“You have plenty of milk, Hauke’s mate. It is merely a growth spurt. All Bracadyte children experience this.”
Naura stepped into the room, slipping her robe off as she walked. She dropped it on the side of the pool and eased her body into the water’s depths. “May I have a word?”
Abbie studied her serious expression, never taking her gaze from Naura’s face as she spoke to Rauneca. “Would you mind taking Arcanum back to my room and dressing him? I will be along shortly.”
“Of course,” Rauneca responded, signaling for the other females to follow.
Hauke’s sister stopped next to Abbie and took a seat beside to her on the bench.
“What is it, Naura?”
“I have news of Tony.”
Abbie’s heart began to race. “How is he? Did he make it to Mexico?”
“He is fine. He is in Cuba with Miguel.”
A smile split Abbie’s lips. “That’s wonderful news, Naura. Does he know that you have been back inside his head?”
“He entered mine this time.”
“What?” Abbie gaped at her. “That’s surprising.”
“Yes, well, he wanted me to let you know that your father has news of the CDC conspiracy and is working on proving it without their knowledge.”
“That could be dangerous for Henry. I must find Hauke and give him this information.” She moved to get up.
“There is something else.” Naura paused, her gaze boring into Abbie’s. “Tony needs our help. Vaulcron is heading to the surface tonight…and I am going with him.”
Abbie paled. “But Hauke— ”
“Must not know,” Naura interrupted. “At least not until after we have gone.”
“But I can’t lie to him, Naura. He is my mate. And besides, he can read me like a book.”
“Stay in the bath for as long as you can. Give us time to reach the surface before you seek him out.”
“Please,” Naura pleaded when Abbie continued to stare at her as if she’d grown two heads.
“You have one hour,” Abbie conceded.
Naura gave her a quick hug. “Thank you, my sister.” She rose from the pool, donned her robe, and rushed from the room.
Abbie stared after Hauke’s sister with a heavy heart. Naura following Vaulcron to the surface was a bad idea.
With the deadly virus continuing to sweep through the south, Henry working behind the Government’s back, and Tony being the most wanted man in America, something was bound to go wrong.
Climbing from the water, Abbie grabbed a towel and quickly dried herself while debating on whether or not to sound the alarm to Hauke. He would be livid with Naura for endangering herself by returning to the surface.
Naura’s feelings for Tony had been obvious to Abbie for months. She understood the other woman’s need to help the man she loved. There was nothing Abbie wouldn’t do for Hauke and Arcanum.
She sighed and pulled on her robe before turning to seek out her mate.
Godspeed, Naura…
Coming soon
Naura
The next book in the Enigma Series!
The Seeker
A Five Book Box Set
By Ditter Kellen
Angelo Dimitrov was not a man to trifle with. Technically, he wasn’t a man at all, and Ember would do well to remember that. He had sensed her deception the moment she opened her mouth and released a lie right to his face. Going home to shower and eat, my ass. What are you up to, Miss Burns?
His pet name for her had never felt more right than it did in that moment. She would understand the true meaning of burns when he finished spanking her ass.
He sat on the edge of the bed they’d just made love in, listening for the shower to turn on in Ember’s condo. Being neighbors afforded him the luxury of keeping an eye on her, or an ear in this case.
His hearing was acute enough to let him know she didn’t step into the shower she’d just started. It was easy for him to track her movements as she ventured from room to room. At any other time, her attempt at walking softly would have amused him. Not tonight.
Angel dressed in record time, concentrating on the sounds coming from next door. The all-black attire he wore would aid him in slipping around unnoticed while investigating the little hellion who’d just left his bed.
He opened the top drawer of his dresser and snagged a small velvet bag of lock-picking tools before catching sight of his reflection in the mirror. His fangs were still slightly elongated from recently sinking them into Ember, and his hair had a disheveled look to it. He plucked a rubber band from a glass catchall and pulled the strands back into a ponytail.
The sound of Ember’s front door opening confirmed Angel’s suspicions that she was up to something. Not that he doubted himself. He’d hoped there would be a logical explanation for her dishonesty, such as wanting to call her friend and talk about the sex she’d just had…or shave her legs. Anything other than seducing him and then sneaking out at midnight like Catwoman attempting to best Batman.
With a speed borne of a vampire, Angel was on her balcony and had the lock picked before she had time to reach the stairs. He slid the glass door open and blurred through every room that her essence still lingered in before coming to a stop in the kitchen.
Ember’s purse lay on the bar next to a white envelope with her name scrawled across the front. He picked the piece of mail up by the corner and brought it to his nose. It fairly reeked of her fear.
He opened it without apology and dumped the contents onto the counter. A picture of a dark-haired girl along with a small piece of paper spilled out before him. Rage washed through him as he read the handwritten words. Be at the Miller farm off Highway 17 at midnight tomorrow night. Come alone or Donna dies.
Angel retrieved his cell from the pocket of his jeans and dialed Ember’s number. Perhaps if he informed her he was coming to take a bubble bath with her, she would discard whatever insane plan she had up her sleeve for fear of him catching her.
A buzzing noise immediately sounded from the depths of her abandoned purse, and Angel ground his teeth. She’d left without her phone. He was definitely going to wring her pretty neck when he got ahold of her.
The purr of Ember’s SUV brought him out of his murderous contemplation. With a quickness that surprised even him, he sped back the way he came, slid the door shut behind him, and sailed off the balcony to the ground below. He waited until her taillights disappeared from view before jumping into his car to follow her.
Angel drove with his headlights off, staying as close to Ember’s car as he could without being seen. The white-knuckled grip he had on the steering wheel made a poor substitute for Ember’s neck. After everything he’d told her about the numerous murders involving the Seeker, she’d run off in the middle of the night, playing superhero without a cape. “Damn you, sweet cheeks, what are you thinking?”
He figured the only good that could possibly come out of her foolish stunt tonight was his chance to get the drop on whoever sent her the note. If Ember had trusted Angel with it to begin with, he might have been able to pick up a scent from the envelope before she’d contaminated it.
After ten minutes of tailing his spitfire photojournalist, her brake lights lit up. He slowed to a stop as she pulled off the side of the road and exited her vehicle.
Angel parked his car near the tree line a short distance from Ember’s and crept through the woods parallel to her. He watched her climb the steps of an old abandoned house and disappear inside. She had to be the bravest woman he’d ever known…or the craziest. The jury was still out on that one.
* * * *
Ember’s heart pounded so loud it drowned out the whimpering she’d heard upon entering the house. The half-open bedroom door a few feet ahead represented one of her biggest fears. She’d always been afraid of windows at night and dark closets. Definitely abandoned structures resembling A Nightmare on Elm Street, she thought, staring at the shadowed entrance. But an innocent girl’s life was at stake, lea
ving Ember no choice but to swallow her terror and pray her trembling legs didn’t collapse beneath her.
She somehow fought the urge to run and slowly crept closer. The whimpering had stopped, and the silence became deafening, enhancing the sound of her choppy breathing. Her muscles tensed for flight as she arrived at the doorway to her doom. It took everything she had to inch her head forward enough to see into the dreaded nightmare beyond.
Her gaze flew around the room, touching on everything from a broken chair barely standing, to a set of old bunk beds without mattresses before coming to rest on a face she would know anywhere.
“Hello, Ember.”
Shock rendered her speechless. She barely had time to register the unbelievable truth she stared at before a shadow blew by her with the force of a tornado, spinning her in a circle. She ended up on her ass as something crashed into the wall with enough power to rock the house.
What the hell?
Ember scrambled to her feet in time to see two forms racing around the room faster than her eyes could track. Dust clouds kicked up, and debris from random pieces of furniture shattered the remaining glass adorning the windows. It took her a second to register what was happening, and another to spring into action.
“Angel, no.” Ember was surprised by the strength of her voice. She didn’t need a visual on her sexy vampire, who was currently pulling a Tasmanian devil in the room, to know it was him. She could sense him.
The fighting came to a sudden halt with the big Bulgarian straddling his victim. Angel snapped his head up, his glittering red gaze locked on Ember. With his fangs elongated and his eyes glowing in the moonlit room, her vampire held no hint of humanity.
The softness of his voice was chilling and deadly. “He dies.”
Angel was suddenly heaved up and tossed across the room to crash through a window onto the porch beyond. The rotted boards splintered apart on impact, leaving the ground beneath to break his fall. A gasp barely escaped Ember before he exploded back inside in full-on kill mode.
The loud crack of bone breaking ricocheted off the walls as Angel slammed into his target, blasting the guy with enough power to shatter the bunk bed frame he smashed into.
Angel was on him again before Ember could take a breath. She rushed forward, stumbling over what was left of the furniture as her beloved Bulgarian jerked up a piece of jagged wood and lifted it over his head.
A scream burst from her lungs, and she sailed through air to land on his back. Her breath left in a whoosh as she connected with an unforgiving wall of vampire muscle.
Titles by Ditter Kellen
The Seeker Series
Ember Burns
Ember Learns
Ember Yearns
Ember Discerns
Ember Turns
Five Book Box Set available
Scruples Series
Scruples
Cassandra
Fully Engulfed-Coming soon
Secret Series
Lydia’s Secret
Turn the Page Series
Turn the Page
Worlds Apart-Coming Soon
Co-written with Dawn Montgomery
Thunder and Roses
FoxFire
Haunting Melody St. Claire
Ditter Kellen
A former 911 dispatcher turned author, Ditter Kellen has been in love with romance for over twenty years. To say she's addicted to reading is an understatement. Her eBook reader is an extension of her and holds many of her fantasies and secrets. It's filled with dragons, shifters, vampires, ghosts, and many more jaw-dropping characters who keep her entertained on a daily basis. Ditter's love of paranormal and outrageous imagination have conspired to bring her where she is today...sitting in front of her computer allowing them free rein. Writing is her passion, what she was born to do. I hope you will enjoy reading her stories as much as she loves spinning them. Ditter resides in Florida with her husband and many unique farm animals. She adores French fries, and her phone is permanently attached to her ear. You can contact Ditter by email: [email protected]
Enigma:What Lies Beneath (Enigma Series Book 1) Page 21