VEILED Complete Boxed Set: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Thriller

by Victoria Knight

  “Excuse me,” she said politely. “That’s my car.”

  “Yes, I know,” the man said. “I was rather hoping that you could give me a ride.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have to be getting home.”

  When she saw that he had no intention of moving, Paula started to panic—to really panic. She had some mace in her pocket book but she’d have to get to it fast in order to surprise him with it. There were maybe five feet between them and even as she watched, the distance seemed to shrink.

  “I see you’re scared,” the man said. “But I assure you that I mean you no harm. I am simply looking for a ride back to my home.”

  “Where?” Paula asked, simply trying to buy some time to sneak her hand into her purse for her mace.

  “Oh, up the road a bit…on the outskirts of town.”

  “Look,” Paula said, hating to hear the fear in her voice. “I don’t have the time. I’m sorry.”

  The man considered this for a moment and then nodded. “Very well,” he conceded. “I can see that you are in a hurry. I’ll find a ride elsewhere. Thank you for your time.”

  He gave her a smile and then stepped away from her car. Paula stood where she was, watching him go. He took a left as he exited the small lot, heading further into downtown Red Creek.

  When he was out of sight, Paula let out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding in. She let out a shudder and the approached her car. She put the key into the lock, turned and then reached for the handle.

  That’s when something hit her from behind.

  Paula collided with her car, air rushing out of her in a gasp. The weight at her back did not hurt, but it had her pressed tightly against the car. She felt one hand on her hip and the other at her neck. The hand at her neck found her hair and yanked her head back. With wide eyes, she just barely saw a male shape out of the corners of her vision.

  It was the man that she had just sent away. But how the hell had he gotten back here so quickly and quietly?

  He pulled her head back further, continuing to press her against the car. Paula let out a moan and tried to say Please, no. But all that came out was another gasp as she tried to draw in a breath.

  She felt the man’s breath on her neck and one word ran through her mind: Rape.

  But that word dissolved into nothing as the hot breath became a sharp and exquisite pain. The man sank his teeth into her neck and Paula felt her knees buckle. As she fell away, she felt the man holding her up – holding her as if they had known one another forever.

  2

  Saul had come and gone so much in the last few months that when he returned from his trip to Nicaragua, it was a rather lackluster event. Nikki greeted him with a kiss and Jill greeted him with a weary smile. Jason seemed indifferent and, from what Saul could tell, really didn’t even want to be there.

  The awkwardness inside of the cabin was thick enough to feel. Nothing so toxic had ever existed within the cabin’s walls before. It made Saul resent Jason’s presence even more.

  Perhaps it was the weight of that pressure that caused Saul to feel the strain of everything that was on his mind. He was home for no more than five minutes before all of the information he had learned from Crone and Poole was simply too much to contain.

  “Okay, house meeting,” he called with a nervous laugh. “There are some things we need to talk about. And I think there are a few things that need to come to light.”

  “Like what?” Jill asked. There was nervousness in her voice but he knew from her tone that she had already sensed something was coming.

  Saul waited for everyone to get seated in the living room. He noticed that Jill was still eyeing him with great suspicion. Meanwhile, Jason sat down like some idle kid in school, bored with whatever lesson the teacher was going over.

  “I had a conversation with a member of the Poole clan while I was away,” Saul said. “As you know, Jill, the Pooles have always been something of a rebellious bunch. They have always questioned authority, namely the rule of The Guard. It’s been that way for several generations from what I can gather.”

  “Ah yes,” Jill said. She then looked to Nikki, explaining things as best as she could. “The Pooles were the vampire world’s version of conspiracy theorists. They always think there are ulterior shady motives behind everything. They tried convincing other clans of their theories for a while but ended up giving up. I think, in the end, it cost them their reputation.”

  “Yes,” Saul agreed. “That’s why I could have dismissed what the Poole representative told me as nothing more than a way to try to get under my skin, since I am now a representative of The Guard. But there was another vampire with us—Barlow Crone. He essentially confirmed everything that Poole said. And being that I went down there to prevent them from tearing one another apart in a territory dispute, I see no reason why they would be teaming up to conspire against me. There are things they shared with me that are apparently common knowledge through the vampire grapevine.”

  “There’s a vampire grapevine?” Nikki asked with a sarcastic smile.

  “Rumors spread quickly no matter what species you happen to be,” Saul pointed out.

  “What sorts of things are you talking about?” Jill asked.

  “You and I have apparently been left out of the loop concerning some gossip about our father,” Saul said. “Every other clan has its suspicions about the events surrounding his death but, for whatever reason—respect for his memory, I would hope—no one has bothered to tell us.”

  “What suspicions?” Jill asked. There was worry and anger in her voice now. The combination made her sound like a scared little girl and Saul hated himself for throwing all of this on her in such a way. It was his crusade to find answers to their father’s death; Jill had always just accepted what had happened and moved on with her life. To drag it back up in such a way felt wrong.

  “For starters,” Saul said, speaking slowly, “there is the idea that The Guard may have been involved. If they did not instruct it to be carried out, it’s been suggested that they at least knew that it was going to happen and did nothing to prevent it.”

  “That’s horseshit,” Jill said.

  “That was exactly my reaction at first,” Saul said. “But Poole and Crone brought up some good points. Mainly that Dad’s death was the only murder of a vampire that was never solved. In all of vampire history. It’s almost as if The Guard gave up on finding answers when they discovered that there weren’t any readily available. After that, it seems that they just decided that the death of our father wasn’t worth the time and trouble of undergoing a full investigation.”

  “Why would they do that?” Jill asked.

  “I don’t know. The rumor mill says that it was because Dad either knew something that would have disrupted the order of things that The Guard had set in place or that he was starting to question The Guard’s laws. Maybe with good reason.”

  “What would he have known that he wouldn’t have told us?” Jill asked.

  “I don’t know. And I have spent years looking over every inch of this cabin and the property it sits on for anything he might have left behind that would shed any light on his death, but there is nothing. Not a single scrap.”

  “Wait,” Nikki cut in. “So if this is true, what you’re saying is that the very group that might have had a hand in your father’s murder now has you under their wing to run errands?”

  “If these speculations are true,” Saul said, “then yes.”

  “This is too much,” Jill complained.

  “I know,” Saul said. “And I thought about it all the way home. While I don’t believe it one hundred percent, it makes a deranged sort of sense. After what we were able to do to the Greelys, wouldn’t they want us under their control? Maybe they offered me this position not as a reward for our efforts, but as a way to keep constant tabs on me. What better way to manage your threats than to keep them close?”

  Jill had nothing to say. Saul took
advantage of this silence to carry on. He’d already released some of the snakes, so he may as well turn them all loose. “And that brings me to my next thought.”

  “Which is?” Nikki asked.

  “We can’t keep Jason in the dark on what we think may be happening to him.”

  Jill gave him a menacing look, as if he had just betrayed her. Nikki looked uncomfortable but didn’t seem to immediately agree or disagree.

  “What do you mean?” Jason said, looking worried.

  “Saul,” Jill said. “Think long and hard about this, okay?”

  “To hell with that,” Jason said. “You mentioned it so you have to tell me now.”

  Saul wasted no time, not allowing himself to change his mind or for Jill to interrupt. “Every now and then,” Saul explained, “a mortal’s transformation into a vampire isn’t as simple as it should be. In Nikki’s case, she was barely bitten by Leibald Greely. There was not enough of his venom in her system to completely change her. Therefore, she has become a sort of a hybrid. She may not be as powerful as a completely turned vampire, but her ability to rely on certain mortal strengths gives her certain attributes that vampires don’t have. “Now, with you, your change is quite odd. Leibald’s clan is one of a handful that can cause a period of hibernation before a victim of their venom Turns. Unfortunately for Leibald, he died before your hibernation was complete. So when you came to, you had no master to follow. We thought for a while that your allegiance would be to Nikki, but that wasn’t the case—and maybe because she herself is not a full-fledged vampire. See, to this point, anything we think we know about what has happened to you—and, in part, to Nikki—is really just speculation.”

  Nikki looked a little taken aback at all of this as well. Jason, meanwhile, was finally showing interest in it all.

  “So with no initial master to follow,” Saul continued, “you are at great risk of becoming what is known as a Rogue. There’s nothing at all wrong with being a Rogue but according to what we know about them, they are highly susceptible to violence and are basically off The Guard’s radar. For reasons that have never been quite clear to me, The Guard can’t sense the existence of a Rogue the way they can sense other vampires.”

  “Great,” Jason scoffed. “So not only am I a vampire, but I’m a freak vampire. Nice.”

  “No, not a freak,” Jill said. “Just different. There are no real character traits attributed to vampires. And we don’t even know if you are a Rogue.”

  “Look,” Jason said. “I honestly don’t care. I just…I’m tired as hell of just sitting in this cabin with the three of you and feeling like the outcast. I feel trapped because no one will let me out of their sight. I’m not some prisoner, you know.”

  “You know,” Nikki put in. “I spend all of my time either here or traveling with Saul now. You’re more than welcome to use my apartment. Well…for as long as I continue to have it. I’ve all but quit the Red Creek B&B.”

  Jason thought about this for a while and then shrugged. “Sounds fine to me,” he said. “But you might want to check with my chaperones.”

  Nikki looked to Saul and Jill. “Would there be any problem with that?”

  “I don’t see any,” Saul proclaimed. “My only issue is in not knowing how he’s going to react to bloodlust. If you give in and go after mortals,” he said, turning to Jason, “we’ll have to stop you. And by stop, I mean kill.”

  “Isn’t that a little harsh?” Nikki asked.

  “Not compared to what The Guard would do to him,” Jill said.

  Jason nodded. It was clear that he was done with this conversation. Saul felt for him; he couldn’t imagine what it must be like to feel alienated and trapped while trying to get accustomed to his new abilities.

  “That settles it then,” Nikki said. “Give me an hour or so to go get some things and tidy the place up, and it’s all yours.”

  “Thanks,” Jason said quietly. He got up from the couch and walked through the kitchen. They watched him walk through the back door and onto the porch, where he often went when he was feeling stifled. Saul wanted to follow him, but tried to ignore the instinct. Internally, he felt as if he no longer trusted Jason. It was unfair to the poor young man.

  “Come on,” Nikki said, tugging at Saul’s arm. “I need some things moved around to clean…the apartment hasn’t really been cleaned in a while. I know…hard to believe. But I could use some muscle.”

  “Sure,” Saul said. He then turned to Jill. “You going to be okay with him?”

  “What’s one more hour?” Jill asked, only half-joking.

  Saul frowned at her but walked out of the cabin behind Nikki. Outside, the darkness was complete. The moon was full and the night was clear and Saul felt as if it was almost too quiet. Even the stars that looked down upon them seemed to have their own secrets.

  3

  Paula opened her eyes and blinked up at the sky. It was dark, the stars twinkling dutifully. She thought there were about four hours of night remaining. She had no idea how she knew this, but she was certain of it nonetheless. There was a delicate sort of ache in her head, not too dissimilar from a minor hangover. There was also a feeling in her stomach that she associated with excitement. It was like the moment before jumping out a plane to skydive.

  Paula sat up and found herself sitting in a field of overgrown grass. Her head was filled with a variety of scents: weeds, urine, blood, wildlife. She breathed it all in and felt as if she might get stoned off of the smell alone. Paula got to her feet and looked around the field. She seemed to be the only one here, but she could feel him out there somewhere—her master, waiting for her.

  Her hand went to her neck and caressed the neatly healed scar. Paula smiled gingerly and started walking toward the forest at the edge of the field. She walked like a woman in a dream, her senses working overtime. The feel of the slightly damp grass along the bottom of her feet, the gentle breeze and all of those smells—

  It was intoxicating.

  Paula had never been in this field before. Like all Red Creek residents, she had known about it but had never had any reason to venture out this way. That seemed odd to her because as she skirted her way across weeds and debris and grass, she felt as if she had always belonged here. She had a very strong feeling of arrival.

  Paula entered the forest and took in the play of shadows and the shapes of all of the trees. She smiled again, sensing him near. Not sure exactly what she was doing or why she was doing it, she slowly lifted her shirt over her head as she walked deeper into the forest. Once she had shed that to the forest floor, she unclasped her bra and dropped that as well.

  Within mere seconds, her nipples were hard—not just from the chilled air, but from some electric sort of anticipation that stirred within her. She took a few more steps and stopped at the base of a large oak. Standing there, she knew he was watching. She smiled into the dark shadows and unbuttoned her pants. As she did, she thought about a night fourteen years ago when she had done this very same thing in the back of her boyfriend’s car. She’d sacrificed her virginity that night; it had hurt and the sex had been quick. She could barely remember the boy’s name. But something about the memory made her smile. It made her look deeper into the shadows, looking for him.

  Paula stripped her pants and underwear off, dropping them to the ground. She then closed her eyes and waited. She let the night caress her, as if testing her.

  She heard him coming to her like the wind. He came from behind her and when his hands fell on her back, she let out a soft sigh. His hands grabbed her shoulders and bent her over with force. He pushed her against the oak and when her right shoulder slammed into it, she cried out with delight. She couldn’t see him, and she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel him, wanted to know that he was here with her and wanted her…needed her, perhaps.

  He grabbed her ass and then reached around to caress her ample breast. He pinched her nipples hard and she cried out again. Driven by an impulse she had never quite experienced before, she kn
ew what was coming and could not wait. She spread her legs and reached between them, happy to find that he was also naked and ready for her. She grabbed him and caressed him with her hand. She pulled at him eagerly and felt him growing even harder. She pulled at him in a near-violent motion, coaxing him, hoping to get him even more eager than he already seemed to be.

  With her grip hard and tight, she guided him towards the heat between her legs and he slapped her hand away.

  He grabbed her hips, drew her back, and entered her with force. She cried out in pleasure, pressing her hands against the oak to push back against him. The sound of their bodies slapping together bounced through the forest walls. He thrust with nearly violent force, but it was not hard enough for her. She reached back, trying to grab his hips to urge him on harder and faster, but he was moving with such frenzy that she could not catch hold. She had never been taken like this, never with such force, and the small part of her that had existed before tonight was repulsed by the act. But the woman she was now—something she suspected was actually more than just a woman—could not get enough.

  She wanted to hurt. She wanted blood, and if it was hers, that was okay.

  She felt her orgasm slowly climbing and when it hit her, it was like dying. She felt a complete wiping away of everything as his violent thrusts pushed her over the edge of some devilish cliff. She screamed and, although she lost most of the strength in her knees, kept pushing back against him. She partially collapsed against the tree and bit at her lip. She drew blood and tasted it at once.

  No longer able to stand, he pulled her back to him and forced her to sit on his lap as he sat on the forest floor. He grabbed her under the arms and made her ride him. Each thrust upwards into her generated a cry of pleasure, louder and louder.

  He was quiet the entire time and the only way she knew he was going to come was when his grip grew tighter on her lower back. She felt his nails digging into her sides, certain that he was drawing blood, but her moans were of pleasure.