The Chase: The Lockwood Series, #1

By Jaxon Lee Rose

After three long months in a new town with a new job, things aren't going exactly to plan for Cosima Lockwood.The job? Not at all what she thought it would be. The town? Deader than ever, and just when she decides it's time to pack up and move on, the local shape-shifter packs start closing in. Not only that, but her partner is nowhere to be seen, which robs the entire trip of its salacious prospects ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bella Nacht Press
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781644408018

Jaxon Lee Rose

Born and raised in the U.S, and now living in New Zealand. Jaxon is a 3D artist and a game developer who enjoys writing dark urban fantasy.

Book preview

The Chase

THE CHASE

THE LOCKWOOD SERIES

BOOK ONE

JAXON LEE ROSE

Bella Nacht Press

CONTENTS

The Chase

August 8, 2008

Portsmouth, England

August 15, 2008

London, England

The Flight

August 21, 2008

In-Flight, Rome to London

Coming Soon

Also by J.L.Rose

About the Author

COPYRIGHT

Text copyright © 2018 Jaxon Lee Rose.

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise - without prior written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover art by: Jaxon Lee Rose

www.jaxonleerose.com

For Kitty, who helped push me to take this first step.

THE CHASE

THE LOCKWOOD SERIES, BOOK 1

AUGUST 8, 2008

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND

Nobody I had ever known could have predicted that a twenty-four-hour cafe with a night-long happy hour would be this … quiet.

I didn’t mean quiet, as in empty, the place was packed. I meant quiet. Imagine a library, but add alcohol, bean bags and a lot of hipster hats and skinny jeans and voila. Near total silence, disturbed only by the never-ending clicks of keyboard buttons and computer mice.

Three months on the job and it had been like this every night without fail. I spent my shifts silently pouring drinks for people too engrossed in their screens to even make eye contact with me.

I had thought that this gig would be a nice wind down from my normal routine of picking up bartending and nightclub positions. I tended to gravitate towards the local shifter clans of whatever city I decided to spend time in, but this was too much of a wind down.

My fingers twitched with the urge to do something to liven the place up. I’d take drunken karaoke at this point. Anything to disrupt the sea of illuminated screens.

The highlight of the hour, every hour, was listening to the night manager fapping away in his back office, if you could call that a highlight.

Having heightened hearing wasn’t always a good thing. I not only had to listen to him, but I knew exactly which patrons were porning out on the floor, or watching cat videos, or, and this was my favorite, very depressing self-help lectures.

I could use some self-help right about now.

Time slid by as slow as it could possibly go. Yes, I’d taken the job for a change of pace, and I was regretting it, but the decision had been driven by the desire to spice up the other areas of my life. The usual routine had gotten … stale.

I’d thought this would make it harder, more interesting. I wanted him to work for his prize.

I’d aimed a little too high.

If he hadn’t been able to find me during these last three grueling months, then he wasn’t going to. This was too outside the scope.

I was a clubber.

He was a clubber.

We’d met in a club.

We both practically lived in them.

I would travel, set up in a new city, a new country, and he’d track me down. No hints or clues, usually. He had to figure it out on his own. Or I did. When one of us finally found the other, we’d have our fun, then we’d hit the road and do it all over again.

Sometimes I found him first, but I liked it better when he found me.

It was the ultimate game of

Reviews for The Chase

[Jaxon Lee Rose · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wrote this a long time ago to prove I could do it and start this little project. My review is 100% biased.