Hunting My Vampire (Immortal Vampire #3)

Chapter One

Kaya

I was not prepared for love. I know that sounds crazy. But that was not my life.

I existed in a world where I had always had to be ready to fight off attackers and to spot suspicious people. I was able to take on men twice my size without weapons. Within seconds, I could see who represented danger in a room, where the best exit route was and how I could get away quickly and efficiently if I needed to.

But love? That was something that I had not trained for and I certainly did not see it coming.

The night of the school concert was cold and miserable and most of the parents came in huddled in coats and scarves with their hats pulled down low. I stood at the back, ready to slip out when the music got too much. I’d warned Princess that I couldn’t handle school concerts. I would stick it out as long as I could, to support her, seeing that her mother couldn’t make it and her gran was sick. But I couldn’t be expected to sit through the whole thing. Seriously.

She understood. The kid was sweet that way.

She’d already been through so much in her 11 years. She’d lost her father in a fishing accident, then saw her mother battling alcohol and drug abuse, before finally going to rehab. Because her mother was my friend, I offered to help look after Princess even though I was barely able to look after myself.

That meant going to school concerts.

Gritting my teeth when they started singing hits from the musicals, getting the songs horribly wrong. I waited until I saw Princess come onto the stage in a neon pink tutu shaking her little fairy wand as she belted out the notes at the top of her voice.

She was a terrible singer but they all were. The parents laughed and clapped their hands, delighted at the performance of their children. I shook my head and left to wait outside.

There was a foyer and a stall selling refreshments. I bought some popcorn and wandered down to the classrooms, pausing to look at pictures. I wondered what it would have been like to have been a normal girl, going to school in a place like this, to have played hockey or maybe done drama. I couldn’t imagine it. This kind of life was never meant for me.

I didn’t hear him sneaking up on me.

Maybe I would have before the accident but vampires are quiet and I was distracted, lost in thought. I had reached the end of the way and was about to turn a corner, when he suddenly stood in front of me.

I gave a little yelp of surprise and dropped my popcorn.

“I’m so sorry,” he smiled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I knew who he was right away.

Jack Beaufort, the hotel tycoon, an important community member in these parts. Also a vampire from a very powerful family. He was not someone to be messed with.

But I was Kaya Lee and I stood back for no one.

“You didn’t scare me,” I snapped back at him.

He gave me a huge grin, movie star style, all white teeth. His hair was a bit long and his eyes bright blue. He was extremely attractive and he knew it. He annoyed the shit out of me.

“Do you mind?” I barked at him, motioning for him to stand back.

“I know you have people to clean up your messes but I’m not like that.”

I got down to pick up the popcorn.

Maybe I wouldn’t have if he wasn’t there. I might have gone to look for a broom or maybe just kicked it out of the way but I wanted to make a point.

I got onto my hands and knees to pick up the popcorn and he knelt down next to me.

“Do you mind?!” I said to him. “I’ve got this!”

He laughed, flashing that confident grin at me again.

“I’m just offering to help pick up popcorn! I’m not proposing marriage or anything!”

“Thank goodness for that,” I said sarcastically, sweeping up a whole lot of popcorn with a piece of paper and shoveling it back into the bag.

He was staring at me now, an intense and unnerving gaze.

“Are you always this friendly towards people who want to help you?”

His voice was low, seductive.

My heart was beating faster. I had to stop this.

“Only when they are possibly out to rip my head off and drink my blood!”

His eyes narrowed and I could see my message had hit home.

I wanted him to know that I knew who he was. He didn’t have to know how well I knew him, that we had history he wasn’t even aware of.

“I don’t do that,” he said slowly. “Drink human blood, I mean. I only drink synthetic blood and have done that ever since it’s been available.”

“Give the man a medal,” I sniped again.

I thought I was doing well here but then something happened.

I’m not sure how it came about but I moved back and he moved forward, then our arms touched. A current of electricity ran through my body, burning my blood and searing my skin. I had never experienced anything like that. I was frozen to the spot, unable to move, hyper aware of my surroundings and of him.

He was staring at me and I saw his eyes drop down to my breasts which were on display in my tight black T-shirt. It didn’t help that my nipples were hard and I was aware of the incredible attraction that I was feeling towards him.

I forced myself to break away from him.

This was what vampires did, I told myself. They seduced you and overpowered you, and then they killed you. I stumbled to my feet breaking the energy between us and walked away.

I was aware of him watching me. I could feel the way his eyes burned into my back, willing me to turn around and go back to him. But I walked back to the concert, melting into the crowd with the parents and keeping my head down.

I didn’t hear much of what was going on anymore. I was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened.

I’d met vampires before, of course, and had killed my fair share of them too. Not all of them were bad but in my experience, most of them saw humans as a weaker species, less than themselves. I knew there were some who did not fit this mould but I’d never met any. In most species, whether human, shifter or even the more magical creatures, the powerful male had to be watched out for.

Jack Beaufort may have seemed young and drop-dead gorgeous but he would not think twice about sinking his hundred-year-old teeth into me. I would be the one to drop dead.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more here.

I knew I couldn’t trust myself, though. After the accident that had forced me to quit my job as an assassin, I’d been advised to take things easy. I’d had a brain injury and was lucky to be alive, the doctors said. They told me to stay away from any physical exertion or stress.

I’d found work in a car repair shop, working on engines and repairing dents and scratches. It was work that I enjoyed, rather surprisingly. You could lose yourself in it, the steady spraying of paint onto a new car part, the tightening of nuts and bolts. It had been a few months, and I was finally beginning to feel like myself again.

My body had healed and my head was much better too but I knew it could play tricks on me sometimes. I still had the headaches and the nightmares. The flashes to my childhood and the night my family was killed; dreams that I could not quite explain.

I knew I had to be careful.

Looking after Princess and taking care of the cars at the shop were all I had time and energy for. I couldn’t afford to let anyone in, least of all, the ancient heir to the throne of a dangerous vampire family.

Jack Beaufort was my enemy. I needed to stay as far away from him as possible. But I could not stop thinking about him.

For the rest of the show, I sat slumped in my chair, forcing myself not to look around for him, to see where he was.

As soon as the concert was over, I went looking for Princess, finding her in the classroom with her teacher. I took her hand and listened to her excited ramblings about who had forgotten their lines and who’d been singing off key.

We made our way outside to my truck, which was parked down the road. We got in and before I drove off, I glanced at the rearview mirror. I couldn’t see him but I knew he was watching me from somewhere. In the shadows, perhaps, behind some cars.

I could feel him watching me. And I liked it.