taking care of myself. Besides, I’ve been hunting vampires for some time now, and I grow bored of not being covered in blood and guts.” I gave him an impish smile and walked to him with my arms open, if I knew Ian, he would not pass up a chance to try and seduce me.

“I’m not falling for it Ariana, you think sex is the cure all for an argument and it isn’t happening, besides you can’t leave town on any jobs, we’re expecting guests.” He replied with arched brows.

Exhaling sharply at this un-announced arrival of expected guests I placed my hands on my hips and walked to my liquor cabinet. Pulling a bottle of scotch out of the cupboard, I took a pull straight off the bottle and slammed it down on the counter.

Not good.

I turned to glare at Ian, taking even steady breaths to try and control my temper, which is something my Sensei and I had been working on. I fought for control as my vision blurred to a red tint. “What the fuck do you mean we’re expecting guests?” I breathed out in a venomous whisper.

It was at this point Ian came to me with arms outstretched in a pathetic attempt to placate me. I took another pull off the bottle and inhaled the fumes from the bottle as I tried to remain calm; to bad it wasn’t working very well, more vampiric politics. I hated this shit, and as Ian had already explained it to me; I was still considered his bonded human, even though Raif had broken those bonds.

“I don’t see what I have to do with it.” I cried out in anger, same old argument, different fucking day.

“We have been over this a hundred times, the conclave still considers you my bonded human,” he paused to draw a breath, something he didn’t have to do and yet one more little nuance about him that he couldn’t get rid of; no matter how long he has lived.

I held up my hand to stop him from continuing, it had been gone over numerous times and I was sick of hearing it, “When are our guests supposed to be arriving, hmmm?”

“They’ll be here in a fortnight, and I would really appreciate you sticking around for the visit.” He smiled at me like he won the argument; little did he know I had my own plans.

“I’ll make you a deal; I’ll start work again around the state and not leave until after our little visit is concluded.”

“That wasn’t really what I had in mind, however; I think I better take it. Now shall we seal it with a kiss?”

“No we shall not seal the deal with a kiss, we will shake on it, and then you’re going to tell me who are guests are and what I may expect from this visit.” I said resisting the urge to grab the bottle of scotch and drain all the amber liquid, that and I was fighting the urge to waste the scotch and break the bottle over Ian’s head.

Now Ian is six foot eight and the biggest damn Indian I had ever seen, and where as he may have been 11 inches taller than me, most of the vamps in Santa Fe would chose a fist fight with him over me any day of the week. What can I say? I try really hard to be scarier than anybody else.

Ian sighed aloud which brought a small grin to my face, and irritated him to no end, as it was all habit and he could not control it. “Fine, Ariana I’ll explain to you what is going to happen and who will be visiting, one of the master vampires you’ve already met, he is my maker, he will not be bringing his little pet with him, although he will be allowed to bring two of his kiss as an entourage. Also my maker’s maker is coming as well also allowed to bring two of his entourage, and for the third I have not been given details on who it might be.

“Do you mean to tell me you are letting that fuck bag of a vampire back into Santa Fe? And to top it off, you are allowing an even stronger vamp to invade my city, and the devil only knows about the third. If only I could dig up some dirt on the two we know about I may be able to get an execution order, would that be breaking any of your vamp laws?” I smiled sweetly up at him, with an arch in my brow and my arms crossed about my chest, begging him to argue with me. Ian actually shocked me by laughing out loud in a gruff bark that no human could possibly imitate, however; for Ian it was all natural.

“I do indeed, think it would be a bad idea, now what would you like to know?” Ian asked as he closed the distance between us and grabbed the bottle of scotch off the counter and imitated me, by taking a pull off the bottle. When he set it down I was impressed it wasn’t often I saw him drink alcohol, at least I wasn’t sure what it was he sipped at the Den; but I didn’t think it was just alcohol.

Well…” I started, taking the bottle in my hands, “I think I want to know what I can expect. Also how many vampires are going to be in my town and how many are going to be with the actual conclave members? Also, where are they staying?” I asked pointedly before I took a slow sip from the bottle and watched Ian watch my mouth.

I could tell he was weighing each answer before he began to speak. It made me think highly of him, and pissed me off at the same time.

“I’m going to say we should expect a lot of headaches, some pain and disgust, my maker is not whom I am worried about Merrik, however is.”

“I take it Merrik is the other conclave member we know about?” I asked with a bemused look on my face as I handed the bottle of scotch to Ian.

Ian took a long slow gulp, letting it rest gently in his hands as he continued, it was at times like these I wish that I was still bonded, I could tell he was remembering and if we had still been bonded then I would be in his head seeing what he was seeing.

“If you thought my maker was bad, then Merrik is a hundred times worse. He has the ability to make vampires change forms.”

“Are you trying to tell me he can force your wolf on you?” I asked him grabbing the bottle and taking a pull from it.

Ian nodded and continued, “Not only can he make me change forms he can halt the process half way between, I’m neither forms, just a grotesque monster,” he paused with a sad smile on his face. “At least more so than I already am.”

I closed the small distance between us and placed a hand on his arm, “What else Ian, please don’t hold anything back.”

“He’s also a sex sucker, incubus.” He made the flat statement with no emotion and with my hand on his arm, he did something I thought we had to be bonded to accomplish, he shoved some flashes of his memories into me, I saw what he remembered and I wanted to cry. Not just for Ian, but for whomever else Merrik had abused in this way.

I saw her, I knew I was half formed but Merrik had forced the sex to over ride my senses, and I wanted her, she smelled like a breeding partner, and food…

Ian clamped down on the memory of him half formed about to rape and eat a poor woman; thankfully he spared me that particular nightmare.

I resisted the urge to step back from him in revulsion; instead I shuddered with a new fear about the up coming visit. “I can only say we get to lay down the rules, and my first is that Merrik not be allowed to force any one to change forms, my second is he not be allowed to force sex on anybody, unless they want it.”

“Ahh, Sikaoki, it will not be that easy, however you’re fast becoming a player of vampire politics, now let’s plan a strategy.” Taking my hand in his, Ian led us from the living room up the stairs and into my bedroom.

When we got there, he closed the door behind us, and slowly encircled my waist in his giant arms. I wasn’t so skinny as to think I was anorexic; however Ian made me feel too skinny, mostly by the sheer size of every aspect of his body. One the up side it also made me feel petite, which is something I never got before, and I found it slightly sexy.

I turned in his arms, laid a kiss against his exposed neck and bit down slightly, just hard enough to leave an imprint of my teeth, but it was all it took for Ian to lose control, and as our clothes went flying I raked fingernails down as much of his skin as I could reach. I could feel his fangs pressed against my skin as he applied pressure, not enough to draw blood, but enough to make the danger all the more exciting.

The thing about sleeping with a vampire, but not wanting to become one is trust, mixed with danger. Ian could easily make me undead, that is the danger; the trust is that I know he never would.

As he threw me to the bed, I grunted as his body slammed down on top of mine, this was not to be a casual love making, it was gonna be a rough fuck.

Fine by me, I prefer it that way.