The Recruit: Book One (29 page)

She reached for him again, sighing when he backed away again. 
“What’s wrong?”

“There’s going to be a meeting tomorrow.  Richard will be
going over the rules and consequences for any recruits discovered sleeping with
instructors.”

“Will he be following them himself?”  She laughed bitterly.  “My
understanding is that we lost three recruits and two instructors because he
couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, and broke the heart of a madwoman.”

“He’s well aware of his role in what happened.”  Will said
quietly.  “It’s why he now seeks so hard to bring order back to the facility.”

“If you’re caught sleeping with me, you’ll be kicked out
immediately.”  He lied.  The thought of Hannah not being at the training
centre, of never seeing her again, filled him with a wordless horror.  It was
better for her to believe she would be kicked out rather than just
transferred.  It would make her more hesitant to break the rules, and he would
at least see her every day and be able to keep her safe.

“No second chances, Hannah.”  He stared again at the bites
on her upper body.  “You’ll die if you leave the protection of the facility.”

He stared grimly at her.  “I’m sorry.  But it isn’t just
that – Selena told us that the vampire knew your name.”

She stared at the floor.  “He did.  He said his name was Marcus. 
How did he know my name, Will?”

“I don’t know.”  He admitted.  “We’ll find out.  I promise
you that.  But it’s more important now that we don’t do anything to jeopardize
your ability to stay here.”

“So I’m to live here forever then?”  She asked softly.

When he didn’t respond, she shrugged.  “It isn’t anything I didn’t
already know.  I don’t want to leave anyway.  I want revenge for Sara, and I
won’t stop until I’ve killed every vampire I can.”

“Hannah, there’s more to life than revenge.”  He said
quietly.

“I know.  There’s you.”  She smiled at him and his chest
tightened painfully.

“We can’t, Hannah.  I’m sorry.”

“I won’t be a recruit forever, Will.”  She gave him another
small smile.  “I’m willing to wait for you.”

“Hannah - “  

The way she was looking at him was making his chest ache. 

She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his
waist, kissing his broad chest through his t-shirt.  “I’ll just ask Chen to
hurry up with my training.”

“It’s more than just that.”  Will stared down at her,
resisting the urge to smooth her hair back from her face.

“What do you mean?”

He stared down at her, memorizing every part of her sweet
face, before hardening his heart towards her.  “Lycans and humans mating is one
thing, but there can be nothing else between us.  I thought you knew that.”

She froze against him, staring up at him as hurt flooded
through her face, reddening her pale cheeks and making her full mouth tremble.

“Will, I – “

He stepped out of the circle of her arms and she crossed
them over her torso as he stared steadily at her.  “What this was between us
was nothing more than two consenting adults having a good time.  It was fun and
exciting to sneak around but now that the consequences are more severe, I
can’t, in good conscience, continue it.  I’d feel bad if something happened to
you.”

“You’d feel bad?”  She whispered.  “You’d feel bad?”

He nodded, his heart thudding painfully in his chest and his
stomach churning with nausea.

She gave him such a look of disgust that he recoiled a bit.  “Well
thank you, Will.  It makes me feel so much better knowing that you’d feel bad
if I died.”

“I’m sorry if I misled you about what was happening between
us, truly I am, but you can’t honestly think that there was any type of future
between us.  You’re a human.  I’m a Lycan.  Did you really expect a happily
ever after for us?”

Now it was her turn to recoil from him and he had to clench
his hands into fists to stop from reaching out to her.

“No, I suppose I didn’t.”  She said icily.  “Would you mind
leaving, Will?  I’m tired.”

He nodded.  “Of course.”  He echoed the words Richard had
said to him earlier.  “Do we have an understanding, Hannah?”

“Yes, we certainly do.”  She turned away from him.

He stared at her for a moment longer before turning and
leaving her room.  Hannah broke into soft sobs the moment the door closed,
collapsing on her bed and sobbing into her pillow.

Will stood outside her door, listening to her soft cries,
his head throbbing and his fingers digging into his palms.  He strode quickly
down the hallway toward the elevator.  He needed to leave.  He needed to shift
and to run through the trees and think of nothing for awhile.

* * *

“So, it takes only a week for you to come crawling back to
your master like a dog in the night.”  The voice was deep and velvety smooth.

Marcus fell to his knees immediately.  “Forgive me, master. 
Please.”

A hand reached out of the darkness and rested lightly on his
bowed head.  “This is twice you have failed me now, Marcus.  What am I to do
with you?”

“Master, please.  I wish only to serve you.”

“Serve me?”  Samuel laughed.  “And how exactly have you been
doing that?  You have lost two groups of yearlings in the last month alone. 
And for what?  A silly human woman.”

At Marcus’ soft intake of breath, Samuel nodded.  “Yes, I
know of your obsession with the human.”

“My master, she is unique.  She has an ability I have not
seen before in a human.  She killed at least twenty of our kind with her swords
alone.  She would make a powerful ally to us.”

Samuel hissed in anger and wrapped his hand around Marcus’
throat.  He lifted the vampire into the air easily.  Marcus, his feet dangling
helplessly, stared into Samuel’s glowing eyes.

“And how do you propose that we find this human?  Twice now
you have tried to capture her, and twice she has slipped through your fingers.”

“The woman, Isabelle, she can bring her to us.”

With an angry roar, Samuel threw Marcus across the room.  He
crashed into the wall and Samuel flew across the room and crouched in front of
him.  “The woman is dead by her own hand.”

“How – how do you know this?”  Marcus stammered.

Samuel snorted in disgust.  “You think the woman is our only
informant?  Believe me Marcus, the humans are weak.  There are plenty of them
willing to betray their own for the chance at immortality.”

He reached out and traced his long fingernail across the
scar on Marcus’ face.  “The good news is that I’ve decided not to kill you. 
Your instincts about this woman, this Hannah, were correct.  She will be an
excellent addition to our family.  We will use her unique skills to our
advantage, will we not?”

Marcus nodded as Samuel continued.  “Unfortunately, I’m sure
you understand that I cannot trust you to bring her to me.  After all, you have
failed me repeatedly in that regard.”

“Another chance, master.  I beg you.”  Marcus pleaded.  “I
can bring her to you.  I will find out all there is to know about her, and use
it to bring her into our family.  I promise you.”

Samuel stared at him thoughtfully.  “Perhaps you will, Marcus. 
Perhaps you will.” 

He stood and walked quickly to the other side of the room,
staring out the window into the darkness.  “Start with her family.”

He looked behind him to where Marcus still sat on the floor.
 “Do not fail me again, Marcus.”

END

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* * *

Please enjoy a sample excerpt of “The
Recruit (Book Two)”

* * *

“Humans are so stupid, are they not?”  The vampire grinned
to his companion before staring down at the frightened couple bound to chairs. 

“They send five to protect you.  FIVE!  As if five would be
nearly enough when the dark lord wants you.”

He knelt in front of the woman and traced her tear-stained
cheek with one long nail.  “We’ve been watching you for weeks.  We’ve been
watching
them
for weeks.  We learned to know their habits, their signs
of weariness and their shift changes, and we used it to our advantage.  Our
dark lord taught us to be oh so patient and watch.  He is a tricky one he is.”

He stared at the woman thoughtfully.  “I suppose that isn’t
entirely the truth.  We did, after all, have some help from our friends.” 

He bounced to his feet and paced back and forth in front of
them.  “Of course, even the dark lord’s patience does have its limits.  It’s
why we’re here now.  We grow tired of waiting for her.”

He leaned in and smiled at the woman, and she turned her
head at the smell of his rotting breath.  “It’s why we’re going to kill one of
you and use your blood to call for her.  We’ll leave the other alive of course
– she has to have some motivation to come home.”

“She’s dead!  Don’t you understand that?  Our daughter is
dead!”  The man cried angrily. 

The vampire was standing in front of him before the man had
realized it had moved.  He leaned forward and breathed deeply.  “I would like
just a taste of you.”

“Don’t.”  His companion warned.  “The master will not be
happy if you do.”

“Shut up.”  The vampire hissed at him.  “He won’t know if I
take just a small sip.”

He stared at the man and then his wife.  “We’ll kill the
woman.”  He decided.  “I bet she’s a daddy’s girl and will come running to
comfort him in his time of grief.”

He stepped towards her and the man struggled against his
bonds.  “Don’t you touch her!”

The creature grinned at him, and the man shrank back as the
vampire’s teeth lengthened into sharp points.

“What are you?”  He whispered.

“Yes, just a small sip.”  The vampire murmured.  “I’m so
terribly thirsty.”

He leaned towards the man, the fangs lengthening until they
were protruding from his mouth.  Before he could sink them into the throbbing
vein in the man’s neck, barking could be heard from outside. 

As the barking continued, he sighed and rolled his eyes,
standing straight and glaring at his companion.

“What?”

“Go outside and kill the fucking dog, you idiot!”

His companion turned and left the room.  Faintly, the
vampire could hear the back door slamming and he sighed dramatically and turned
back to the couple.

“It’s so difficult to find good help these days.”

* * *

The vampire stood on the back porch and stared into the
yard.  His night vision was excellent, and he quickly spotted the small,
scruffy dog standing at the edge of the yard.  It was staring into the bushes
that flanked the yard and barking repeatedly.

He wondered briefly where the others were, but the shrill
high-pitched barking was making it impossible to think clearly.  The vampire
winced and then flew across the yard, pouncing on the dog.  It gave a painful
yelp as he snatched it from the ground and lifted it up until it was dangling
in front of his eyes.

He sniffed, his face wrinkling with distaste.  “I prefer
human but you’ll do for a quick snack.” He muttered.  He opened his mouth, his
fangs popping out, and lowered his face towards the frightened animal.

There was sharp pressure on his back and a cold voice spoke,
“Put my dog down, asshole.”

He hesitated and a gun was cocked and put to his temple. 
“You’d better listen to her.”  A tall, blonde man said cheerfully as a
dark-haired woman, dressed in a long trench coat and leather pants, circled
around him.  There was a sword in her hand, and it gleamed softly in the
moonlight.

He lifted his lip and snarled at them, and the blonde man
made a tsking noise under his breath.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.  I’m
all for letting you live, because I’m just that kind of guy, but the hottie
standing in front of you?  Well, she’s been in a bad mood all day.  She’ll
probably kill you just for shits and giggles, you know?”

The vampire dropped the dog, and the woman in front of him
caught it neatly with one hand before it could hit the ground.

He stared at her, a touch of fear trickling down his cold
spine at her quickness.  He had thought he would use his speed and his strength
to overpower them but there was something in the way she held her sword,
something in the way in which she had caught the dog with a silent, spooky
speed that made him hesitate.  He swallowed and forced himself to sound
unafraid.  “A gun won’t stop me.”

“That’s an excellent point.”  The blonde man nodded
cheerfully, and the woman gave him a look of irritation.

“What?  It is an excellent point.  Guns don’t kill
vampires.  Guns kill humans.  Now, guns loaded with UV-filled bullets?  They
kill vampires.  And in a rather nasty way too.”

He cocked his head and gave the vampire a charming smile. 
“Have you ever wondered what it’s like to burn from the inside out?  I could
show you – just make one wrong move and I’ll be happy to demonstrate.”

The vampire licked his lips nervously.  “There’s no need for
violence.”

The woman laughed bitterly.  “That’s rich coming from you. 
Turn around.”  She handed the dog to the blonde man who took it without
removing his gun from the vampire’s temple.

The vampire turned around, feeling the muzzle of the gun
drag through his hair.  “What are you – “

He stopped, a look of shock coming over his face as the
woman thrust her sword further into his back.

“It’s only inches from the slab of meat you call a heart. 
Do you hear me?”  She whispered.

He nodded.

“If you make one wrong move, if you even try to escape, I
will puncture it.  Now – move towards the house, nice and slow.”