The Dark Vampire: Bloodline Vampires, #0.5

By L. J. Red

He doesn't trust humans. Until he meets his fated mate.

 

A lethal vampire warrior, Aaron has never cared for humans. Until now. His fated mate has walked into his life and he's desperate to own her, but if he wants to keep her close, he's going to have to tell her what she really is.

 

Aisha is America's vampire expert, or she would be, if the vamps would let her do her damn job. When an emergency call ends with her deep in the heart of the vampire brotherhood, Aisha starts to wonder if she's made a dangerous mistake.

 

Until she meets him. 

 

Sinfully handsome with a thick aura of power, Aaron is unlike anyone she's ever met. She's never felt attraction like this before. His presence drives her senseless with desire. Can she trust it? Can she trust him?

 

 

A short, slow-burn prequel to the wildly successful Bloodline Vampires series by L.J. Red.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L. J. Red
• Release date: May 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201474874

Book preview

Chapter 1

Get off her! Aaron gripped the vampire by the shoulders, his nails sharp as claws, digging into his flesh. The vampire didn’t unlatch his teeth from the human’s neck. Aaron snarled, his claws digging deeper, and with a roar he tore the vampire away from his prey. The human, a young woman, just a kid, fell back against the cushions. Her skin was dangerously pale.

Aaron knelt beside her and gently lifted her chin. The two deep wounds from the vampire’s bite were bleeding sluggishly and the skin around them was white, bloodless.

You took far too much, Aaron growled, rounding on the vampire.

The fledgling cringed away from Aaron’s rage, his eyes flickering between the unconscious human and Aaron’s broad, angry frame.

I was just having a drink, the vampire whined, glancing to the side as if for support, but no one in the room was willing to go against Aaron and the power he represented.

Aaron snarled. Pathetic. They would say nothing now, and yet none of them had stepped in to protect the poor human before Aaron got here. He swore under his breath, dismissing the fledgling from his notice and reaching for the human’s wrist to take her pulse. What was wrong with the vampires here in Chicago? He’d thought the danger was outside the Sanctuary walls. The crazed vampire killed, attacking humans in the streets. That was why he’d been sent to Chicago, to lend the vampires here his aid in tracking that monster down.

But when he’d arrived, instead of finding the entire bloodline focused on tracking the killer, they were throwing parties, draining the humans, taking advantage. It made no sense. They weren’t protecting their humans. Instead, they were acting like humans were nothing but food or playthings, there to be dominated and abused. It went against the code, against everything he stood for.

It unsettled him. He hadn’t expected to find such blatant disregard for the humans right here in the Sanctuary. Something was off in this city; he was sure of it. His senses were taut, strained, as if something were tangling at them, distracting him. He couldn’t understand it. He felt pulled in different directions. His duty here in the Sanctuary, and something… something else out there in the city.

What seems to be going on here? A sly voice came from Aaron’s right.

Aaron straightened and turned to face Kai. One of your vampires was bleeding this human dry, he said. She needs medical attention, a doctor. Who do you have on staff?"

On staff? Kai raised his eyebrows. His gaze dropped to the human and he sneered distastefully. We don’t keep humans on staff, he scoffed. The fledglings clustered behind his back, craning their necks to watch the show, all tittering softly.

Aaron growled, his expression darkening further. Then what do you do when a vampire goes too far? He said, part of him not wanting to hear the answer. I expect it happens fairly often around here, he said meaningfully, squaring off against Kai, looming over the smaller vampire.

Kai blanched. N-no, he croaked. No, of course not. We’re careful. The humans are so ... fragile.

Aaron could see the sneer Kai was trying to hold back as he ran his eyes over the human lying behind them. He hated that superior attitude. Vampires were stronger and faster than humans, yes. They lived longer, wiser lives than the human’s short-lived ones. But that didn’t give vampires the right to treat humans like animals. Back in San Francisco, Aaron was the oldest vampire in his city, and still, in his court, he had humans living amongst his bloodline, vassals who served them, even the families of his vassals were given a place to live. Their lives were separate from his—humans had no place in vampire politics—but that didn’t mean they were used and discarded like playthings. The abuse he was seeing here in the Sanctuary. It made him sick.

Behind him, the human groaned softly.

She’s going to die if something isn’t done, Aaron snapped. He looked her over. If possible, she’d become even more pale. She was almost the same color as the white couch cushions, only the bags under her eyes a smudgy gray. She looked close to death. Far worse than just a draining. He’d felt her pulse a moment ago. She was deteriorating too fast. He lifted his hand to her forehead. Cool and clammy. That wasn’t right, was it? Humans should be warm. With her brown hair swept back from her face, he realized she was barely more than a child. Certainly, too young to be part of one of Kai’s vampire parties. How dare they put this child in danger. It went against Aaron’s every protective instinct.

Get help, he snarled in Kai’s direction and knelt beside the girl.

Are you sure she needs help? These humans, the drugs they take.

Aaron reared around, staring at Kai incredulously, his lips drawn back from his fangs. Kai stumbled in his desperation to back away