Hallowed Reaper's Heart: Changing Bodies, #3.5

By Roan Rosser

Hunter, nerdy college student and mage, is dragged to a vampire rave by his roommates. Hoping for an epic night of thrills, he instead finds himself at a lackluster house party. At least there's an open bar.

That is, until the mysterious and handsome Sylvan shows up. Instantly smitten, Hunter decides to stay despite discovering the party is hosted by a powerful and dangerous vampire who has taken an unsettling interest in him.

 

This short story takes place between books 3 and 4 of the Changing Bodies series, but can be read as a stand-alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rainbow Dog Books
• Release date: Dec 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223551430

Roan Rosser

I escaped from the bowels of Utah (namely Provo) and now live in the sunny Pacific Northwest United States. My urban fantasy novels mainly feature the trans and queer protagonists grappling with things like identity and found families that I wished I could have read about growing up. When not writing, you can probably find me beating up pixel baddies or in front of one of my sewing machines adding to my overstuffed closet or my army of homemade plush dolls. If you find yourself blinded by the vivid colors and loud patterns of my homemade shirts, know that I’m only trying to warn you that I may be poisonous. Or venomous? Or both? Probably both.

Book preview

Chapter one

Part 1

image-placeholder

I thought we were going to a Haunted House, I complained as my roommate parked his car in a suburban neighborhood. The houses here were closer to being mansions than houses, massive things that towered over the wide street. Lights and music came from a house nearby. This looks like some lame house party, I said as we piled out of the car.

Hunter, trust me, this is going to be so much better. This party is supposed to be off-the-hook. Noah, the only shifter of our group, bumped my hip with his. Noah was dressed as Scooby, with floppy brown ears on a headband and a stuffed tail hanging from the back of his belt, and I was Shaggy.

We’d done a group costume theme of the Scooby Gang. An inside joke, but also because it was super cheap to put together with items from the thrift store.

Conner forgot to buy tickets to the haunted house, Noah whispered to me. I think he was too embarrassed to tell you.

Shit, I groaned. What kind of Halloween are we going to have without a traditional Haunted House scare?

No worries on that front, Noah assured me. This party is being thrown by the new vampire coven. You know how those vampires are always trying to one-up each other. It’ll be off-the-hook, Noah repeated.

Hearing that made me tense up. I didn’t like vampires. You may ask why I moved to Las Vegas, a place built by vampires to lure in prey, and the answer would be two-fold. I got a full-ride scholarship to the college here, and second to get away from my overbearing family. So far I’d avoided any run ins with vampires, but I think it was because I’d rarely left campus since moving here, and the vampires congregated in the casinos and the strip for the easy prey.

It’s an open bar, Noah sang, tugging me along. Okay, I could put up with vampires for a few hours for free drinks. Besides, if any vampire tried to put hands or fangs on me, I had my magic to protect me.

We reached the house and headed up the walk. Foam gravestones bearing pun names like ‘Pearl E. Gates’ and ‘I.M. Scary’ stuck up from the grass of the yard next to plastic animal skeletons. What’s the theme? Middle-school? I scoffed. But the baffling decorations put me at ease. Any vampire who decorated their house like this wouldn’t be powerful or influential.

Be nice, Noah said, but he was also looking askance at the cheap decorations.

Watch this, I whispered and sent a blast of wind at the closest gravestone. The gust ripped it out of the grass and sent it tumbling end over end into the neighbors lawn.

Noah giggled, then slapped a hand over his mouth as we stumbled up the steps.

A pale teenage boy in a black suit with a name tag that read Gruber greeted people at the door. Although the boy was pale enough to be a vampire, I doubted he was based on his age. Vampires didn’t turn people that young anymore, not since the PCA banned turning anyone under the age of 18.

A grinning dark-skinned bearded man