A Demon in Dallas

A Total-E-Bound Publication

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A Demon in Dallas

ISBN # 978-1-78184-324-6

©Copyright Amy Armstrong 2013

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright April 2013

Edited by Stacey Birkel

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Total-e-burning
and a
sexometer
of
1.

This story contains 91 pages, additionally there is also a
free excerpt
at the end of the book containing 5 pages.

Huntress Chronicles

A DEMON IN DALLAS

Amy Armstrong

Book one in the Huntress Chronicles Series

Two years ago, vampire hunter Raven walked out on the love of her life in order to save his, but now that she needs Connor’s help to locate a demon in Dallas, can she keep their encounter to business only, or is she about to fall for the sexy were-shifter all over again?

When her partner Matt is kidnapped by vampires, it’s up to vampire huntress Raven to locate him. But during her rescue mission, she nearly succumbs to the wicked charms of an evil fairy and is blackmailed by a devious angel who wants her to locate a demon in Dallas. Raven’s superior in the hunters’ council gives her just seventy-two hours to find Matt before they send in a team of hunters whose mission statement is kill first, ask questions later. Raven’s going to need help, but the only person she can turn to is her ex-boyfriend Connor, a werewolf who Raven hasn’t been able to get out of her heart or head.

Unwittingly thrown into a battle between good and evil, and with danger lurking around every corner, Raven must race against the clock to locate the demon and rescue Matt, while dealing with her feelings of guilt for walking out on Connor two years ago…even though she only did so to save his life…

Dedication

Inva, this one is dedicated to you—thanks for being a wonderful friend. To Stacey, my fabulous editor, thank you for everything you do for me, you’re a pleasure to work with. Thanks to Total-E-Bound for your constant professionalism and hard work—I’m so happy I decided to submit my first novel to your company. To Adriana, thank you for reading this and for all your helpful comments—as always, they were very much appreciated. You’re a star! To my readers, thank you for supporting me and offering me words of encouragement every day. I truly appreciate you all.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

The New York Philharmonic: Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York

The Exorcist
: William Peter Blatty, Warner Brothers

Edward Cullen: Stephenie Meyer

Chapter One

“I can’t see a freaking thing down here, it’s too dark,” Matt whined.

Hands clenched into fists, I glared at him, my jaw tense. “If you don’t stop whining, I’ll leave you down here to find your own way out.”

Matt shut up. The trip to Texas had been his idea, and only two days after arriving, he had me combing the sewers, knee deep in God only knows what. As we headed farther into the labyrinth of tunnels, my already sour mood worsened. Why had I agreed to this? I should have known better.

After a few more minutes of walking on in the worst kind of uncomfortable silence, Matt mumbled, “I was sure he came this way.”

He might have missed the glare I tossed in his direction, but I’d be surprised if he couldn’t feel my gaze burning a hole in the back of his head. I’d never have admitted it to Matt, but I was angrier at myself than I was with him. Yet again, I had let him talk me into one of his idiotic plans. Apparently, my stupidity knows no boundaries.

It wasn’t as if we didn’t have enough work to keep us busy in Maine, and you didn’t melt in Maine when you stepped out into the midday sun. That was always a bonus. But no, the idea of a nest of vampires that were getting too big for their cowboy boots had seduced me. It was always the damn vampires that did it. I felt drawn to them like a wolf to the moon—which made sense in its own perverse way. I was a hunter, after all. The need to exterminate the vermin was in my blood, embedded in my DNA.

Matt stayed by my side as we traversed the intricate network of tunnels. He didn’t have the sense of direction that I had been born with, so we had to stick together. If we split up, Matt would be sure to get lost and the last thing I wanted was to have to spend more time in the damn sewer than I needed to.

Placing a hand around my upper arm, Matt pulled me to a stop. He was about my height, if marginally broader, so when I turned we were standing face to face and close enough that I could see his remorseful expression. He let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this. You were right. We should have stayed in Maine.”

His repentant tone dispelled most of the anger I had been holding onto. There was a reason I hadn’t wanted to come back to Austin, but Matt didn’t know about that. As far as he was aware, I’d walked out on that part of my life two years ago and I hadn’t looked back. I was good at hiding my feelings, even from Matt, who had become like a brother to me over the ten years we’d been hunting together. Or maybe I was just a damn good liar—too good.

I shrugged. “Don’t sweat it. I’m a big girl. I agreed to come along. Now that we’re here, let’s kill us some vamps, yeah?”

A goofy grin was his only reply. When we turned a corner, the dimly lit, narrow passageway opened up into a cavernous room. The stark brick walls held small fitted lights, but they let off hardly any illumination. Our prey was standing in the back, casually leaning against the wall when we entered. His eyes glowed yellow in the small beam of moonlight that filtered down from an overhead grating. Even from ten feet away I could smell the stench of death and decay on his breath. The room was just bright enough to see the vampire’s wide, toothy grin.

“Well, it’s about time y’all showed up,” he said with a lazy Texan twang. “I ain’t got all night, ya know.”

I took a few steps farther into the room to get a better look at the creature. He was wearing pale blue, flared denims and a floral shirt. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the seventies—in fact, he probably hadn’t taken them off since the seventies. That would certainly explain some of the stink. But the strangest thing about him was his relaxed stance and calm demeanour. Most vampires feared hunters on sight. Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out my favourite silver-tipped stake.

“Oh, I’d put that away if I were you.” He swaggered towards us and the stench increased, clogging up the already stale air until it was all I could smell. Some days, I really hated my damn job.

I shrugged. “Sorry, no can do.”

“Someone could get hurt,” he mused.

“Not someone,” I corrected. “
Something
.” It was damn near impossible to think of a vampire as human when their humanity had departed along with their soul. ‘Mindless, emotionless killers’ was the only term that fitted.

His grin broadened. “Details,” he drawled, with a swish of his hand.

As we stared at each other silently, my mind went into overdrive. There was something off about this whole situation. His relaxed manner made me jittery. Vampires were undoubtedly the most conceited of the supernatural species, but he would have known we were hunters. So he was either stupid enough to think he could take us or he had a death wish. Of course, there could always be a third alternative—he wasn’t down in the sewer alone and that fact was giving him false confidence.

“Matt, pick up the slack,” I instructed.

My eyes never wavered from the soulless creature in front of me. In the ten years we’d worked together, Matt and I had come to understand one another pretty well so I didn’t need to elaborate. In my peripheral vision, I saw him nod then walk back down the tunnel we’d just come through.

“Well, well. Not as stupid as you look.” As the creature neared, his haughty smirk exposed yellow, razor-sharp fangs.

I was about to respond with something equally banal when a fight broke out in the tunnel behind me. The harrowing sounds of fists hitting flesh and snapping bones reached my ears along with Matt’s shouts of rage as he fought what sounded like four or five vampires at once.

“Raven! Raven, help me!” Matt shouted.

Damn
. I thought about dealing with the creature in front of me first, but then a sound rang out that made my stomach lurch violently and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. Matt screamed—quite literally
screamed
. The chilling sound echoed off the damp sewer walls, reverberating through my body like it was a physical entity that had taken me by the arms and shaken the living daylights out of me. It was excruciating to listen to.

I was about to charge to Matt’s rescue when the vampire lunged, catching me off guard. I dived out of the way, narrowly missing his teeth, but his clawed hand slashed across my chest, slicing deep. It hurt, badly, but I took a deep breath and pushed the pain out of my mind. I needed to focus on the fight. The sickly sweet, metallic odour of blood reached my nostrils and from the hungry look in the vamp’s eyes, he’d scented it too.

“There’s no escape,” he said in a pedestrian tone that annoyed the crap out of me. The vampire was too sure of himself, too arrogant by far—totally misguided.

The second time he came at me, I was ready for him. His sharp teeth and rancid breath were inches away from my face when I plunged the stake into his chest, hitting the dead centre of his heart. His eyebrows drew together as he looked down and let out an ear-piercing wail before crumpling to the ground at my feet, dead. Unlike his first death, there would be no coming back from this one.

I pulled out my stake right before the vampire’s body began to degrade—aging before my eyes, wrinkling and drying out like a grape on a vine left to wither under the sun’s harsh rays. In a few minutes there would be nothing left to mark his time on earth but a pile of dense ashes. Without sparing another thought for the soulless creature, I raced back down the tunnel to get to Matt, but I was too late. The vampire’s friends had already left and Matt was missing too.
What the hell
? I leant back against the damp wall and tried to catch my breath. I had to find him before it was too late.