Bait and Bleed
Page 40
My beast began to stir, beaten and howling, flexing through my body like a crippled bone. Blood came from my throat. My hand clasped the iron collar as its long spikes dove into my flesh. Half-heartedly, I tried to coax the mutt down, but I knew, I knew in my heart, that it was hopeless.
I was going to die.
Epilogue
The vampire rose at dusk and came to the lobby of his glass tower to release his statement, which was precisely three hundred and thirty-three words:
“In the recent past, Father brought forth onto humanity a new nation conceived in security and fortified by the unification of two races against a third. Fertilized with terror, bloodshed, and ignorance, we dedicated ourselves to the purification of Earth. Our combined species waged a war of attrition upon a lesser species. The battle was designed to remove their entire likeness from existence.
“Our noble intentions are soaked with blood. This holy war, consecrated by various people of power and influence, flows from a tide of unknowing fear. Sentient creatures always fear what they do not know, and so little is known about so little, that mistakes have naturally been made. It is useless to argue who has made the greater error or who may have orchestrated such mysteries. Instead, I dare say only that they are felonious.
“I expect most the world will resist this revelation, driven mostly by cognitive biases and misplaced religious fervor. Nevertheless, I believe that those with good reason will recognize similar good reason and strive to correct our combined errors.
“I do not suggest we forget the many lives we have tragically lost. The world will remember atrocity on both sides. For every human slaughtered, wolves were also slain. For every slight, mutts have paid a high cost. Evil’s debt cannot be placed entirely on a mongrel’s shoulders, for they cannot help being what they are, as the Fates have given them no higher charge but to heed their basest nature.
“While it is my understanding that not all monsters are created equal, this does not mean all fiends are deserving of death. I have met and known wolves as capable of using both peaceful discretion and designing violence as any given human.
“Let my will be known—as a vampire, a father, and a friend—that every individual of every unique species should be offered the same goodwill and due process as any other civilian. As a nation concerned with fairness, we cannot leave inequity unresolved.”
The Exalted Series
Over three days, a crazed series of events sparks the apocalypse. A long-lost vampire matriarch returns to claim her throne, and her madness ripples through the supernatural world. The regime change causes a religious revival and unleashes a rabid disease on the modern world.
Follow the hunters like Simon as he tries to save his best friend—and all humanity.
The Exalted books precede the Muttopia novels.
Muttopia
Ten years later, the Muttopia series explores a post-apocalyptic world full of the supernatural. Think gunslingers and werewolves in a 1984-type society. The protagonist, Kaidlyn Durant, is a weathered hunter when the story begins, but a sudden shift in werewolf behavior opens her eyes to a beautiful world beneath prejudice and fear.
About The Author
Native to Northern Michigan, Elizabeth now resides in the blistering heat of Phoenix with her carefree mastiff puppy and snobbish cats. She has a tendency to drink too much coffee and read too many books.
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Cover Art by Rebecca. Visit her at: www.atrtink.com