The Vampire's Revenge

by HART, RAVEN

• ISBN13: 9780345498588
• ISBN10: 0345498585
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-27
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

The fifth novel in the sexy, steamy, suspenseful series featuring Jack McShane of Savannah--lover, killer, seducer, family man, and vampire. Original.

Author Biography

Raven Hart is the author of The Vampire’s Betrayal, The Vampire’s Seduction, The Vampire’s Secret, and The Vampire’s Kiss. She lives and loves in the South.

Excerpts

One

“Hey! Watch where you’re swinging that ax!” I yelled as the blade whistled through the air, grazing my cheek. “I’m helping you bring that demon down, you know. The least you could do is try not to lop off my head.”

The demon, a nasty little number, was covered with slimy brown scales. It ducked, but not before Connie’s ax connected with its shoulder. The demon howled in pain and outrage and backed further into the corner of the alley where we had trapped it.

“Is head-lopping one of the ways you can kill a vampire?” Connie asked. She never took her gaze off the demon, but her eyes lit up with a deadly fervor that made me cringe. I knew her question was a reference to me.

“Well, yes,” I admitted. “One of the few.” The demon made a break for it, but I caught him in the jaw with my fist—if that lump below its mouth was a jaw—and spun him back into the corner.

Connie sighed. “I have so much to learn. So many vampires; so little time.”

Our friend Werm, who’d acted as bait to lure the creature into the side street where Connie and I were hiding, danced back and forth. I knew he was looking for an opening so he could use the ninja throwing stars he’d ordered from a martial arts catalog. He’d gotten each of them specially engraved with an ankh, which is the ancient Egyptian symbol for eternal life. The ankh is also a good-luck charm for vampires—or so he told me. Werm can be ridiculous at times. Even though his greatest weapon is his ability to make himself invisible, he’d still rather play with kung fu toys.

“And as for you,” I warned, pointing at him, “if I wind up with one of those chunks of steel sticking out of my forehead, I’m going to make you rue the day you begged to be made into a vampire.”

“What makes you think I don’t rue it already?” Werm asked, holstering his ninja stars with a pout. The little goth had thought being a vamp would be all fun and games and give him a chance to scare the shit out of guys who used to kick sand in his face. He didn’t figure close-quarters demon fighting would be part of the deal.

The demon charged me and I kicked it in the side, slamming it back into the wall. Connie raised her ax again and swung with almost as much speed and strength as I myself could have mustered. The demon’s head left its shoulders with a spray of blood. As its body fell forward onto the pavement, it instantaneously turned into a pile of dirt. The smell mixed with the sickening-sweet stench of the nearby Dumpster and made my nose twitch with disgust.

“Another one bites the dust, uh, huh,” Connie sang with a little victory dance. I watched in awe as she shimmied her shapely booty. I wasn’t quite sure whether I should be grossed out by her bloodlust or turned on by it, but I seemed to be a little of both. Maybe I’d inherited William’s infamous death wish along with all his responsibilities.

“I’m going back to the club,” Werm said. “Call me when you need me.”

As I waved him off, Connie turned her attention to me, noticing the trickle of blood running down my cheek. Her eyes dilated, the pupils turning into slits. Her irises were bloodred. She grabbed me by the neck and pulled my face next to hers so quickly it startled me. I searched her eyes for a sign of my old Connie, and didn’t see it. Would she ever be back? Or was she lost and gone forever, lost in the shell of this vicious, half-human killer standing in front of me now?

When she pressed her lips to my cheek, I felt myself go weak in the knees. She hadn’t shown me any affection since. . . well, since the night I tried to kill her. Of course that had been for her own good.

I quickly realized it wasn’t her

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Excerpted from The Vampire's Revenge by Raven Hart
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