First Blood: Bloodlines, #0.5

By Lara Lynwood

Every First Hunt goes wrong somehow - it's practically tradition.

I just wish mine hadn't gone this badly wrong...


Cassandra Blackthorn, the Guild's top trainee, is finally ready to complete her first solo vampire hunt. But when she ends up uncovering a supernatural trafficking ring instead, will she abandon her chances of qualifying as a hunter to rescue its victims?

This prequel novella in the Bloodlines series is perfect for fans of urban fantasy with a strong female lead, wisecracking hunters, and vampires!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lara Lynwood
• Release date: Feb 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798223550648

Book preview

First Blood

Lara Lynwood

Lara Lynwood

Copyright © 2022 by Lara Lynwood

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

1.First Hunt

2.Never The Only Option

3.Sneaking Out

4.Saving or Avenging

5.Promise

What to read next...

one

First Hunt

Sunset was rapidly approaching, the sinking sun casting amber stripes over the the roofs of the Guild’s buildings. The training ground where I stood was half in shadow, too early yet for the lights to switch on automatically. Better to let my eyes adjust to the darkness, anyway. Especially this evening.

Because today, I was waiting here in the training grounds for a reason. And I’d been waiting for today far longer than I’d been waiting in the training grounds.

First Hunt. That was a nickname, rather than the official name – the Guild’s books called it the Qualification Test for Apprentices Seeking to Join the Guild, but that was too long for everyday use, so even I’d grudgingly started using the nickname. Especially once my own first hunt had been announced.

I’d been training within the Guild as a hunter for five years, now – six if you counted the nearly-a-year I’d spent on the injured list, over a decade if you counted it from when I’d first stepped through the great entrance doors, freshly orphaned and with vengeance on my mind. Three years total as a trainee, broken up by my injury and subsequent recovery, and two more years as the apprentice of Carmen Leitner, the woman who was widely recognised as the best hunter currently in the field.

And all of it had led me here, led up to this – waiting for Carmen and for the Guild’s leader, Irving, to give me the assignment for my first – and hopefully not last – solo hunt.

I’d hunted before, of course, in groups of trainees and instructors, or with Carmen and sometimes other hunters partnered with her. But the Guild was careful. There were only so many hunters, only so many people willing and able to endure the training, and whilst Guild members would inevitably die, that didn’t mean the Guild and its senior hunters couldn’t try to reduce the loss. So solo hunts weren’t permitted for trainees, or even for apprentices – even fully trained hunters were discouraged from attempting them, at least for the first few years after qualifying.

It was up to an apprentice’s mentor to decide if their apprentice was ready to undergo a solo hunt, and to find a suitable assignment. One that would be challenging, but not too risky. When Carmen had told me, only a month ago, that she thought I was ready, I almost hadn’t believed her at first. Then I’d thrown myself into training, determined to prove that I could best whatever vampire or other monster she and Irving chose for me.

Carmen would still be there, of course, keeping to the shadows and monitoring my progress. She’d only intervene if it seemed like the situation was getting out of hand, becoming life-threatening – if it seemed like I couldn’t cope, in other words. I was determined not to let it get to that point. I’d win, and I’d bring back my proof – physical evidence or a report, depending on the hunt. Something to show what I’d done.

To reassure myself, I checked my weapons yet again. At least my friend Marci wasn’t here to tease me about that – for all that she recognised the importance of making sure you were properly armed before a hunt, she still thought I took it too far. I disagreed; too far would be if I was carrying so much it got in the way of my fighting.

A dozen or so silver daggers, stashed in different places around my body, so that I’d always have access to some kind of weapon. Two short silver swords strapped either side of my waist (I’d debated strapping another pair to my back, but Marci had started actually laughing then, and I’d thought maybe that really was going a little too far). A gun at my hip, and ammunition in a bandolier across my chest – I probably wouldn’t end up using it, they didn’t tend to be too much use against vampires in the heat of battle, even with the silver bullets the Guild used. But it was better to have it than not, just in case. And then, in slim pouches and pockets scattered around my armour, various smaller pieces – caltrops, the silver enough to harm a vampire even as my own boots would protect