by K. Grey
Blood Mates
K. Grey (2014)
Ava believed life was simple. Where everything was black and white. There were no shades of grey or in between. She didn't think she was anyone special. She had been abandoned at birth and survived. She was strong and learned how to stand alone all on her own, but was that enough to survive? She realized there was so much more that went bump in the night than just shadows. The shadows were the least of her worries. There were evil half breed vampires who wanted her blood and Immortal men who hunted them. She was now in a world she never knew existed. A world where her life would never be the same.
The Legion were Immortal men who protected humans from half breeds who only wanted to feed and destroy humanity. They swore an oath in blood to protect or die in the battle. In blood anything could be possible.
AVA LANE
October 23, 2013 December 25, 2013
“AVA LANE “
This book for me came out of nowhere… One of those places in my head I’m never sure about and yet I let it out sometimes (not always a good thing just so you know). If I had to dedicate this book to a few people in my life it would be to those who mean the greatest to me and give me the most joy. I really don’t have to use names because THEY know who they are. I am surrounded by STRONG, BEAUTIFUL, INSPIRING, AND FABULOUS WOMEN who never leave me without a heroine to write about. THANK YOU, LADIES! For always being there for me and loving me as nutty I am.
XOXOXO
She turned her head, pressing her face into the slimy dirty wall. She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could to keep the horrific scene being burned into her mind. She had already seen enough over the past few days to have nightmares for the rest of her life, however, long that was going to be. The things she had already seen made Wes craven’s movies and Steven king’s books look like a walk in the park.
She began to recite all the Latin words and phrases she could remember to block out the screaming. The blonde girl---- she didn’t look like she was barely twenty, so since she was younger than Ava she considered her a girl, she was screaming again. She was always screaming. Crying and screaming. Ava had tried to talk to her, but it didn’t take long to realize she was no longer mentally competent. The poor girl had completely lost it. A complete mental and physiological break and Ava couldn’t blame her. Ava wondered how long before she went bonkers too. Ava had no idea how long the girl had been trapped here or when she was taken, but from what Ava could determine it had only been four days since she had been kidnapped…
FOUR DAYS OF HELL! Four days ago, at least she was pretty sure it had only been four days even though it felt like forever. An unending night mare which truly belonged in the bowels of hell. Dante’s inferno had nothing on this place. She had been leaving a night class and crossing the parking lot to her car when she was attacked. She remembered someone grabbing the back of her head and slung her across the hood of her crappy car…. She hit the pavement hard and went out like a light.
When she woke up she thought she had fallen into the twilight zone or a bad gothic movie until she realized it was all real. She had been kidnapped by VAMPIRES! Not the shimmery ones from those fucked up twilight movies or the sexy ones from the seventies who just hammed it up with chest hair with a half-naked dumb ass blonde. NO! She wasn’t that lucky. These were actual throat ripping out and killing dead bastards. And they enjoyed killing…. Every night they dragged people inside and drained them dry right in front of her. She realized quickly they enjoyed her fear as if they needed and fed from it as well as the blood they drank. So from then on, she zoned her mind out reciting Latin or anything else that would distract her. She wasn’t going to let them beat her! She might not be as physically strong as they were, but she would never allow them the satisfaction of her fear. She was too stubborn and her grams always said ‘once she dug her teeth into something she never let go’….. That thought made her smile against the screams. She was so warped to be smiling right then.
Four days ago she had a crappy life…… a crappy apartment, crappy job that she hated, but it was flexible so she could attend college. Her entire life was really crappy, but right now being chained to a radiator with vampires who would probably eat her as well, it was heaven and she wanted it back! She wanted every single crappy second of it and if she made it through this she would never complain about it again. She would swear it was perfection. She would even be nice to the old hateful lady who lived below her and was always sneering at her when Ava passed by.
There had been three more women here when she first woke up and now they were gone. The bastards hadn’t killed them in front of her, but they had dragged the women from their cages and out of the room. Ava hadn’t seen them since. She wondered where they were and if her fate would be the same.
The girl began to screaming even louder and it was now a high squealing which was scratchy and breaking because her voice was going out. The girl even screamed when her voice was hoarse. Her throat had to be raw. Ava was surprised her vocal cords were still intact. The girl always screamed louder when the bastards were killing… Tonight the five of them were feeding from the same poor victim they had dragged in.
She quickly began to recite Latin phrases faster and faster in her head blocking out as much as she could. She wasn’t expecting it and she gasped when her head was jerked back. Jock boy, as she had begun referring to him because he wore a letterman’s jacket even though he was much older, had yanked her head back by the hair. It brought tears to her eyes.
He leered down at her. His eyes were no longer normal especially when he was angry and feeding. They were almost blood red with no color what so ever in them. She knew when he was calm his eyes were normal and a hazel color.
Blood dripped from his chin and the heavy smell of blood filled her nose making her want to gag. He was the cruelest of the six of them. He enjoyed killing by ripping his victims’ throats open. He enjoyed listening and making the blonde girl scream. He was a sick bastard. He hissed at her flashing those fangs even more which made little splatters of blood to hit her in the face.
‘Show no fear, Ava….’ She told herself. ‘Don’t give the cock sucker what he wants. Don’t make it easy on him. Be a bitch!’ she swallowed and narrowed her eyes on him even though she was terrified he was finally going to kill her. She knew some times she had more balls than brains and she wasn’t going to start backing down now. If he was going to kill her she didn’t have the physical strength to stop him, but she was going to piss him off enough that maybe her death would be quicker than the others.
“You’re a disgusting piece of shit even for a vampire, fang boy!” She then spit at him hitting him straight in the face. “I bet your fangs are bigger than your dick…” Her words hit the mark making him roar and growl at her. All the color in his eyes was gone now and they were completely blood red. His head tilted back and roared furiously before slamming her head into the radiator behind her. The side of her face hit the uneven metal hard. She wondered if she had shattered her cheek as she fought to stay conscious. She was seeing three of him now and stars---- tons of stars. Damn she never thought that was possible…
“If the sire wasn’t coming for you tomorrow night---- I’d enjoy draining you dry and making you scream, bitch…” he glanced at the blonde girl. “I bet I could make you scream louder than Lucy does now.”
Despite the fact she wanted to puke or pass out---- Hell she didn’t care which right now or both might be good. She was going to have the last word before she did. She was like that. Always had been.
“You aren’t man enough, fang boy---- dead or alive you stupid prick….” She smiled at all three of his faces that were blurry.
He roared again and then back handed her causing the back of her hea
d to hit the radiator this time. Her body slumped this time and she fell to her side on the cold nasty floor. She tried to focus on his face---, but it didn’t work. She didn’t know which one of the three was really his. She was definitely gonna be sick. Her stomach was cramping and rolling which was never good. She blinked slowly as another one of the vampires squatted next to jock boy. He had a deranged grin on his face.
“Why can’t we eat her? I’m still hungry.”
“No… as much as I want to kill her we can’t.” he shook his head. “She is the one the sire wants. He gave strict orders that we couldn’t kill her.”
“Why not?” he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth which only smeared the blood there across his cheek. He even licked at the corner of his mouth where some remained.
“She has the mark…”
“What mark?”
Jock boy rolled his eyes. “I told you already… the sire needs the blood of a marked blood mate. Her blood is special. “
“She doesn’t look special…” He inhaled through his nose deeply. “She smells human.”
“She is human!” Jock boy snapped before standing up. “Stay the hell away from her or I will kill you myself.” He walked away. Ava watched the other vampire reach out and run his finger across the bleeding gnash she had at her right temple. He licked his finger. “You taste human….”
Ava had heard what jock boy said, but none of it made sense. She wasn’t special. She was as normal as a person could get. She was boring. Her life had been boring up until the night they had grabbed her. And what the fuck was a blood mate? Nothing he said made any sense. Her eyes slowly closed as she heard him hiss at Lucy and then Lucy began screaming again.
“Lucy…You don’t have a mark do you?” he murmured. “The sire didn’t say he wanted you, did he?” he licked his fangs. “I’m still hungry, Lucy…”
Lucy screamed and scrambled back to the far end of the dog cage she was held in. She was trying to fold herself into the far corner away from him, but that only made him laugh. He stood up and tore the top of it off. She began screaming louder than she ever had before. “NO! NO! NO! NO!”
He laughed as he reached inside and jerked her out by the throat cutting off her screams and air. She clawed at the hand that held her off the ground. “I’m gonna miss hearing you scream, little Lucy…you scream so well.” he told her before sinking his fangs into her throat. Her legs slowly stopped kicking in the air and her arms fell to her sides as her eyes rolled back in her head. She was dead.
Slowly Ava came to and her eyes fluttered open. She groaned at the pounding in her head. She reached up and winced when she found not one, but two goose eggs on her head. One was on the side and one in the back. She licked her lips which were dry and cracked. She wanted water, but knew she wouldn’t get any.
She noticed laying there that the bastards weren’t in the room which told her it was daylight now. They always locked them inside and retreated to a room below, which she was guessing was the basement. They would stay there until sunset again. She gently pushed herself up to lean against the wall because she was still dizzy and nausea. She’d bet her good expensive black Italian lace panties she had a concussion. Maybe a double one if that was possible...
She turned her head to check on Lucy… it was too quiet. She gasped and shoved herself down the wall a couple of feet in shock. She slammed her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Lucy laid in her cage dead. Her throat was ripped open and her tongue had been removed. Her eyes were wide open. Tears fell down Ava’s cheeks.
“Oh Lucy…..I’m so sorry.” she whispered against her hand. She knew she had to escape. She remembered jock boy saying his sire was coming for her tonight.
She had to escape before the day was over. She wasn’t going to be used for god only knows what by some vampire king or whatever he was. She just knew it wasn’t going to be a good thing. She turned to the chain that looped around her ankles and the other end was around the radiator. She jerked on it over and over again until her shoulders cried out in pain, but not once did it budge. She knew she was going to have to force the chains over her ankles and down her feet. She fought the urge to scream as her fingernails and chain tore her skin. She refused to stop. She had no choice. Now she realized why an animal would chew off its own leg when caught in a trap. Escaping and surviving were the only things that mattered. Tears fell down her cheeks as she cried silently forcing the metal links over her bloody heels. She held her breath as she managed to get her right foot free. Only then did she allow herself to turn and puke. She leaned over and dry heaved until she couldn’t breathe. The minute she caught her breath she began again. She had one foot free she had one more to go. It took a little more work and she wondered if her feet would ever heal again. They were a bloody mess. When she was free she pushed herself up and couldn’t keep the gasp of pain inside. She nearly fell to her knees, but caught herself. She forced herself to walk biting her lip to keep from screaming in pain. She made her way out of the room and into the hall way. She had no idea where she was, but she had to find a way out. She was losing daylight. She didn’t have time to waste.
She wandered around in circles for what seemed like hours. She did realize she was in some kind of abandoned meat packing plant and if she was right that meant she was on the west side of the city near the uninhibited industrial district. Years ago the city declined and many businesses in the area closed and left leaving dozens of empty buildings. If she was right it was gonna be a long walk back to the other side of town ,but if that meant freedom she would do it. She would crawl over broken glass in the Sahara desert if she had to.
She finally found her way to the upper floor where sunlight streamed in through some of the widows. Most of them had been blackened out, but a few were broken. She squinted at the brightness. She hadn’t seen daylight in days and it hurt her eyes. She knew she wouldn’t be able to reach the windows, they were too high up so she turned down a hallway and saw a set of double doors chained. She limped as she rushed as fast as she could to them. She pushed, but the chains didn’t give much.
She knew she didn’t have long to get out she could see the sun was just above the tree line. She might half an hour if that. She was gonna have to hurry if she was gonna get out. She had to do something now. Breaking the glass wasn’t going to work. It was the kind of glass you saw in school doors. She knew she didn’t have time to search for another way out so she tried to squeeze through the gap the chain allowed. She wasn’t tooth pick thin, but over the last few days she might have lost the few pounds that might make the difference. She had to wiggle hold her breath and suck her gut in to squeeze through. She had cleared the gap to her hips.
Her blood ran cold and she froze when she heard a familiar hiss and growl… it didn’t take her, but a second to kick herself back into gear. She tried to pull the rest of her body through, but failed. She felt the hand close around her ankle. She didn’t stop the scream as she was jerked back inside. Her shoulders and head knocked into the metal doors making her scream in pain even louder. She tried to grab the doors or even the chain for leverage, but it was useless he had jerked her back inside. She slid across the floor on her back as he held onto her ankle.
“Where do you think you are going you stupid bitch?” he hissed. “Did you really think you would get away from me?” he stood in the shadows safe from the sun’s burning rays. Above in the windows she could see the sun was even with the trees now. She had failed! Well dammit! She wasn’t going down without a fight! Fuck this bastard!
“Fuck you, you stupid cock sucker!” with her right foot she kicked out nailing him square in the gonads as hard as she could. He roared doubling over. She jerked her ankle free and jumped up. She turned to run--- hell she didn’t know where and didn’t care. She didn’t get, but just a few steps when his hand tangled in her hair. She flew through the air crashing into a wall. She bounced on the floor when she fell. She didn’t lay there. She couldn’t. I
f the bastard was going to drag her back downstairs she was going to make him so mad he lost control and killed her. If she was going to be some kind of blood bank for some unknown vampire sire--- well she was going to fuck up those plans. She pushed herself up on her hands and glared at him.
“That the best you got? You hit like a fucking girl! Come on you dumb fucker… I can take whatever you got….” She knew that wasn’t much more. Every inch of her body was screaming in agony and she knew she would be down and out very very soon. She didn’t have much left. Her ribs were broken. She could feel it. Her head was pounding on one side like a jack hammer.
She pushed herself to her feet watching him. He was furious. So furious she could actually see him shaking. His eyes were blood red and spit dripped off his fangs. He was going to rush her. She could tell. They were so fast a human eye couldn’t detect them. She had seen them do it and she knew she had only one shot. When he tensed up to flash toward her she grabbed the fire extinguisher that was barely hanging on the wall and swung it. The impact made her scream because she tried to hold onto it and her arms felt as if they were being jerked from their sockets as it vibrated in her hands. It felt like she had hit a brick wall with it. She stumbled back against the wall to keep her balance which wasn’t easy.
Her legs weren’t going to hold her up any longer. They began to buckle, but she didn’t hit the floor like she expected. A hand encircled her throat lifting her off her feet. Her toes weren’t even grazing the floor. She didn’t even have the strength to claw at the hand that was squeezing the air from her lungs. She could still breathe, but not much. Her lungs were already burning from the broken ribs and now it was even more agony with less air. She just met his gaze. She didn’t look away from his completely blood red eyes. He was beyond furious and she knew it. He hissed at her.