Blood & Roses
Warriors of the Krieger Series
Book 1
By Theresa Hissong
Published by Theresa Hissong
Copyright @ 2013 Theresa Hissong
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
About the Author
To Wayne, Nathan, & Sara, my loving family:
I thank you for putting up with me while I worked so hard on this book and for pushing me to get it into print. I will always love you.
To Rico:
My dear Spanish translator, I will always be grateful for your brilliant other language. And for your love of everything vampire.
To Kelly:
Thank you for reading my first chapter and bugging me for the next two years to let you read more. Well, here’s your chance girl!
To Lee Safar:
Thank you for starting your Dream Angel project. Without your encouragement, this book would not have been written. Our talks inspired me to take a leap of faith and look how that’s paid off. I will be forever grateful for you.
Disclaimer:
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental. The names of people, places, things, vampires, or werewolves are all created from the author’s mind and are only used for entertainment.
Cover by: Custom Ebook Covers
Edited by: Anita Nichols
Formatting by: Wayne Hissong
Glossary of terms:
Krieger: The name comes from the German ‘warrior’. The name Krieger was taken by the warriors who became the defenders of their race. Their job is to police other vampires and to enforce laws of their kind and that of the humans.
Nachtmann: The name comes from Nacht meaning Night and mann meaning man. These humans have dedicated their lives to protect a vampire during the day, which in turn would be the vampire’s night. They are highly trained and paid very well to be a trusted guard of the vampire race.
Joining: Once a vampire mates, they mate for life. The Joining is the official ceremony to complete the bonding between vampires. Usually this ceremony is done in front of a member of the Queen’s court. Occasionally, in a special circumstance, the Queen herself will officiate the Joining.
Born Blood: A vampire who is born. Most were destroyed in the 1700’s when the church deemed them abominations unto God.
Turned Blood: A human who has been changed by a blood exchange with a vampire. The human must be drained just to the point of death. The vampire must give their blood unto the human. Once the human drinks the tainted blood, he/she will rise within a few nights as a creature of the night.
There is a time when fate, destiny, and karma all fall into the exact same place. Hundreds of years may pass, like a comet in the night, before the world is right for two people.
This is our story.
Charity Harwood
Chapter 1
Charity
Sunset, my own internal alarm clock, had set exactly six minutes ago. I knew this because I went from dead to fully awake at 5:45 P.M. Ah, winter, a vampire’s best friend; less daylight.
It was early January and the temperatures outside were close to freezing. The first snowfall of the season had been two weeks ago and the forecasters were calling for another round in the next day or so. I’ve always loved a good snowfall. Sitting on the porch listening to the soft hum of the delicate flakes falling, as if they have no care in the world, was my favorite thing to do, ever.
Closing my eyes, I let my senses range out listening for any sign of danger. This was my evening ritual for the past 265 years. You never know who, or what might be waiting outside to ambush you; hunters, werewolves, or those scary want-a-be vampire followers. Those humans scared me just as bad as the hunters. There’s nothing like a bunch of teenage freaks chasing you, begging to be turned into a vampire. I can honestly say that they are the most annoying part of my existence.
Granted, I was encouraged to hire a professional Nachtmann, but I feel pretty safe and don’t think one is necessary. Or maybe I’m just extremely stubborn.
Nachtmann are highly trained, human bodyguards, who serve as daytime watchmen over a vampire’s home. They have passed all security protocols, training and even lie detector test to be qualified for the job. My best friend Lydia, she has two. Show-off!
Well, everything checked out, so I slid out of the bed and jumped in the shower. After toweling off, I walked over to the closet, swinging the doors open wide. I chose a pair of black, form fitting jeans and a long sleeve hot pink sweater; finishing it off with a pair of sexy ass boots and tossed them on the bed. Oh, how I love my boots! From my dresser, I grab a matching hot pink bra and panty set from Victoria Secret. No Wal-Mart undies for me. With my rack, I love good push-up bras. So sue me. I added little makeup to enhance my royal blue eyes and a little gloss to highlight my already too plump lips to complete my look tonight. Now that my make-up was all done, my heart shaped face smiled back at me through the mirror over the sink. I had to meet that friend of mine shortly at the local Red Cross for our nightly feeding. After that, off to the vampire only club I own in downtown Port Royal.
The town I have called home for the past ten years is on the east coast of the United States. The city itself isn’t very big, but there is a large population of vampires for this area. On the east side of the Pearl River, most of the area was riddled with low income housing. The crime rate in that area is as much as a larger city. The west side is the newer and more upper class part of town. The club I owned, Nights, is only three blocks from the river on the west side.
The building was a two story, former warehouse in the River District area of town. When I purchased it, I had a contractor come in and reinvent the inside. The dance floor is a beautifully polished hardwood that Lydia and I found in the local paper. A human had stripped them from a house he was flipping and gave them to whoever would haul them off. Because I had saved on the dance floor, that let me spend a little extra on carpeting for the entryways. We choose a blood red carpet and had it installed. The walls remained white to contrast the dark colors of the carpet and black pub tables.
After a fast blow dry, my hair was looking exceptionally well. Some mousse to set my bouncy blonde curls and I was good to go. Thank…you know who, that my hair was exactly the way I like it the day I died. Well, just saying ‘I died’ was better than, attacked by a crazed vampire, drained of blood and rescued by Lydia. Forever frozen at the ripe young age of twenty-six; I have no worries about wrinkles, cellulite, or saddle bags. Yippee!
Lydia, my eternal best friend, is also my maker. Not by choice, but I’m thankful she was close the night I was attacked and dragged off into the woods. Without her, I would have been one with the earth by now.
I had gone outside of our family cabin,
on the outskirts of the town of Aberdeen, to retrieve wood for the fire. My father died a few months prior and because I was the oldest, I took on the role of helping mother around the house. The night was very cold and my younger brother and sister were suffering from a minor illness. My mother wanted extra wood placed by the fire in case we needed it during the night.
Before I reached the wood pile, I was attacked.
Something, or someone, grabbed me by the back of the head and started gnawing on my neck. The sharp piercing pain was excruciating. I can still remember the feel of his teeth tearing at the flesh on my neck. The sound of the animal slopping up my blood still echoed in my head. Unfortunately, I also remember the feel of him forcing himself upon me after he had torn my clothes away from my body.
The image of his profile haunts me to this day. Dark red hair that hung in dirty strings down one side of his face, a hazel eye glaring at my ravaged body, and the thin line of his lips were my memories of the night I became a vampire. His unearthly laugh echoes through my mind whenever I remember that fateful night almost three hundred years ago.
All I remember after that was waking up seeing Lydia, who had given me her blood and bada boom, bada bing, I was a vampire.
I unlocked the solid steel door to my bedroom that’s in the sunlight resistant basement and turned left for the stairs. I passed the kitchen that was hardly ever used, and stopped off in the laundry room to drop my dirty clothes in the hamper. Out to the garage, where my beautiful ultrasonic blue Lexus IS F sat patiently awaiting my arrival. The automobile was one of the best inventions mankind has made to date; just my humble opinion. I can and do frequently drool over sexy, sleek automobiles.
After backing out of my four car garage, I glanced over at my two other babies; a fire red Aston Martin DBS coupe and an ultimate black Jaguar XK. I tapped the garage door clicker and drove down my long, tree lined driveway. I glanced in the rearview mirror to double check the security lights that lit up my one-story farmhouse, with an added basement, and the white picket fence that outlined the front half acre. The vampire safe guest house out back was dark, since I didn’t have any visitors as of late. I twisted forward in my seat, and then I was off into the night.
I live about fifteen minutes north of town, in the country. I love the quiet rural living. No ambulance noise, no gunshots, and no nosy neighbors to bother me. Owning a nightclub subjects me to enough real world reality; so living where I do, gives me a breather from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Lydia was standing by the vampire entrance to the Red Cross, tapping her size six stilettos, when I pulled into the parking lot. Jeez, she’s impatient. Her auburn hair was stacked up nice and tight in a bun on top of her petite face. She was dressed in her everyday best; tonight was a hunter green wrap around dress. Rings that cost more than a few months’ salary adorned most of her fingers, big gold hoop earrings, and matching cuff bracelets completed her outfit. I grabbed my identification card and locked up my beautiful baby, mentally promising to be back as soon as I could.
“You’re late, Charity,” Lydia snapped, still tapping that damn foot.
Checking my watch, I had to roll my eyes, “Three minutes. For a person who will live for eternity, you sure are impatient.”
She huffed and turned for the door. “I’m just thirsty. Don’t start.” We showed our cards and the lady at the counter told us to take a seat. The lobby wasn’t very full, but we still had to wait.
Vampires came out about eight years ago and now have the same rights as humans. The government welcomed us with open arms, but also with restrictions; which suits me just fine. I’m guessing the reason why we were welcome is because of the long term taxes we will pay over eternity. Money makes the world go around, I suppose.
We’re no longer allowed to hunt back alleys or prey on innocent humans for blood. (Insert evil laugh here!) In fact, I couldn’t tell you the last time I used mind control on a human. We just go down to the local Red Cross and pick from the buffet of donors. Easy as pie! Well, not quite pie, which would be awesome to have just a slice. Hmm, pie! Damn it! You would think after all these years I would have outgrown my cravings for human food. Nope, still crave it and can’t eat it. I tried a few times, but it only made me sick. I’m not going to go into details about it, because it’s gross. Leave it at that.
Finally our turn for breakfast, Lydia followed me into the receiving room. Donors were sectioned off by blood type. Each one a different flavor, like Baskin Robbins, but there was only eight flavors here; raging from the most common, O positive, to the rarest, AB negative. The rarer the blood type, the better the flavor. Of course, as with a fine wine, quality cost.
We prepay for access to the clinic. Lydia and I fork out about $2000 a month each, for a live B positive donor. We can acquire bagged blood to keep at home for an additional fee. A case of blood will run you about $300 for a thirty day supply. It will do in a pinch, but it’s nothing like the real thing. I keep some stored in the refrigerator for emergencies. Usually Lydia and I split a box and it last us a couple of months.
She elbowed me in my side to get my attention. I followed her eyes and found the most luscious donor in the room. Not just because of his tasty blood, but for his absolutely gorgeous body. Of course, I have never tasted him. Because she always gets him first, but Lydia swears he taste better than any human she has ever had. Lydia was infatuated with the dark haired human. I watched her literally drift over to his chair. I mean, rise up about six inches and float! One of these days, I would learn to do something like that.
His name was Kyle and man was he hot! Jet black hair hung down just past his brows; not quite covering those dreamy emerald green eyes. Soft tan skin covered washboard abs and finely tuned biceps; every woman’s dream. He looked up as Lydia approached. Kyle’s smile was earth shattering. He rose from his chair and hugged Lydia lightly.
While Lydia drooled all over Kyle, I searched for my favorite donor.
Robbie was a college student who used his money, from being a donor, to put himself through medical school. Donors were paid well and Robbie used that to his advantage.
“Good Morning, Ms. Harwood.” Robbie was a polite, soft spoken and very handsome doctor-to-be.
“Please Robbie, I’ve told you many times to call me Charity,” I demanded, politely of course. Man, he looked good tonight. Faded jeans, a green hospital scrub for a top and a gold pinkie ring on his left hand. He had short brown hair and amazing blue eyes. Robbie was also gay. I don’t care, he’s still hot!
“Yes ma’am,” he chuckled. I pulled up a stool and sat right in front of him. He leaned forward and tilted his head to the right, offering me his left side. The vein in his neck throbbed in anticipation and my need spiked. I placed a quick kiss on his cheek, as a sign of respect, and then bit deeply into the yummy source in his neck.
Bless his little heart, Robbie ate apple pie today. Oh man, he was getting a big tip tonight. Blood taste like, well blood, but with an undertone of what the donor consumed a few hours before coming to the clinic. They were not allowed to eat a high concentration of garlic, because that would be bad for vampires. Someone invented a little machine that takes blood from the donor to check for the amount of garlic in their system. That makes the newer vampires a lot less nervous. Us older ones have learned to detect if the human has garlic in their system. We can smell it. Too much garlic intake will throw a vampire into the equivalent of anaphylactic shock to a human. But not pie!
I let out a small chuckle and Robbie patted my hand. He laughed too and sighed, “I remembered, Charity,” he said proudly.
I released him and washed my tongue over the puncture wounds to heal them. “Thank you, you didn’t need to do that.” I pinned him with a stare, but laughed. There was no way I could be mad at him.
“Oh, it’s okay. I wanted to indulge myself tonight, for the both of us,” he blushed. How cute! Too bad he didn’t play for my team. A girl can’t catch a break!
Lydia peaked over my
shoulder impatiently. “You ready?” she asked.
“Goodbye Robbie. See you next time,” I said, standing up from the padded stool, but not before I slipped him a hundred dollar bill. He blew me a kiss and like that, it was over; so much easier than all those years of hunting down humans.
We arrived at our club, Nights, just a few minutes before opening. Lydia and I parked in our private spots at the back door to the club. I selfishly installed plaques over the spots, mine read OWNER, and hers read MANAGER, just because I could. I recently installed security lighting in the alley behind the building. Lycanthropes have been seen in the area and tensions in Port Royal were high. They were known to attack in the city as well as out in the suburbs. As scary as that sounds, we had our own protectors.
Krieger are vampire warriors. They are our police force. Most Krieger are very old and very powerful. Imagine bulky, medieval fighters walking around modern day looking like professional wrestlers, but much larger. Yum!
Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger Page 1