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EXCERPT
Tribes of the
Vampire Book 2:
THE JADED HUNTER
By
Michelle M. Pillow
Prologue
New Orleans, Louisiana, May
"Ye dinna understand, lass!"
The cryptic call pierced through the night. A frown creased
Jaden MacNaughton’s features as she concentrated on establishing the position of
the voice. When she lowered herself to the rain soaked concrete, her hand
slipped over the grainy texture. Irritated, she steadied herself.
Luckily, the sky had stopped its midnight torrent long enough
for her to track her prey into the old graveyard. Narrowing her eyes, Jaden
peered around the crumbling stone pillar at the entrance. Her gaze darted over
the grounds, moving towards the dirty crypt the vampire apparently called home.
"Lass?"
The vampire’s Scottish accent fell thick through the dark
night. Jaden had an eerie feeling something was off. Duncan was of Scottish
descent, but according to her file he was human-born in the American old west.
His accent shouldn’t have been so strong. Shrugging off her suspicions, she
focused her feelings. Her logical assessment had been off before when she
hunted. She needed to trust her instincts now--and her file. Tonight was just
another night in her life. No matter how much Duncan protested, one of them
wouldn’t be leaving the graveyard walking.
The moonless sky made it hard to see, and the street lamps
didn’t shine on this part of the old city. She couldn’t detect more than the
stretches of shadows cast by weathered tombstones and mausoleums. Scowling,
Jaden pulled back. It wouldn’t do for her target to see her before she was ready
to strike. Vampire eyes didn’t need the benefit of light, but unfortunately hers
did.
Why couldn’t it have been, Jaden, the poltergeist stalker?
I’ll rid your family crypt of pesky, ethereal relatives or your money back!
Jaden grimaced, trying not to get distracted by the sarcasm invading her
thoughts. Unable to resist, she added, At least I would get paid in cash for my
services, and a damned ghost would be like fighting a gust of wind instead of
being swallowed whole by a walking, immortal snake.
"We know what you’ve done, Duncan. Last week you tried to
change a woman in labor. Even your beloved tribal council has rules. Besides,
you’ve been killing innocent people," Jaden said in disgust. She refused to
think too deeply about it. It had been her job to terminate the life of the
child and mother. The infant had been in too much pain to try to save. Besides,
once the vampiric disease was in your veins, there was no turning back. There
was no cure. Dispassionately, she said, "Care to come over here and read what
happened to the mother in my file? Care to hear what happened to her baby?"
"But that is what I’ve been tryin’ to tell ye, lass. I’m not
this Duncan," the vampire returned. His voice was nearer. The nightstalker had
drawn close to her hiding place. Vagueness stirred in her senses, a remembrance
she couldn’t place. Ignoring the déjà vu, she swept her lashes low over her eyes
in concentration.
"And I dinna care what ye wish to be called, laddie," Jaden
growled under her breath, mimicking his soft burr. She knew the vampire could
hear her as if she shouted, just as she could detect his whispering chuckle at
her defiance. His arrogance was no surprise. Immortality tended to convince the
vampiric beings that they were Gods upon the earth. And like the ancient Gods,
they wielded their power with pleasure and contempt.
Closing her eyes, Jaden reached out her senses to feel for
him. With the help of her uncle she had tracked the vampire from New York. Her
uncle was methodical in his business. He wouldn’t have made a mistake. Not in
something like this. It was too important to her. She needed to avenge his
victims.
The father of the baby came to her mind--his face contorted in
grief and pain, his limbs flying in desperation as he ran helplessly through the
alleyway next to the hospital. The poor guy was lost without his wife, with no
evidence to bury, no idea what happened to them. And he would never be told the
truth. Besides, what could she tell him? Hi, I assassinated your vampiric wife
and baby? Want to go get coffee?
"Which one of the bloodstalkers are ye, lass?" the vampire
asked calmly, breaking into her thoughts. He wasn’t afraid. Jaden could feel his
emotions swirling thickly with her own. It was her gift and her curse. It was
the reason she could track. It was the reason she was alone. She was a dhampir,
daughter of a mortal woman, daughter of an undead father.
"I just want you dead," she muttered darkly, without
compassion. She found the mother and infant in an alleyway where they were left
to writhe in pain. Duncan had left them. She put it from her mind. Emotion
always distracted her. That is why she never let herself feel anything for those
she stalked or hunted. She couldn’t afford to be weak. One mistake and she could
end up dead, or much worse--she could end up a vampire.
Jaden slowly ran her hand over the leather satchel at her
waist, clutching a wooden stake. The light weight felt comfortable in her palm
as if it had been carved to fit there, when in fact it was her hand that had
grown around it. She’d held her first stake when she was two years old. What a
game it had been to her then, striking the weapon into a feather pillow to see
how high the feathers would flutter. She had danced in them like snowflakes.
Now, her target was much harder and instead of dancing, she was bathed in warm
blood. The stake wouldn’t kill any but the youngest of vampires, but it would
slow this old one down so she could capture him. She bounced the wood
thoughtfully in her palm.
Reacting on instinct more than sight, Jaden spun up from the
ground, twisting around the stone post to strike the vampire in the center of
his chest. Her muscles moved with the ease of frequent use. The vampire
hesitated. Jaden could feel him holding back. Duncan stopped his counter-strike
to let her come at him. It was as if he waited for her to hit him.
Jaden had little time to wonder at the creature’s hesitancy.
In an instant, she could feel that the vampire was powerful, that he could’ve
easily put up a fight, and yet he held back. Unable to stop her motions, she
felt the wood meet with the unforgiving steel of undead muscle. Her palm brushed
next to a cold chest as she let go.
Duncan gasped in surprise. Jaden didn’t falter, not seeing his
face as she whipped around to punch his jaw. Once he was away from her, she
could better sense him. If she had made a mistake in her tracking there was
still time to right it. The vampire’s head snapped back and he fell to the
ground. Instantly, two men clad in ninja black were at her side, one carrying a
claymore. The weapon’s large blade gleamed dangerously in the moonlight.
Jaden turned to the men, automatically knowing they were
mortal. Without thought, she kicked her foot through the air, hitting the
unarmed one in the chest. The man deflected the power of her blow before
returning one of his own. His fist snapped across her jaw, bouncing off to leave
a trail of blood on her lips.
Jaden fumed, but she hid it beneath a hard smile. A red trail
trickled down her pale chin. She didn’t bother to wipe it away as she returned
upon the man with the full force of a fanatical demon, slashing the air until
she pummeled him to the ground.
Spinning, arms held before her, she confronted the man with
the blade. His sword lifted over his head, coming through the air to hack off
the vampire’s head. Jaden stopped him with a whirling kick to the abdomen. His
sword barely missed her arm as it whizzed past. The man stumbled before whirling
to face her. He jerked the mask off. His short brown hair matted around his
irritated face.
"Damn it, Jade! What’d you do to Tom?" the man asked in
breathless anger, ignoring his own injury while motioning to the man on the
ground.
"This is my job, Rick," Jaden returned angrily. "I warned you
if you came on my turf again, I’d beat the living--"
"Damn it, Jade! Mack sent us!" Tom growled from the ground,
cradling his arm as he stood. He too had pulled the mask from his sharp
features. His expression fell into a sulk but his chin lifted proudly. Jaden
pressed her lips together in irritation and ignored him.
Directing her stare at Rick, she said, "So you’re the one
that’s been following me for the last two nights. I should’ve known."
"We were following orders," Tom said, coming to stand beside
Jaden. She continued to ignore him, concentrating on Rick. Rick’s look was just
as harsh. They clashed in a silent battle of will, neither backing down. Most
women would’ve been intimidated by Rick’s handsomeness and cool, militant
demeanor. Jaden wasn’t a normal woman.
"Why would my uncle send you?" Jaden questioned in disbelief.
"It’s been a simple enough track. The cocky bastard didn’t even run."
"I don’t know," Tom spat, still angling to get his say in.
"We’re just following orders."
"How many times do I have to tell you? This is not the
military." Jaden scowled. Finally, she drew her eyes away to glance impatiently
at Tom. When she looked back at Rick his stance had relaxed but he was still
angry. "I work alone. I can’t be responsible for your lives. This was my
capture. I’ll handle it."
Rick stepped forward. Lowering his voice so no one else could
hear, he whispered hotly into her ear, "No one is asking you to be responsible
for us, Jade. You’re not the only one out here fighting the good fight. And no
matter how much you want to be alone in this, you’re not."
"I work alone," she said bitterly. She wasn’t as discreet as
Rick, leaving her voice audible. "You didn’t even give me time to sense him."
"What is there to sense? He’s a demon," Tom hissed from
behind. Jaden turned to him, ready to begin fighting anew. Rick grabbed her
elbow to keep her from pummeling the man. Duncan gave a slight moan, reaching
for the stake protruding from his chest next to his heart. Their attention
turned briefly to the ground, distracting them from another skirmish.
Jaden didn’t have an answer for Tom’s question. He was right,
of course. Nightstalkers were all demons and she should’ve been killing the
vampiric scum as indiscriminately as they killed humans. Perhaps it was her
father’s blood that drove her to be sure, to sense their crimes for herself
before finishing them off. And maybe it was her punishment, her need for
self-torment that forced her to feel the victim’s pain, to remind her what
vampire blood was capable of.
Lifting a walkie-talkie to his mouth, Rick kept his eyes
trained steadily on the slender woman before him, as he ordered, "Send in the
sunlight. We’ve got clean up."
"What are you doing?" Jaden rotated back to Rick. Placing her
hands on her hips, she glowered at him. Rick latched the radio back to his
waist. Jaden snorted in disgust. She didn’t carry anything but her phone and a
few simple tools--a stake, a knife or sword, her wits, and on rare occasions a
rope. The militant ninjas that her uncle employed brought an arsenal of
uselessness out with them--their electronic files, two-ways, swords, blades,
vehicles done up like tanks, artificial lighting, backup. Seeing the handgun at
Rick’s waist, she grimaced.
"Mack ordered this one done to death immediately," Rick
acknowledged. He knew better than to test his luck against a dhampir. "We all
heard what this creature did and we know what you were forced to do. You’re too
emotionally involved. It only takes one mistake and you’re dead."
Jaden’s jaw dropped. To her thinking that was the
overstatement of the century. She couldn’t afford to be ‘emotionally involved’
in anything. Rick should have known that little detail better than anyone.
Duncan began to sit up. Blood pooled around the wound in his
chest, running down his sides and staining his cotton shirt a dark red. Rick
kicked him absently in the chest to knock him down. The vampire wheezed, showing
pointed fangs. His eyes filled with blood as his body fought to survive.
Turning, Rick motioned his men to bring forward the large
circular light. They stumbled under its cumbersome weight. The light only
imitated the sun. Its rays were not as powerful against a vampire unless he was
completely drained of energy and blood, like Duncan on the ground before them.
Jaden seethed. Something was definitely not right. Mack had
never sent his boys to help her out before. Not on a routine slay. She walked
over to the fallen body. Looking at the creature fully for the first time, she
froze.
"Jade," the cold, blue lips began to mouth with a rasp. His
red hair was slicked back from his pale features. The vampire’s deadened gaze
glanced over her shoulder in warning.
Jaden spun into action, her arm coming across her shoulder to
strike out as she turned. It was too late. Tom anticipated her move before she
even made it. Her arm met with the hard crash of metal. The man held a riot
shield. She winced violently, shrieking in pain. Her shoulder popped out of
joint with the force of her blow. Instantly one of the faceless men who dragged
the light was next to her, shooting her side with a tazer. The metal hooks bit
into her flesh and the heavy electric shock brought her instantly to her knees.
"No," Rick hollered. His cry came too late. The man had
already brought Jaden low to the ground with his assault. "She’s one of us,
fool!"
Tom stood defiantly over Jaden, smirking at her helpless form
as she shivered. The other man dropped his tazer, yanking the hooks from her
skin. He glanced around in confusion. Rick glared at the both of them, waving
his hand back. The men obeyed the silent order, disappearing into the graveyard
the way they’d come.
Jaden groaned, recovering quickly from the attack. She panted
for air, unable to breathe, unable to speak. Her lungs felt as if they’d been
crushed by a wrecking ball. Her arm hung limp at her side as she pulled up on
her one good hand and knees. She looked to the fallen vampire, really seeing him
for the first time. The old eyes stared back at her. A bright light flashed
behind them, mimicking the rays of the sun. The face began to wither before her,
its lips opening slightly as if to scream her name.
"Bhaltair?" Jaden whispered weakly in disbelief. It wasn’t
Duncan. She had tracked the wrong vampire. Yelling at the men, she ordered
hoarsely, "No, stop! Don’t!"
Jaden’s head reeled from the pain shooting in her shoulder.
She dropped faintly to lie on the ground. Her mind swam in threatening
blackness. The vampire shrieked, turning slowly to ash.
Jaden coughed, breathing in the grave dust of vampiric death
as it swirled up gently in the night breeze. It fell over her, blanketing her
body like the tender falling of feathery snow. It was too late. The vampire was
dead.
© copyright Michelle M. Pillow, October 2004
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the
author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living
persons or events is merely coincidence.
REVIEWS
Fallen Angels Review
RECOMMENDED READ!
5 ANGELS!
"Jaded Hunter is a spectacular story...The characters had a lot of
chemistry, and set the pages on fire with their passion. ... Truly a joy to
read, I couldn’t put it down until I was done..."
Reviewed by: Julie
"Michelle M. Pillow's THE
JADED HUNTER is an emotionally charged, bewitching story"
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Romance Reviews Today
Love Romances
5 HEARTS!
"Michelle M. Pillow never
ceases to amaze her fans. Her writing has progressed and
has reached hidden depths with each book.
Truly a wickedly dark, delicious
tale, Ms Pillow has used wonderful imagery to bring her whole world of
vampires to life. Beautiful descriptive passages help the
reader to see, feel and experience the emotions described.
Two very complex protagonists, Tyr and Jaden battle their own emotions, their
fears, their love, and their very beliefs throughout the whole exciting story. The dialogue is sassy, witty, the plot flows at a very good pace, so
that the reader is excitedly turning the pages to find out what happens next.
There are a bevy of secondary
characters that bring the story depth and life. The sex
scenes are wonderfully intimate, sensuous, passionate and truly very romantic. Is it obvious that this reviewer loved this story?
It was difficult to leave and was begging to be read in one sitting. A tale, truly to be read slowly and savour, this reviewer knows for
certain that lovers of vampires will be thrilled by this offering from Ms.
Pillow. Keep up the good work! Readers
will be waiting not so patiently for the next one in the series to be
published."
Valerie, Jan 2005
Ecataromance
5 Stars
"With her exemplary storytelling talent, Michelle Pillow always creates a
tale that is unforgettable. In her second book of the Tribes of the Vampire
series, Ms. Pillow delves even deeper into the world of vampires and those who
hunt them. With an extremely potent vampire and an equally determined woman,
readers are treated to a story that is inventive and unique in its clever
delivery. TRIBES OF THE VAMPIRE 2: The Jaded Hunter combines a suspenseful
story with an original romance to capture reader’s thoughts. ...
Ms. Pillow has penned a darkly sensual story, where Tyr and Jaden must
battle through many internal conflicts, while they try to decide what is best
for themselves as well as each other. These characters are powerful, strong
and intelligent yet have many deeply buried feelings. With the engrossing
dialogue, readers will be pulled into this vampire world, where the impossible
seems as if it could actually happen. In this emotional tale of redemption, I
was completely hooked from the engaging first page until the shocking ending.
Ms. Pillow is an exceptional writer, and TRIBES OF THE VAMPIRE 2: The Jaded
Hunter will stir your imagination with its noteworthy story."
Amelia Richard, eCataRomance Reviews
Enchanted in Romance
The Jaded Hunter
is a fantastic story of a woman unlike any other, trained to kill from an
early age and strong enough to be able to do that job with impunity. The
relationship between Jade and Tyr is rocky to say the least, enemies are not
supposed to feel for each other, the attraction and passion between these
two is explosive. Michelle M. Pillow has created a world that is believable
it pulled me in so completely I couldn’t help but experience the lives and
feelings of all. I haven’t yet read the first book of this series but now I
will, this is an incredible story that I loved and I look forward to the
rest of this series. - Nikita
"4 STARS! The Jaded Hunter is a fast paced read with a
good mixture of both action and romance that makes the pages turn faster and
faster, right up until the end of the book. The story is well written with
interesting and complex characters that don’t follow the standard romance
rules...and the book is all the more enjoyable for it. Definitely
recommended reading for vampire romance fans everywhere." LoveVampires
Reviews,l Feb 2007
AWARDS
December 2004 2005 P&E Poll
#12
Novel Horror
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