Slayer's Prey Read online

  Other Titles by Crystal-Rain Love

  from ImaJinn books

  Blood Revelation Series

  Blood Curse

  Book One

  Slayer’s Prey

  Book Two

  Slayer’s Prey

  The Blood Revelation Series

  Book Two

  by

  Crystal-Rain Love

  ImaJinn Books

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  ImaJinn Books

  PO BOX 300921

  Memphis, TN 38130

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61026-091-6

  Print ISBN: 978-1-61026-090-9

  ImaJinn Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.

  Copyright © 2012 by Crystal-Rain Love

  Published in the United States of America.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  ImaJinn Books was founded by Linda Kichline.

  We at ImaJinn Books enjoy hearing from readers. Visit our websites

  ImaJinnBooks.com

  BelleBooks.com

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  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Cover design: Deborah Smith

  Interior design: Hank Smith

  Photo/Art credits:

  Man © Helder Almeida | Dreamstime.com

  Background © Subbotina | Dreamstime.com

  :Epsx:01:

  Dedication

  To Von Ashby Lewis, a good friend and “fan” who demanded I keep cranking out chapters on this one. Writer’s block never stood a chance.

  Prologue

  SOMETHING WAITED out there. Jacob Porter felt the lurking danger in every part of his twelve-year-old body. The fear twisted his gut, prickled his skin and caused the short hairs at the nape of his neck to stand on end as he eased down the alley alongside his best friend, Bobby Romano.

  “Hey, Bobby, this isn’t right. Let’s stay on the street.” The shadows seemed to dance along the brick walls lining the alley, beckoning them closer. They never should have snuck out, he decided.

  “Don’t be a baby, Jackie. The shortcut will get us back home quicker, before my mom notices we’re gone. Do you want to get a beating?”

  “No.”

  “Neither do I. Come on!” Bobby walked ahead, leading the way down the dark alley. Broken bottles and rotting food lined the pathway. The only light came from moonbeams which spilled over the walls, casting a dull blue glow in the narrow passage. Bobby walked ahead fearlessly, his short black hair glistening in the blue light. He’d had enough sense to pull on a blue jean jacket before climbing out his bedroom window. Jacob shivered as he walked behind, wearing only a thin white T-shirt with his jeans and sneakers. He wasn’t so sure the cold was the only reason for his shiver.

  They should have stayed at Bobby’s house, but Bobby had wanted to see Nina. Nina worked at Foxy Lady, the strip club on Fourth Street. Bobby knew a way to sneak in after the show began, had learned it from tailing after his older brother one evening.

  “Come on, Jackie, don’t cha wanna see some real titties?” Bobby had asked.

  Jacob had thought about it, thought about how bad Mrs. Romano would beat them both if she found out, but in the end the prospect of seeing a real naked woman had won out. Now, he wished he’d talked Bobby out of it.

  The alley led to an opening between four buildings, a small clearing that provided space for the local businesses’ Dumpsters. The moonlight didn’t spill into that space. That was odd considering it was more open than the narrow alley. Jacob stopped in his tracks, his feet suddenly frozen. “Stop, Bobby,” he ordered before his friend entered the clearing.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Bobby asked, turning so his dark eyes looked back at Jacob. “We have to go past the clearing and down through the other side of the alley over there. If you’d hurry up we can make it back home in ten minutes!”

  Jacob shook his head. “No, Bobby. We have to go back.”

  “What are you talking about? Quit being a baby. Nothing’s going to get us. We’re just ten minutes from home. Come on!”

  “No!” He felt himself wanting to cry and struggled to hold back the tears. Something was out there, waiting for them, waiting to eat them. “Something’s out there, and it’s going to kill us!”

  Bobby rolled his eyes. “What a crybaby. We don’t have time for this! My mom will be coming home from her job in twenty minutes, and the first thing she’s going to do is check on us. We can’t go the long way home, Jackie.”

  Jacob wanted to turn and leave. If he and Bobby weren’t so close he would have done just that, but Bobby was his best friend. If he didn’t make it to the house before Mrs. Romano came home from her job, she would give them both a good whipping. A good friend didn’t cause their friend to get a beating. They also didn’t let them walk alone through dangerous places.

  “Bobby, there’s no light there. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

  Bobby looked over his shoulder at the opening and shrugged. “It’s not even five in the morning, dude. What do you expect?”

  “But, the moon . . .”

  “Jackie, we can talk science at school. We gotta go. Now.”

  Jacob let out the breath he’d been holding, knowing Bobby was not going to change his mind. He had always been stubborn, more so than Jacob which was no easy feat. “All right, but we’re running all the way home, and don’t look back. Just run like your life depends on it.”

  Bobby grinned. “Okay, whiney-girl. Now, let’s go.”

  Against his better judgment, Jacob ran along with Bobby, sprinting through the clearing as though the hounds of hell were on his heels, but just as they reached the other side and were about to enter the alleyway that would take them to the safety of Bobby’s house, a shadow moved from the wall and blocked their exit.

  Jacob and Bobby skidded to a stop; their mouths dropped open as they looked at each other.

  “Jackie?” Bobby’s voice trembled, his eyes wide and glossy. Jacob was no longer the only crybaby.

  The shadow stepped forward and Jacob could see black eyes staring out from pale skin, pink lips pulled back over white teeth and two long fangs. Jacob blinked. He’d seen men like this before, with long dark hair and black clothes, long fingernails like a woman. He had seen men like this in really bad movies. Vampires.

  Run, Jacob! Run! a woman’s voice screamed inside his head, and he didn’t waste time trying to figure out who was speaking to him. He did what he was told, grabbing Bobby’s arm and turning away. They started to run, heading back to the alley they had just left, but Bobby screamed before they made it, and as Jacob turned toward him he froze in fear.

  There were more of them, and they were feasting on Bobby. Three men and a woman plunged their teeth into Bobby’s small body and drank his blood as he screamed. Jacob tried to scream too, but no sound came out. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He was having a nightmare.

  Run, Jacob! Run!

  Jacob looked around for the woman he heard in his head, but no one was there, no one but the vampires, and a black cat perched on top of a Dumpster. He couldn’t obey the woman, whoever she was. He had to help Bobby.

  “
Leave him alone!” He cried out in vain, catching the attention of the first vampire. The beast backed away from Bobby’s limp body and stared at Jacob, blood covering the lower half of his face. His slow, wicked smile promised death. It was in that instant that Jacob knew Bobby was dead and soon he would be too.

  Jacob slowly backed away as the vampire approached, too scared to run, too scared to move much at all. His mind was screaming that he needed to get away, but his heart was beating too fast, his legs shaking too hard. He felt a warm gush of liquid down his pant leg as the vampire reached for him.

  The cat sprang from the Dumpster and, with a hiss, scratched the vampire’s face before landing on all fours on the ground.

  Run, Jacob, run! Do it now! The woman’s words sounded like an angry roar, pushing Jacob into motion. As the cat leaped at the vampire again, Jacob turned and ran.

  As he sprinted the length of the alley, he heard the other vampires screaming, but he didn’t dare turn to see what was happening. Fearing they would come after him, he pushed his leg muscles as hard as he could, beating the pavement with his feet as he made it to the street. Even then he didn’t stop running. Bobby was dead. He had to tell Bobby’s parents. Jacob started to cry as he thought about what he would have to say when he reached their house.

  For a moment, he wished the vampires had gotten him too.

  Chapter One

  Sixteen years later.

  JAKE PORTER PARKED his black 1976 Chevy Malibu in the small church’s parking lot and stepped out of the vehicle. The twilight air was cool and refreshing, reviving his tired senses. He hadn’t slept well in days, lingering by his older brother’s bedside, waiting to make sure Jonah would be all right before he left town on the trail of a possible killer.

  He had no idea what he was up against or where to begin the search, but he knew Curtis Dunn had to be found. The psycho’s evil twin, for lack of a better title, had shackled Jonah to a wall and killed several innocent women. That was enough to make him an enemy in Jake’s vengeful mind.

  He walked into the church, not the least bit surprised to find the doors unlocked during the late hour, despite the fact that the church was centered in Baltimore’s most dangerous neighborhood. The pastor had no reason to fear the scum who walked the streets at night. He was far more powerful, having lived hundreds of years longer than the mortals who hung out on the darkened street corners. Jake knew this because he had hunted him, as he did all vampires. The only reason why this particular vamp was still breathing was because he’d helped Jake save his brother.

  “Christian!” Jake called for the vampire by name, a war raging inside his body. Part of him, the part that had watched in horror as vampires drained his best friend of blood, wanted to kill Christian. He’d hunted the vampire down in an effort to do just that, nearly succeeding once before. But the part of him that had witnessed Christian destroy a demon with prayer alone held a strange sort of respect for the man, and he knew it would be wrong to kill him in cold blood.

  Christian emerged from a doorway near the back of the church, his boyishly handsome face drawn into a mask of protective awareness. Jake didn’t blame him for being on guard. He couldn’t guarantee he wasn’t a danger to the vampire. Every time he came close to a vamp he felt adrenaline surge in his veins, felt the urge to take them out like deer in hunting season.

  The vampire stared at him, his dark blue eyes roaming over his body, studying him. His dark hair was short and neat, cut close to his head. He wore a nice, but inexpensive, suit, and to all who were ignorant of his true nature, he looked like a normal, completely harmless pastor. But Jake knew better. He knew just how lethal Christian could be.

  “Jacob Porter, have you come to attempt to take my life once again?”

  “My name’s Jake, and no, I didn’t come to kill you today.”

  “Ah, another day then.” The vampire smiled coolly as he took a few steps closer, stopping at the beginning of the row of pews filling the space between them. “What is it you want of me on this evening?”

  “For one thing, I’d like my gun back.” Jake referred to the specially made gun with custom-crafted UV bullets Christian had taken from him after drinking his blood. His neck still throbbed at the memory of Christian digging his fangs into his skin, the fear he’d felt when he’d thought his end had come.

  Christian shook his head, his eyes lit with amusement. “Now, Jake, do you really think I would keep such a weapon? It was destroyed.”

  Jake had figured as much, but it didn’t hurt to try. “I’m not happy to hear that, Fang-Boy. I guess I’ll have to figure out another way to kill this demon slash vampire thing I’m after.”

  “You’re referring to Curtis Dunn?”

  “Alfred, Curtis, whatever name you’d like to call him.”

  Alfred Dunn, going by the name of Curtis, and his brother, Carter, had left a pile of bodies in Baltimore parks before they came across Jonah. Jake’s brother, a detective with Baltimore Homicide, had been tailing Aria Michaels when he’d been snatched out of his car and locked in the Dunn twins’ basement. Jonah had been beaten to a pulp by the time Jake and Christian’s vampire friends found the place. Carter Dunn didn’t make it out of the building alive, but Curtis escaped while Jake tended to his brother, and the vampires saved two of their own. Now it was Jake’s job to find him.

  “Curtis Dunn is not a vampire. He is essentially a mortal man fighting against a demon that has possessed him and is battling for dominance.”

  “Oh, well, thanks for clearing that up,” Jake said sarcastically. “Now give me some info I can use. Is he dangerous or not?”

  “What did your brother say?”

  Jake sat in one of the pews, feeling no imminent danger from the vampire, and sighed in frustration. “He said he was a real wacko, whining about being two souls in one body. Sounded like a pathetic little bitch if you ask me.”

  Christian grinned as he sat on the back of a pew, still several feet away from Jake. “He befriended Aria, and for a long time she hadn’t a clue of his true identity. He even tried to help her once, although his attempt was utterly pathetic. If he can control the demon inside him that’s struggling to take over, he will probably remain harmless. But from the way Aria described him, he seemed to be losing the battle. You must never forget that although Carter was the more evil of the two, they were still related, and it was Alfred Dunn who made the initial pact with the devil to reincarnate them through their bloodline. Without that pact, Alfred and Patrick Dunn would have remained dead rather than returning to the world as Curtis and Carter Dunn.”

  Jake rose from the hard pew. “Something only a coward would do, going to Lucifer for help because you’re too weak to fight your own battle alone. He should be easy enough to snuff out.” He turned his back to the vampire and started to leave.

  “Why did you come here, Jake?”

  He stopped just before he reached the door, turned around, and shrugged. “To get my gun back.”

  “You knew I wouldn’t keep such a thing in my possession. Why did you really come?” The vampire looked at him knowingly, patiently. He had a way of relaxing Jake, making him feel like confessing his heavily guarded secrets. Jake didn’t like it. Before he could decide how to respond, Christian added, “You can ask me, Jake. I hold no opinions or judgments.”

  Jake squared his shoulders, tried to fight off the hold Christian seemed to have over him. Then, before he could stop it, the question haunting him since the day they saved Jonah slipped through his lips. “Why was your prayer so powerful?”

  Christian’s eyes sparkled, and his mouth tugged up at the corners in satisfaction. “Because God listens.”

  “That’s it? God listens?”

  Christian nodded. “He listens to you too, Jake.”

  Jake felt anger boiling inside him. “Oh really?” Images of blood and the sound of screaming
flooded his mind in a red haze as he recalled the night his best friend was savagely taken from him. “Then why do so many people die screaming? Why doesn’t he hear the screams?”

  “He does.” Christian’s eyes softened, and his voice took on a soothing tone. “But some darkness is so evil we can’t possibly understand it. We aren’t supposed to. We merely believe, keep our hearts true, and know deep within our soul that everything is for a reason and, if we only ask, He will not give us more than we can handle. We simply follow where He leads, and when it is our time to meet with Him all will be revealed.”

  Jake shook his head; the irony of receiving a sermon from a freaking vampire was too much to handle. “Whatever, Suck-Face. I’m outta here.” He turned toward the exit and headed for the door.

  “Wait.”

  Jake stilled and looked over his shoulder. “What?”

  “You said it would be easy to snuff out Curtis Dunn. I can understand why you want to question him, but why kill him? His twin, Carter, was the demon who drained those women and hurt your brother.”

  “There was an out-of-state murder. The body was completely drained of blood. Guess what else.”

  “Fang marks on the neck.” Christian’s face lost what little color it had.

  “The same way Carter left his victims.” Jake headed for the door again, tossing over his shoulder, “Pray for me.” He couldn’t stop the sarcasm from coating his words.

  Touched by the cool night air, his skin tingled as he walked toward his car, wondering what had possessed him to visit the vampire. Christian was right. He knew the vamp wouldn’t leave a weapon so deadly intact. And the vampire didn’t know any more about Curtis Dunn than he did.

  Jake settled into the car, jerking when a soft mew came from behind him. Laughing at his scare, he turned to see his stray cat licking her paws in the back seat. The black cat had seemed to follow him since his childhood, disappearing and returning whenever it suited her, sneaking along with him from city to city.