Page 1 of Bloodhunter

Prologue

She moaned with relief as the cold, silent air caressed herface. It’d been so hot in her sister’s crowded little house. Hot and loud andbright.

She took a deep breath of the brisk night air, then walkedcarefully down the icy walk as she dug her keys from her purse.

She had her hand wrapped around them when suddenly shestopped walking, tilted her head, and listened. Her breath turned frosty,sending out plumes of white as she paused, concentrating on whatever it wasthat had made the back of her neck itch. From inside the house the muffledsound of laughter reached her ears.

She couldn’t have said what made her pause and glance backover her shoulder. Something. Some tiny noise, or furtive movement, or morelikely, just one of the feelings she sometimes got when something was off. Oneof the first things she’d been taught in self-defense class was the importanceof trusting her intuition.

The streetlights lit the snow-covered pavement and the carsthat lined it. It was eerily still, but in the silent darkness shefelt…something.

Something that didn’t belong there.

She became aware of sirens screaming in the distance, asound she acknowledged and then discarded as she concentrated on what mighthave made her hesitate.

The fine hairs on her arms stiffened and she shivered,frozen. She couldn’t decide whether to ignore the feeling or to rush backinside and ask someone to escort her to her car.

But they’d have laughed at her. Little Trinity, scared ofher own shadow. Afraid to walk across the street.

She became aware of the sirens again. They were louder, moreintense. Closer, but still distant.

“I’m being silly,” she muttered. She’d walked out of hersister’s house dozens of times. She’d parked on dark streets, walked to hercar, stood on porches talking with neighbors. She’d never been afraid in thatneighborhood.

Embarrassed, she glanced at the windows of the house, thentightened her grip on her keys, lifted her chin, and walked resolutely on.

Her heels clacking on the pavement was the only sound as shehurried across the empty street to her tiny blue Honda.

She clicked the remote on her keychain, unlocking the car.The engine cranked to life, a comforting and familiar sound in the coldsilence.

And the feeling of fear roared back to life with the carengine. She ran the last few steps to the car and yanked open the door.

She had to get inside that car. She’d be safe then, safefrom whatever bad thing lurked in the shadows, waiting to grab her.

Chills raced over her body, gooseflesh pebbled her skin, andin that second, she could feel phantom hands grabbing her by the back of herneck.

Only they weren’t phantom hands, suddenly, and the block ofice in her throat cut off her terrified scream.

He whirled her around and then slammed her back against thecar. His eyes were black and wide, and as though he were unable to controlthem, his teeth elongated into fangs, shortened, then elongated again. Hesnapped his mouth shut, but she’d seen. The point of his fangs looked sharp andsomehow cold, like miniature icicles.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

He was…injured. Strips of bloodless flesh hung from hisnaked body, and cuts, wide and jagged, decorated his face.

She gaped at him, too shocked and horrified, for a second,to remember to be afraid.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” he said again, his voice barelyloud enough for her to hear. Still, it scraped across her brain, that voice,that need. “It is a bad night for little humans.”

“You’re a…”

She didn’t say the word, but she didn’t need to. It echoedinside her mind, over and over and over, and she understood one very importantthing at that moment.

She was in trouble.

Her breath left her lungs in pants and gasps, and herstomach clenched and tossed in turns—she wanted to throw up but her stomach wasso tight it refused to release its contents.

She’d never once in her eighteen years held a conversationwith a vampire. Not that she was aware of, anyway. They lived—and hid—amongstthe humans, survived in the darkness, feasted on the homeless, the forgotten,the broken, and animals when they were forced to.

Her legs gave out and she dropped to the hard pavement, theexhaust from the car mixing with the scent of his agony. And despite hisweakness, his obvious pain, his near death status, he encircled her upper armswith a strong grip and hoisted her up off the ground.