The only thing Zoë knew about Kaz was that his mouth knew exactly how to fit against hers for maximum pleasure.
And that the heat of his body felt like a fantasy in which she was granted everything she had ever desired.
It never worked like that in real life. Not even with a healthy dose of magic tossed in for good measure.
But never in her life had Zoë felt so connected to a man she didnt even know.
Sighing into the kiss, she tilted her body towards Kazs aggressive stance, and as their hips met, he drew his fingers down her spine, coaxing her even closer with his touch. Chest to chest, she melted against his heat and strength. He made her feel delicate and pretty and so, so desirable.
A girl could become bewitched by such a kiss. And a bewitched witch was a rare thing.
MICHELE HAUF has been writing romance, action-adventure and fantasy stories for more than twenty years. Her first published novel was Dark Rapture. France, musketeers, vampires and faeries populate her stories. And if she followed the adage write what you know, all her stories would have snow in them. Fortunately, she steps beyond her comfort zone and writes about countries she has never visited and of creatures she has never seen.
Michele can be found on Facebook and Twitter and at www.michelehauf.com. You can also write to Michele at PO Box 23, Anoka, MN 55303, USA.
The Vampire Hunter
Michele Hauf
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Excerpt
Prologue
The thing came at him so quickly, Kaspar had little time to react beyond putting up his arms to block the crazy long teeth that gnashed for his neck.
Hed been minding his own business, digging in the garbage behind Madame du Mondes dance studio. Hed found a broken chair and had screwed off one of the wooden legs. If he whittled down the serrated edge he might use it as a weapon. Call it a sixteenth-birthday present. Living on the streets a guy needed all the protection he could get.
But after nearly two years of street life, hed usually seen the attack coming. This maniac had lunged at him from out of nowhere, and it was as if he were on drugs because he growled and shoved Kaz to the winter-wet tarmac, then jumped on top of his chest, compressing his thin rib cage with a hard knee.
Twice as big as Kaz and dressed all in black, the attacker snarled, revealing teeth that belonged on a monster. Kaz yelped and swung the chair leg before him. The man batted it away.
No way! Kaz yelled. Using all his strength, he managed to kick the crazy guy off him, leaped to his feet and swung the weapon wildly. Get away from me, you creep!
A tasty little boy, the guy muttered like some kind of menacing villain a person only saw in the movies. I can smell your blood. Starved for sustenance as you are, Ill squeeze a few drops from your skinny neck.
The man lunged for him, gripping Kazs shoulders and sinking sharp teeth into his neck. It hurt so bad, worse than all the times his dad had used him as a punching bag. Kaz kicked and yowled; he didnt want to die. He was too young. He may not have much to live for, butno, it wasnt going to happen this way.
Pushing the thing off him tore the long, pointed teeth from his neck. Kaz whined at the pain, yet he didnt take his eyes from the attacker. His blood dripped from the maniacs mouth. With a hungry smirk, the thing again lunged.
Without second thought, Kaz swung around the chair leg, jamming the serrated end into the guys chest. The creep growled and swore at him, cursing him with all the bad words Kaz had learned to use to vent his anger, and then some.
And then a blast of ash formed where the guy had been speared with the end of the chair leg. Dark gray flakes formed the shape of a man, then sifted to the ground, leaving behind a pile of clothingand no vicious attacker.
Swinging down the hand that still clutched the chair leg in a painful squeeze, Kaz stumbled backward, hitting the steel garbage can in a clatter, and slipping to land on his butt.
What the?
Another man swung around the corner of the brick building, gripping the wall to stop his running pace. He wore a plaid vest over a fancy shirt and pants, and looked like one of those rich guys Kaz always saw escorting pretty girls in and out of shops on the Champs-Élysées. You got him, kid?
Got him? Got what? What was that thing? It...it had dissolved right before his eyes. There wasnt even blood in the pile of ash. Human beings didnt do that. And it hadKaz slapped a hand over his neckbitten him.
The man approached him carefully, hands held out in placation. Im not going to hurt you. Im one of the good guys.
Kaz drew up his legs as the man squatted beside him. He was too scared to run, and he didnt want to stab at him. One pile of ash was weird enough. Had he just murdered someone? He didnt want to go to jail. Hed take the cold, tough streets of Paris over jail any day.
The man inspected Kazs neck with probing fingers that made him wince. How old are you, boy?
Si-sixteen. Todays...m-my birthday. Kaz shivered because his windbreaker jacket was never warm enough for February. Who are you?
You can call me Tor. Happy birthday, kid. Looks as if you got the grand prize. I didnt expect to run into any action tonight. Youre lucky I was in the vicinity.
Im luck Really? Kaz held up the bloody chair leg. Im the one who took him out. What...what was that thing?
Youre right. You took care of the longtooth all by yourself. That was some incredible work, kid. Whats your name?
Kaspar, he murmured. His eyes scurried over the ash and clothing. He couldnt process, didnt want to listen, but the mans next words pulled him into focus.
Kaspar, you just slayed your first vampire. And heres the good news. Even though youve been bitten, and normally a bite will transform a mortal into a bloodsucker, if you kill the one who bit you, then youre in the clear. You wont transform.
A worried noise scratched at the back of Kazs throat. Transform?
Tor pointed over his shoulder to the pile of ash. Apparently, not transforming meant he wouldnt turn into a vampire. Was that some kind of twisted birthday present?
The bad news, Tor continued, is monsters exist.
Ah, hell. Kaz had always liked monsters. Theyd not slept under his bed when he was little because his mother had chased them away with the broom. But then she died, and his world had, as well.
Tor picked up something from the ground and studied it. He held the bloodied key before Kaz. This fall out of your pocket?
Kaz swiped the old brass key and nodded, shoving it deep in his jeans pocket.
Key to your house?
Kaz shook his head. Dont have a home anymore. Im on my own and doing just fine.
The man nodded, and stood. Damn right, you are. Youre one tough kid. Hands at his hips, he peered over the destruction, then began to shuffle the ash toward the garbage bin, spreading it out. He picked up the singed clothing and dropped it in the trash bin. My job is to ensure others dont start believing all the myth and legend that really does exist. No one will suspect those bits of ash were once a creature of the night. You going to tell anyone what you saw, Kaz?
Kaz tucked his head against his elbow and closed his eyes. He shook his head. He wasnt even sure what hed seen. What hed done. Hed killed a vampire?
You have a talent with the stake, Tor said. Homeless, eh?
Kaz nodded minutely but didnt look up at him.
Well, youll need the wound cleaned up so it doesnt get infected. And...to be totally up front with you, I dont have a home for you or a means to help you.
Dont need your help.
Course not. But there is a man I know who would be interested in talking to you. His name is Rook, and he heads an organization of knights who protect humans from creatures like the one that attacked you.
Knights?
Kaz looked up into Tors eyes, blinked and saw...the truth. Along with the truth, he also saw a deep and concerned kindness hed not recognized for years. So without thinking it through, he grabbed Tors offered hand and stood up, wobbly, yet not out for the count by any means.
You can trust me, Tor said, though I know you wont. Youre a smart kid and know how to protect yourself and thats how it should be. But do you want to learn how to use that thing the right way?
Kaz looked at the bloody chair leg he still gripped. The man was offering him something he hadnt known in a long timetrust. And he wanted it with every breath he inhaled.
Come on, Tor beckoned.
And Kaz took his first steps toward chivalry, something he wouldnt comprehend until many years later.
Chapter 1
The vamps were fast, and hewell, he wasnt much faster, but he was skilled. A human matched against a vampire must wield some mean martial-arts skills or he had better be a track star. Kaspar Rothstein possessed the former, but right now he was contemplating the run.
Yep, best to go for the run.
The sickening heat of a vampires breath skimmed the back of his neck as he raced down an alleyway in the eighteenth arrondissement near Pariss shadowed Montmartre Cemetery. His goal: to lure the four vamps far away from humans and curious eyes. Rushing into an open cobbled courtyard behind closed businesses far from any tourists, Kaz stopped abruptly, planting his steel-toed boots.
With a confident grin teasing his mouth, he swung around, catching one of the vamps in the chest with a titanium stake. The vamp ashed before him, forming the shape of a person out of fried vampire flesh, bone and clothing.
Happy birthday to me, he muttered his victory claim. Wasnt his birthday, but who needed cake to celebrate?
The three remaining vamps grinned at him. Kaz had expected the idiot longtooths to actually share a brain among them and run for their lives. But if they wanted to stick around for the party games...
Come on, Kaz encouraged. He tucked away the stake and put up his fists. He hadnt gotten in a workout this morning. Time for some fun.
The first vampire charged him. Kaz managed to grab him by the scruff of the neck, and swung the gangly tormentor toward another of his rag-tag pack. Their skulls cracked, both swore, and they collapsed on the cobblestones.
The leader swung around with a punch that Kaz stopped with his open palm. Nice to meet you. Im Kaz. Vampire hunter. Ill be ashing you this evening.
Wiseass, the vampire cracked.
Kaz gripped the miscreants fist, twisted, and with a swing from the waist, rocketed up a high sidekick to his jaw. The heavy boots delivered damage by breaking jawbone. The attacker dropped, growling and spitting blood. The other two charged him with fists. Kaz immediately dropped the one on the left with a wince-inducing gut punch.
A female scream alerted him. A woman clung to the limestone wall not thirty feet from their little soiree.
Get out of here! he yelled at her, and caught a punch across the jaw. He tasted his own blood, and shook his head to chase away the bluebirds spinning about his skull. That one could have led to his death had it been a knockout.
Enough play. Best to stake them before they beat him to a pulp. Buthell, not in front of an innocent.
Frozen in fear, the woman watched their antics with wide eyes. Chills scurried up Kazs spine. He delivered another kick and landed a vamp at the hip, sending it stumbling backward. He had to keep the vampires busy and away from her until she grasped her senses and ran. Only then could he ash these idiots.
Out the corner of his eye, Kaz alternated his attention between fight and female. Was she scaredor interested? She leaned forward from her position against the wall, her bright eyes following the action. A vampire charged him; he landed a kick to a particularly vulnerable part of its anatomy, bringing it down.
Licking her lips, the woman seemed to marvel over the show.
Go! Kaz shouted at her, but too late he realized the command had alerted one of the vampires to their audience.
He swung a fist at an attacking vamp and took him out cleanly. The other vampire raced toward the woman and pinned her to the wall by her wrists. She didnt scream. That was good and bad. A scream would call attention to this altercation and alert other innocents.
But why didnt she scream?
Must be scared voiceless.
Wishing he could stake the attacker from behind, Kaz left the stake clipped at his hip. He ran toward the vamp, grabbed him by the head and shoulder and peeled him away from the woman.
Wow, he thought he heard her say, as he landed on his back on the cobbles, bringing the vamp down with him.