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  Killing the Bloodlust

  Heart of the Huntress, Book 1

  Terry Spear

  Terry Spear

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

  * * *

  Discover more about Terry Spear at:

  http://www.terryspear.com

  Copyright © 2012 Terry Spear

  All rights reserved.

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  About the Author

  Also by Terry Spear:

  Foreword

  About: Killing the Bloodlust

  * * *

  Crystal Anderson is unique, a huntress who is unable to kill vampires without getting emotionally involved. So when a vampire targets her to be his mate–she’s got to change her tune, or become the creature she’s supposed to kill. Hunter Robert Parker is in Texas to take down the vampire that murdered his sister. When he runs into Crystal, his priorities become something much graver.

  * * *

  Army officer Crystal Anderson can’t help the draw she has to vampires, although she’s supposed to be drawn to them to kill those who are renegades since she’s a born huntress. But something about her is different. Ostracized from her family, she lives precariously on her own. That is until a local vampire targets her. Then she meets a fellow Army officer Robert Parker–who she believes is one of them–a vampire or blood host, or something. Suddenly, nothing is the same. Army officer Robert Parker is on assignment at Fort Hood, Texas, trying to track down the vampire who murdered his sister after hours. When he spies Crystal coming out of a vampire house, he assumes she’s a human host, and that she can lead him to his murderer. Except he’s drawn to her like a hunter would be to a huntress, until he learns she’s not quite right. She’s fighting alone without a family of hunters’ support, and he’s bound to do something about it before she gets herself killed…or worse.

  To my Rebel Romance Writer critique partners who loved my vampires, even if they were the bad guys in this book and encouraged me to continue writing them. This was the beginning of my huntress/vampire world, which is a little different from the world I now create for vampires…hope vampire lovers all over the world enjoy.

  “A must read for lovers of vampire lore.”—Joletta, Fallen Angel Reviews

  “Interesting story with a fast-paced plot”—Tara Black, The Romance Studio

  1

  Vengeance be mine, Robert Parker thought as he headed for the house where the vampire was supposed to be residing who had killed his sister.

  Robert was a hunter, a warrior, like others of his kind, whose DNA had been altered during the Black Death. Some, like him, had become hunters of vampires, while others, the blood suckers. It was in their genes—those who had lived through the deadly plague—whether they needed blood, or could recognize the vampires for what they were.

  Both of their kinds were stronger, able to fight one another on more equal ground, the only way to protect the humans from extermination. But he was destined to eliminate those who had targeted hunters and humans alike, his whole world having been turned upside down when the vampire rogue, Yorovitch, had murdered his sister.

  Now, he eyed the two-story house, the first clue that he’d dug up that revealed Yorovitch had frequented the place. Any who hid or protected the bastard would face the same end.

  He sharpened his sword, the ancient weapon having been used to bring down vampires for centuries and would no doubt continue long after he was dead.

  Only Robert Parker didn’t plan to die today.

  As a born huntress, who should be paying the bills by eliminating rogue vampires, Crystal Anderson wasn’t the same as her kind. She was an oddity, a mutation, something that wasn’t quite right. Which was the reason she served in the U.S. Army and avoided hunting vampires as much as she was able. But one vampire—Nicolai—head of a local vampire family in Killeen, Texas, was quickly changing her rules.

  Crystal opened the door to her dark apartment after a long day at the office as a 1st Cavalry Division Safety Officer at Fort Hood, her most gruesome duty—briefing the commanding general on the deaths of three male soldiers. Except they hadn't been in Texas but Mexico when they had died. International incident? Three soldiers, three soiled doves, all asphyxiated because of a faulty heater in a sleazy motel. She sighed, hating to have to brief the general on any kind of fatality. But especially this one.

  Before she shut the door to her apartment with thoughts of kicking off her combat boots and watching something light and fluffy on TV, a whiff of spicy male scent drifted to her. A sense of foreboding instantly filled her. Her stomach clenched. Where had she smelled that scent before? And why was it in her apartment?

  With trepidation, she groped for the light switch, then flipped it on. Just as she’d feared, the place remained as black as an underground cave. Heartbeat quickening, she slipped her hand into her black leather purse, pulled out a retractable knife, and dropped the bag on the living room carpet.

  Snapping the knife open—a blade forged in Medieval fires, blessed with strange incantations, passed down from generation to generation, and one of the best weapons for eliminating a vampire—she stepped forward, leaving the front door ajar in case she needed to make a hasty retreat. Her knee came in contact with the sofa. Using her hand to feel her way around, she bypassed the loveseat. Not one to give in to flights of fancy, she skirted the coffee table, then headed for her portable phone.

  After grabbing the phone, she turned it on, and raised it to her ear. No dial tone. Either her bedroom phone was off the hook or the line had been cut. The electricity being off wasn’t a coincidence.

  Time to depart and regroup. She dropped the phone and hurried for the door. And stopped abruptly.

  The door was closed tight. She’d never even heard it click shut. Contemplating her next move, she felt her stomach muscles tighten. How could she get caught without a backup plan?

  Her phone suddenly rang, jarring her already raw nerves. A shiver slithered down her spine. She whipped around to face the phone. Whoever had turned off the electricity was in the house. And he’d managed to hang up both her phones, and then dial h
er number.

  Taking a deep breath, she attempted to control the panic rising in her blood. The tantalizing spicy scent drifted to her again. Then she recognized it. Nicolai’s scent. The devil himself and her main target if she could get him in her sights. How did he get in without an invitation? Maybe he’d used vampiric mind control to convince her apartment manager to let him in. Damn. She should have bought a place of her own, though on her Army salary, she really couldn’t afford one right now. Nor had she wanted the fuss of yard work or the myriad of troubles associated with home ownership.

  The phone ceased to ring, and her voice message spoke over the answering machine.

  Games. He loved playing with her to show how clever he was, and how powerless she could be. She took another deep breath. Nicolai stood close, but where? Her eyes couldn’t adjust to the dark, but she knew the position of every piece of furniture. She wasn’t totally disadvantaged, unless he had moved things. Then again, his night vision vastly surpassed hers. Most likely he watched every move she made. More gooseflesh erupted.

  What was he waiting for? He wanted to prolong her fear…taste it. But she was determined not to show how rattled she was.

  She crossed the carpeted floor to the kitchen. Her combat boots smacked the tile in her haste while the legs of her camouflaged green fatigues rubbed against each other with a swishing sound, the only noise in the deathly quiet. Easing a drawer open, she attempted to locate her flashlight. Her trembling fingers touched cold metal wrenches and screwdrivers, but no rubber handled flashlight. Had he moved it? Or had she misplaced it again?

  Once more, she drew in his spicy scent. The hair stood on her arms, causing her skin to prickle. She headed for the breaker box in her bedroom closet.

  Inside the closet, she pulled the metal breaker door open with a squeak, shattering the silence. She flipped the switches one by one with a click. Her living room lamp came on. Just as quickly, the bulb broke with a crash.

  Adrenaline coursed through her blood as she dashed back into the living room, her knife readied.

  The front door closed with a slam. Crystal hesitated. He wanted her to follow him into the dark night.

  But she had no choice now. He had been invited in and could return any time he wished.

  After locking and bolting the door, she turned the kitchen lights on. Then she searched each of the rooms—the spare bedroom, her bedroom, the bathroom—to ensure he didn’t have an accomplice still hiding in the apartment. In her master bedroom, a note sat on the ice blue satin pillow. A note, like before, except the last time he’d placed it between her windshield and wiper blade. A rose sat on top of it. Blood red.

  She pulled off her Army boots and Battle Dress Uniform, then replaced them with black denims, a matching turtleneck, and black boots. He’d targeted her, and she had to kill him before he got her first.

  Still, if she couldn’t end Nicolai’s haunting her tonight, she had to hunt some of his blood-bonded family. She’d prove to Nicolai that she nonetheless retained her huntress abilities even without her family’s support. Then maybe he’d leave her alone. If only…

  Grabbing the note off her pillow, she unfolded it and read:

  Lovely Crystal,

  As a vigilante force of one, you’ll never beat me. Join me instead. Quit fighting me. You’re not cut out to be a huntress.

  Yours truly, Nicolai

  She crumpled the note and tossed it into her wastepaper basket. He was right, of course. Preferring a real job, she’d obtained her bachelors in business administration and had become a personnel officer for the Army. Her family punished her by shutting her out. Well, for that and for being different…especially for being different.

  Most vampire hunters didn’t work a day job. They killed vampires and local authorities paid them bounties. Often, they received additional rewards from families once their wealth was reclaimed from vampires who’d taken the victims’ money and properties.

  None of the vampire hunters went against the family’s wishes without living to regret it. None, but Crystal.

  She glanced in the mirror and ran her hand over her cheek, reddened from the cold. Being a huntress ran in her blood, a calling that all her line had from birth. She couldn’t ignore it. Being a huntress was what made her so intriguing to Nicolai. A huntress who hated to hunt.

  She and her kind were much stronger than the humans, having a superhuman strength, but they weren’t as strong as the bloodsuckers. That’s why the hunters hunted together…traditionally.

  The biggest problem facing the hunters was the vampires turned humans into their own kind whenever they wanted, whereas hunters had difficulty passing their special gene to their offspring, making vampires vastly outnumber the hunters.

  It would never be Crystal’s problem. She’d never be suitable for any man, not as different as she was. Having a child would never be an eventuality for her.

  Taking a deep breath, she considered her appearance in the mirror. Her blond hair had loosened from the upswept bun she wore to work. She pulled the pins out. Clasping a gold clip over it, she fashioned it into a ponytail. Her blue eyes sparkled, but wearing all black made her appear paler than normal. Easily, she looked like one of the human hosts, giving up their blood for the sensual arousal they derived from it.

  Her thoughts returned to Nicolai, her main concern. Once he’d found out about her, he’d wanted her for his own, a vampire huntress who’d been cut off from her family…vulnerable and alone. Was it that Nicolai wanted her special abilities, and he wouldn’t stop until he’d turned her into one of his own kind?

  But he couldn’t turn her, could he? She’d always been taught a vampire couldn’t bite a hunter, or suffer the consequences. Their blood would mix and poison the other. The only way a vampire could turn anyone was to bite him or her.

  If he knew he couldn’t turn her, what did he want her for? To kill her slowly. To prove to the other vampires, the hunters weren’t all powerful. She wouldn’t be safe until she killed his converts and him. Yet the idea repulsed her.

  She coated her lips with pink glossy lipstick. If her boss knew she’d been chasing vampires for the last few weeks at night…there would go her Army career and the independence she loved. The military didn’t want hunters in their ranks, feeling that they were ruthless, nighttime vigilantes, barely better than the creatures they killed. It was a warped view, but nonetheless, one that permeated the branches of the Armed Services.

  So if they discovered her nighttime activities, her Army career would suddenly be terminated. Her only recourse would be to kill vampires for the rest of her life, earning whatever bounty she could from local law enforcement agencies.

  She took a ragged breath and strode toward the front door. But then her phone rang, and she hurried to get it, figuring it was more vampire nonsense.

  “Hey, Crystal? It’s me, Tezra.”

  Crystal took a relieved breath to hear a friendly voice on the phone, though she lived several states away. Tezra was one of her best huntress friends who had been tossed into a home for troubled hunter teens when her parents had been murdered by a vampire. Unlike Crystal, who avoided hunting vampires, Tezra was suited to it, but denied the opportunity to do it because of her past history. They should have traded places!

  “I haven’t heard from you in a while, and I wondered if you were okay,” Tezra said.

  “Did one of my brothers tell you I was kicked out of the family?”

  “Yeah.”

  Crystal figured that was what her concern was about, which she appreciated. “I’m fine. Keeping busy with Army business. And you?”

  “Investigating more vampire killings. Hey, if you ever feel you need a place to stay, remember I have plenty of room.”

  Crystal smiled. “Sure. Next time I have some leave saved up, I’ll see when it would be a good time to visit.”

  “That would be great. Have you heard from Alena? I heard she’s got an ancient vampire on her list to take down, and he’s trying to convince
her he’s her lover from some earlier century.”

  Crystal laughed. “That’s a new one on me.”

  “Well, keep your chin up. I’m serious about you staying with me.”

  “Thanks for calling, Tezra. It’s great hearing from you.” They ended the call, and for a moment, Crystal felt lighthearted, like when they’d had girls’ night out, slumber parties, or even boated or tented out. But with living so far apart, they hadn’t done anything like that in a long time. And no way did she want to get her friend mixed up in this deadly business with the vampire.

  Killing never came easy. Couldn’t her family understand? She put them all in danger every time she hunted with them due to her reluctance to kill.

  Crystal stalked outside and slipped into her black Cougar. The cool damp air chilled her. The heart of Texas spring weather entered the scene with the same kind of unpredictability as Nicolai’s actions.

  Finding one of his lairs wouldn’t be difficult, however. Not tonight. Not with Nicolai wanting to toy with her. He’d have one of his many minions posted somewhere so she could follow him…like he’d done before.