Damned if I Don't (The Harker Trilogy Book 2) (20 page)

Jude

I don’t know where the fuck I am and it doesn’t even matter. It’s somewhere between Atlanta and Austin. Just so long as this blood sack is giving my starving body nutrients, that’s all that matters. A panicked thought runs through my addled brain that this body is almost empty, and it hasn’t taken the edge off my hunger.

With great reluctance, I disengage my teeth and throw aside the body, a man in his sixties. If there’s one thing that’s working in my favor, it’s that I’m trying to go after the older humans, even though they taste like leather and moss. The younger ones would taste better but I can’t bring myself to prey on them. I’m not that hungry. At least not yet.

This constant, driving hunger hasn’t passed for three days now, and if anything, it’s gotten worse. I held out for as long as I could, trying to reel it in. To keep my humanity.

But in the end, I gave in. Much to my utter horror and my stomach’s pleasure, I reverted back to what I used to be. An animal.

I’m bloated from too much blood, but I know it won’t be long now before I have to find another human to feed from.

Desolation runs through me, because I have to face the truth; how am I supposed to stop Anthony if I can’t stop the hunger long enough to figure out a plan? Or even care where I am?

I don’t like who I’ve become.

She made me human.

I push that away from my thoughts. “She” is a normal human now and free of her virus, like I was working towards for five months. At the beginning, I didn’t expect a happy ending, so why did that suddenly change?

Because you tasted hope, and it was sweeter than any blood you could ever have.

I cling to that thought as the waves of hunger pass through me. The world may have gone to shit, but I have our memories together when I’m lucid enough to remember them.

Being a vampire fucking bites.

Between feedings, I’m driven by one goal: kill Anthony.

I don’t care if he’s the fucking Progenitor. There
has
to be a way for me to make the world safe for Edie again. She’s human now, I remind myself, which makes this new world all the more dangerous. And if I love her…If I
ever
loved her…

A storm hangs on the horizon, and I have to find a place to hole up for the day. Hopefully it won’t flood like the weather app says it will. I doubt that though. Nothing seems to be working in my favor anymore.

I check the navigation app on my phone, glad that cell phone service hasn’t gone to hell like the rest of the world. According to Maps, I have 298 hours of walking to go before I get to Austin.

And once I get there, I’m going to finish this once and for all. For all humans and vampires.

For Edie.

To be concluded in Damned Either Way

Coming Soon

I’m writing this after a long day of work at my day job, so please bear with me and I’m going to make a list. I really appreciate everyone’s help in shaping this story to be the best it can be. These characters are dear to me, and I’m so glad to hear that they are dear to you.

Lindsay, Emily, Lori, Margo, Lateia, Brittany, Vicki, Christine, BIC Writer’s Group, my Nerd Crew, my friends, and my family—this book wouldn’t be here without you, and appreciate it so very much. I love you guys so much, and your help is invaluable and means the world to me. I wouldn’t be able to do this without your support.

And readers, thank you for hanging in there. I hope you don’t hate me after this ending.

Thank you.

Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books.

She works as an advertising copywriter and moonlights as an author. She has lived in New Zealand, Texas, and now in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.

You can reach her at [email protected] and she'll be happy to chat. Especially if you want to debate Star Wars.

Follow her on:

www.erinhayesbooks.com

www.facebook.com/erinhayesbooks

Join my street team at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/erinsnerdcrew/