The Hunter: A Vampire's Obsession: Book 4

by Stephanie Rylai

  She sat on the chair, hunched over as she tried to patiently wait for her skin to cool off. She didn’t even hear Thomas move around or acknowledge him until a cool rag was pressed to her arm. Her eyes lifted to find him gently patting her skin with the cloth, trying to help her soothe the burn.

  “Who are you?” she asked him in a low voice.

  His emerald eyes lifted to hers as he pressed the rag to her shoulder.

  “What do you mean?”

  Elora stood from the chair, “I mean, who the fuck are you?” she asked with a bit of bite to her voice, but also some hurt.

  “Were you ever planning on telling me you are a goddamn hunter?”

  Thomas’s face fell, his eyes wide as he looked at her. He was caught.

  He stepped towards her but she backed away, “Were you planning to kill me this whole time?” she asked, brow furrowed.

  “No, no. Of course not, Ella. Well, I mean, at first… but… It isn’t like that,” he tried to explain.

  “Then what is it like?” she snapped.

  Thomas let out a sigh and stared off as he tried to gather his words. His emerald hues then slid back to her, softening just at the sight of her.

  “When you first approached me in the bar, I had planned only to use you to get information on your nest and then I was going to kill you. But after that first night… I told myself I would just keep you around to get more information. And it was a lie. I caught feelings for you, and I couldn’t believe it. My whole adult life has been about hating your kind after one killed my sister, draining her of every drop of blood and leaving her for dead. And the fact I had started to fall for one…” he said, shaking his head, “I couldn’t believe it. That’s why I’ve been distant, why I’ve tried to hide parts of myself. Because I didn’t want you to hate me and didn’t want you involved in that. When I slept with that other vampire, it was because I wanted to try other avenues to get information, trying to keep you from it all. Please, believe me.”

  “You’ll have to forgive me if that’s a little hard for me to believe,” she said, not dropping from her stance.

  “You killed four of my nest members, people who have been like family to me for twenty years! And you expect me to believe I’m different from the rest of them?”

  “You are different from them, Ella. You don’t drain people. You fed from me several times and—”

  Elora looked at him like he was insane, “None of us drain humans.”

  Her eyes scanned over him, unable to believe what he was saying.

  “Our nest doesn’t believe in killing people. It accidentally happens every now and again, but we never intend to. None of us want to be caught or to have that blood on our hands.”

  Thomas’s eyes widened, staring at her.

  “Are… Are you serious?”

  She gave him a nod.

  His face was sculpted into a look of shock, staring at her for a long, long time.

  “I… I didn’t know. Really. All the vampires I’ve ran across have been vicious and kill dozens in each town…”

  “Well, not us. Our last leader was very strict on that. In fact, he was basically married to a human woman,” Elora informed him, crossing her arms.

  “I’m sorry, then. I didn’t even know vampires could stop themselves from feeding until I met you,” he tried to plead with her.

  He stepped to her, caressing one of her cheeks, “I would never hurt you, Ella. I couldn’t. I… I love you.”

  Her breath caught in her throat at his words, eyes searching his as if the truth would lie in them. He held his ground, seeming vulnerable and sincere.

  “I love you too,” she finally exhaled.

  His lips caught hers, kissing her sweetly and tenderly.

  She kissed him back at first, but then pulled away, shaking her head. “But you have to leave.”

  “What? Why?” he asked, brow furrowing at her.

  “Lance is going to kill you. And the nest has a pack mentality. Once he tells them you are the one to have killed those girls, the entire nest will be after you…”

  “But maybe if we explain to them, that I didn’t know that they didn’t drain humans…”

  Elora shook her head, “That might make a difference to some of them. Others, it won’t matter because blood has already been spilled. And Lance isn’t targeting you over the deaths but over me. He’s jealous and pissed off I won’t be with him. He’ll play on their anger about the girls to get them to help him, though. You have to leave, or they’ll kill you.”

  There was silence for a while, the two just staring at one another.

  Thomas pulled her against him, “Then come with me.”

  Elora raised a brow at him, though her arms wrapped around his neck, “Go with you on your trips around the country, slaughtering vampires?” she asked with skepticism in her voice.

  Thomas gave a nod, “Yeah. Maybe we can make a difference together. You talk to the vampires we find about not draining humans. If they won’t comply, then that’s where I’ll step in. We can save lives, both human and vampire.”

  She hesitated, and he pressed another kiss to her lips, “Please, Elora… I want you to be with me. I love you. I’ve never ever, in my life felt this way about someone. And I don’t want to lose it.”

  She didn’t know what to do. The nest had been like family to her since she was turned vampire, but she did truly love Thomas. And it would be great to actually make a difference in the world, rather than just traveling bar to bar, preying on men and sleeping in rundown warehouses and factories. She tired of the nest's way of living, and definitely tired of Lance’s obsession with her… Maybe it was the fresh start she had needed for quite some time. Biting her lip, she gave a nod.

  “Really?” he asked, a grin pulling at his lips.

  Elora nodded again, and he picked her up, kissing her hard on the lips.

  “We’ll leave as soon as night falls, get a head start.”

  By the time night fell, the two of them were well rested, and his car was packed. Thomas promised to buy her new clothes and belongings when they got somewhere safe, needing to focus on getting distance between them and the nest. Elora sat on the bed as Thomas watched out the window, waiting for the pinks and oranges of the sky to go away and the navy blue to completely cover it so they could slip away.

  After what felt like hours and hours, Thomas gave a nod, “Alright. Let’s go,” he said, walking to her and grabbing her hand.

  They walked out of the motel and to his car. Elora was rather upset about having to leave her motorcycle behind but didn’t see a purpose in having it. They climbed into his car, and Thomas quickly escaped the parking lot, heading directly for the highway. Anxiety hung in the air, terrified that the nest would easily catch up to them. She knew the entire nest would be pulsating with rage towards Thomas, wanting his blood almost as much as Lance. They wouldn’t understand, not with Lance influencing them.

  Elora stared out the window, watching the country town pass by them in a blur. She wondered if she was doing the right thing by going with Thomas. The girl was trying to follow her heart. She truly loved Thomas and was excited about the new way of life. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little worried about it. What if they had a falling out? Elora would have nowhere to go… But, she tried not to think like that and stayed positive. Though she was still a bit upset, knowing she would miss Abigail very much. That woman had been nothing but kind to her and had always stood up for her.

  As if he could read her thoughts yet again, Thomas’s hand found hers and laced their fingers together. Elora’s eyes slid over to him to find him smiling softly at her. She smiled right back. There was always going to be a downside to every decision that was made, but all that mattered is that she followed her heart. And at that time, Thomas held it. He thrilled her in ways she had only ever dreamt of. In his presence, she felt admired and loved. And she was completely smitten with him. Elora had made the right decision by running away with him, she could feel
it. She was giddy to see what their future held, knowing in her heart that something great would come of it, even if they had bumps in the road. Finally, she had something to look forward to.

  -THE END-

  A Message from the Author:

  Thank you so much for reading the second book of my A Vampire's Obsession series. Thanks for giving this new author a chance! If you enjoyed the story, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could leave an honest review on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M30MP38

  If you are interested in joining my ARC group, please email my directly at stephanierylai@stephanierylai.com.

  Gabriel and Olivia are back. Here’s a preview of Book 5, “Unforgotten Ties”:

  “It’s okay, Ella… It was just a bad dream,” he tried to soothe, letting her hold to him for dear life, even if she wasn’t aware of the strength she was using.

  She shook her head, “I’m telling you, I know he is following us.”

  Ella and Thomas had been on the road together for two months, hunting down nests and getting them to change their ways—or meet a grisly end. And things seemed fine, until Elora started getting the sinking suspicion that Lance had found them. It seemed like she was always on high alert, scanning the streets and faces they passed, looking for anyone from the old nest. Thomas tries to assure her that Lance wouldn’t be able to follow their erratic travel pattern. But Elora isn’t convinced. But when appearances start to occur frequently, and Thomas’s tires get slashed, they have his attention finally. And Elora and Thomas are left with no choice but to call on the help of some old friends in order to escape the wrath of the nest.

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  If you haven't already done so, make sure to download my free eBook “Life In Between” which you can get for free for signing up to my mailing list, which works as a prequel to my A Vampire's Obsession series and gives the reader an insight into Gabriel's life prior to meeting Olivia on that fateful night.

  Click here to claim your free eBook immediately and join my mailing list. Alternatively, enter http://eepurl.com/ceaBvX directly into your web browser.

  Prequel (“Life In Between”)

  Flora craned her neck to expose her neck completely to him. “Oh god, I can’t believe I-I’m doing this,” she breathed, alcohol heavy in her breath.

  Little did she know, nothing was coming of it. Gabriel would take what he wanted from her and leave—and all he wanted was her blood.

  For the past thousand years, Gabriel’s life had become a mind-numbing routine. He wondered the earth with his ragtag nest of vampires, ranging from ancient to just a few decades old. They drifted town to town, taking in the local culture—well, as much as you could gather from the inside of their ‘finest’ dive bars. Booze, blood, and running was all their lives contained. For some it was like an endless party, but for Gabriel it was a dark, empty cage. His heart still ached for the love he had lost so long ago, his wife Genevieve. But it had been nearly a millennium since her death and he has to decide whether he will continue to wallow in his depression, or pull himself from the darkness to be the strongest leader he can be.

  About The Author

  Stephanie Rylai has a passion for writing dark tales of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Her writing is tailored to cater to young adult, new adult as well as adult romance readers. Stephanie prides herself on stamping her unique creative imprint onto each and every one of her new books, ensuring readers are fully engrossed and entertained by her dark, witty and fiercely romantic themes. She loves writing about mysterious and sexy bad boys with a sizzling secret to die for, and until she can find one to call her own, she will continue writing about them. While she's not writing romance, Stephanie enjoys traveling the globe and trying out new cuisines whilst learning about cultures around the world. When she's at home, she is a massive chocoholic, dog lover and Netflix addict.

  Books

  A Vampire's Obsession

  Life In Between (Prequel): http://eepurl.com/ceaBvX

  Gabriel's Secret (Book 1): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQMZR30

  A Forbidden Temptation (Book 2): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYK0YRT

  A New World (Book 3): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWPZHBX

  The Hunter (Book 4): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M30MP38

  Books 5 and 6 will be released in late October/early November – stay tuned by signing up to my mailing list.

  Connect With Me

  Mailing list & free eBook: http://eepurl.com/ceaBvX

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephanieRylai

  Website: www.stephanierylai.com