Bella Vita (63 page)

I heard the chain scrap before I saw her
being brought in. Issy's head was down. I could see the tear
streaks down her cheeks. My heart filled with hurt and anger. I
took a deep breath and pushed them away. Once she was positioned on
the chair, the tribunal opened up.

“
For the sake of our
guests, this tribunal will be held in English. Tonight we come
together to pass judgment on, Isabella DeDominico, for the death of
our beloved Jack.” Acacia's words boomed around the
room.

A soft growl and gentle howl seemed to
bounce off the walls afterwards.

“
The vampires are here to
offer her innocence.” She continued.

A real hiss erupted from the people below
us.

“
It has been in our
traditions...” I zoned out on Acacia's spiel.

I let my mind search through the minds in
the room. I was looking for information that would help save Issy.
There was a hum in the room that I was having a hard time
pinpointing.

Dom elbowed me gently.

“
We will bring this to a
vote.” Acacia continued.

“
Wait, we were there the
night Isabella supposedly killed Jack.” The words were out of my
mouth before I had time to think.

“
Can you provide any
evidence that has not already been shown?” She asked.

I looked at Dom, he shook his head.

“
No.” The humming continued
to bug me.

Where have I felt that
before?
I mentally searched for the source
of the feeling.

“
Then it's up to the
tribunal to decide her innocence or guilt.” If I wasn't mistaken I
could see Acacia enjoying her position.

“
Vote, vote, vote!” The
crowd took up the chant.

“
To the vote it is.” She
offered it to the tribunal. “Those in favor of a death for a death,
say aye.”

Of the eight werewolves present, five said
'aye'.

“
Those opposed?”

Three 'nays' were spoken.

“
The majority rules, death
to Isabella DeDominico.” Acacia ruled.

“
No!” Our entire party
shouted and launched itself at Issy, landing around her in
protection.

The humming grew louder and more
present.

“
If you stand between us
and our sentence, then you too will die.” Acacia's eyes gleamed in
delight.

“
No, this is not the way.”
Mike said and came to stand by us.

“
You dare go against your
people, Michael O'Shanold?” There was fire in her eyes.

“
Aye, for what's right. I
will.” Mike's words were sure.

I realized that I knew that
hum from Issy's mind. It came from the spell the witches had put in
her.
That meant...

“
The killer is in this
room. I can prove it!” I shouted.

A large gasp rocked the room, and then I
heard the charge of magic as I pinpointed its source.

One word floated around my mind before the
darkness took hold of me.

Kelly...

The story continues with

Bella Tristezza

Coming Soon

Please enjoy this preview of

Dead to Bites

Book 1 in the

Kat Purrowells Series

Dead to Bites
Excerpt

I

My name is Kat Purrowells, when I was
five years old, I was bitten by a vampire.

Perhaps, I should say, I believe I was
bitten. I went to sleep on my Step-dad's living room floor on an
egg crate mattress. When I woke up in the morning I had two perfect
circular scabs on my collar bone. I might have easily dismissed
them or accounted it to one of the numerous reptiles he had living
with him at the time, except my sister told me that I was bitten by
a vampire. Needless to say, my five year old mind adsorbed that
information and it stuck with me ever since.

I am an occult cultural
anthropologist. Basically that is just a fancy way of saying that I
like to study the oddball cultures. Wanna guess what my flavor of
choice is? That's right, vampires.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking there
are no such thing as vampires, let alone their culture. But you
would be sadly mistaken. Vampires exist as much as anyone. All it
takes is believing in something for it to be true.

It was another bumpy ass plane ride.
It wasn't the first time I was on a red-eye headed to another city.
I had been to London, Atlanta, and Vegas all in the last six
months. This shitty plane was headed to Burbank airport in the San
Fernando Valley- a small hub of Los Angeles. I had requested they
land at Van Nuys, but apparently they wanted the official
clearance.

I leaned back in the uncomfortable
seat and sipped on my whiskey. I was twenty-two last summer and I
was probably on my way out sooner rather than later. My end could
come in the form of a plane crash from my constant travels, my
drinking that helped to keep me calm up in the air, or by being
attacked by some occult being that most people believed only
existed in fairytales and myths.

But I'm not one of the norm, never
have been. I am Kat, yes my parents named a girl that, Purrowells.
I studied Anthropology going through college, my focus- the
supernatural. I was a cultural anthropologist to begin with, but we
all must find our calling- mine was vampires.

The Valley was infested by a
particularly mean branch of vamps, or so I was told. The local cops
had decided it was gang activity. Nothing uncommon for the SFV. It
was a place I was familiar with from my younger days. Days when the
bogey monster was under my bed and not trying to get into it. When
I still believed that the click of a light could make all the bad
things in the world disappear. Not that I'm saying all the beings
in the world that would defined as 'monsters' are necessarily bad
or evil, shit most of them aren't even mean. I've met quite a few
normal people that have given me nightmares.

I bet you're wondering what a cultural
anthropologist was doing chasing monsters and murders? Nothing sane
and normal, I can tell you that much. After I graduated two years
early with high honors, I went and got my Master's degree. I'm a
bona fide monster expert. You can say that I'm a little odd and I
don't relate as well as I should to normal people. The thought of
trying to work with them- that just makes me cringe, especially
since I'm not what you'd call “normal,” but more on that
later.

When I graduated with high
honors once again with my Master's, people took notice. I had been
set to start teaching paranormal anthropology at the school- I
couldn't think of anything else to do with my new found expertise.
Two days after I had my diploma in my hot little hand, my cell
rang. Nothing odd about that, except that no one had
that
cell's number. The
conversation went like this:

“
Hello?” I crouched down
and answered in a confused voice.

“
Miss Purrowells?” A deep
male voice responded.

“
Yes?” Somehow everything
came out in a question, like it was a test.

“
This is Agent Black...” I
snorted as he was about to continue.

“
You're kidding right? Who
is this? Is this Paul? How did you even get this number? It's my
emergency phone.” I laughed at my phone, still not realizing what
was going on.

“
No, Miss Purrowells, this
is Agent Samuel Black. This is not a joke. As for how we got the
number, we have our ways.” He answered very coded.

My mind briefly blanked.

“
Why are you calling me,
Agent Black?” I was still unsure as to what the heck was going
on.

“
Ma'am, we need you to come
in to our headquarters to help us with a problem.” His voice told
me he was uncomfortable with the topic.

“
First of all, I'm not a
ma'am, second, what kind of problem?” My annoyance was growing- if
it was a joke it was not funny.

“
Miss Purrowells, I am not
at liberty to discuss any aspects of this issue. I was handed a
number and told to get you on the next plane to Colorado.” He told
me.

“
And I am just supposed to
agree to this?” The thought of getting on a plane without any
information did not seem appealing.

“
Miss Purrowells, there
will be a car waiting for you in about an hour. It will arrive at
your residence. Please have a bag packed.” He continued.

“
Dude, I've not even said I
was going anywhere.” I protested.

“
I'm sorry, ma'am. Orders
are orders. Have a nice day.” He hung up.

I remember my shock and confusion. I
also remember throwing a bag quickly together and waiting outside
my house like a kid waiting for Santa. It was like the Gods had
decided to liven up my life. I took the chance with both feet. It
was my first real leap of blind faith.

A year later, I was chasing down the
big bad monsters of the world. I had been brought into an elite
secret group, a side of the F.B.I., we were called the P.N.I. Yes,
take a minute, get it out. I know I sure as hell did. Only I was
not as gracious as you are, trying to laugh behind your hand. I
looked my boss in the face and blurted out, “We're a bunch of
cocks!” and the giggling that followed caused many sterns looks and
“blah, blah, blah, not taking this seriously...”

Since then, I've become known in every
circle across the United States. The people I had studied before
were now the people I worked with. My job was to infiltrate the
problem areas and help to identify the threat. I never got to
arrest people or anything, I just reported to people that paid me a
fat check for doing what I loved- hanging out with freaks- my
people.

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR

Jesse now lives in a small town in the middle
of nowhere. She moved from the chaos of Los Angeles. Yes, she
misses it. It isn't uncommon for her to be asked why she moved from
such a busy place to the one horse town- the answer is simply to
allow her kids to grow up with their grandparents.

Jesse has studied anthropology and used her
“education” as an excuse to hang out with vampires- her masters'
thesis was going to be modern vampire culture. They really do
exist. Vampires have been her obsession since she was about five
years old when she swears she was bitten by one.

She enjoys reading and writing. But most
importantly being a crazy mom to her son, new daughter, and ever
growing pet family. Singing silly songs at the top of her lungs and
embarrassing her son is one of her favorite activities. She
considers herself to be an odd duck.

Discover other titles by Jesse
Kimmel-Freeman

Bella Notte (Bella Vampires Series, Book
1)

A Bella Notte Christmas Story

Bella Tristezza (Bella Vampires Series, Book
3, Coming Soon)

Brody and the Skypirates (Brody and the Skypirates, Book
1)

Brody Saves Rue (Brody and the Skypirates, Book 2)

What is a Rue-Rue?

Dead to Bites (Kat Purrowells Series, Book
1)

Fur the Record (Kat Purrowells Series, Book
2, Coming Soon)