by K J Sutton
As I gasp, he tilts his head, those piercing green eyes roaming over me from head to toe. Slowly, he licks the blood from his lips. I hold my breath, heart pounding against my chest so hard I can feel it in my throat.
“See anything you like?” the vampire asks finally. His voice is made of silk sheets and moans in the night.
When I open my mouth, nothing comes out. I want to push past him and run away, but I’m rooted in place. Noah chuckles.
“You take your time, princess.” He lowers his voice. “I don’t mind the view.”
Swallowing hard, I force out, “So you watch the news. Good for you.”
“You’re a hard one to avoid these days.” He finally retracts his fangs.
I step back, needing to put distance between us, but the vampire follows. My brows shoot up. “What are you doing?”
“You’re afraid of me,” he muses, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“No,” I say too quickly. “I—”
Once again, Noah moves faster than even I can track, and the next thing I know, he has me pressed against the wall next to the doorway. “What are you doing here, Charlotte Travesty?” he says in a low voice, his mouth dangerously close to mine. “The royal family isn’t exactly beloved in Oldbel.”
“Let me go,” I demand, pushing against him, but he doesn’t budge.
“No point in fighting me,” he says in a bored tone, leaning in until his lips brush my ear. “I’m much stronger than you, halfling.”
I turn my face away from him as the pit in my stomach grows. “What the fuck do you want?” I say through my teeth.
“I’ve never tasted the blood of a Lavender before. I wonder if that vampire edge would enhance its taste.” His words send ice through my veins, and I go rigid. My face whips forward, and I growl at him, baring my fangs. Noah smirks at me, baring his own fangs again. “I’ve got those, too, princess. And mine are bigger.”
He presses closer, and in the seconds that follow, Drew and Nina storm into the room. “Fuck off, Forrest,” Drew seethes.
Even Nina looks pissed. She’s holding up a small, silver canister with an obvious spray nozzle. “Let her go or I’ll give you a faceful of milk thistle, you blood-sucking piece of shit.”
At the mention of that ancient herb, another whisper of discomfort goes through me. Vampires may not be vulnerable to crosses, garlic, wooden stakes, or holy water, but certain plants from the old world can have the effect of acid on our skin.
Noah doesn’t move an inch. His gaze bores into mine as if we’re still alone, and the reflection of my own face stares back from the perfect darkness of his eyes. After another moment, he makes a low sound in the back of his throat and pulls away.
Without a word or so much as a glance backward, he walks out of the room.
I finally let out a breath, tears pricking my eyes. Until yesterday, I believed myself a vampire. An animal at the top of the food chain. Strong. Noah just reminded me how wrong I was, how weak I truly am.
“You okay?” Drew asks me.
Before I can form an answer, a groan from across the room turns all of our attention toward the couch, where the woman Noah fed on stirs. She sits up and looks around. Blood trickles from two puncture marks on her throat, along with the blood already pooling on the leather between her legs. My fingers twitch, resisting the urge to slap at my arms, which crawl with invisible insects. The need. The ache. The fucking relentless hunger.
If Nina and Drew weren’t here, I’d tear into this human like she was a doe in the woods.
“Did he leave?” she asks with a pout. “Is he finished with me?”
Just as I start to answer her, my stomach tight with a strange combination of pity and longing, the entire bar fills with the sound of screaming.
END OF VOLUME ONE
To be continued in volume two of the Charlie Travesty serial…
Tunnels full of monsters. A half-vampire slave. A forbidden romance.
Charlie Travesty has been banished from the mansion.
Now bearing the tattoo that marks her as a slave, she begins work in the sewers, far below the city of New Ve. The weepers—vampires and humans alike who have been infected by a deadly virus—seem to be increasing in number, and the death toll is rising.
In order to ensure her survival, Charlie launches her own investigation. She finds an unexpected ally in infamous bounty hunter Noah Forrest, despite his ability to get under her skin like nobody else. With him at her side, and a human on the other, Charlie discovers that nothing is what it seems in the tunnels she now calls home.
For fans of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City trilogy and Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, A Light in the Dusk is the second volume in the Charlie Travesty serial.
Pre-order your copy now!
About the Author
Jessi Elliott is a Family Law Clerk and author of both young adult and new adult romantic fiction. Her love of writing was born after many years of reading and reviewing books on her blog.
She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her adorable cat, Phoebe. Yes, named after the Friends character.
When she’s not plotting her next writing project, she likes to spend her time hanging with friends and family, getting lost in a steamy romance novel, watching Friends, and drinking coffee.
You can find Jessi at www.jessielliott.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can join her newsletter to stay up to date on book news and upcoming releases.
About the Author
K.J. Sutton lives in a land of darkness and snow. She has received multiple awards for her work, and her most recent novel Restless Slumber was a Barnes & Noble bestseller.
When she’s writing, K.J. always has a cup of Vanilla Chai in her hand and despises wearing anything besides pajamas. She adores interacting with fellow writers and readers. Until then, she's hard at work on her next book. K.J. Sutton also writes young adult novels as Kelsey Sutton.
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