Blood Rite: Blood & Thorns, #2

By Cheri Winters

Caught between two worlds…yet never fully belonging to either

Half-vampire, Dani has lived her life bordering between two worlds. Trained by her Native American vampire father, she hunts rogue vampires that don't obey the law of consent on drinking blood.

Now she's babysitting a witch whose magic is on the fritz and whose bounty-hunting assignments have all but dried up. The two are becoming friends, something Dani never thought would happen.

When a desperate order comes in to annihilate an island of vampires who are kidnapping women, Dani jumps at the chance to bring these criminals to justice.

But can she save the victims without becoming one herself?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheri Winters
• Release date: Jun 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386456193

Cheri Winters

USA Today Bestselling Author, Cheri Winters got hooked on Urban Fantasy through Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, and Laurel K. Hamilton. Now Cheri writes her stories with kick-ass heroines battling their way through adventure and mayhem. When not writing, Cheri practices Muay Thai and Karate or catches up reading her favorite authors.

Book preview

Chapter One

Isnatched the letter out of Regan’s hands and crashed onto the couch, kicking my boots up on the edge of the coffee table. What’s this?

Hey, give that back, Dani.

She reached for me, but I curled away and scanned the paper. Black typed letters marched across the sheet—another bounty hunting assignment.

Why are you being so secretive with this? It’s just a job.

Regan seized the letter out of my fingers, but I caught the trembling of her chin, the worry in her eyes. What was spooking her? She was a Witchard, a half-witch and half-wizard, who had faced off with a Fae Queen rising from the dead, so something was off. Wizards were the most powerful magic users, but the catch was they always had to have a wand or stick to use to access the energy. Whereas, a witch didn't need any prompts, just a knowledge of spells and enchantments; only her magic wasn't as strong. This was her profession: catch the bad guys, bring them in, collect the money and done. Simple.

What, they want you to hunt and kill rogue vamps or something like me? I tried to lighten the mood with my joking tone. My normal pastime was vampire hunting, but the pay was shitty. Master vamps and others in line swooped in and took over everything—even the deceased’s estate. Not once had any of the blood suckers thanked me for making them richer by donating any money for my services. I didn’t need much though and every time I staked one of the bad ones, I imagined it was the one that killed Sarah, my only friend in third grade. That made it all worth it.

They want me to find and destroy an island. Her green eyes teared up.

Why is this bothering you? I waved a hand. Was her hesitance only because of her magic or the fact that her and Stryker, my dad, now had a connection because he gave her some of his vampire blood to heal her. Do your mumbo-jumbo stuff and wipe out the bad guys.

No, they want me to kill the criminals there and bring back their heads. She swallowed. I-I can’t do that because of the blood bond with your dad. One slipup and one of the vamps can claim me. And for the magic to work even remotely, I’d have to be on the island.

Right. I read the letter over her shoulder and my skin prickled. Vampires. Regan couldn’t be outside of my or Dad’s vibe for longer than an hour or her borrowed vamp blood would send the bloodsuckers scrambling to claim her. My half-blood was enough to keep most of the creeps at bay and my wooden bullet gun and knives kept back the others.

Regan laid the paper down and walked to the kitchen sink and stared out the window. Curiosity got the better of me and I read the letter in full.

A coven of vampires have taken over an island off the west coast of California. We anticipate at least fifty of them occupy the land. Once a week, they go ashore somewhere, kidnap several young women, then bring them back to the island for hunting and sport before they drain them dry and kill them. We only know this much because of our drone that captured some footage before it was destroyed a few days ago.

Use whatever means necessary and kill every vampire on this island. Rescue any girls you come across.

Pay: two million dollars

I let out a whistle. Damn, that much money and I could move into a bigger place once Regan’s blood bond was gone. And after we figured out if her now bright silver hair from her trip to the Fae world was permanent or not. I thought she looked cool as a brunette or this unworldly color. Besides, these vampires were practicing the forbidden. Unwilling consent went out when the ASH, the Aligned Supernatural Human task force came into power fifteen years ago. Too late for Sarah and all the other victims before that. Now vampires and their blood donors had to file at the court and have a wizard and witch of the court ensure the non-vamp wasn’t under another’s control.

To keep the peace, the human beings and non-humans ordered vamps not to hunt or drink anyone’s blood without permission. Yet, this group decided to go have their own island survivor party. If word got out to other vampires, they’d join in the festivities, as deep down all a vampire wanted besides blood or sex was the thrill of the chase.

Fortunately, I was half-human thanks to my mom and that gave me a slight advantage. Human food and drink sustained me. But if I was sick or weak, because of my vampire father, Stryker, blood was the only cure. To keep from the blood lust from taking me over, I stopped by the local vamp bar and had a shot of blood mixed with Vodka once a week to make it more palatable. I never drank from the vein and I didn’t intend to. My fangs were shorter and not as sharp as a full-blooded vamp, but still strong enough to break skin. Sure, I had urges for the thrill of the chase and warm fresh blood like other vamps, but mine were more subdued unless I hadn’t eaten anything for days or was too weak to resist. Another bonus, my bite or blood didn’t turn others into vampires.

Island full of bloodsuckers…yeah, you’re gonna have to pass on this one, sweetie. I went to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of chocolate milk and chugged out of the carton.

Use a glass, please. Just because you have to live with me until your dad’s blood is out of my system doesn’t mean you can act like a teenager. She set a cup down beside me on the counter.

I’d lived with her for two weeks and the honeymoon was over, I guess. With a shrug, I poured the milk into the cup and drank. Who do you think they’ll give the job to when you decline? I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter.

Ever since a magical-sucking Terin screwed up my magic and caused it to backlash and kill innocents, I’ve had no missions come through and bills are piling up. She licked her lips and pushed back her white hair. Two million though, I could retire early.

Two million, even after taxes, would be a nice chunk of coin.

"Yeah, but even if I took both you and Stryker with me, it would be too dangerous with my unbound status." Anyone having vamp blood had to be claimed or risked being collected or taken by another bloodsucker.

I snorted. Whenever a vamp gave a human—or in Regan’s case, a witch or wizard—blood, it formed a bond between the two that lasted months. Either they would have sex or exchange blood three more times and become life partners—both sexual and continued blood exchange—if they were around each other during the transition period. Once bonded, the vampire could take blood whenever he or she wanted and give blood to the non-vamp to heal them or strengthen the bond. The fact that my dad was staying away from Regan told me that he felt the pull just as strongly as she did. No, she never told me she had the hots for my father, but I could smell her lust whenever he called to check on her, or lately, even when his name was mentioned.

Okay, I’ll do it and split half the money with you. I had nothing better to do and killing an island of vamps sounded like awesome summer fun. And maybe then the guilt of Sarah lying dead, drained of blood, might leave me in peace.

The clock over the stove clicked away the seconds while Regan stared at me. Her pulse quickened and the scent of sweat tickled my nostrils. Um…the vamps will smell your supernatural half before you even get to the island, Regan said.

So do your magic and cloak my scent. I lifted myself onto the counter and swung my legs back and forth. Make me seem like just an ordinary naïve human girl. That’s what they want, right? Thanks to my vamp side, I was almost as strong and fast as them. Where I lacked naturally, my father trained me in stealth and fighting to hold my own against most vampires. An island would have them scattered around, so plenty of room to stake and run to the next bad guy.

She cocked her head to the side, staring at me.

I’ll split the money with you. All you’ve got to do is vouch for me with your bounty hunting company and hide my scent. And if I pulled off this gig, maybe they’d consider bringing me on and I could actually get paid for staking. Better cash than the casserole with too much garlic that I received yesterday for taking out a woman’s stalker who only wanted rare AB negative blood.

When Regan didn’t answer, my nerves clashed with the logical side of my brain that said to give her time, and I blurted out, You wouldn’t have to train me. I’ve been snagging and stabbing vampires since before I could run. All thanks to weekends with Dad. Most kids who grew up in a broken home had normal parents. I got my Mom, who hid my existence from the world and recently won the US presidential election twice. And a vampire father who had me hurl wooden throwing stars hard enough to break through flesh when I was three. Oh, and he’s a Master Vampire and over two hundred years old. As a Native American, he also taught me the old ways of hunting, tracking, and fighting. I love my parents, but both can be overbearing and I’d lived on my own for a decade now studying martial arts. I’d learned how to kill a person with everything from my bare hands to the heel of my shoe.

You know my magic’s still on the fritz, thanks to Herbert and the Unseelie realm. It’ll be unstable until I find a wand to replace my last one. Regan crossed her arms.

Which is another reason why I was here staying with Regan instead of my own place. She’d rescued me and a bunch