Title: Almost Human
Author: Honoria Ravena
Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Release Date: February 16, 2015
When Alaric’s brother turns Casey, the daughter of a prominent vampire hunting family, Alaric knows they’re all in deep trouble. He’ll do anything to keep his family safe, even if it means murdering Casey’s sister before she kills them all. His sister-in-law’s family will never stop hunting them now.
Kori was given the task of hunting down her sister and the leeches that turned her. Her primary target is Alaric, the head of the family. But when she loses the fight and Alaric is unwilling to kill her, she goes against everything she’s been taught abandoning the hunt to give Alaric and his family time to escape her mother’s wrath.
Kori’s mother has other plans. If Kori won’t take care of her evil sister then her mother knows someone who will. She raises the first witch in their family line from the dead to finish the job and Kori knows she has to warn Alaric before it’s too late. However, there are other things at work far more dangerous than a zombie, and it will require cooperating with her new family to defeat them.
Excerpt from Almost Human © Honoria Ravena 2015
“How
long are you going to stalk me, vampire hunter? Am I supposed to be the monster
in this story? Because you’re awfully creepy.”
I
paused in the mouth of the alley. Crap. So much for the element of surprise.
How had it spotted me? Usually vampires I hunted didn’t know someone was
tracking them until it was too late.
He kept
his back to me. “You’re interrupting my hunt. I haven’t fed in a long while and
would appreciate it if you backed off.”
A
chilly blast of wind swept through the space. Could that be his magic?
Sometimes the blood suckers were impressive. And the wind did carry a dark
sense of foreboding that made me want to turn tail. If I’d been human, and not
a witch, I probably would have.
He spun
around and I shrank back into the shadows behind a dumpster. Not the most
pleasant place I’d ever been, but not the worst either.
“Really?
You can’t hide from me. I can feel you…taste you, even if I hadn’t spotted you
two blocks back.”
I
usually only hunted for money, but as soon as I’d brushed past this vampire in
the street outside the coffee shop I’d known what he was. Being raised to hunt
vampires, I couldn’t resist the call to follow him and take him down before he
had a chance to hurt anyone. Even if I wasn’t getting paid, sometimes there was
a higher calling to consider. And seeing another Amber Alert pop up on my
phone? Another body on the news? I wasn’t willing to risk that.
Though
taking on this big, blond son of a bitch without being able to surprise him
hadn’t been my plan. I drew my knife. Oh well, coming out guns blazing might
shock him, too. I stepped around the dumpster and faced him.
He
smirked. “Well, you certainly are prettier than most of the hunters after my
ass. Can I help you with something, sweetheart?”
“Well,
if you’d like to stand still while I put this knife in your heart and then
behead you, I’d appreciate it.”
He
tipped back his head and chuckled. The sound was sexy, but vaguely threatening.
“Yeah, not going to happen. I’d prefer it if you came over here, tilted your
head to the side and let me take a little bit of blood. Promise it won’t hurt.”
His
power beat against my skull, and I ground my teeth together. If I’d been human,
I probably would have walked straight to him and done as he asked. As it was,
it was almost an insult for him to try to influence me.
“I’m a
witch, idiot. You can’t use your powers on me.”
He
scowled. “Always good to give it a try. Who knows, you could have been weak,
but like I said, I haven’t fed in a while. My magic isn’t up to scratch.”
He
pulled a knife from the sheath at his waist. He was so fast I almost didn’t see
the movement. He was trying to intimidate me. He didn’t need that kind of speed
at this time of the fight. He sighed and tossed the knife end over end before
catching the handle again. “Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I like to
play with my food a little, but I’d hate to actually hurt you.”
It was
my turn to laugh. Granted, the situation wasn’t ideal, but I’d been born to
kill his kind.
My
heart throbbed and I rubbed my chest with my free hand. What was that? I was in
perfect condition. There was no reason for this tightness I was feeling in my
ribs or my stomach to feel queasy. Something was wrong.
He
arched an eyebrow. “Problems?”
I
glared at him. Was he somehow doing this to me? I built up my psychic walls and
the feeling abated a little. Either way, it was time to push through the pain.
I
rushed him, aiming my knife for his throat. He blocked hard and I lost my
footing, stumbling into the wall. Thunder cracked and the sky opened up,
dumping a deluge of water on us both.
A flash
of lightening illuminated his puzzled stare. “What the hell is wrong with you,
hunter? As cocky as you are, I wouldn’t think you were this inept.”
I
rammed my foot toward his knee, but he sidestepped easily.
“Slow
too?”
He was
right. Something was wrong with me. Paralyzing weakness swept through me. I
wasn’t even sure I could keep my feet without the wall’s help.
In a
blur of motion he was there. The back of his hand connected with my face and I
tumbled to the ground. I wasn’t sure if the dizziness and inability to breathe
were from his blow or whatever was happening to me. But whatever was going on
was about to get me killed. I’d dropped my knife when he’d hit me.
His
boots came into my line of vision and I glanced up at him. He dropped into a
crouch next to me and I flinched. He tangled his hands in my hair, yanking my
head up.
“You’re
very lucky I’m not a bad guy. I could rip your throat out, huntress, and
believe me a day ago I would have. I’m not going to help you, but I’m not going
to kill you either. You’d best stay away from me in the future.”
He
released my hair and was gone.
I
curled into the fetal position, shaking. Each breath caused my chest to clench.
I didn’t have time to consider the fact that I was damned lucky he’d left me
alive. I was still worried I would die anyway.
Suddenly,
I knew what the problem was. My sister was in trouble. She was dying. The
knowledge sank like a stone in my gut. I needed to get to her. I managed to
gather my strength and shove myself to my feet. Using the wall as support, I
made my way down the alley. My apartment was a block away. I needed to pack
weapons, grab my car keys, and get moving.
I’d
never make it in time. What I was feeling couldn’t possibly be true…but if it
was, I was too late. If she was in this kind of pain, there was something
horribly wrong.
It
couldn’t be true. I refused to believe. I would make it to her house and she
would be fine.
The
weight in my chest vanished, and my headache subsided to a dull roar. I was
still unsteady, but it no longer felt like I was dragging an anvil down the
street. However, the dark pit in my stomach expanded. She was dead. That was
all it could mean.
I made
it to my apartment and grabbed my phone. I’d assumed I was going on a ten
minute coffee run and wouldn’t need it.
“Please,
let this be a nightmare.” It was a reoccurring one of mine. I dialed my
sister’s number. “Casey, damn it, pick up your phone. Please, baby sister, pick
up.”
It went
to voicemail and I sank down next to the bed, resting my head on my knees. This
wasn’t a dream. If something wasn’t wrong, I’d eat my shoes. I reigned in the
need to throw the damned phone down the hallway and dialed my mother’s number.
I
stumbled to my feet and rushed back into the bedroom. I pulled the suitcase out
from under the bed, pressed the speakerphone, and started going through
drawers, throwing clothes into the suitcase while the phone continued to ring.
I had to go to her now. She couldn’t be dead.
I took
a deep breath and tried to center myself. “Come on, Kori. You have a deep
connection to Casey for sure, but it’s never been anything like this. You’ve
seen a lot of fucked up shit lately, and you’re having a mental breakdown. This
call is just going to interrupt your mother’s REM cycle and she’ll be pissed.”
“McCormic.”
My mother’s voice was sharp and cold over the line. Nothing unusual about that.
Maybe everything was fine. Our line of witches hunted vampires exclusively, and
attempted to deaden our emotions. Many people said my mother was the perfect
hunter, but they were wrong. She felt, even if the only emotion she was capable
of was anger. Constant anger.
“Hey,
Mom. It’s Kori. How is Casey? Where is she? I want to talk to her.”
“She’s
been damned.” My mother’s chilly voice didn’t change as she said it, but I knew
she was close to violence.
I
froze. I had thought she was dead. Being a vampire was worse. I couldn’t have
heard it right. “What?”
“She’s
damned. She’s been turned into a vampire and she hasn’t killed herself. She’s
evil.”
I shook
my head even though she couldn’t see the gesture. “How do you know that? I
thought I just felt her die. How do you know she was turned?”
“I
caught her with a vampire. I knew when I disowned her for not killing him, she
would go running to him. I watched them fight and his love for her is stomach
churning. A pitifully twisted demon refusing to kill his mortal enemy. When I
felt her die, I simply assumed he hadn’t killed her.”
Bile
rose in my throat. I swallowed hard and composed myself. Either way, the sister
I knew was dead. Just because her body walked the Earth didn’t mean her soul
was in it. “I’m coming home.”
“I was
going to tell you to. She must be dealt with before she becomes a black mark
against this family. With a fallen daughter, what will the rest of witch
society think of this family? Even vampires will cease to think we’re a threat.
We can’t have one of them associated with us. We would never be trusted to
execute them. You would never get one of your ‘jobs’ again.”
My
family had a problem with me hunting vampires for money. They did the job
because witches were meant to. We were the protectors of the humans.
Personally, I felt I had a specialty, and I should be paid for providing the
service. Greedy of me, but at least I could pay the bills.
“As the
eldest of the new generation you’re expected to handle something like this,
Kori. But if you don’t have the stomach for it, I’ll be forced to. You’ll never
be Matriarch of the line if you allow the task to fall to me, but I don’t
believe you have the power to lead the witches when I’m gone anyway.”
I
narrowed my eyes at the phone. Sometimes I wanted to strangle her. Personally,
I didn’t want to be Matriarch. I’d taken off to get away from duty, honor, and
the responsibilities that had been pressed upon me from birth. But I also
didn’t want the position torn away from me. Things inside witch society needed
to change. If I became Matriarch, I would have the power to force changes.
“I know
what I’m supposed to do, Mother. I know that it’s not my sister in that body.
Just give me the details and I’ll take care of it.” Even if it killed a piece
of me. As long as that demon inhabited her body, my sister’s soul couldn’t move
on.
“She
was turned by Misha.”
“Misha?
Like of the three brothers that decimated Europe in the middle ages? Murdered
great grandmother Sherra, among others?”
“Yes.
If they’d been smart, they would have murdered her children. Celebrate their
stupidity, and make the kill in the name of our ancestors. Don’t fail me,
Daughter.” She hung up.
“Well,
what a wealth of information you were”. But she’d told me all I needed to know.
I could find out from my sources where the infamous band of brothers lived.
They
weren’t incredibly old compared to most vampires, but they were damned skilled.
The rumors about them were ridiculous, claiming they had a body count that
rivaled the Black Death.
It
would be hard to kill her if they protected her. I needed to kill them all,
because I planned to kill Misha, too. The brothers would definitely come after
me if I even attempted that. It was best to take them all out. It wasn’t going
to be an easy feat either. I would have to get them alone and surprise them.
I
changed clothes quickly before going to my weapons locker. I unlocked it and
started filling my suitcase with everything from guns to swords to
pocketknives. Guns weren’t terribly effective on vampires unless you got in a
head shot, but they would slow one down…or really piss it off. The best way to
kill a vamp was to behead it. If the thing was old enough, it could heal a
dagger to the heart.
I
zipped the suitcase and collapsed across it. My sister was dead. I hadn’t been
able to save her. But then, had I ever saved anyone? Our father was dead.
Casey’s twin had never been found, but it was assumed that she was dead.
Vampires weren’t likely to keep a sickly eight year old alive. She would be
seventeen by now.
A tear
trickled down my cheek and I swiped at it angrily. The McCormic witches didn’t
cry. The McCormic witches didn’t feel anything. But then, I’d never been like
the rest of the family. My mother must have been proud. One dead daughter, one
vampire daughter, and one weak, emotional, royal fuck up.
I shook
my head and pushed myself off the luggage. There was time for self pity and
debilitating grief later. Right now I needed to load up the car and head home.
Or Hell, depending on how you saw it.
HONORIA RAVENA is the author of Fear of Darkness, The Devil's Trap and My Cyborg Savior. When not writing or reading romance she’s belly dancing, traveling or spending quality time with friends and family at her home in Texas. Visit her website www.honoriaravena.com and join her monthly newsletter to stay up to date on new releases, win prizes and enjoy tidbits of wisdom from a dancing writer’s daily life.
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