Pretty Bloody

by K. A Knight

  Pretty Bloody (The Fallen Gods Book Two)

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to places, events or real people are entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 K.A. Knight, all rights reserved: Written by K.A. Knight

  Edited by Jess from Elemental Editing and Proofreading & Kaila Duff

  Formatted by Kaila Duff

  Cover by Temptation Creations

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also By K.A Knight

  “We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.”

  Joyce Carol Oates

  Sitting bolt upright, my eyes fly open, adjusting to the utter darkness surrounding me. I reach out to either side with my hands, feeling along the wood around me, but pull my fingers back with a frown. Really, a coffin? How cliché. Rolling my eyes, I lie back, getting comfortable. I can feel the pressing weight of the earth encompassing me, so they clearly buried me deeply, never wanting anyone to find me. You sleep and feed on one little priest’s wife and you end up in a coffin. Really, she begged me to, so you can’t blame me for simply granting the woman’s wishes. If anything was going to get me killed or buried, I figured it would have been by the queen’s orders or the blood orgies I held. Ever since I left my brothers’ sides, I have carved a blood-filled path across the world, searching for something...something I can feel just out of reach every time. Maybe I’ve finally gone crazy, the years crushing my mind, because there can’t be anything out there for me...just endless years spent alone. Maybe I should go and find one of my brothers, not that they would want me to, but it has to be better than this debilitating loneliness. Either way, I need to get out of this coffin first.

  Closing my eyes again, I stretch out my senses, looking for signs of life. Ignoring the bushes, trees, plants, and animals above ground that ping on my radar, I spread the net wider. There must be someone out there who can help me. I refuse to spend years down here in a coffin. It would serve me right, but I need to be above ground, I need to find whatever this...thing is that has been calling to me these past twenty years or so.

  There!

  On the edge of my net, I sense a pulse of something alive—something strong as well, really strong. Not human, that is for sure, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone can be bribed, even our kind. It has to be one of my brethren’s lines. If it was mine, I would sense it straightaway, but I’m betting wolf. Those bastards breed like bunnies. Howling at the moon and fucking in fur, no thank you. I’ll take a suite with a bottle of their finest wine and a hot woman any day.

  A sardonic smile curls my lips as I cast out my mind, reaching for the stranger, and pushing past their natural mind defences until I sink inside, free to explore and play, even wipe them out if I wanted to.

  Hello? I push the thought, whispering it softly through their head so as not to startle them. It wouldn’t do me any good if they tried to shut their mind to me and I had to force it open again, it makes people less compliant.

  I sense the person’s panic and confusion as they whirl from side to side, thinking I’m speaking to them in person. I get a sense of long red hair…a woman. Interesting. Instantly, I turn on the charm, knowing she will be helpless to resist me, none ever can.

  “I am afraid I’m not there in person, love, but I would very much like to be and that is where you come in. What will it take for you to come and dig me free? You can have anything—money, status, death. Take your pick, beautiful.”

  I wait in the background of the woman’s thoughts, trying not to intrude as she thinks over my offer. She isn’t as shocked by my talking internally as someone should be, so I am guessing it has happened to her before…why does that thought annoy me? Maybe I’ve spent too long in isolation.

  You’re a nightwalker? Her soft, silky voice floats into my head, wrapping me in satin sheets and warm bodies. Fuck, even my cock goes rock-hard. Definitely too long in isolation if a mere thought from a woman can send me into such a fit.

  Yes, love, how did you know?

  I find myself curious, what is she? How could she sense what I am?

  A woman has to have some surprises. I’ll set you free, but I do want something.

  Anything, I promise, my voice husky, even in my head as my fangs drop with a throb, aching to be buried in this woman’s throat or thigh, I’m not picky. I bet she would taste delicious.

  I need you to find someone for me and I want them alive.

  She seems to be ignoring my charm altogether, causing a frown to curl my lips, maybe I’m rusty or she is simply hiding her reaction to it. Find someone, a boyfriend, a husband, a mate? Perhaps, but I don’t ask, it shouldn’t matter to me. She is a means to an end, but a nightwalker always keeps his promises and oaths.

  Of course, love. Here is how you can find me. Dig me up and I swear to you on the blood burning through me that I shall find this person for you. So, it is willed, so it will be, I finish, knowing the universe will take that oath seriously.

  She sucks in a breath, recognising that. I will be there tonight. If you try to kill me or go on a massacre, I’ll stake you back into the ground, she warns, her voice as threatening as a puppy’s.

  Of course, love. I would bring someone for me to feed on though, since it has been… I would guess around two hundred years.

  I pull from her head with a laugh, sitting back in my coffin and waiting for the mysterious woman to come and save me. If only my brothers could see me now, I would never live it down. Being rescued like some damsel in distress—some god I am.

  So why does my heart beat faster, my cock beg for her, and my fangs crave her blood? It is clear I want this woman just from her voice. Maybe I can have some fun with her while I find this person she hunts, satisfy my hunger between her legs and at her veins. It would be easy to seduce her and once I am done, I can move on and carry on searching.

  Almost laughing with glee, I settle myself and wait.

  She thinks she is a hunter, but the hunter just became the hunted, and I can almost taste my prey.

  Bella

  Fucking nightwalker. If I didn’t need his help so badly to track down that asshole, I would have left his ass to rot in the ground. There’s a reason someone put him down there, he probably drank from the wrong person or pissed off a wolf—they are always at each other’s throats. I tend to stay clear from all of them, all other races, to protect myself and my secret.

  They can never know. It’s easier this way, even if it does get lonely, but Raph told me time and time again why this was so important…and I broke that rule once and look where it landed me. Never trust anyone, I learned that early on. I can only rely on me and…well, it used to be Raph. Pain slashes through me at the reminder of what I’ve lost all because I couldn’t keep my stupid mouth shut.

  Yet here I am, trusting another supe, but I won’t let him know. I’ll guard my secrets and take them to the grave. I will use him, track the bastard who betrayed me—us—and then we’ll go our separate ways, all without him ever knowing…it will be easy, right?

  Sighing out loud, I toss the shovel into the trunk of my car. I had stopped at a shitty hotel, trying to get some rest and figure out my next move when the basta
rd slipped right into my head like he owned the joint.

  Nightwalkers, they are all the same, cocky little pretty boys who think everyone and everything should do as they please. It physically pained me to accept his deal, but they are some of the best trackers, below wolves of course, but no fucking way am I letting a furball sniff around me for that long. They have a way of seeing the truth. So nightwalker it is, but that doesn’t mean I won’t stake his ass if he annoys me. Raph once told me I have the patience of a fat kid in a sweet shop…that man got stranger and stranger every day.

  Pain runs through my heart at the thought of him, he might have been odd and some might even say slightly unhinged, but he was my everything, the only family I ever had, and now he’s gone and I’m left in this world all alone. His teachings and warnings echo in my head, guiding me even while he’s not here. I guess I’ve been training for this most of my life, to stay under the radar, he was always preparing me for the inevitable, but it doesn’t mean I’m ready.

  Fuck, Raph, wish you were here.

  Slamming the boot shut, I face the bright pink shit hole I stayed in last night. It served its purpose. It was near empty, out of the way, and they had a don’t ask, don’t tell policy in place. Fuck, I even found a shovel around back—I don’t want to know what they had it for. Slipping on my shades, even though it’s night, I head to the driver’s side of the sports car. The one useful thing Raph did buy. It’s bright orange with wings down the side, subtle I know, but it’s fast as hell and all mine.

  Sliding behind the wheel, I fire up the engine, loving the soothing roar as it purrs. “Time to go dig up a man.” I pat the steering wheel before pulling out of the parking lot behind the hotel. I’m paid up until tomorrow, so at least if the sneaky little bastard tries to fuck me over I can always come back here and leave him locked in my trunk to stew overnight…which actually isn’t a bad idea. I wouldn’t have to talk to him then at least.

  I only have a basic location to go on, which was a graveyard, so I googled the closest one earlier and found the location I’m guessing he’s buried in just four miles away. Let’s hope there aren’t ghouls lingering around, they can be super annoying and I really don’t want to touch them and catch a vision of them eating people.

  The road is quiet this late at night, only the streetlights for company as I race down the winding country lane. I spot the turn ahead and spin the wheel, skimming around the corner before righting the vehicle and speeding down the private gravel road. Up ahead I spot an old, creepy church and big, steel gates—bingo. I pull up right outside, keeping the engine running as I grab the shovel. The gate has a padlock on it and a six foot wall on either side, obviously running around the extensive graveyard at the side and back of the church. Holding the shovel over my shoulder, I pull back my leg and kick open the gate. The chain and padlock break, the gate swinging inward from my strength as I whistle, heading inside.

  I stand just beyond, whistling loudly, just in case any nasties decide to either crawl from a grave or jump out at me. When nothing but the trees move, I shut my mouth and eyes and concentrate on that annoyingly cocky voice I heard this morning, trying to locate him.

  Looking for me, love?

  Ugh, I’ve never even seen this little prick, but I already want to punch him in his smug mouth, and if he calls me love one more time…

  Laughter echoes in my head and I narrow my eyes. “Do you want freedom or not?” I grumble.

  Sorry, love, I can’t tell you where I am, I’m afraid, so I guess you will just have to find me. I can, however, tell you when you get close though, right now you aren’t.

  Brilliant, hide and go seek in a fucking graveyard. What could be better? Dropping the shovel to the ground, I quickly plait my hair to get the long red strands out of the way.

  Are you a natural redhead?

  “Keep talking and I’ll leave you to rot,” I snap, making him laugh again.

  No offense intended, love, red is my favourite colour after all.

  “Can I gag you at all?”

  Kinky, are you into that? I’m open to try it for sure, love.

  Fucking hell, I’m going to kill this man before the night’s through, I can just tell.

  I can think of better things we could do tonight, he almost purrs, obviously trying to sound sexy, but I nearly retch at how thick he’s laying on the charm.

  Talking of thick, you should see my—

  Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow… I start to sing mentally, ignoring his mocking laughter.

  Trekking through the graves, I look for any signs of disturbance or any energy that would mean life, his mocking mirth following me, making me cranky as hell. I hope some worms have been eating him or a dog peed on his grave. None of the fresher graves even give a hint of life, so I head farther back where it seems to get darker, fog curling around my ankles because, of course, what creepy as hell graveyard doesn’t have fog? Whistling as I go, I stop along the third row from the back when I feel a pulse of energy, energy so strong I nearly stumble. Holy shit, is that what he feels like without even feeding? I’m so screwed. Maybe I could keep him in the coffin? Like a pet nightwalker? That’s a good nightwalker, here’s a baggy of blood for you, yes, no, don’t growl.

  As amusing as your inner thoughts are, I am getting quite bored, do you mind, love?

  I’ll give him bored. He didn’t have to have a staring contest with a crazy man for four hours only to find out he was asleep with his eyes open…not my best day, but I had to do something to keep myself occupied, and apparently screwing and fighting are not good hobbies. I almost scoff, what makes a hobby good? The one time I tried to become a snake charmer Raph had a screaming fit and fainted. Who knew he was scared of snakes? Oops.

  I don’t even know where to begin, love.

  Is there a way to block you? I mentally ask him. You bum me out and I kinda want to kill you already.

  Laughter sounds in my head again, and I just roll my eyes as I make my way down to the grave at the end, which is covered in leaves and discarded trash.

  Ha, like you, I taunt.

  Not mature, but when he doesn’t reply, it does the trick to shut the cocky fucker up. Well, no time like the present to become a grave robber. I get to work digging up the unmarked grave, ignoring the power seeping through the earth that seems to reach for me. Jesus, how far down did they bury him? Wiping my forehead on the back of my arm, I grunt as I carry on digging, throwing dirt out of the hole I have so far until I press my shovel into the dirt and…it hits something solid.

  Bingo. Nightwalker.

  Dropping the shovel, I move the dirt off the top with my hands and search for a way to open it. A cross has been burnt into the lid of the cheap coffin, and chains wrap around it, with crosses placed in each link. Wow, something really hated this bastard, which doesn’t bode well for me, but beggars can’t be choosers. Grabbing the chain, I yank with all my strength, happy there are no witnesses as it breaks in my hands and unravels from the coffin. I see no other lock or trap, so I grab my shovel and hop out of the hole, knocking on the lid.

  “Alright, buddy, you can wake up from your dirt nap now,” I yell.

  The lid creaks open quickly, and I stumble back as a man suddenly stands in front of me—a very fucking beautiful man.

  “Hello, love,” he purrs, his voice wrapping around me, and I instantly think of skin against skin and sex.

  Shit, I’m so going to end up killing him.

  Ciar

  Standing in front of the mysterious beauty, I find my fangs almost dropping, only decades of control forcing them away as I take her in. Beauty is an understatement. She reminds me of a goddess, or a titan with how stunning she is. She is utter perfection so bright, she is almost hard to look at, like her skin is glowing from within. Her hair is a dark ruby, floating around in a mass of sleek waves, burning and brilliant like blood on pale skin. Her eyes are as gorgeous as they are different—grey. The colour of a storm with lightning streaking thro
ugh the center, and the longer I look the more it seems like it is moving, cutting through the night sky.

  She’s tall, only a few inches shorter than my six foot eleven, and she is all curves. I almost drool from her figure, Jesus. I can’t help but imagine my hands wrapped around her plump, perky breasts or cradling those wide, sensual hips. Her leather-clad legs seem to go on for days, and I wonder what they would look like draped around my head. I frown at the leather gloves on her hands and the long sleeves covering that amazing body, but a hint of her scent wafts to me. I suck in a breath, unable to escape her smell as it saturates my lungs and seems to burn itself there. She smells fresh and flowery like nature itself. My heart starts to race, and I find myself lost for words in her presence, which only makes her eyes narrow then drop and check me out before shooting back up to mine like she can’t believe she just did that. It makes my usual smirk crawl across my face as I step closer, pushing through the power surrounding her. Oh yes, she’s powerful, but I haven’t got a clue what she is. That has my attention. I have a feeling I am going to like keeping my promise to her.

  “Come on, fanger, we have things to do.” With that she grabs her shovel and sets off through the graveyard, leaving me gobsmacked. I blink, staring after her. I had been working my charm hard, she should have been begging at my feet, her eyes dilated and her musk of desire wrapping around me, but instead…she’s humming the batman soundtrack as she moves across the ground with swift strides.