Lethal Love

By TM Watkins

A life destroyed by a monster, a vampire's plea answered.

For Ava Willis, life couldn't get any worse than it has. Her last living relative has just passed away. On the day of her aunt's funeral, she suffers more blows to her life, things that shouldn't happen on such a terrible day.

Everything happens for a reason, a thought that is firmly stuck in her mind. Taking an opportunity, Ava finds herself at the mercy of a dark and cold man. There is something about him that she finds incredible, Ava cannot help but wish for more from the enigmatic Marlon Ryker.

Her path to a better life takes a dark turn, leaving Ava in a twisted place of pain and suffering at the hands of a beast who would do anything to make Marlon suffer.

An old rivalry between two creatures will have its finality with Ava at the center, and it will leave her fighting for her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TM Watkins
• Release date: Sep 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370700240

TM Watkins

TM Watkins lives in Brisbane, Australia with her family. When she's not working or running around after her family, she spends her days contemplating the next adventure for her characters and her nights writing about them.

Book preview

Sitting on my own with a dozen chairs around me, I wondered who else the lawyer thought was going to attend the reading of my aunt’s will. Still, he waited as if someone might show up. I looked at my watch and felt like sighing. He had been at the funeral, he saw that aside from my dead aunt and the priest, it was just the two of us.

The man walked into the room with the will in his hand, he sat on his seat with a resigned sigh.

I am sorry Miss Willis, but we have standard procedures, and that is that we wait for one hour to pass after the end of the funeral. After that, you may take what is yours and be on your way.

Great.

We had half an hour to go.

Can I offer you some refreshments?

I’m good thanks.

Retrieving my phone, I trolled the social media and tried to pass the remaining time while not destroying my battery life too much. I was at fifty percent and still had the rest of today and tonight to go. Reluctantly, I put it away.

Looking up, I saw the lawyer looking at me. He offered a hesitant smile and glanced away. Middle aged, wedding ring stuck on the bloated finger, wearing an ill fitted suit with a little red bow tie. Bow ties were cute on five year old’s, on grown men they just looked odd unless it was matched with a tuxedo.

How long have you been married?

I only asked to remind him that looking at women while devoted to another wasn’t the best thing to do. Because yes, he was looking at me like that.

Twenty-five years.

You've been married for longer than I've been alive. I offered, hinting at how wrong his leer was.

And you? Anyone special in your life?

Nope.

His eyebrows raised in acknowledgement of my abrupt statement. Why say any different than the truth? I wasn’t about to spin some web of lies just to make conversation with him. Okay so I had Carl, but he wasn't exactly what the lawyer was talking about. I figured he meant someone that was getting close to proposing and Carl wasn't going to do that anytime soon.

Did you see much of my aunt?

She was a regular at the bingo hall. May I ask why you weren’t a part of her life?

My mother didn’t agree with her way of life; she was a little too eccentric for her, so they stopped talking to each other.

Eccentric was a tame statement when referring to my aunt, Lizzie.

Yes, I must say if your aunt hadn’t left an address you would have been difficult to find.

I shrugged. There was little else to say or in this case, not say. It’s not as if my family or I tried to hide from Lizzie. I still had the same surname as the last time I saw her, my parents were still living in their dull little place when they died in the car accident, so I was exactly where she expected me to be.

So, do you like being a lawyer?

And then I realised how much of a mistake I had made with the question. The man that struggled with a conversation now had a lot to say. I nodded and tried my best to listen, hoping that he didn’t ask a question because really, I had tuned out.

My mind had wafted across the tiny office, out the broken blinds and onto the city street. This office was in a small office that sat snug against the city. It was a little haven of shops, businesses and amazing people.

Mellor Heights was fast becoming an urban metropolis, expanding into smaller suburbs that circled the city precinct. This area used to be a seedy place, it had a dark underbelly that was filled with strip clubs and prostitution and had a dangerous element to it. During the day, it was reasonably okay. At night, well, I wouldn’t be here by choice. Of course, I knew of many who would come here, just for the nightclub scene.

I wasn’t one to be prudish, and I wasn’t someone that was easily intimidated but there were some places that should not be tread, and it was that simple. I could not figure out why my aunt had picked this guy to handle her affairs after her death. Maybe he was cheap.

What was it that you did Miss Willis?

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked at the odd man.

PR, I said with a smile.

Ah, okay. Good industry?

It’s great, I said with another charming smile.

He nodded and looked at his watch.

Are you waiting for someone?

His eyes darted up from his heavy wrist, thin lips moved as if they were trembling.

No, no.

I sighed, stretching back on the uncomfortable chair.

So, if you weren’t expecting anyone, why is there a dozen chairs in this little room?

This really small room. His mouth parted in shock as his eyes widened.

Standard practice?

He nodded, retrieving the handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing the sweat.

You seem rather uncomfortable Mister McArthur. My inquisition wasn’t that rough, was it?

Of course not Miss Willis.

So… I said as I narrowed my eyes at him. Was she involved in illegal activities, expecting someone to barge in and seize her assets?

No, nothing illegal.

I found that hard to believe. Maybe it was someone else he was expecting.

Bikers?

The lawyer shook his head, the flesh of his jowl wobbled.

Drug kingpin or underlings?

His eyes widened, sputtering that my aunt was vehemently anti-drugs. Which I knew anyway.

I know, I said with a smug grin. We’re dealing with the mafia, aren’t we?

Absolutely not!

Triads?

Miss Willis, your aunt was a good woman and did not associate with any members of the organised criminal underworld.

I chuckled just a little, stretching my arms over the chairs either side of me.

Sure, sure. What about disorganised criminals?

I think we can start the reading now.

Great. It only took trying to besmirch my aunt’s name to get what I wanted. The lawyer, Grant McArthur read through the document, rattling off all the charities that the old duck was giving her money to. And I, as her sole living relative was left with the rest of her worldly goods which should have been a lot if my mother was right.

When my parents had died, I received a letter from this guy to say that my aunt had revised her will and now that my parents were dead, I was listed as the sole living relative and that I should keep in contact with them. How he had trouble finding me I will never know. Okay so he had sent the letter to my former address, but I had a redirect on my mail to ensure that I wouldn’t miss anything and I lived at my parent’s place. It was obvious this guy wasn’t worth what my aunt had paid him.

And to my niece, Ava Marie Willis, I bequeath my residence and everything within it.

The lawyer handed over the little key. I took it and frowned, gazing at the ornate key.

That’s it? A key?

Miss Willis, the key opens a door.

Well duh. I meant paperwork.

He stared blankly for a moment and then blinked, offering a hesitant laugh.

Of course, how silly of me. I’ve already drawn them up.

The papers came out of another folder, several signatures later I was the proud owner of an inner-city townhouse.

So, what’s it like around here?

The area has its pros and cons like all places. Are you considering keeping it or selling?

Well, I do have a job on the other side of town. The commute would be hell.

He nodded, agreeing with me.

Maybe you should take a few days off, go to your aunt’s place and figure out what you want to do. I’m sure there is a lot of furniture and personal effects that will need to be dealt with.

Yeah, that might be a good idea.

Sounds like a good plan.

Okay, well we’re done here. I’ll send you out a letter when the transfer is complete.

Thanks.

He nodded, offering a sympathetic smile. It was welcomed but not needed.

Opening the door out the dull green staircase, I walked down to the ground floor. Escaping that cockroach pit was essential for my health, it had an odd smell that I couldn’t figure out. The guy was okay I guess, not sure why my aunt would hire him. But maybe that was just another oddity that was Lizzie.

Weaving through the people, I made my way to the nearest coffee shop. It was dark and warm, an inviting ambience that reeked of great coffee. After ordering the coffee, I found a seat, picking a booth in the back corner. While I waited, I reached into my bag and looked at the pretty key. Not satisfied with the standard key offered at a key cutter, she had to pick something from a hundred years ago. My aunt was eccentric, and this was just typical of her craziness.

My phone bleeped, dumping the key back into my bag, I pulled the phone out and opened the message. It was from work which I found rather odd considering that they knew I was taking today off for the funeral.

*The Billy just cancelled their account with us, citing irrevocable differences. As this was your only account and it was your sole responsibility, we are terminating your employment as without them, we cannot afford you. Your final pay has been deposited into your account, and your personal possessions will be brought to your place by Mandy, after work. Under the terms of your workplace agreement, we note that if the PR agent (you) cannot maintain an account to the client’s satisfaction, then we as the employer have the right to terminate your employment. We wish you good luck in your future endeavours.*

Shit. I hissed, flicking out of the app.

That was the absolute pits. I had The Billy dumped on me, they were already dissatisfied long before I came anywhere near them. Being fired by text was worse than being dumped this way. I felt like ringing the jerk at The Billy and telling him he was an asshole.

I sighed and switched my phone to sleep, dumping it back into my bag.

Well, today is just a great day.

My aunt’s funeral and fired from my job. They certainly picked the day for it. It occurred to me that The Billy had not cancelled their account and that the bosses were just using them as an excuse for getting rid of me. They needed a valid reason, and that one was as valid as they could get.

The waitress with my coffee approached, the glistening lip gloss over her lips caught the muted light. She offered a pleasant smile as she approached and true to the type of day I was having, it all went to the shit. The heel of her shoe snapped, and the poor thing went ass over, my coffee went flying through the air and smashed onto the wood floor. Coffee flooded the floor, sloshing over my shoes.

I could feel it dripping in, I peeled out of them and went over to help her up.

I am so sorry! She said in a panicked tone.

It’s okay so long as you are.

I’m fine. Stupid, cheap shoes.

Yeah, buying cheap shoes wasn’t always ideal.

I’ll get another one made.

Can you make it take away, I need to get home sooner than I first thought.

Sure thing. She offered with a smile.

Avoiding the broken pieces of the cup, I picked up my shoes and retrieved several paper napkins. It was a vain attempt at trying to dry them, but still, I had to try. Stuffing more into them, I set them aside and waited.

The girl returned to clean up the mess, this time she was wearing flat and rather ugly shoes. She offered a pained smile as she shrugged.

Can’t be too fussy when you’ve got to borrow them, right?

Yep.

She sopped up the mess and then picked up the shards of the cup.

I looked up at her, the waif blonde woman leaned on the mop handle with one hand, the other hand a dustpan and brush. She wandered off into the kitchen, leaving me to figure out what I was going to do now that I was unemployed.

Seeing the waitress approaching again, I hitched the bag strap over my shoulder and stood.

No spilling it this time. She said eagerly. Thanks for being so understanding.

Really, it is okay.

Because I had moments of clumsiness and bad luck as well.

I’m not usually that unlucky. Those shoes were almost brand new too. Oh well, hope the rest of your day is better than this.

Thanks.

I smiled weakly at her, figuring that it couldn’t get much worse.

Chapter 2

The coffee was lukewarm which I guess was better than scalding hot and given the kind of day I’d had today; I was expecting to burn my mouth. There was a lot of people on the street, I had for some unknown reason believed that walking from the funeral service to the lawyer’s office was a good idea. That maybe the fresh air would do me good and clear my head. Except that I also had to walk back and what had started off as a bright and sunny morning turned into a dark and dreary afternoon. Rain clouds loomed overhead, a light pattering shower was starting. Then the thunder started to rumble. I looked up to the dark grey sky and saw it light up. Lightning wasn’t streaking down yet, but I figured it wasn’t far off.

Well, screw you too, I muttered at the sky. Like my day wasn’t shit enough. You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?

Today was just bloody brilliant. I looked at my watch and saw that I was not going to make it home on time. Sending Mandy a message, I told her to leave the box with the building manager. There was nothing that was important which was great considering that she probably wouldn't deliver it anyway.

When I finally reached the car park, I was soaked. At least I would be home soon, and I could put today behind me. Setting everything aside, I put the key into the ignition as my phone bleeped. I looked at the screen and wanted to groan. Dinner plans with my boyfriend Carl cancelled due to him being stuck at work again.

Just keeps on getting better, I muttered.

Street after street, I meandered through them and continued through the relentless rain. The street that Carl lived on was on the way to my place, I looked out the windscreen and wished that he wasn’t stuck at work. I needed someone to liven my night, and even if it were just dinner at home, it would be sufficient.

My gaze perked up as I approached his place, two cars were sitting in the driveway, and all the lights were on. I slowed as I passed the driveway, stopping and wondering what was going on. Would he lie to me? Surely not. One of the cars was Carl’s, the other I didn’t recognise.

My heart was thumping hard as I looked at the scene. He was home, he wasn’t at work. It couldn’t be true; it wasn’t possible that he would lie to me.

You’re a fool, Ava Marie Willis. Get up those damned stairs and figure out what’s going on.

A part of me didn’t want to know, preferring to hide under a blanket and forget that today had ever happened. Straightening the soggy brown strands of hair into a reasonable mess, I grabbed my bag and got out of the car.

Once I was out of the car, I quietly made my way up the stairs of Carl’s place. It was a narrow house on a small block, it could have been considered an apartment. My hand was shaking as I reached into my bag and carefully pulled out my keys. Pulling his key off the split ring, I returned my own keys to the bag and took a deep breath. I could hear the giggles already.

Slowly