Blood Huntress (Ruled by Blood Book 1) Read online

  Blood Huntress

  Book One of Ruled by Blood

  Izzy Shows

  Copyright © 2017 Izzy Shows

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by James T. Egan of Bookfly Design LLC

  BookflyDesign.com

  ISBN: 1973861771

  ISBN-13: 978-1973861775

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Also by Izzy Shows

  1. Nina

  2. Nina

  3. Grayson

  4. Grayson

  5. Nina

  6. Grayson

  7. Grayson

  8. Nina

  9. Nina

  10. Nina

  11. Nina

  12. Grayson

  13. Nina

  14. Nina

  15. Grayson

  16. Nina

  17. Nina

  18. Nina

  19. Grayson

  20. Grayson

  21. Grayson

  22. Nina

  23. Nina

  24. Grayson

  25. Nina

  26. Grayson

  27. Grayson

  28. Nina

  29. Grayson

  30. Grayson

  31. Grayson

  32. Nina

  33. Nina

  34. Grayson

  35. Nina

  36. Grayson

  37. Nina

  Also by Izzy Shows

  About the Author

  Don’t forget to join my VIP list and my Facebook group to find out about new releases, promotions, special sneak peeks and engage in titillating conversation!

  Also by Izzy Shows

  The Codex Blair Series

  Grave Mistake

  Blood Hunt

  Dark Descent

  Wild Game

  Grim Fate

  High Stakes

  Other Books in The Codex Blair Universe

  The Fallen’s Crime

  The Fallen Hunter

  Ruled by Blood

  Blood Captive: Origin

  Blood Huntress

  Blood Slave

  Space Mage

  Provoked

  Enslaved

  1

  Nina

  The wind whipped my hair as I moved through the city, the thrill of danger sending bolts of excitement through my bones. No matter what, every night never failed to deliver that initial surge of excitement. Four years I’d been hunting, four years of nightly escapades into the city, and it had never grown old.

  Sometimes, I liked to think that I’d been born for this. That God had seen fit in his creation of me to make me perfect for melding in and out of the shadows, for darting down darkened alleys, for passing by unsuspecting strangers without notice. I knew better than that, deep down, but it was a nice thought to hold on to while the adrenaline surged through me.

  You were made to heal.

  My abuelita’s words echoed in my mind. That was what she’d always taught me, that blood mages were put on this Earth to heal the pain that others brought to them. That we were what was good in the world, not what was dark and ugly. It was such a contrast to what everyone else liked to say about us—that we were monsters who needed to be put down.

  Even the other witches liked to look down on us, calling our magic ‘dirty’.

  It was an argument of the past. Blood mages had long been hunted by the true monsters of the night: the vampires. Through old magic bound to iron, they had devised a collar that locked down our abilities. With that creation had come the dawn of a new age.

  An age where vampires ruled.

  I shook the thoughts from my mind. They were unimportant, compared to my task.

  Conall—the werewolf who had saved me from the cage I’d been locked in for twelve years—had trusted me with an assignment of the utmost importance, something he had never done before. He had to believe I was capable of it, because for once he hadn’t assigned it to one of his wolves at the same time.

  Normally, we competed for our kills. Three failed kills in a row, and you were out of the compound. There was no room for failure in his world. It was hard, competing against wolves who were naturally stronger and faster than I was, but I’d learned to use what talents I had to give myself what little upper hand I could.

  I was the underdog, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t something dangerous in my own right.

  And the wolves knew that. A blood mage was a thing to be afraid of, for the power we had could take life as easily as we could save it. They all feared that I’d sneak into their souls and steal their free will from them.

  I wasn’t that kind of blood mage.

  The sound of humans walking along the street outside the alley I was in had me pause, pressing my back against the wall so the shadows could hide me. It would do me no good to be seen by one of them.

  A hunter was easily recognized. I wore all black so as to better blend into the night, with one adornment that separated me from the usual suspects. I wore a red scarf on one wrist, something I had chosen to mark me for what I was, though it was more of an inside joke than anything.

  No one had dared to ask me about it, and I hadn’t volunteered the information. The wolves weren’t a chatty bunch, not with me, anyway.

  Seconds stretched by that felt like minutes as I waited for the humans to pass before I darted out of the alley, sped across the street and into another.

  The alleys were the territory of the hunters and the vampires. No human dared to enter them for fear of being taken by a hungry vampire, or for fear of running into the hunters who terrorized the city. They didn’t seem to understand that we were saving them from the vampires.

  To them, we were just as dangerous as the predators who stalked the night.

  That was fine by me. They were less likely to get in my way if they stuck to the streets.

  I navigated the city that I had long since committed to memory, heading for a side of it that wasn’t quite so pretty. Normally, the vampires liked to prey on those humans who still held status. The blood of the well-fed was always better than the blood of the poor. But there were some vampires who were too weak, who didn’t hold enough status of their own amongst the other vampires, who preyed on the other humans.

  They weren’t my target tonight.

  A general in the vampire army. That’s my mark tonight.

  My heartbeat picked up as I thought about the task set before me. It was dangerous, but not impossible. We didn’t usually go after such big targets, and truth be told, I had no idea why Conall had given me this particular job, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. Not with the bounty on the man’s head.

  I hadn’t told Conall, but a secret part of me yearned to save up enough of my own money to afford an apartment outside the mansion. That part of me remembered what it was like to be locked in the cages, what it meant to be dependent on the whims of brutal men.

  Conall wasn’t a bad man, but I wanted my independence all the same.

  Ugh. Busy thoughts breed careless actions.

  I reminded myself of that and forced myself to push the thoughts away.

  The informants I had spread throughout the city—that’s right, my informants, not Conall’s—had told me that
the general liked to visit certain brothels, and that was when he was most likely to be caught unawares. The vice of vampires was more often than not alcohol, but this particular vampire was different.

  Well, as different as a man could be. Was it really so strange that he preferred to spend his time indulging in the pleasures of the flesh? I didn’t think so, but my informant had mentioned that it was odd in and of itself.

  Outside the normal behavior for a vampire.

  I scoffed. I had a hard time believing that, but whatever. It didn’t matter where he was; I was going to kill him all the same.

  Sliding in and out of shadows, I moved quickly from one alley to the next until I found myself in the pleasure district. Shady bars and brothels lined the streets here. Working women were standing outside their buildings, trying to draw in customers for the night.

  I waited patiently until there was a break in the line of sight, until one of the prostitutes turned her back, and darted into the opposite alley that would lead to the backs of the brothels.

  I couldn’t exactly go in the front door, now, could I?

  No, I had to be cautious. I had to find another way in, so the prostitutes and the madams wouldn’t see me. I couldn’t risk exposure.

  Once in the back alley, I slowed my gait to avoid noise, each footstep carefully placed. There were voices coming from the areas behind the brothels—women on their breaks, smoking and chatting with one another.

  Curiosity drew me closer, to listen to their conversations.

  “Can you believe it? No, I swear, he was this small! And God above, the smell of him. I’d rather service a vampire any day than those men. They always come in carrying the stench of work with them. At least the vampires smell nice, even if they’re a little scary.”

  I tilted my head to the side, thinking about that. How in the world could someone prefer to be in the presence of a vampire? They were the ultimate predator, nigh on to indestructible, and there was always the danger of them losing control. Feeding and killing in the same breath.

  And what did she mean?

  Oh.

  A blush crept up my cheeks as I thought about what she’d said. I was twenty-two, not a teenager anymore, but still...I had no experience in what she’d described. It wasn’t my fault that I hadn’t immediately grasped what she’d meant, though now that I thought about it, I should have guessed.

  I no longer wanted to listen to the hookers talking, but it wasn’t up to me. I had to wait for them to vacate the back area so I could find an entrance that wouldn’t immediately announce me to the occupants of the building.

  A nice window, maybe. If I could figure out what room the general was in, I could get in and out before anyone saw me. Yeah, that would be best. I just had to get a good look at the building.

  I glanced around until I spied a fire escape. Perfect.

  Careful not to make a single noise, I climbed the ladder onto the first level of the fire escape and glanced down at the small courtyard behind the brothel. Neither prostitute bothered to look up. They had no reason to think anyone was above them.

  Perfect.

  I continued moving up the fire escape until I reached a point where I could easily see into the building.

  All I had was a picture of the general to go on, and it wasn’t a particularly good picture to begin with. But I doubted there would be many vampires in the brothel, judging by the information my informant had given me.

  Closing my eyes, I sent my magic flooding out of my body and snaking into the brothel.

  It was so much easier now than it had been when I’d first started, the practice I’d had over the past years lending ease to the task. I searched out the biorhythms of each inhabitant, feeling my way through them.

  When I had first started, it had been terrifying to feel the heartbeats of the people I touched. But now, I knew what I was looking for. There was a different rhythm to a vampire’s structure.

  Oh, sure, their hearts beat just the same as a human’s did. For all intents and purposes, they were just as alive as anyone else, but there was still something that separated them from humans.

  They were different on a cellular level.

  It took me a few minutes, but at last I found the rhythms of two vampires. One farther away—towards the front of the brothel—and one in a room that seemed to be about two windows to the left. The vampire towards the front was likely in the waiting room, waiting to select a woman to keep him company for the night.

  The one back here would already be busy with his nightly entertainment.

  If luck was on my side, he would be the general.

  I glanced down at the courtyard. No one had spied me yet. My eyes drifted to the wall to my left.

  There was a balcony not that far away and a window ledge in between.

  Maybe I could... Ach, that was dangerous. If I fell, I wouldn’t die from the impact, but I’d be as good as dead. Broken leg likely, fractured ribs possible. I wouldn’t be able to get away before someone came out to discover who and what I was, and they’d kill me.

  Not the prostitutes, but the men they kept inside to defend them from customers who might get violent.

  It was a risk, but it was one I had to take. I had to be sure that it was the general in that room.

  And I was running out of time. There would be a sweet spot between when the woman finished with him and his exit from the building, when he would be left alone to collect himself. That was when I needed to make my entrance and get rid of him.

  Pushing the thought of danger from my mind and allowing adrenaline to flood my body, I used the wall of the building to assist me with climbing onto the railing of the fire escape.

  One outstretched hand grabbed the window sill, then the other, and a moment later, I was hanging from my hands.

  I was immediately thankful for the years of painful training Conall had forced me through. Every day was dedicated to fighting with the wolves, strengthening my skills and my muscles, while every night was given over to hunting.

  Sleep was for the weak.

  Now, I had the muscles I needed to keep me in place. Inch by painful inch, I maneuvered along the windowsill until I was next to the balcony. I spared one last glance down at the courtyard. The women were moving back into the building, leaving their cigarette butts lining the ground.

  Filthy habit.

  At least they hadn’t spotted me. It had been a risk, moving along the wall, but I had trusted in the shadow provided by the balcony above this window. It had served me well.

  I waited until I heard the sound of the door shutting, then started swinging my body. Left to right, again and again, until I had the momentum I needed to throw myself to the right.

  For a moment, I was flying high into the air, but I didn’t have time to enjoy the free-falling or the kiss of the wind tugging at my ponytail.

  I landed in a crouch on the balcony. The small sound of my shoes scuffing the concrete sounded like bombs detonating to my ears, so accustomed was I to the silence of the night.

  I froze, waiting to see if there was anyone nearby who had heard me.

  One moment passed, then another. All the while, I held my breath, not daring to make a sound.

  At last, I was satisfied that no one had heard me.

  I walked to the edge of the balcony and peered into the open window across from me.

  Careless to leave a window open like that, but from the conversation I’d overheard, it was likely at request of the prostitutes. They’d need the fresh air to keep the smell of their customers away from them.

  It took a few seconds for the outlines of the bodies in the room to come into focus, but when one of them rolled over, I was blessed with a view of the man’s face.

  The general.

  One victory that would lead to another. He was in the throes of passion, too focused on the woman to detect my presence.

  Sloppy. It would be the death of him, I assured myself.

  Without wasting another moment, I cl
imbed back to the windowsill, shimmied back to the fire escape, and made my way down to the ground.

  It was easy enough to scale the fence that protected the courtyard, and then I was in.

  Exposed, though no one was there to see me. Any minute now, someone could walk out the back door and find me there.

  The danger only served to heighten my excitement.

  I lived for this. This was when I felt alive.

  I spared not a second, rushing as quietly as I could to the wall.

  Now, to climb up. It would be difficult work, but it was nothing I wasn’t trained for.

  I made my way to the fence to my left and climbed to the top of it, which afforded me a unique position to be able to hear everything going on in the room above, where the general was.

  Now, all I had to do was wait for them to finish, and then I’d climb into the room and kill him.

  The sounds of their fucking wafted from the room—grunts, moans, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

  Curiosity consumed me, but so did revulsion, and with it came a unique feeling of confusion.

  What was it like, to be touched by a man in the way I was hearing? I frowned. From the sounds of it, it wasn’t something I’d enjoy. It sounded almost violent, in a way, but was that really surprising, considering it was a vampire in there?

  Blech. Not for me, not at all.

  There was someone who made your heart race, once.

  Nope, nopety nope, we weren’t going down that road. I refused to entertain thoughts of that night on the rooftop. It’d been a fluke. A mistake. I was never going to think about it.