Dark Flames: A Bite Lurkers Novel

By Patricia Hoving

Brazen loves the makeshift family that he's put together. It's a necessary distraction from the heartbreak of loving his fated mate. But you don't have to search for love for it to find you.

 

Cassara never expected her slayer senses to be going off at a kid's birthday party. It didn't take long to source out that father of the year was a bite lurker. However, she'd never guess that she wouldn't be able to kill him when the time came.

 

Cassara and Brazen will find themselves needing each other if they want the rash of child abductions to cease. Elara, Brazen's former wife, would never miss an opportunity to stick it to the woman whose shadow she's always lived under. Yet, there is no happy ending for anyone if the truth is revealed. Cassara and Brazen are fated mates, and he wants nothing to do with her.

 

Ultimately, to save lives, Brazen will need to choose between love and family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TRS Books
• Release date: Sep 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393092957

Book preview

Patricia Hoving

Dark Flames

First published by TRS Books 2019

Copyright © 2019 by Patricia Hoving

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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(n) the phobia of losing someone you love

-Thantophobia

Contents

ALSO BY TRS BOOKS

1. Ire and Water

2. Ending Bliss

3. Ink My Words

4. Forever In Time

5. Unbidden

6. Blending Lines

7. Flattering Hostility

8. A Hearts Deepest Wound

9. Authenticity

10. Trapped In Your Eyes

11. Weight of Care

12. Love Found

13. Comely Grace

14. Love and Time

15. Darkened Silence

16. Maddening Admiration

17. Secret to Living

18. Stained Lips

19. Hollow Hearts

20. Seasonal Cycle

21. Beauty’s Glance

22. Secret to Living

23. The Nature of Despair

24. Memories Lie

25. Borrowed Loves

26. Collected Tears

27. The Pain of Exhaling

28. Good Morrow

Afterword

Anemoia Universe Glossary

SOUNDTRACK

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

About the Author

ALSO BY TRS BOOKS

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Assistant To The Rose

Fallen Rose

Rusty Rose

DARK ROMANCE

The University Alley series is a dark erotic romance about a teacher who falls in love with her student who is battling a Heroin addiction.

Another Vice

Another Virtue

STANDALONES

A contemporary rockstar romance, where Tina and Michael both have been bitten by the fame bug. But when one reaches the promise land first it calls into questions their whole relationship and their life.

A Songwriter’s Death

AND MORE BOOKS TO COME!

1

Ire and Water

I smelled blood.

It was mixed in with the smell of barbecue and cotton candy, smeared over the joyous faces of jittery five-year-olds. At first I looked to my daughter, Evony, to see if she smelled it to, but she was thoroughly immersed in entertaining the adults, which was an irritant of its own. It should have been my first sign that the end was near, but instead it was the smell of blood.

The aromatic allure of death. Please, not today. I wanted her birthday to go off without a hitch.

How many warnings had I ignored? She wanted a barbecue for her fifth birthday. Not a Frozen, Micky or Sofia theme, with lots of glitter and the color pink. Yet, she was here, turning into Shirley Temple as she immersed the adults in a full show. All of which Evony picked up from watching late night movies with me. But she wasn’t the originator of this smell.

Shouldn’t you be watching the movie? A neighbor asked Evony.

No, I’ve seen it already. I wanted to play something that everyone could enjoy.

My eyes roamed over the kids watching a cartoon, drive in movie style on the door of the garage, to their mothers sipping bubbly and giggling under a pigola.

That’s sweet of you, noted the neighbor, his voice rising at the end.

That’s my baby, I smiled, leaning down to kiss the top of her head before patting her on the butt and sending her on her way.

This has been a great party, Brazen. There’s a little something for everyone. The official last party of the season before we all turn into hermits. Nursing the inevitable flu our kids will all catch in school.

Hate October, huh, Bart?

I tuned out the trivial answers from my small group of friends. Who took that moment to lament all things they found annoying. Briefly lamenting about some loser who had tried to pass himself off as a Smolak, a well known family, to get into the Country Club. Such trivialities were juvenile and caddish, but it was necessary to keep up the charade of a happy suburban family. I took a sip of my wine, the taste like ashes on my tongue. My insides in a noose at the encroaching smell of death.

I downed the drink in the hopes that the ash taste that accompanied anything I ate would keep me focused. Where was that smell coming from?

Elara, my wife, reeked of blood. I watched as she brought out another pitcher of Margaritas from inside the house to refresh everyone’s drinks. Maneuvering through the crowd with the ease of an agile cat, her gingham blouse tied around her waist with a form fitting white pair of pants that showed off her curves. She eased the door open, and slid it across its track, and disappeared back into the kitchen, allowing me to get a small whiff inside where the smell was stronger. It took everything in me not to run and check what my elusive wife had been up too. However, it was more important for their guests to believe that everything was fine. Evony needed to believe that everything was fine. I checked my watch: 7:30 pm. Another hour and it would be the kids’ bedtime.

I noticed the hump in Evony’s shoulder, and sighed. Excuse me guys. I picked her up, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. You were supposed to eat before we had this party. Why didn’t you tell me or your mother you were hungry before we invited your friends over? Now you’ll have to wait until the parties over to eat.

Evony huffed a little, then picked her head up and looked me in the eye. Her eyes the beautiful shade of forest green that I loved. I’m not hungry, Dad. I just smell something awful?

So do I. I set her back on her feet. There was still time for damage control before anyone else smelled it. I’ll go and check in a few minutes, but you make sure that no one goes back into the house like a good little girl.

Evony’s bow was theatrical and flamboyant. A job. No problem. Can anyone really resist this gorgeous face? I prefer to be with the adults anyway and this gives me more reason to hang out with them.

You’re not supposed to tell them there not allowed in the house, I objected. And don’t boss anyone around either.

Bossy. Me. They’re the ones who listen, Evony snorted.

I nodded glumly. She was growing up so fast, and it would be hard to hide it from her mother.

Evony ambled back over to my friends, a group of fathers. I knew instinctively that she would twirl and show off her new dress we had bought her. That girl was nothing if not predictable, but I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world. Our family was a functioning unit. We needed each other. I just had to make sure they didn’t forget that. If I didn’t forget it first.

The smell of death hit me immediately, as I opened the door, and all thoughts of family flew out the window. The phrase, no one must know, repeating in my head. A therapists dream, a practical calling card to have me committed. But it was still Evony’s day and that was all that mattered.

Sorry, you’re not allowed to come in right now, Sophia the maid said blocking the hallway like some sort of knight of the round table, and by the drone in her voice she had been andonized. Elara loved to hypnotize the help and didn’t need an excuse to do so either.

It’s my house, I barked in a gravelly bass voice.

You have said the magic words. She stepped to the side and stared at the blank wall until I passed by before returning to her sweeping.

I laughed cynically. That’s cute, Elara.

In truth, there was nothing cute about it. Especially when anyone with sense could tell there was something wrong with her.

The cook stood over the stove, stirring a pot, with a robotic motion that was only andonized attributed. Any human hypnotism by vampires revealed itself by the stiff mobility. Thank gawd Elara had a taste for the grandiose, or our guests would completely miss out on the seafood gumbo and have to shame her for missing the third course. I rolled my eyes. Dismissing the cook was never an option, apparently.

The cook stood over the stove, stirring a pot, with a robotic motion that was only andonized attributed. Any human hypnotism by vampires revealed itself by the stiff mobility. Thank God Elara had a taste for the grandiose, or our guests would completely miss out on the seafood gumbo and have to shame her for missing the third course. I rolled my eyes. Dismissing the cook was never an option, apparently.

To say that I was annoyed was an understatement. The kitchen, with its square tray ceilings, white marble countertops, and gray cabinets, looked like it was trying too hard to keep our secrets solely within these walls. Only Evony’s drawings taped to the refrigerator door made this place seem homey. Even the smell of barbecue drifting into the window couldn’t mask the smell of death. Although, it was good enough for their guests who were ephemeral with duller senses.

Elara had never looked uglier. I watched her as she stood next to another servant, putting the candles into Evony’s cake with all the energy of a snail. All I could think about was some mother walking in here and the piercing scream that would run us and our daughter out of town.

I walked around the island, Elara’s self-satisfied smirk was even more pronounced than usual. When I saw her joyous expression, I knew I needed to sift through the conflicting smells to pinpoint the person missing from the party. Elara’s ego bristled whenever she came across her arch-nemesis, a school volunteer.

I stuck my hands in my pockets and looked down at the dead body. Staring, but not really seeing the thicker woman with two bites on her neck. My eyes widened and I squelched the scream of anger building underneath my tongue. The volunteer’s hair was already matted with dried blood. I suddenly looked up at all the windows, especially behind me, as if I expected the ephemeral’s to come in at any moment and stake us. They’d demand that their daughter stay away from the rest of the kids. Things seemed to be moving too slowly in this kitchen. The timer ticked by like a leaking sink. So slowly that it was hard for me to think, I lowered my voice to a whisper, until only a vampire could hear me.

Why, Elara? At your daughter’s birthday party of all times! Just when I think you’re not that psycho, you go and change my mind. You’re insane! My voice was filled with all the malevolence that I couldn’t rightly show her with a crowd of ephemeral’s in the backyard. Any other vampire would have thrown her parade, but I’d sooner watch her get trampled underfoot. She wasn’t usually scared off my temper, but I could feel her backing down now.

Elara tied her shirt, the tails having come undone. It’s nothing, Brazen. That is to say, she’s not married and has no kids, yet people elected her to the head of the PTA, which is ten kinds of wrong that I have now corrected by draining her of all life. A life that everyone will believe she took after I write this compelling suicide note about being around children and how it had grown unbearable in her barren state.

Your daughter’s party? You’ve got all the staff andonized with thirty people in the backyard like some tyro!

Tyro, Elara said, smiling. You’re mad. I’ll ignore the insult. But I’m not some newbie vamp. I know what I’m doing.

My shoulders sagged under the weight of knowing how untrue her statement was. Inflated ego, supreme selfishness, Elara was what she was.

I used my speed to push her up against the cabinets, my hand around her neck. Understand me. If you destroy our daughter’s happy day, you’ll regret it. Do you know that she can smell the blood? How dare you do this to her!

I felt a pang of sympathy for my wife. An emotion that I had been experiencing more and more in recent months when it came to her. It was difficult enough for her to share the spotlight with Evony; there was no room in her head for Maudie Hardwick and her airs. I relinquished my hold on her neck, setting her back on her feet.

Understood, Elara said, coughing, turning to the cook who had to be told the jambalaya was done.

I knelt by the body, the shirt torn by the neckline, blood seeping underneath the island. Did you have to waste so much good blood?

Elara shrugged. She put up a fight that I wasn’t expecting. Something about doing CrossFit, but I haven’t been a vampire for more than a thousand years to give a rats ass.

I looked behind me and noticed a spot of blood on her back. I rose and bent her over the counter, ignoring the noises of pleasure she was making before bending down and licking the blood off her, relinquishing her right after.

Elara, we’ve got to move this body out of the kitchen. At least for now.

She turned around and played footsie with me. Her foot trailed up my leg. Will get the cook to move her to the utility closet. Until I can drive her home.

Get your guard dog in the hallway to clean up the blood. But make sure she has something on first to cover her clothes. That way, we won’t have to do another andonized just to explain the blood.

Elara licked her lips. My infinity mate, always thinking of everything.

Her flattery meant little to me. You know the rules, too many mind wipes can make an ephemeral a vegetable.

Elara pushed me away, whispering some instructions in the cook’s ear before staring intensely into my eyes. Quickly sending him on his way to distribute the meals. Would that be a big loss at this point? She’s been doing an abysmal job.

By whose standards? A thought struck me. Is it safe to send the cook out there like he is?

No one pays attention to the help. And it will be a good test for Evony. She has to start pulling her weight around here.

But she’s still a child, I murmured rubbing my temples.

Elara smirked. By whose standards?

Back outside, I interrupted what was sure to be another long monologue by Evony to take her upstairs. It was time for her to change into her third outfit for today. Evony was our only child. We didn’t count the boy in the basement as a child or a vampire. Only animal.

Once inside, I saw that Evony was wearing her worried face. You’re too beautiful for that.

Evony strode down the hall, pausing at the bottom of the kitchen steps and peering inside.

Hi mommy, everyone loves me outside, she said chirpily.

Elara’s face hardened. That’s great.

We’re just going upstairs. It’s time to open presents.

Don’t forget the cake, Brazen. Elara’s smile was paltry.

It’s my favorite, right?

Of course, dear.

Evony hurried down the corridor towards the winding steps. She took them two at a time, groaning about not being able to fly.

I’m going to wait outside while you get dressed, I said, my tone suggesting that I would rather not have that conversation right now.

Evony walked through her bedroom door, shutting it so hard the whole house rattled. Did mommy have my dress dry cleaned just the way I liked?

Actually, I took it down to the shop myself but realizing that their mother-daughter relationship was a contentious one, I lied. Yes, she wanted you to look beautiful like one of your Pullips.

All done.

I entered, almost tripping on one of her dolls. Pullips were Evony’s favorite dolls, and they occupied every available space of her room. They came with weird little poems that described the dolls’ feelings and/or personalities. All of them were built with this mechanism that allowed them to blink, look from side to side, and in the newer models, sleep. That was the only thing that she wanted for her birthday, more Pullips. It was an Asian fashion doll that I had gotten from an overseas trip and had brought back as a souvenir. Evony loved them to the point of obsession. I think that character flaw was courtesy of her mother. They both tended to love things to death.

I went over to the dresser and picked up one of the barrettes from her music box. It was one of the few things of Cassie, my love of a lifetime, that I had bothered to keep after she died. I clipped it into Evony’s hair. It was too fancy, with feathers and ribbons, and utterly unsuitable for a girl her age. But it fit her soul.

The barrette that you bought for your best friend, Evony said in awe as she cocked her head from side to side to get a better view of it. Am I as pretty as her?

I lifted my brow. More so.

Cassie used to be my favorite what-if.

What if it worked out this time? It didn’t the last time. But that didn’t matter.

What if she changed her mind about me? She didn’t the last time, but she could’ve changed.

What if I could prove that being a vampire wasn’t a death sentence? I couldn’t before, or any other time after.

Would she be mad that I’m wearing it? Evony asked, snapping me from my thoughts.

No, sweetie, she died, I said, caressing her cheek. I only saw Cassie behind my eyelids now, but she rotted there too.

So she wasn’t a vampire-like you and mommy? She squeezed my hands, and I pressed her delicate hands right back. No.

Why not? You didn’t want her with you all the time like mommy, she frowned.

I thought for a moment, wishing to be honest without revealing too much. At one time sweeping declarations were made to love Cassie over a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred different ways, but I didn’t realize just how long that was. Until I finally forced my love to walk away from her.

She believed in ghosts and vampires, but she didn’t believe in me.

I don’t understand.

She believed that vampires were nothing but beasts wearing human skin.

Then why was she your best friend? Evony asked me. She seemed in no hurry to rush back to her birthday party downstairs. How quickly her little mind can jump from one subject to another.

Because my battle with her led me to your mom and eventually to you.

She continued to observe herself. Then I’ll make this barrette mine. So she can’t make you sad anymore.

Just then, I realized that I was doing it again. Focusing on Cassie instead of the most important thing to me. Do a little twirl? I asked, looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror. Beautiful. Which Pullips will accompany you to open gifts? None, Evony replied, hustling me out of the door and down the steps. Her mint-green mid-calf dress swung around her stubby legs. The floral lace patchwork on the bodice was a cute added touch. Elara had taken her shopping to get it. It was the one activity they could do together without wanting to kill each other. I’m getting a new one today, and she doesn’t need any competition for attention.

I see, I said, checking that off my list as another way she was just like her mother. Do you think I’m prettier than mommy?

Elara swung open the door and shot us a look that said she might have been listening in on the end of that conversation. The wonders of vampiric power never ceases. Elara had been my wife for almost three hundred years now, but she was still sensitive to any perceived slight. Evony ran past her, ignoring the tension. Eyes transfixed on the table of gifts set up on the deck behind Elara.

I grinned despite myself, Evony made living this life without Cassie bearable.

2

Ending Bliss

I smacked my wallet against my hand feeling silly for accidentally leaving it in my boyfriend’s car. A quick check revealed that my ID: Detective Cassara Fiore Janson of the Evanston Police Department, was still there. Thanks to Bethanny, I had been in a rush to get back to the house. However, seeing him again felt nice. Of course, had I been gazing at my sister, Bethanny, then I would have felt intense dislike bordering on anger. But I had promised to go with her after some extensive pleading. After all, I was told in advance about this party my sister’s employers were throwing for her charge, and I agreed that she wouldn’t have to sweat it out alone.

Instead, I said my goodbyes with a few extra kisses thrown in for him dropping off my application for chief, before bolting to my car. We had only been dating for five months. Mostly because I didn’t date people I worked with, especially ones I entered the academy with, but one drunken evening after a celebration had changed things for them both. Our partnership suddenly had dual meaning. I told myself that it was for the best.

Since then, our relationship had undoubtedly had its fair share of growing pains as we navigated where our work relationship stopped, and our personal one began.

You know that you can always see him again when you come back, Bethanny groaned, combing through the frayed ends of her hair in the visor mirror.

Hardly, I said. His parents are in town visiting tonight.

Bethanny flipped the visor back up. Her feet accidentally kicking an empty fast food cup. She picked it up and threw it in a garbage that was already brimming with junk. And you’re not going to meet them?

I put the car in drive and began the thirty-minute trip to my sister’s client’s house. No.

And why not? You two looked pretty hot and heavy back there.

I didn’t ask to.

I couldn’t say for sure why I wasn’t going to meet them. Perhaps our relationship was too new for either of us to share with the rest of the world.

Meeting the parents was a big deal. We didn’t even know if we worked yet.

It’s not as if he had the option to meet my family. They moved out of the country to the outskirts of China on a permanent mission trip.

The only family I had in my hometown was Bethanny, and he already knew what she looked like. That and the few friends I had managed to make through the department. We knew all the same people.

Roderick, or Rod as he liked to be called, assured me that he would call me later, and that had been good enough. Should I have pushed for more?

I gazed at Bethanny’s delicate features and was inevitably reminded that we weren’t related by blood.

But I