Darkest Prince

by K. A. Jones

  Darkest Prince

  Copyright © 2014 K.A.Jones

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the author.

  This ebook is for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are the products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental. No Vampires or Hunters were harmed whilst writing this book.

  Cover artist:

  Lourdes Blazek http://kalosysart.deviantart.com/gallery/42474729

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I want to thank my family and best beta readers ever, Nikki Jones, Bry Gow & Pete Gow. You have all been truly amazing at keeping me on schedule and going over all of my rewrites. I cannot express my gratitude enough for your support and valued feedback.

  I’d also like to thank my wonderful husband, Martin for all of his support and for believing in me.

  A special thanks goes to Shyla Silby for connecting with me, and whose name inspired my leading lady.

  Finally, I would like to thank you, the readers for taking a chance on a self published author and spending time with my characters and the stories I create.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rising Blood Moon.

  Darkest Prince

  Chapter One

  His voice sounded in my mind, an unwelcome visitor that had kept up the torment since he had sunk his fangs into me five months earlier. ‘Lead with me Shyla, take your rightful place at my side.’ I rolled my eyes and closed my mind to him, forcing him away. He could always wheedle his way inside my mind when I was weak. I needed to feed otherwise he would find me. It was bad enough that the hunters were hot on my trail without Dario joining the hunt.

  Dario sired me; he was also the biggest jerk in history. I hated him from the moment I’d received the email telling me he was my next target. Actually, scratch that, I’d kinda liked him when I’d first met him, and then I hated myself for liking a vampire.

  I was a hunter, bound by birthright to hunt and kill vampires. (Providing you passed the gruelling training, otherwise you were bound by birthright to become a walking incubator for our kind!). I couldn’t kill just any vampire; I wasn’t permitted to stake them in the street or anything like that. There was a vampire hit list that came from the powers that be – namely my boss, and we killed them. Simple or it was supposed to be!

  I’d just completed a mission and had headed to a small village, booked into a tiny B&B and was taking a couple of days off to lick my wounds, and drink myself silly so I could forget. I’d had a call from my boss telling me that the money for the successful kill had been transferred into my account and that I had another job coming up in a couple of days.

  My boss had warned me that if I failed the next mission, I would end up back in the training facility. I’d done my time there and didn’t want to go back. I’d grown up with the other young hunters; it was like an orphanage for our kind. At eighteen you were put into the training centre and worked your butt off for the next six months. If you didn’t pass the grade you became a walking womb, producing as many new hunters as you could and then, once you stopped producing, you were sent away. No-one knew where the women went but I had my suspicions that the women were killed. That was all the incentive I needed to prove my worth as a hunter.

  The trainers were vile creatures, uncaring what injuries they inflicted on you. Their reasons were simple, they let you live. If you were facing a vampire, they wouldn’t stop to kiss you better if you got hurt. It made you work just that little bit harder so you didn’t end up on the breeding programme. They taught you not to care for anyone but yourself. They made you pretty much emotionless. Apparently it was for our own good, if we only cared about ourselves, we would concentrate on the job better.

  Six months later, you graduated as a hunter, with all the skills of an assassin and your personality and humanity knocked out of you. Well, that was their intentions but somehow I had managed to retain mine. I wasn’t sure that it was a blessing. I was still in touch with my humanity and even though I was supposed to kill vampires without regret, I drank myself silly for a couple of days after I’d done the deed to help block out the pain and the guilt, and that was when I’d first met Dario.

  I was puking in the bushes out side of a little pub in the village, wishing that I hadn’t drank that last single malt whisky. He chuckled at my predicament and held back my hair as another bout of retching took over my body.

  He’d known what I was as soon as I’d looked up. I was wiping the edges of my lips with my sleeve and he waved a cotton hanky at me. I took it and was just about to thank him when I saw a tiny narrowing of his ice blue yes, just as he’d noticed my shiny red ones narrowing back at him.

  Our eyes are what set us apart, that and the fact that hunters didn’t drink blood. The closest I’d come to drinking blood, was drinking a Bloody Mary whilst trying to cure a hangover!

  Hunters also believed vampires to be dead, and that was why hunters thought they were superior to vampires. Another reason was our ability to procreate, we could have children, only vampire elders who sired a female could have a child, and only then if the elder had royalty in their linage.

  He’d graciously offered to call me a cab. Of course I’d declined, I wasn’t about to let some tall dark stranger – who by the way was extremely handsome for a vampire, find out where I was staying.

  I’d tried to move away, but tripped on the corner of a raised flagstone. His hand shot out and he steadied me. “Good to see chivalry isn’t dead, even if you are.” Not a smart move, poking a bear with a stick!

  I’d expected to see him furious, flashing his fangs threatening to drain me dry, but instead he laughed, and said, “You are different to the other hunters. I like you.”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help a small smile from forming on my lips. “Great, a vampire with a heart. Just what I need… I think I preferred it when vampires and hunters were natural sworn enemies.”

  He gave me a wickedly sexy smile and said, “And I’d prefer it if you were naked and in my bed. That would show the world that our species has evolved.”

  I shook my head in disbelief that I was actually enjoying bantering with a vampire and began walking away, before I was tempted to give in to the urges that were making me squirm uncomfortably. Jeez a vampire with a hot line to my groin! This was not good. I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Not going to happen Vampire, not even in your dreams!” but it would probably happen in mine – although, I kept that quiet. A girl has needs right? Why not imagine a tall dark stranger is keeping you company at night? Being a hunter meant you didn’t form attachments, and life was lonely as you moved about from town to city and vice versa, working your missions.

  As I rounded the corner of the street, I’d expected him to be gone, but he
was still watching me. His guards were looking as dumbfounded as I was feeling; I guess they had found our meeting as strange as I did.

  I’d paused briefly to blow him a kiss; it was enough of an encouragement for him to run at full vampire speed towards me. Strangely, instead of feeling alarmed by his sudden movement, my heart happily skipped a couple of beats and my tummy did an excited little flutter. His guards arrived in time to witness him kissing me senseless. I can’t say that it was unpleasant, and I really mean that, my heart beat wildly in my chest and I was a little worried that it would make him want to drain me on the spot, but he was in control, unlike me. I was breathless and craving more. When he pulled away I made a sound of disappointment, he chuckled and said, “You will surely be in my dreams tonight sweetheart.”

  I made a scoffing sound as reality dawned on me and I was kicking myself for letting this vampire put his cool, very talented lips on mine. “Well after that little performance, I will be having nightmares and you will be the star of the show!”

  His side kicks hid their smiles and I sauntered past them leaving Mr wonderful kisser behind. He shouted after me “What’s your name hunter?”

  I arched an eyebrow and said, “You got it right first time, one gold star to the vampire with the pointy teeth.” I flashed a smile and forced my feet to move. The less he knew about me, the better. I, on the other hand, would dream of my chivalrous knight in shining armour and sleep very well knowing that he had kept me company!

  I’d headed back to the Bed &Breakfast before I tried to turn my dreams into a reality. Mrs Johnson had warned me that the door would be locked at 11.30pm. True to her word the door had been looked. Could my luck get any worse?

  I’d been shimmying up the trellis that the wilting rose bush was climbing up, trying to avoid getting a thorn in my backside, when the damn thing began creaking and groaning under my weight. I attempted to haul my ass up so I could catch a hold of the window sill to my room, when the wood split and pulled away from the wall. I was left dangling 30 feet in the air. As an assassin, I knew I should think fast and react. Unfortunately, my training hadn’t prepared me for hanging drunkenly from broken wood, trying to break into a property where you were supposed to be staying. I was a hunter not a ninja and I was so busted!

  Mrs Johnson was standing on the pavement. Her bright-pink towelling dressing gown was flapping in the wind, and she had a massive scowl on her face as she glared at me from the safety of the floor. “Miss Diana, when you finally figure out how you are going to get down, I want you to collect your things and pay for the damages!” Her shrill voice screamed out, expressing just how annoyed she was with me.

  I shifted my grip and tried desperately to move closer to the wood that was still secured to the wall. I grabbed hold and tested it to see if it was strong enough to take my weight, when it came away in my hand! “Uh- huh, I’m a little busy here, I will pay for the damages, but if I break my neck when I fall, I’m suing your ass!”

  The commotion had caused quite a scene. Other residents of the quaint little B&B were standing outside and people from neighbouring houses were gathering. I could feel my embarrassment burning my cheeks. I spotted my tall dark vampire and his goons watching my nightmare unfold, and cringed as my cheeks heated further.

  Well, if nothing else, my activities served to improve race relations!

  Mr Wonderful kisser sauntered over and stood directly underneath me. “Let go, I will catch you.”

  As if!

  I had probably killed one of his long distant blood relatives, and this would be a perfect time for revenge. “I’m okay; I’ll be down in a minute Mrs Johnson. If everyone would like to go back inside or move away, you know, carry on with your business that would be great.” I gave the crowds a big beaming smile, hoping that I could convince them that the show was over.

  Mrs Johnson’s cheeks were bright red as her rage boiled to the surface once more. “Miss Diana, if you don’t get your butt down here right now, I will call the police.” Great, just what I needed, the men in blue turning up. That would get my ass back into the training facility for sure!

  The handsome stranger with the incredible lips said, “Well, Miss Diana, goddess of the hunt, I think you have two choices. Let go and let me catch you or wait until the boys in blue arrive and cart you away. Somehow, I doubt your boss would be very pleased with you.” Damn, a vampire that was educated enough to know that my surname came from a Roman mythology!

  I’d let myself drop into his arms and then the same night, fallen straight into his bed. There had been no denying the attraction that was between us, call it an act of insanity, but Oh-My-God, that was a night that I will never forget.

  Unfortunately, after night came day, and that was always going to happen, and with the new day and a clear head, came regret.

  Dario was an expert in the bedroom and I experienced the best sex, ever! He was attentive, gentle, but showed me several times that he was a strong, powerful lover, but best of all, he was hung like a stallion if you know what I mean! After several mind blowing, earth shattering moments and one exhausted little sleep, I’d awoken to find his teeth sunk into a direct line of B positive and Dario calmly speaking into my mind as he finished turning me into a fully-functioning blood-sucking vampire!

  As a hunter, it was the ultimate insult. My bloodline was tainted, hell, I was tainted! My purpose in life was no longer defined by hunting down vampires as I was one.

  Sure I’d wanted to kill him on the spot – but as a hunter I couldn’t do it without word from my boss, and as a vampire I couldn’t do it without the go-ahead from my sire and judging by the ‘I’m so pleased with myself’ look that was displayed on his face, I doubted he would let me kill him! Either way – I was stuffed!

  To top off that particular day, my phone had lit up, displayed that I had an email, my next mission. I’d taken my phone into his rather ostentatious bathroom and opened up said email. Dario was my target. He’d felt my alarm through the freaky connection that he’d deliberately formed with me and came crashing into the bathroom. He grabbed the phone and arched an eyebrow as he read my new mission and said, “Well, that rather complicates things Diana.”

  I’d snapped, “My name isn’t Diana, its Shyla.” Why I’d felt the need to correct him when I had more important things to worry about, I had no idea!

  I’d left as soon as I could…. Okay, that last bit was a lie; I’d had another couple of rounds of mind blowing sex and then I’d got my ass out of there as quickly as I could.

  As a result, I had Hunters after me as I was now a risk to them, and I had Dario and his goons trying to find me to make me into a princess! I’d run for five months, but for some inexplicable reason, I needed to be close to him, so I’d returned to Dunster.

  Chapter Two

  I joined the queue to the nightclub, a good place for a quick fix to my little drink problem. I picked my donor; he was sober and cleanly shaven. I might be a vampire now, but I was still picky. The last thing I wanted was to suck on someone’s neck only to discover that they tasted of sweat and days old dirt!

  All I had to do was convince him to a quiet little corner, make out a little and then, whilst I took what was seriously becoming my guilty pleasure, make him forget. A skill that I was becoming quite good at, even if I did say so myself!

  People felt safe around me, I guess it was because for all intents and purposes I still looked like a hunter. My shiny red eyes offering them comfort because hunters were renowned for killing nefarious vampires. Little did they know that when I wielded my fangs now, they weren’t just a weapon, they were also eating utensils!

  The bouncer gave me the quick once over. I ran a hand down my tight fitting dress and put an extra sway in my hips as I made my way closer to the entrance. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and gave him a smile that was full of mischief. He saw the colour of my eyes and waved me through with no charge. There were definite benefits to having red eyes, if only they knew that I was now one that
they should fear.

  Dario would know the moment I started to feed, he always knew. I think he got a rush of endorphins the same way that I did. It was the damn link that he had forged between us.

  He’d coach me through the bond; and tell me when to slow down so I didn’t kill my donor. As soon as he uttered those words into my mind, I blocked him out. Was I using him? I didn’t think so and I didn’t think he saw it that way either. He was doing his bit to keep me safe. I doubted he cared about the poor human that I was feeding from, but if I killed them, that would be a different story. I would drink myself stupid for days to block out any guilt that I would feel. I think Dario would feel it too, he’d told me that he knew when I was hungry, happy or sad, he’d told me that he could feel my emotions and that he was in tune with them because of the bond. I’d told him to get out of my head on several occasions but if I’m honest, I was getting used to him being there. He was the only constant in my life and hearing his voice every day for the last five months, somehow bought me comfort. He was always so tender and caring when he spoke through our freaky connection, he always made me feel cherished.

  I would need him to help me feed on my latest lunch date. I still got a little bit squeamish about the whole ‘let me sink my fangs into you neck’ thing, and Dario’s calm voice in my head gave me something to concentrate on, other than making out with a male, leading him on a little bit so that you could feed from him.

  I made my way to the bar and ordered a single malt whisky, and scanned the room checking out the clientele. The last thing I needed was to be in a room full of hunters. I could detect vampires since I had become one. That would’ve been handy when I was just a hunter, it would’ve made tracking your target so much easier. It was a subtle thing, but handy none the less. It was like an internal radar, and vampires showed up as little beacons of red light.

  My eyes locked with three male vampires. I saw their confused expressions. They moved their heads closer together as they discussed what I was. I was getting used to vampires not really knowing and because I still had red eyes, they generally avoided me. It was a win-win situation for me. I didn’t want to get into pleasantries with the vampires, I wanted to eat my tea and then leave.