Broken Illusions: Ashryn Barker, #2

By Laura Greenwood

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

Everything was going so well for me before I became a vampire. Now, I've got a target on my back, and my main ally is a vampire who still hates me.

Why did it have to be Bram sent on a mission with me?

My name is Ashryn Barker, and I'm now what I once hunted.

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Broken Illusions is book two of the complete Ashryn Barker series, an action-packed urban fantasy with a poly romance subplot.

If you enjoy urban fantasy, vampires & vampire hunters, enemies to lovers, poly romance, and plenty of action, start the Ashryn Barker series today with Shattered Illusions.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drowlgon Press
• Release date: Jul 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386787204

Laura Greenwood

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance. When she's not writing, she drinks a lot of tea, tries to resist French macarons, and works towards a diploma in Egyptology. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set. Laura specialises in quick reads, with healthy relationships and consent positive moments regardless of if she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-heavy urban fantasy, or anything in between. You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in The Paranormal Council Facebook Group. Happy Reading!

Book preview

1

Why did things always go wrong for me? It's been mere days since the last disaster, yet here I am, running through a forest with a man who hates me.

Or wants to hate me. I haven't missed the protective glances he's been sending my way since we left the weird metal cage. I refuse to call it a box any longer. More like a holding pen anyway. Seems like an accurate description considering they're hunting us now. And they're not being quiet about it.

My now sensitive ears can pick up the rustling of the hunters about forty feet behind us. Which is forty feet too close if you ask me. But there's nothing we can do about it yet. Not with sunrise quite so close.

Is there anywhere we can go? I ask through baited breath. I'm fit, there's no way I wouldn't be after all my guild training, but this is beyond a joke. I think it might be the lack of blood in my system.

Yes, I was going to go with that.

How the fuck should I know, Bram replies, slightly less out of breath than I am.

The bastard.

Wishful thinking? I try. I mean, it's that or burn, and after the first time, I'm not so keen on that option. It was rather painful to say the least.

Not going to save us.

No shit.

We run in silence. Probably for the best, otherwise the hunters won't have a job left when they get to us. We'll have killed each other.

The air around us is lightening by the second. Worrying. The sun really isn't very far off now. We need to get somewhere dark. We need to get somewhere safe.

This way. Despite my better instincts, I tug on Bram's sleeves as I say it, and pull him off towards the side. I hope he listens to me, because now we're further in the trees, it is starting to look a little familiar. And if I'm right, then there's a bunker just down here and to the left.

To my surprise, he actually follows me, and the soft crunch of twigs under feet fills the air. I hope the hunters can't hear it. Probably not. They're still human after all, even if they are highly trained.

Wait, when did I start thinking of them as them and not as us? Am I really so far gone into vampirism?

Do I care?

I suppose not. If we're going by sheer numbers, less vampires have tried to kill me than hunters. The odds maybe weren't in their favour for having me on their side.

I almost stumble as I spot the gnarled tree. The one that I know marked the entrance to the bunker. I just need to hope those following us weren't told about this particular one. I don't think so. I found out about it when I was a child, and it hadn't been mentioned since, so I doubt they tell anyone about it now.

Here, I whisper, now more conscious than ever that we could get caught. And if they find us here...we'd be trapped in the bunker. There's so much that could go wrong with this. They could open the bunker. Or just lay in wait until we emerge tomorrow night.

At least that death is less imminent than death by sunlight. That is mere minutes away, if I'm calculating correctly.

I lean down and feel around for the keypad I know is lurking between the roots. Finding it, I type in the code and pray it still works. A soft hiss comes from around the lip of it, and I breath a sigh of relief. The bunker’s set into the ground, and covered by a layer of forest floor. Hopefully it’ll be enough to keep us safe.

Get in. I push him downwards, into the small space that I know will be cramped, but also know will save our lives. There isn't much choice in whether we use it or not then.

It only takes Bram a few moments to respond. Thank the non-existent God for small mercies. I climb in after him, already feeling cramped.

How am I going to survive the next eight to ten hours with my body pressed against his? This is going to be torture.

2

Will you move your elbow? Bram growls.

Shh, I whisper scold him. How can he be so loud? He knows there's hunters after us. He knows they weren't too far behind when we got in here, and it's only been an hour or so. Not that I know how I can tell. Maybe my internal body clock also got better with turning. I can hope. That's a useful skill to have.

Sorry, he responds quietly this time.

His breath fans against the skin of my neck, and I quite like it. Damn, no. That is not an appropriate thought for the situation.

Especially when I can feel how affected he is by my proximity. I'm hoping it's just because he hasn't had sex in a while. I think. Maybe I don't hope that. Maybe I'm really wanting it to be about me.

Again. Not appropriate. What is wrong with me today?

Oh, right. I'm being hunted by the people I used to work alongside, and had to climb into a bunker or burn to death. Perfectly reasonable reasons for me to have a bad day.

Even so, I shift my elbow as much as I can, hoping it will make him more comfortable, and less likely to kill me before daylight ends. He's sadistic enough to use my own stakes against me.

I think I'd rather he stakes me in an altogether different way.

Okay, that's enough. I need to drag my mind back up from the gutter or I'm going to lose it completely.

Tell me about her, I whisper.

Oh. Wow. Great going. Ask the pissy vampire about his dead wife.

When did I get so smart?

Why? he answers instantly.

Interesting. And not what I expect.

"We’re stuck in a bunker for the next twelve hours or so, we need