Venom & Vampires: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by Casey Lane

  “I don’t understand any of this.”

  He stepped up to me and touched my cheek with the back of his hand.

  “I only wanted to be with you, forever, Halo. I love you, so I gave you a gift, the gift of immortality. The God particle. I took it out of him and placed it inside of us. I’ve found it, I’ve found what he denied us. With this, we can live forever as our creator has.” He held his hand out and stared up at the tank.

  “Are you saying, I mean, that winged man in the tank is, it can’t be.”

  He glanced over at the man suspended in the tank. “Oh yes, this is God. I lured him in and trapped him, taking from him what he refused to give us. Don’t you see, Halo? This thing, this creature, he isn’t something to be worshiped. He has no heart. No God would allow the suffering that this world has endured, no God would let children watch their parents die or allow a man to sneak into the bedroom of their son and force him to…”

  He bit his lip, and I could see his hands trembling.

  “Oh, Fin. I had no idea that he, I’m so sorry. Why did you stay? Why didn’t you leave?”

  His eyes softened. “For you, this is all for you. It moves inside of me, just as it does you.” He lifted his shirt, and I could see black streaks appear and disappear just beneath his skin. He moaned and lowered his shirt while gritting his teeth. He was obviously in some sort of distress.

  “What?” I moved back from him and fingered at the side of my head. It was cleanly shaven. I hissed when I felt the puncture wound.

  “I took something that I discovered inside of him, a growth, something foreign inside of his body. A light so bright it almost blinded me. I took this and tried, many times over, to integrate this with human subjects, but they all developed a cancer that I couldn’t cure, tumors in their brains that killed them within days. It drove them mad, like the one who killed David, but it had to be done, Halo. You needed to separate yourself from all of them because you are special. You will usher in a new world. A world with no disease, no death, but we can only offer this to a few, not all. As you can see, not everyone can accept this cure because they’re not worthy, but you…you are, and I am. Just look, look at what I am becoming.” He removed his shirt and held his hands out to his sides. He turned, and I gasped in horror at the sight of two gaping wounds on his back. I stepped forward and could see bone forcing its way through his skin. His body contorted and he cried out in terrible pain. Fledgling wings broke through and shuddered. The surface of his skin shimmered with sweat. He turned back to face me, and his eyes were now dark as night, and his voice had deepened.

  “Fin, what have you done to me? What is wrong with you? You promised to help people, to help save the world from suffering.”

  His eyebrow rose. “Halo, you were dying. I did this for you. All for you.”

  “What? No….no. What you’ve done is stolen something that didn’t belong to you. You had no right to take this and place it inside of us.”

  “I had no choice! I couldn’t lose you!” He yelled.

  He took a step toward me, and I continued to back away from him. He growled as his body continued to change. The wings grew larger. He paused and reached into his mouth, groaning with displeasure as he jerked one of his teeth out and began to laugh. “Halo, please. Join me. Celebrate humanity’s evolution. Just imagine it. We can rule the world without fear, without heartache, without disease and death.”

  I stopped and looked him over in disgust. “We aren’t meant to live forever, Fin! Death is a part of living; it makes everything special. It makes the world a magical place and the relationships that we have precious gifts. You’ve ruined that for yourself and for me. You are an abomination.”

  He held his hand out toward me, and I turned and ran. I felt his hands on me, and he tossed me across the large room. I crashed into the beakers and flames spewed then grew as everything began to catch fire. I stumbled and fell to my side but quickly regained my footing and kept running until I found myself in what appeared to be his office that was encased in thick black glass. I turned as I heard him call out behind me. I rushed to his desk and tore through each drawer, dropping each one to the ground and letting the papers scatter around my feet. File after file fell open. One for me, one for our mom, one for our dad…even David had a file. I stumbled back and spotted a black box sitting on top of a small cabinet, and I ran over to it as Fin got closer and closer. I fumbled with the box and finally got it open, my eyes widened as I pulled out the gun and held it up. It was the same one that dad had used to kill our mother. My stomach churned, and the ringing in my ears continued to rise.

  Griffin stepped up into the doorway, and I lifted the gun and took dead aim at his heart. My hand shook, but I tried to control it. I could hear glass shattering and water hitting the floor.

  His hollow eyes remained locked on me. “Halo, please. I’ve given you a gift.” His voice was now foreign to my ears and at least three octaves lower than it had been before.

  Smoke began to fill the room masking it in shadow not so unlike what the vampire, the Roman, and the two Vikings had materialized out of. I blinked a few times, wondering if all that I had witnessed had been real.

  “You’ve broken my heart,” I whispered through bitter tears.

  His eyes saddened, and he held his hand out toward me. “I can make you happy. I can give you the family you’ve always wanted. I can give you children who will live forever, our children. Perfect children with no disease, no suffering, in a world in which we rule. The righteous shall rise, and the damned shall fall.”

  I tried to catch my breath through the hot tears. Happy memories from my early childhood came flooding back to me. I could see Fin’s smiling face. I could remember his arms around me; I could feel his hand in mine. My heart ached, and I could feel the long fissure running up the center of it, breaking it in two, destroying it not so unlike the large blue planet had been decimated during my vision. It felt the same. It left me numb and lifeless. It denied me the one love that had never failed me, until now.

  “Halo, please, I love you,” he whispered. His wings grew larger, and he placed his hands on the sides of his head. He ripped out some of his hair and let it fall to the ground. His transformation marched on at an alarming rate.

  “I loved you,” I whispered as I squeezed the trigger, and the bullet raced across the room in a streak of fire, burying itself into his chest.

  “Halo.” He said as his eyes rolled and he stumbled backward. He reached up with a trembling hand and placed it over the gaping hole.

  I cried out as the pain ripped through my heart and my vision blurred. The ringing in my ears overtook me, and a sharp pain doubled me over. I reached up and banged the gun against the side of my head until I finally understood what I needed to do.

  I wasn’t sure what Griffin had done to me, but I knew that whatever he had placed inside of himself was also inside of me. I could feel it growing, moving…threatening to transform me into whatever it desired.

  I couldn’t allow it to happen. Not now, not ever.

  I stood up straight and lifted the gun, placing it under my chin. I kept my eyes wide open and cleared my mind.

  The words escaped my lips.

  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

  I watched as Fin began to move and my lips parted.

  “Please forgive me.” My grip tightened, and the sound of the gun echoed in my ears.

  * * *

  Life is hard. Death is easy.

  Or it should be.

  I gasped, and my eyes shot open. Rin was sobbing and holding me against his chest. I cried out, and he went flying across the roof as I struck him without thinking. He landed on his back with a moan.

  I rolled over and coughed, taking a huge gulp of air into my lungs. It bur
ned my throat. I forced myself up onto my knees. I rested for a moment longer, absorbing the truth of my past and allowing it to settle into my bones.

  The pain lingered in my heart. The loss, the grief, the torment. I could have lived without it but Rin was right, I needed my past to carve out my future.

  I was just horrified at what that could be.

  Rin approached me, and I looked up at him, and he stepped back, offering his hand. I took it and pulled myself up and onto my feet. So many things were still left unanswered.

  Father Keith’s demise.

  The two vampires in the church.

  Parker Presley.

  This thing inside of me.

  “Red?” He said, interrupting my thoughts.

  I looked out across the city and felt a sense of calm wash over me. I didn’t know exactly what I was or what my end would be. I had watched my brother transform into something hideous, and I wasn’t sure how much time I had left before the same thing would happen to me. Perhaps I had damaged whatever he had placed inside of me when I shot myself, or maybe I was living on borrowed time. All I knew is that I understood my mission and my reason for being here. People were suffering out there, and they needed me, they needed us. People like Parker Presley couldn’t do it alone.

  They needed the Hellhounds.

  They needed me.

  I had come to accept my faith and the difference that I could make in this world.

  He spoke again. “Red, what did you see?”

  I responded with true conviction. “My name is Halo. Halo Bay, and I believe.”

  “So you can finally feel it inside of you?” he asked.

  I stared at my hands. “You mean God?”

  He took my hand and nodded to me. I grinned. “You have no idea.”

  “Halo…what happened just now?”

  I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I studied his fangs and tilted my head. I pointed at my mouth.

  “Your teeth are showing.”

  “Oh.” He looked down and then away from me. He seemed embarrassed.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Wait, were you going to….?” I pointed behind me.

  “What?” he asked while crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Oh my God, you were going to bite me, weren’t you!?”

  His voice cracked. “No.”

  I nodded and wagged my finger at him. “Holy crap, you were totally going to bite me!”

  “I…well, you died! Call me selfish, but I…”

  I rushed forward and pressed my lips against his, if nothing else, to shut him up. It worked.

  I leaned back, and he grabbed me by the waist and drew me in. I grinned.

  “You infuriate me, Halo Bay.” He whispered.

  “In the best way,” I said with a wink.

  His eyebrow cocked. “Just for the record, I would have asked to bite you. I don’t just go around biting people on a whim, but the situation was a desperate one and I…”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Shut up, Dorin. I get it.”

  He tilted his head, and half grinned. “It’s Rin.”

  “That’s what I said,” I whispered.

  He leaned in and kissed me.

  Thank you so much for taking this journey with us.

  Please stay tuned! Hellhound: Episode Two will be released in October of this year.

  * * *

  Rue Volley is an award-winning author, and screenwriter and is best known for 13 Ways to Midnight, Hellhound, The Devil's Gate, and A Vampires Tale of Blood and Light.

  * * *

  She is accredited with two award-winning screenplays for film, Hellhound (original script, 2014) and Awakening (contributing screenwriter, 2015). IMDb: imdb.com/name/nm7043310/

  * * *

  Rue is represented by Gladys Gonzales Atwell, Publicist, and Sarah Davis Brandon, Publisher.

  Business inquiries, please contact ruevolley@gmail.com

  * * *

  Connect with Rue:

  Newsletter: http://www.ruevolley.com/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruevolley

  FB: https://www.facebook.com/Rue-Volley-146299465525490/?fref=ts

  About the Author

  Rue Volley is an award-winning author, and screenwriter and is best known for 13 Ways to Midnight, Hellhound, The Devil's Gate, and A Vampires Tale of Blood and Light.

  She is accredited with two award-winning screenplays for film, Hellhound (original script, 2014) and Awakening (contributing screenwriter, 2015). IMDb: imdb.com/name/nm7043310/

  Rue is represented by Gladys Gonzales Atwell, Publicist, and Sarah Davis Brandon, Publisher.

  Business inquiries, please contact ruevolley@gmail.com

  Connect with Rue:

  Newsletter: http://www.ruevolley.com/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruevolley

  FB: https://www.facebook.com/Rue-Volley-146299465525490/?fref=ts

  Acadia’s Law

  Undying Love Series Book One

  Tracy Ellen

  Acadia’s Law: Book One, Undying Love Series by Tracy Ellen

  Copyright © 2014 by Tracy Ellen

  License Notes

  * * *

  All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Names, characters, organizations, locations, and incidents portrayed in this ebook are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. This ebook may not be re-sold, copied, or given away to other people without the written consent of the author. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the bookseller site and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This book is available in ebook and print at most online retailers.

  * * *

  tracy@tracyellenink.com

  This book is for everyone that encouraged me to mash up genres and write that zombie series I was always talking about. Thank you!

  Acknowledgments & Special Thanks

  More thanks to my family, old friends, and new friends. I so appreciated the beta reading, beta talking, and beta listening when I cornered you. Also, I love you for the phone calls, texts, tipsy twitter lessons, sharing of amazing artistic talents, and for lending me the use of the most hilarious nickname I’ve ever heard for a woman’s private bits. (Greg K, Sarah J, Adam J, Amy R, Jenna R, Judy J, Julie T, Marcy S, Dave R, Dave J, Kathy J, Keith J, Stephanie M, Beth L, Kelly G, Peggy H, Dylan F, and Jenny Thomas.)

  Primary Editors

  My immensely grateful, and dare I say, undying appreciation to a team of wonderful editors and generous women. I can’t thank you enough!

  Kelly Beausoleil

  Iveta Crvkal

  Beth Lake

  Elizabeth Connor

  Prologue

  “Man is the hunter, woman is his game. The sleek and shining creatures of the chase, we hunt them for the beauty of their skins; and they love us for it, and we ride them down.” -Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  * * *

  Wednesday, October 15, 2014 around 11:30 PM at King Farm…

  * * *

  It was a blur exactly when, but I’d kicked off my heels somewhere along the line tonight when the massacre began back in the hotel bar. Now running up the main staircase of King House, my bare feet made sticky slapping sounds on the hardwood treads. My heart pounded double time in concert with my feet and terror clawed deep in my gut.

  Inside, I screamed my denial at the unbelievable turn of events. “This is how my lame attempt at starting a new life ends before it even begins? Being chased up the stairs in my own house by Minnesota’s new starting quarterback, and he’s out for my blood?”

  Speaking of blood, the front of my torn and ruined black cocktail dress was drenched in the stuff. Pumping my arms and climbing as fast I could, the strapless bodice stayed glued against my chest thanks
mainly to the encrusted gore of a dead man. That fact didn’t help my hysteria level any. With each running step, I felt clammy air on my exposed backside, or maybe it was the breath of the man after me.

  Not an avid TV watcher or team sports fan, I had no idea who Roderick “Ram” Ramaldi was until a few minutes ago in my kitchen. Not that I was impressed. I’d never known the name of Minnesota’s old quarterback, much less cared about the brand new one.

  When I had first approached Rod’s table in the cocktail lounge earlier tonight, I had overheard a group of girls huddled at the bar gushing that Rod was the illegitimate son of a married Italian woman and a playboy Norwegian Royal. It struck me a little odd they’d known such personal information about some random man at a bar, but I’d blown it off as idle gossip. It was easy to do since anybody from Minnesota knows the term “playboy Norwegian” is an oxymoron. I hadn’t paid much attention to the girl’s chatter after that because, like football, the loins Rod sprang from were another thing I couldn’t care less about. My loins, however, were a different story and why I was there in the hotel. Rod happened to be the sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on, bar none.

  He had introduced himself to me simply as Rod Ramaldi. I presumed the other two men leering at the colorful array of women sprinkled around their table were Rod’s carousing wingmen. I was right about that, but as I’d learned a few minutes ago in my kitchen, the huge dudes were also Rod’s teammates. Offensive linemen, I believe was the correct term one of the men in my family screamed out in the chaos.

  The two men sure had the offensive part nailed down. They referred to Rod as Ram. It goes to show you the state of my mind back at the hotel bar that I viewed Rod’s nickname of Ram as a positive. Coupled with his first name, I’d hoped it referred to his bedroom prowess. That small spark of attraction I had felt earlier for Rod was what I needed to start my new life. Or save my life, depending on your perspective of my long bout of depression.