From the Darkness (Blackwood Vampires Book 1)

by E. J. King

  “I am not.” His eyes were still burning with anger, but they softened as he looked at me. “I can never forgive him for what he did to you.”

  “Then don’t. You don’t have to forgive him, just don’t kill him. I won’t be able to forgive you if you kill him.” My hands dug harder into his arm. “Just take me home.”

  My head was pounding and I feared I was on the verge of collapsing. I was sure that if I did that, William wouldn’t be able to restrain himself. When his hands dropped away from Drake’s neck, I finally let out the breath I had been holding. My head went foggy again and I found myself leaning into William for support.

  He caught me easily, swooping me into his arms just as the world went dark.

  I woke in my bed, my head still pounding. My torn dress had been removed and I was covered in a soft blanket. I remembered having a broken conversation with William as he tucked me into bed. I told him about seeing Norah in the house and he promised to have the entire mansion searched.

  I also vaguely remembered him slowly removing my dress, being as respectful as possible. If my brain hadn’t been swimming, I might have thought to be embarrassed. As it was, waking up in just my undergarments was uncomfortable enough.

  Once I was awake, I kept replaying what had happened. If I tried to close my eyes, I saw Drake’s fangs and felt him on top of me. Each time, my eyes would fly open as I struggled to catch my breath. Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed and pulled on a white nightgown before stepping into the hall.

  William’s bedroom door was shut and I stood on the other side of it for a long time while I mustered the courage to knock. Just as my knuckles were about to come down on the door, it opened from the inside.

  “Grace.” William stared at me with clear eyes that said he had not been asleep. He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and it took all of my will power not to stare at his amazing body.

  “I’m sorry. I was having trouble sleeping.” I glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t feel safe alone in my room.”

  “Oh.” His lips pressed into a hard line and I worried that I had offended him. Eventually, he smiled softly and said, “You can sleep in here.”

  It was what I had been hoping to hear, but now that I was stepping into the Vampire’s bedroom, I began to second-guess the offer. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

  “You could never be a burden to me, Grace.” He gestured to the large bed. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  That was easier said than done. I slid under the covers and remained as close to the edge as possible. When I turned to William, I was surprised to see him still standing several feet away.

  “Are you not sleeping?” I knew that Souls didn’t need to sleep in the same way that humans did. But they did need to rest their bodies, especially during the daytime.

  “I thought maybe I would sit up for a while over here,” he said, pointing to a chair. “You might be more comfortable not having a Vampire sleeping next to you.”

  “You’re not just any Vampire, William.” I patted the empty space next to me. “There’s plenty of room for both of us.”

  He hesitated before joining me. The mattress shifted beneath me as he settled on the far edge. There was enough space between us for two more people.

  “You should leave in the morning,” he said, catching me by surprise.

  “Leave?” I rolled onto my side to face him. “After everything you told me earlier about it not being safe for me outside of the Darkness?”

  “It’s not safe for you inside the Darkness either, Grace.” He sighed, turning his head in my direction. “I thought that I could protect you here, but clearly that isn’t the case.”

  “You did protect me, William. You got to me in time.” I hadn’t asked him yet how he had known where to find me. “I can’t leave.”

  He said, “Your sister is not here, Grace. I had people check everywhere and there was no sign of her.”

  “That’s only half of the reason that I don’t want to leave,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “What is the other half?” he asked in his deep baritone voice, rumbling straight into my core.

  I looked straight into his eyes as I answered. “You.”

  EPILOGUE

  WILLIAM

  I stayed awake for hours after Grace drifted off to sleep, watching her with unabashed fascination. At some point, she rolled closer to me until she was nestled against my body. I didn’t dare move a single muscle as I breathed in her scent.

  I had almost killed Drake because of this woman. I would have done it, too, if she hadn’t begged me to stop. She believed that I was more than just a monster. I wasn’t sure I deserved that kind of faith. But when I was with her, when she was looking at me with her beautiful eyes, I wanted to be more.

  I wanted to be everything for her.

  When I closed my eyes, I could hear those last words she said before drifting away. She wanted to stay in the Darkness because of me. I had felt so much joy in the moment, but it was followed quickly by dread. I didn’t know how I was going to keep her safe. I didn’t know how I was going to keep Drake from finishing what he had started.

  One thing I did know- I would do everything in my power to protect her. I would die for Grace. More alarmingly, I would live every moment of every day for her. I was sure that I didn’t deserve her love, but I was determined to spend my days trying to earn it.

  To be continued in Book Two – Lost in Darkness

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  About the Author

  E.J. King is a dreamer and a storyteller. She combines these two loves to spin engaging, wild stories. She's an avid reader of all types of genres and writes what she loves to read. E.J. writes contemporary romance, urban fantasy, romantic thrillers, and paranormal stories.

  Her urban fantasy/ paranormal romance series "Dark Souls,” has twelve books and three short stories to date and more on the way. The first eleven books have been re-released in multi-part volumes. She also recently launched the first book in the Dark Hart series, another series from the Soul Hunters’ world.

  Dark & Broken Souls (Dark Souls One)

  Lost Souls (Dark Souls Two)

  Bound Souls (Dark Souls Three)

  Haunted Souls (Dark Souls Four)

  Saved Souls (Dark Souls Five)

  Keep reading for an excerpt from

  DARK & BROKEN SOULS

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  PROLOGUE

  Monsters lurk in the shadows. Evil comes out to play at night. Your worst nightmares are real. All of the ghost stories and supernatural tales you read to yourself as a child are true. You have every reason to be scared, you just don’t know it because you can’t see it. You don’t have the gift. I do.

  Forces of darkness are at work, doing their very best to destroy all that is good in the world. I should know- they nearly destroyed me. My family was slaughtered, killed by the creatures we spent our lives hunting. I would have been killed, too, if it wasn’t for a mysterious man that appeared out of nowhere and saved me, then vanished just as quickly.

  I owe him my life. I also blame him for it.

  It’s been two years since that night, but it feels like yesterday. I can still hear their screams and see the blood pooled beneath their bodies. And I can still see the piercing blue eyes of the man that saved me and feel his warm, strong arms wrapped around me as he carried me to safety.

  I don’t expect to ever see him again. But then again, life has a way of surprising you, of kicking you in the ass right when you least expect it.

  CHAPTER ONE

  My morning routine was simple- an early morning run around campus followed by a full pot of coffee and a long, hot shower. Then I went to my closet and picked out the most comfortable outfit I could find. Every morning, I glanced at the trunk at the bottom of my closet and my chest would tighten. But once the door was
shut again, so was my past.

  For breakfast, I fixed myself an egg white omelet and occasionally allowed myself a side of delicious bacon. If the weather was nice, I enjoyed a quiet breakfast on my porch, listening to birds chirp as the sun rose in the sky. That was pretty much the best part of my day.

  During the week, I attended classes at Jackson College. I was an undeclared freshman, certain only that I wasn’t ready to pick a major and uncertain of just about everything else. It seemed crazy to me that some people knew exactly who they wanted to be at just eighteen. I barely knew what I wanted to have for lunch on any given day.

  That’s not to say I didn’t like school. Quite the contrary. I enjoyed learning for the sake of learning, and I was hopeful that one day I might even make a friend or two. College was easier for me than high school. In high school, you spent your whole day trying to fit in and not stand out in any way. In college, strange was cool. And I had plenty of strange going on.

  I set off in the morning feeling motivated that today would be different. I would smile, even when I didn’t want to, and I wouldn’t look away when I passed strangers on the street. On the way to class, I stopped at a corner coffee shop for a double espresso. My caffeine intake was excessive, but also necessary. It was the only thing that kept me going while running on a couple of hours of sleep.

  In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I slept through an entire night without waking in a cold sweat from the nightmares I doubted I would ever be able to shake. The good news was that after two years, I was starting to get used to living in a constant state of sleep deprivation.

  College was supposed to be amazing. I had been dreaming about it since I was 13-years-old, still living under my parents’ roof and hating every minute of it. I thought that when I got to college, I would be free to live my own life and I wouldn’t have to follow their rules any longer. I was ready to shake off my family’s expectations and start living for myself. Now, on my own, I would give anything just to hear their voices again.

  Some days were easier than others. On the days when I was busy, I could sometimes spend an entire hour without thinking about them. Those hours were rare blessings when I managed to trick myself into thinking I was just a normal college freshman. Then I would finish the test, or my shift at work, and I would have time to remember again.

  Today was going to be one of those busy days. I had a midterm in the morning, and a paper due for my afternoon class that I still needed to write. So I spent the day the same way I spent nearly all of my days- with my nose buried in a book in the library. As further evidence of my extreme nerdism, I felt a rush of excitement when my favorite table on the quiet floor was empty. It’s the small things in life.

  The semester started several weeks ago and while I still hadn’t made many friends, I did recognize many of the students around me. That wasn’t surprising considering they were members of my nerd club. We all wore the same nerd uniform- comfortable clothes in neutral tones. Our accessories were piles of books, laptops, and neat rows of highlighters and notecards. I felt comfortable around these people, except for one.

  The young man across from me had only started appearing a few days ago. He had just one book with him- a leather journal that was small enough to fit inside his jacket pocket. If that wasn’t strange enough, he also had a weird habit of wearing his sunglasses inside. I wasn’t sure how he managed to see anything in the poorly lit library, but he split his time making notes in the journal, playing on his phone, and staring at me. I did my best not to stare back, but it wasn’t as easy as you might expect. He was very attractive.

  “You are so obvious.”

  I jumped, completely busted. “Hope!”

  The only semi-friend I had made so far took a seat across from me. Her red lips turned up in a crooked smile. “I’m onto you, Kaylie Jones.”

  “Huh?”

  “You still haven’t written your paper.” She grinned smugly. “Slacker.”

  Hope was what my mom would’ve called a “firecracker.” She had a bubbly personality, a hazy understanding of personal boundaries, and a blatant disregard for rules and authority. We had met at orientation. While standing in line to get our student ID pictures taken, a fraternity guy had called me Babe and tried to slap my ass. Hope had kicked him in the shin, thereby establishing herself as someone I wanted in my life.

  Our friendship hadn’t exactly been instantaneous though. Hope lived in one of the dorms and had signed up for all sorts of clubs and social engagements. That made it hard for her to bond with a recluse like me that lived off campus. Fortunately, it seemed she had made it her mission to force me to have fun.

  “I still have plenty of time to finish it,” I said, stealing one more glance at mystery guy.

  He was no longer staring at me, but was blatantly checking out Hope. It wasn’t exactly surprising. She was petite, blond, and busty- a triple threat in the dating world.

  “Hurry up. We can go hang out in the quad and flirt with boys.” She pouted at me, but I stayed strong.

  “I really have to finish this paper, Hope. Besides, I have to work tonight anyway.” I turned back to my laptop and tried to ignore her dramatic overreaction.

  “Fine.” She sighed loud enough that several people looked over. “Bail on me today, but you can’t get out of tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night?” I was sure we had already had this discussion, but I didn’t remember the conversation.

  “Party. Beer. Woods. Bonfire. Hayrack rides.” She ticked each item off on her finger. “Please tell me you haven’t already forgotten about the most epic party of the year?”

  “Didn’t that already happen?”

  “No. It’s happening tomorrow night and you have to go with me.”

  I was vaguely starting to remember that Hope had mentioned this party over lunch a few days ago. I had been hoping she would forget or change her mind. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hope.”

  “No. Way. You are not backing out on me! I need a wing-woman.” Hope’s voice was getting progressively louder and the people on the quiet floor did not appreciate it.

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll go with you.”

  Hope squealed and clapped her hands. “Ohmygosh. This is going to be so fun.”

  “If you say so.” I lost my battle with a smile. “Now would you mind leaving me alone so I can get this paper done and not fail out of school?”

  “If you insist.” She jumped to her feet. “Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock. Don’t forget.”

  “Go!” I pointed toward the stairs. “Don’t make me change my mind.”

  Hope saluted me and skipped away.

  I finished my paper exactly ten minutes before it was due and sent off a quick email to my professor. School work done, it was time to head to my night job. As I packed up my books and supplies, I felt mystery-man watching my every move. I allowed myself a glance in his direction. In usual creepy guy fashion, he was wearing his sunglasses and I could see myself reflected in the mirror lenses.

  He smiled at me, not in a nice-to-meet-you way, but in an I-want-you-to-be-scared-of-me way. I flipped him a middle-finger salute and whirled on my heel. His deep laugh followed me as I stormed away.

  It wasn’t until I was back home, changing for my esteemed job at the Lucky Lady, that I realized I had made it through the entire day without talking to anyone but Hope. That would end in thirty minutes when I would be forced to play nice with drunk college kids for minimum wage and measly tips.

  While I would have greatly preferred to stay in my jeans and hoodie, I had learned that less was more in the world of bartending, so I found my shortest skirt and skimpiest top. Long legs- check. Ample cleavage- check. A quick brush through my long, red hair and I was ready to face the vultures.

  The Lucky Lady was located two blocks off campus and right in the middle of the bad part of town. The college kids thought it was cool to slum it with the locals and the locals came to hit on drunk college girls. I didn’t care who sh
owed up or who they left with as long as they tipped well.

  “Hey, Boomer.” I smiled at our bouncer, a big guy with a bald head and plentiful tattoos. He was scary to look at, but he had a warm smile and quick laugh.

  “Kaylie. Lookin’ good.”

  Boomer’s eyes rested on my chest rather than my face, but I didn’t mind. He’d saved me from more than a few groping fraternity guys in the past few weeks.

  “How’s the crowd looking?” I asked. It was dollar draft night which meant the crowd would come early.

  “Drunk,” he said with a laugh that shook his round belly.

  I grimaced, knowing that was both a good and bad thing. Drunk people tipped more, but they also fought more.

  Immediately after I walked inside, a beer bottle flew across the room and crashed against the wall, exploding loudly. I sighed and headed to the back to get the cleaning supplies. It was going to be a long night.

  Midway through my shift, we hit a strange lull and I was able to take a few minutes to regroup. Normally, it was moments like these when my mind would start to wander, but the other bartender, Owen, had other plans.

  “You’ve got an admirer,” he said.

  We were leaning against the wall, next to the shelves of vodka and rum, and had the perfect vantage point to survey the room.

  “It’s the cleavage,” I explained.

  “I’m sure that’s why most of the guys are drooling,” he said with a laugh, “but this guy looks smitten. Maybe it’s true love?”

  I followed Owen’s gaze, looking for my secret admirer. “There’s no such thing.”

  “Spoken like someone who’s had her heart broken.” He grimaced knowingly and then stepped up to the bar to take orders.

  I finally found the person that had caught Owen’s attention- a man seated at a table in the back corner of the room. He would’ve blended in with all of the other guys if he hadn’t been wearing his shades inside. I sucked in a breath. My library companion had followed me to the bar.