Night Blood (Night Ties Book 1)

Chapter 1

He may be considered young, but he wasn’t stupid.

“Keene?” Liam rasped.

“I know, let’s – ” Keene’s sentence was cut short as Liam let out a strangled gurgle before falling to the ground, his pale eyes lifeless. A few drops of blood trickled from a bite wound in his neck. Keene and Chasen whirled around, eyes wide and searching for the culprit.

All Keene could sense was a whole lot of nothing.

Fuck…

“Who’s there?” he demanded sharply.

“No one, Silverfyn. Now let’s play,” came a dark female voice that flowed through Keene like silk an instant before Chasen cried out as a woman attacked him.

He tried to move to help Chasen, but something held him frozen in place and he was forced to watch the macabre scene as she drained the blood from his body and dropped him to the ground. She wiped off her mouth before turning to face him.

Keene’s breath caught as he got a full view of a being he’d never thought to see again.

As with all the nightwalkers he’d come across, she was absolutely beautiful. She looked almost like a fallen angel with alabaster skin that contrasted sharply against the silvery eyes and the dark hair that was pulled away from her face, revealing her sharp, almost cat-like features.

What drew his attention most, however, was the deep emotion swimming in those shimmering eyes of hers. Anger, loneliness, despair…

It was all there and it captivated him more than he would ever admit.

“You’re a nightwalker?” he rasped as she drew nearer to him, in no hurry to finish him off since he was still bound by whatever magic she’d put on him.

“Yes, what does it matter?” she inquired as she stepped closer.

“Nightwalkers are supposed to be extinct.” She stopped to stand directly in front of him, close enough that he could feel the coolness of her skin.

The living version of a vampire, nightwalkers had at one time been at war with their undead counterparts and amongst themselves. The violent brutality that had plagued their race had finally brought an end to them. There hadn’t been a nightwalker sighting in nearly half a century.

A frown twisted her lips severely as she glowered at him. “Yeah, I’m aware of that,” she gritted, “Now shut up, Silverfyn. It’s time for you to die.”

Keene swallowed hard as she leaned in close, inhaling his scent before ripping a section of the T-shirt he wore beneath his coat. Her fangs nicked the skin, causing a pleasure shock to course through him while a few drops of blood welled up from the wound.

She trailed her tongue over the wound, gathering the blood on her tongue and sending a jolt of awareness through the both of them.

Damn it, Keene, do something!

But it was futile. No matter how hard Keene struggled to break free of her hold, the magic simply wouldn’t budge.

He was about to get drained by a nightwalker that, despite himself, took his breath away.

He gasped when she slid her fangs into his neck, another jolt of pleasure surging through him, breaking whatever had held him. There’d been no pain; nothing more than a cool, slight pressure before an erotic pulling that had him moaning and gripping at her slender arms as she drank his blood.

All too soon, though, she was jerking back with a furious hiss. Eyes flashing in cold fury, she vanished from sight.

Keene gulped down a mouthful of air before sliding to his knees, shaking violently as he struggled not to pass out.