Cat Tales (2 page)

“Cat Tats”

Short story about Rick LaFleur. Available for Kindle, Nook, and e-readers as part of
Cat Tales
.

“Kits”

Short story about Jane Yellowrock with Molly Everhart Trueblood as a secondary character. Available for Kindle, Nook, and e-readers as part of
Cat Tales
.

“Signatures of the Dead”

A short story from the
Strange Brew
anthology about Molly Everhart Trueblood, with Jane Yellowrock as a secondary character. Available only in the anthology.

Skinwalker

The first Jane Yellowrock novel.

Blood Cross

The second Jane Yellowrock novel.

Mercy Blade

The third Jane Yellowrock novel.

“Blood, Fangs and Going Furry”

Short story about Rick LaFleur, with Jane Yellowrock as a secondary chaory\racter. It picks up just after the ending of
Mercy Blade
. Available for Kindle, Nook, and e-readers as part of
Cat Tales
.

Raven Cursed

The fourth Jane Yellowrock novel, available January 2012.

Death’s Rival

The fifth Jane Yellowrock novel, available October 2012.

V
AMPIRE
C
LAN
A
FFILIATIONS,
A
S
J
ANE
U
NDERSTANDS
T
HEM

This is taken from Jane’s POV, actually, as part of her notes, kept on her trusty laptop. Parenthetical notes are author’s additions for clarity.

How can I keep up with all the vamps? Crap. It gets so confusing. But then, I won’t be here much longer, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

The clan alliances keep reconfiguring. And with Leo sorta nutso, things are in constant flux. I hate to admit it, but the vamps are interesting, and they keep grabbing my attention, even when I know that I should be outta here and back to the mountains. Okay. Soon—real soon—I’m going home. Really. I am.

The bloodsuckers play with alliances and power like games on a chess board, but it’s a bloody chess board where everyone is expendable. Even me. I really gotta get outta here. Soon.

Clan info and general notes as I understand them (by the end of
Blood Cross
):

Clan St. Martin:

Leader:
Dead and unnamed, killed by Adrianna and Rafael.

Heir:
Dead and unnamed, also killed by Adrianna and Rafael.

s New R>
Scion:
Adrianna, red hair, blue eyes. Has two blood-servants, Sina and Brigit.

Scions of Adrianna:
Lanah and Hope.

Clan Rousseau:

Leader:
Bettina.

Heir:
Unknown.

Scions:
Unknown.

Clan Desmarais:

Leader:
Unknown.

Heir:
Unknown.

Scions:
Lorraine and Cieran, the Damourses. Renee Damours recently (in vamp time) made a play for clan master.

Clan Pellissier:

Leader:
Leonard Eugène Zacharie Pellissier, Blood-Master of the City.

Heir:
Immanuel, dead.

Scions:
Katherine Louisa “Katie” Dupre, Amitee Marchand, and Fernand Marchand.

New Heir:
unknown

Outclan Scions:
Bethany Salazar y Medina and Sabina Delgado y Agulilar.

Clan Laurent:

Leader:
Originally Edmund Hartley, who lost in personal blood-challenge to Bettina, of Clan Rousseau, following the clan shakeup. Chua will probably take over, if he survives.

Heir:
Chua {Navaho name meaning Snake}).

Scions:
Hedrick and Launa

Clan Arceneau:

Leader:
Grégoire (weakened, pledged to Leo).

Heir:
Dominique.

Scions:
Thomas and Kenknoomas anneth

Clan Mearkanis:

Leader:
Ming, dead.

Clan Heir:
Rafael (scion, who hated Leo and me).

Scions:
Alejandro, Domingo, and Evelyn

Clan Bouvier:

Leader:
by tradition, the leader is always called Bouvier

Scions:
I was never introduced to them, and have no info at this time.

Updated Clans (as they appear in
Mercy Blade
)
Now only four left. Crap. Leo is a freaking bloody vamp.

Clan Pellissier:

Leader:
Leonard Eugène Zacharie Pellissier, Blood-Master of the City.

Heir:
Immanuel—deceased. Recently appointed: Katherine Louisa “Katie” Dupre.

Scions:
Alejandro, Estavan, both of Spanish origin, and Hildebert, a German whose name means “bright battle.” And Koun, a guy who was a Celt by birth. Hildebert and Koun are the warriors of the clan, and I’d really rather not have to face either one in battle.

Lower scions:
Amitee Marchand and Fernand Marchand Bouvier—dangerous. I have a feeling I’ll have to kill them someday.

Blood-servants:
Primo—George “Bruiser” Dumas. Yeah. Bruiser. He may be more dangerous to me than anyone else.

Lorraine and Cieran:
Lowest of the low blood-servants. Adopted in from another clan.

Clan Bouvier:

Co-Leaders:
Innara and Jena. Since there are two of them, they no longer go by the traditional name Bouvier, which just be totally confusing. Innara is dark blond, wears her hair in a pageboy. Jena is slightly taller and brown haired, not as pretty as most vamps until you see her eyes, which are hazel brown with flecks of gold.

Heir:
Ronald, a Texan. And it sounds so odd to hear a vamp talk with a Texas accent.

.
Scion:
Bethany Salazar y Medina (outclan). I need to learn more about the outclan.

Clan Laurent:

Leader:
Bettina, former leader of Rousseau.

Heir:
Shaun Mac Lochlainn, a massive, battle-scarred man, Gaelic accent, bright blue eyes, pretty red hair. Mind joined with Bettina in anamchara?

Scions:
Two fighting males.

Clan Arceneau:

Leader:
Grégoire (now strong, pledged to Leo).

Heir:
Dominique, also strong.

Scions:
Kabisa and Karimu, both female. Both were soldiers. Lanah and Hope, formally accepted by Arceneau, previously under another clan, with Sina and Brigit, their new blood-servants.

The Early Years

Careful of the big gold-toned hoops that pierced my earlobes, I strapped on my helmet and straddled the beat-up Yamaha. It wasn’t my dream bike, but it would do until I could afford the one I really wanted. I glanced back to make sure my saddlebags were latched. The teal compartments were secure, held in place with leather straps tightened by Bobby, who now stood to the side, his face long and eyes downcast. Everything was in place and ready. A thrill of excitement raced along my skin, prickling like fur. Despite the heat, I pulled on my leather riding jacket and tucked my hip-length braid inside it, out of the way. I touched the gold necklace that I still wore like a talisman, and reached for the key to start the engine.

“You don’t have to go,” Bobby blurted.

I looked up at him: his red hair catching the afternoon sun, his freckles a spatter of cinnamon. He was standing with his arms crossed, his hands tight under his armpits, eyes staring at the asphalt. Afraid. He had always been afraid. Prey, the insistent, soft voice whispered in my mind. With long practice, I shoved the presence down deep, ignoring it. It hacked with amusement, but subsided, watching. Waiting.

“Yes, I do,” I repeated for the thousandth time, trying to keep the impatience out of my tone. “I can’t stay. They won’t let us stay after we turn eighteen. The funding runs out today. And I have to leave.” That wasn’t strictly true. The children’s home did have a program for their graduates, as they called us, but I didn’t fit into it at all. And though they would have found a place for me for a while, I had seen the looks on their faces. They were ready for me to go.

“I’m not going twiteo college or tech school, so there’s no money for my housing till fall. The only security firm that wanted a trainee is in Asheville. I have to go.” That much was true.

“But it won’t be the same, Jane.”

I knew what he really meant. Like me, Bobby was different, not like the other kids at Bethel Nondenominational Christian Children’s Home. While I was just . . . different, he was a little slower than most, both physically and mentally. Bobby was seventeen going on ten. And he was lonely, just as I had been. Like me, he’d been picked on mercilessly by the other kids. Not when a group-home parent was nearby, of course, or when a counselor was watching. Never then. Only when no one was looking. His life had been hell until I’d taken him under my wing, in the middle of December, more than two years ago.