Blood Chase

by Yolanda Sfetsos

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  Forbidden Publications

  www.forbiddenpublications.com

  Copyright ©2007 by Yolanda Sfetsos

  First published in 2007, 2007

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  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  BLOOD CHASE

  YOLANDA SFETSOS

  Copyright © 2007

  Cover Art—DAWNE’ DOMINIQUE © 2007

  Editor—DAWN THOMAS-JERLO—No copyright assigned.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, please contact the publisher via regular mail.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  ISBN: Not Assigned.

  Published by Forbidden Publications, DECEMBER 2007

  Forbidden Publications

  PO Box 153

  East Prairie, MO 63845

  www.forbiddenpublications.com

  BLOOD CHASE

  BY

  YOLANDA SFETSOS

  This one's for Eugene.

  I'd like to thank Rene, for taking a chance on this little story of mine. And a huge thank you to Dawn, for her fantastic suggestions and wonderful help during the editing process.

  CHAPTER ONE

  This wasn't the first time Grace had been chased. Though it was the only time actual fear coursed through her body.

  The sound of her heart beat against her chest. The constant thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump made her queasy, but she pushed on. She knew he could hear it too. The thought caused the fear to race beneath her skin at an even faster pace. She pushed on down the crowded city streets, closer to a run than a walk.

  The noise of the city sounded loud—cars swished past as they sprayed puddles on pedestrians, a siren flared in the background, and a dance song ignited from the clothes store she passed. It was late at night, but retailers stayed open longer in this part of the city, as did the fast food joints. Even with all the buzz of human existence around her, she knew his primal senses could still hear her heart above everything else.

  Grace wouldn't be surprised if he heard every rapid breath she exhaled. The cool winter air filled her lungs and urged her forward.

  He was after her, again.

  Dixon was his name. An ancient title he carried into this century. He was a creature of the night and had her scent embedded within his very core. He would chase her wherever she went, no matter where she tried to hide. He didn't care where they'd end up, or how long it took him to get her. She was Dixon's prize to claim. He would chase her to the end of time. She had no doubt about that.

  She looked nervously over her shoulder, but couldn't see him. One of the many talents Dixon possessed was to blend into the crowd without detection. He did it so well that he would have his hands around her before she could see his approach.

  "Where are you?” she whispered.

  At least if she caught a tiny glimpse of him, she'd have a better chance of avoiding him. The chase went on too often, and sooner or later, she would have no choice but to completely surrender. The thought of absolute submission to Dixon roused a flurry of confusion.

  The excitement was undeniable as it intermingled with raw dread. Her heart stopped for a second as she spied his eyes from across the street. Damn! How'd he get there so quickly? She took one step forward and so did he. He'd somehow caught up enough to match her step-for-step. The only thing separating them now was the traffic, but all he needed was one red light.

  Grace forced her gaze away from his and ran onward.

  "Hey, watch where you're going!"

  Pins and needles raced through her arms and legs as she fell back a few steps. A disgruntled teenager with several piercings on his face glared down at her.

  "Sorry.” The word clung to the air in a cold haze.

  The teenager didn't acknowledge her apology, but simply gave her another dirty look before he continued down the sidewalk with slouched shoulders.

  She set forth again. There was no sense in loitering longer than she needed to. This incident had already made her lose enough ground, and allowed Dixon to gain plenty. It wouldn't take him long to trap her now.

  Sweat trickled down the nape of her neck and collected at the bottom of her low ponytail. She hardly wore her hair down anymore, for fear of giving the vampire a better advantage of ensnaring her, especially when the risk of capture was potentially around every corner.

  The thought scared her so much her stomach tightened with anticipation. A surge of excitement wove its way around her gut, and ignited it with enough adrenaline for her to keep moving forward.

  You can run, but you can't hide.

  Grace shivered at the sound of the words. They caressed her mind with intimacy she didn't want to deal with now. This was a trick he liked to use. Something his kind utilized to spook those they considered lesser. At the end of the day, there was no way to sugarcoat it—most vampires considered humans to be below them in the grand scheme of things. After all, people were their main source of food, weren't they?

  They integrated into society well enough that most couldn't detect them in a crowd. But whether their killer instinct claimed them or not, they were still superior.

  As much as society liked to pretend vampires didn't exist, by now the majority knew that the myth of the bloodsucker was more than just a fabrication. Even those that chose to ignore it. All they had to do was switch on a talk show on TV. It was the latest craze, and only picked up speed with headlines like: “This is my bloodsucker, not yours". Or, “My granny's a vampire and she stole my boyfriend."

  She sighed at the absurdity of it.

  Grace noticed an opening up ahead and took a quick left into the alley. It would at least give her reprieve for a while, maybe enough to catch her breath. Time to get her bearings right, so she could head for the relative safety of home. Yes, that's what she had to do—get home and lock the windows and doors so the creature would fly off into the night and leave her alone. Not that vampires could fly. They were faster than humans in every way, but didn't turn into bats or sprout wings that enabled them to take flight.

  She should know. Researching the myth of the vampire was what she did. Grace Kinley had devoted over a decade into studying the credibility and depth of vampire mythology. When she witnessed an attack after leaving a club one night, her life changed forever. She'd watched behind a corner as the male vamp took a blonde girl and devoured into her neck. The girl had survived by running into the night. But for Grace, the incident changed her. It set her off on a dangerous crusade, one which led her to this man ... the vampire who wanted nothing more than to chase her at every turn.

  It was a game of cat and mouse.

  A chuckle filled her mind and the question: Which is which?

  The way her footsteps sloshed into the puddles made Grace totally aware of what she was doing. She felt the warm water drip down her exposed calf and wet the top of the sock peeking out from beneath her ankle boo
ts.

  She picked up the pace when she heard the echo of someone else's feet behind her. It could be anyone—a homeless person, a thief, but she was pretty sure it was him. He knew damn well who the mouse in this situation was, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an answer. To answer him telepathically would only make him think he was stronger than her. Enforce that he had her in the palm of his hand to lure in for a blood donation.

  Someone else made her discovery public, a man she'd trusted with her valuable evidence and then betrayed her. After the incident, Grace had taken a step back into the shadows and retired. She still knew more than the average expert about vampires, but chose to become a freelance myth hunter. And werewolves were next on her list.

  Grace tried to calm her breathing long enough to clear the painful stitch that stabbed the right side of her lower abdomen. She poked her fingers into it, the same way she'd done as a child. It didn't work. Just as it never had before, but it was a habit her grandfather had instilled in her.

  A ray of hope appeared as she realized where this alley would lead. She was almost home, and couldn't believe how easily she'd stumbled into this. On some level, she was positive she'd made this subconscious decision without the need to concentrate. Grace knew the city of Sydney pretty well, but whenever Dixon was thrown into the mix, it was almost as if she became a tourist.

  Safety was within her grasp and it made her heart lighten a little. The entrance to her apartment building was less than a block away. When she stepped back out into the city street, she straightened her skirt and reached inside her coat pocket to pull out her keys. She held them tight inside her palm like a weapon ready to strike.

  Grace avoided all eyes as she walked down the street, staying to the lefthand side, hoping to outrun him. If the way the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end was any indication, she wasn't as successful as she'd hoped to be. He was closing the distance, fast.

  The buzz of traffic and human chatter was the only background noise she chose to concentrate on, even if the tap-tap of his nearing footsteps tried to overpower everything else around her.

  Sweat built at the base of her spine, where it collected around the crucifix she had tattooed onto her skin in hopes of protection. But the token only proved as useful as the faith of the wearer, and she'd lost faith a long time ago. Still, it managed to spook some of them off in the past.

  Ten more steps.

  Five more for me, he added.

  Shut up!

  His chuckle caressed her mind.

  Her nerves felt close to the breaking point. If she didn't hurry inside soon, he'd have her. He would tear into the side of her throat before she had a chance to do anything about it, no matter who was there to witness the attack.

  Grace separated the correct key from the keychain and wrapped her fingers tight around it. She pulled it out in front of her and stuck it into the security door lock without thought. An automatic motion she'd made a thousand times during her life now required all her concentration.

  She used her cold knee against the bottom glass panel to push the door open. Grace's icy fingers yanked the key out of the lock again and she rushed inside. The stroke of his fingers on several loose strands of her hair made her skin sprout goose bumps.

  "Grace, you know a door can't keep me away from you,” his silky voice called from the other side of the barrier that separated them.

  She closed her eyes for a second, stuck to the spot on the foyer just inside the security door. Her breath was still too fast, but she couldn't cower away now. Not after everything that had happened between them.

  "Go away,” she whispered as she turned to face him. The keychain in her hand suddenly weighed so much her fingers felt numb. It was the effect he had on her body. Everything was still out of whack after the city chase—on alert.

  "I don't think that's what you want. Invite me in."

  "No, I'm not going to do that.” Her hands shook as she braved the action of meeting his eyes. The blue was a little too light, the pupil large. They were so close. Only the glass and metal frame kept them apart. Inconsequential objects she was positive he could tear through if he wanted to get to her bad enough.

  A smile spread across his lips. The flash of his pointy fangs made her take an instinctive step back.

  "Don't be scared, Grace. I'll be gentle.” The soothing tone was supposed to lull her mind. The way he licked his lips was just his attempt at seduction.

  She shook her head to clear the mind-numbing effects, too scared to feel his desired reactions. “Stay away from me, Dixon! I'm not in the mood for this game tonight."

  "You know I can't do that. I will have you before the night is over,” he said with a confident smile. “You'll be crying out for more soon enough."

  Grace jumped when he made a sudden movement, his palms pressed up against the glass. She couldn't stop from glancing at the golden wedding band on his left hand. The fangs and the ring were the only objects that caught the light above her. His nose lifted into the air, sniffing her scent. He claimed to find it intoxicating, but she couldn't dwell on that. Or on the rugged good looks of the dark-haired vampire that now had her pulse throbbing for a different reason. He was so attractive with his chestnut short hair styled in fashionable tuffs on the top of his head. And the way those eyes seemed to see right through to her very soul.

  She suddenly felt naked, totally aware of the effect he was having on her. Grace made a quick turn and her legs shook beneath her. When she took the first step up, she wondered if she'd make it upstairs at all. She stopped halfway to take a deep breath, and tried to ignore his burning gaze on her back. There weren't that many stairs to get through, but at the moment, as she looked upward, the second floor felt like it was as high as the Himalayas.

  Grace felt each step burden her legs further, but she was so close. There was her front door, scuffed in places, with the number six stuck to the top.

  You can do it, she urged herself.

  Shaky fingers fumbled with the lock as a rush of heat dashed through her body. The false confidence she took in her safety wasn't as disturbing as this. She knew what the heat was. Dixon was projecting it to her. His desire to conquer her was strong and it made everything feel heady and unreal. She couldn't think straight. The fact that he held so much power infuriated her.

  She wasn't in the mood for this tonight.

  Grace walked inside, closed the door and pressed her back against it. The intensity of the rain echoed inside her apartment, and distracted her weary mind. She pushed her exhausted body off the locked door and headed further inside. She dumped her damp coat on the couch, the keys on the counter and wandered into the kitchen. Droplets of water had trickled onto the windowsill. She slid the window closed.

  There was only one other room with a window and that was the bedroom. Had she left it open too? By the volume of the rain's proximity, she assumed she had.

  She sighed and made her way into the bedroom, switching on every light as she passed. She wanted to get completely out of the darkness she'd just spent over half an hour in. He'd ambushed her as soon as she'd walked out of the pharmacy with the single item she'd purchased buried deep inside her coat pocket. It had been important enough to rush out to buy it, yet now, the package still sat in the pocket.

  She sank down onto the edge of the bed, and removed her wet ankle boots and socks. Grace picked them up, stood and dumped them in the corner of the room. She stopped to stare at herself in one of the large mirrored doors of her wardrobe. The dark circles under her eyes made her skin look pasty, and she certainly couldn't blame it on that time of the month. No, there was something else going on with her. And she hoped what she'd bought from the pharmacy would answer it one way or another. If not, she might have to see a doctor soon. Something she wasn't necessarily looking forward to. Not with the circumstances in her life at the moment.

  She took a few steps back and collapsed onto the bed again. Grace looked down at her hands. They were so cold. No
matter how many times she rubbed them together, they still felt numb. Her eyes focused on the ring on her wedding finger. It was a thin sliver of gold that was easy to twirl. She loved the ring, not just for what it symbolized, but because of its simplicity. Such a small token to represent the strongest bond two people could have.

  She caught a movement from the corner of her eye. Her thoughts had betrayed her. There was nothing she could do to stop his entrance now.

  How could she have forgotten to close the window? It was her intention when she'd headed this way, but she was finding herself getting more and more distracted nowadays.

  Grace sucked in a cold breath and released it slowly. She watched him step one long leg after the other, over the windowsill. When he was completely inside, Dixon closed the window behind him, and turned to look at her.

  "I don't want anyone else to hear what I'm going to do to you, Grace.” He offered her a dazzling smile as he removed his jacket and dumped it on the floor.

  "What are you doing?” Her heart raced as she watched him close the distance between them. Fear and excitement coursed through her body in a rush of confusion.

  "Making myself at home, of course ... I need to be more comfortable for what I'm about to do to you.” His voice was calm and smooth. “Don't be scared."

  Her eyes felt so heavy, she wanted to just lie back and listen to him talk to her all night. All she could hear was the swooshing of his clothes as he discarded them with every new step he took. The thought of him removing one piece of clothing at a time forced her eyes open. He was so close now.

  She scooted a little further along the end of the bed. “Don't use your mind tricks on me,” she protested. The urge to give into his every whim was already strong enough, and her sapping strength wasn't helping the situation either.

  "Make it easier for both of us and give yourself over willingly.” He held out a hand as he narrowed his eyes.

  "I said stop it!"