Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Stumbling against her dresser, she tried to grab ahold of reality. What? How? It had happened in the shower. She remembered her hip hurting during sex. But what the holy hell of holy hells? She began stomping toward the door when male voices caught her attention.
Something crashed against the wall.
Damn it. She jumped into her jeans and ran toward the living room, zipping them up on the way. Had Monte come by after the stupid sheriff called him?
She dodged into the living room just as Noah flew past her to hit the fridge, denting it in three places. The door opened, and her other two yogurts fell out, hitting the floor and exploding. Blood covered his chest and poured from three distinct holes. Had he been shot?
Her mouth dropped open, and she turned to see a massive man with odd metallic eyes. He smiled, a glowing green gun in his large hand. “Hello.”
With a roar, Noah leaped between them and tackled the man, hitting him so hard they impacted the wall by the door and crumpled it outward. Plaster rained down, dust spinning through the air. The guy shot Noah again in the neck, and Noah bellowed, grabbing his bloody jaw.
“Noah,” Abby screamed, panicking. She looked frantically around for any weapon.
Noah stiffened and then kicked the guy’s hand, sending the gun spiraling beneath the couch. “How dare you come to my mate’s home,” he growled, his voice sounding inhuman.
“Figured I’d catch you off guard.” The guy slammed the edges of both hands down on Noah’s neck. “Too bad she’s about to be a widow.”
Noah punched the guy in the throat, stood, and lifted him to throw into the fridge. He turned, blood still pouring from his wound, his eyes an unreal green and...fangs. Fangs slid down from Noah’s mouth, sharp and deadly. He jumped for the guy and slashed those deadly points into the other guy’s jugular, ripping deep.
Abby screamed, backing toward her bedroom. This wasn’t happening. She’d fallen asleep, and this was a nightmare. Noah did not have fangs.
The other guy yelled, and fangs dropped in his mouth. His eyes turned a bright gold, and he turned, punching and trying to sink those weapons into Noah’s flesh.
Noah rolled them over, his mouth still working. He twisted his head and ripped out part of the guy’s neck. Growling, nowhere near human, he yanked a huge knife from his boot and plunged it into the guy’s throat. Straddling the guy, he slashed with the sharpened blade, back and forth. The guy struggled fiercely, but his eyes soon closed.
Noah finished the job, slashing all the way through muscle and bone. The guy’s head rolled away from his body and through the spilled yogurt to land near the cupboard beneath the sink, blood mixing with blueberry and crumbles.
Abby couldn’t move. Her body froze more solid than a deer on a country road in headlights. Her mind just stopped working. Completely.
Noah shoved off the corpse and stood, turning to face her. Blood had splattered across his rugged face, mingling with the red now trickling from his neck. Blood covered his gray T-shirt with more sliding from the smoking bullet holes across his chest.
She backed up, her butt hitting her door frame.
His fangs slid back up, and he tucked his thumbs in his bloody jeans. “So. Guess we should talk.”
She frantically shook her head. No talking. Noah had just murdered another fanged creature in her kitchen. “You’re, a, vampire?” Her voice shook so hard the words each held extra syllables. How was it possible?
“Just half,” he said, his voice grittier than normal. Harsh, even. The green in his eyes slowly disappeared to leave the all black hue. “Part demon. I’m a hybrid.”
She inched toward the door opening. The lock on her bedroom door sucked, but it was something. “Hybrid,” she whispered.
He shrugged, and the hole in his neck slowly closed. “Yeah. We’re just different species from humans. Nothing crazy or anything.”
She coughed, the sound hysterical. Not crazy? “I, ah, don’t want to be a vampire. Or a demon.” God. Was she food to him? She reached for the door and then paused as he straightened from his casual pose in a warning that was too clear to ignore. “You should go.”
“You can’t be a vampire or demon, Abs,” he said. “We’re a different species, and we only take blood in extreme situations like sex or war. We eat steaks, drink wine, and are fine in the sun. Some legends are true, but most are just stupid. We live among you, and we have no reason to hurt you.”
Her hip began to burn. “Wait. You bit my neck.”
“Yep.” His eyes glowed green through the black. “You taste like hope and sunshine.”
Oh. Well. She frowned. “My hip. You branded me?” Her voice rose on the last along with a hysteria she was finding increasingly hard to keep at bay.