Marisa Chenery - Soul Hunger

Soul Hunger

Marisa Chenery

Book one in the Ras Chosen series.

As one of Ras Chosen warriors, Mehen must protect mortals from the undead who hunt them. Gifted by the sun god Ra, Mehen has never struggled with the taskuntil he saves a woman from three undead, and finds himself in need of saving. Something about the woman stirs him, and hes consumed by his need not only for her body, but also her blood.

Blythe may have been saved by the mysterious man, but her reaction to the feel of his arms around her and the way his eyes wander to her neck dont make her feel much safer. When shes taken to his headquarters against her will, she finds herself a prisoner. But when he unleashes passion unlike any shes ever known, she realizes shell do anything to stay imprisoned.

But Blythe is not who she seems. And Mehen finds himself in the fight of his life to save the woman he loves from the evil that yearns to possess her.

An Elloras Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Soul Hunger

ISBN 9781419926761

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Soul Hunger Copyright 2010 Marisa Chenery

Edited by Grace Bradley

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book publication May 2010

The terms Romantica and Quickies are registered trademarks of Elloras Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Elloras Cave Publishing, Inc. 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors imagination and used fictitiously.

Soul Hunger

Marisa Chenery

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke Ag

Corvette: General Motors

GQ : Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.

Lamborghini: Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A.

Mustang: Ford Motor Company

An Old Legend

In Egypt of old the sun god Ra held sway, worshiped as the father creator. Each day he rode the skies in his solar barque bringing light to the land. And every night he traveled through the dark underworld until the dawning of a new day.

During his nightly voyage, Ra faced his greatest adversary, a being of such evil and darkness, people shudderedthe demon god Apep, the eater of souls. Ra and his companions battled the demon, defeating him each night only to face him again when darkness fell once more.

It is said that one night Apep gained the upper hand, which caused thunderstorms to rage and the earth to shake. Using the chaos he had created, Apep unleashed two evils into the world. Two demons called Sek and Mot were set loose to bring down mankind by collecting souls for their dark master, turning mortals into soulless shells commanded by Apep.

To counteract Apeps evil minions, the sun god chose six warriors. He gifted them each with immortality and the powers needed to defeat their enemies. As Ras Chosen, the warriors fought the evil that threatened to take over, pushing it back, to stand between man and demons.

Some say to this day Ras Chosen still fight to protect the unsuspecting mortals around them. In the shadows they stalk their prey each night, ever on guard, forgotten by those who they have been charged to watch over.

Chapter One

Mehen tracked the people who walked by as he sat at a table at the back of an outdoor patio at one of the bars found in Phoenixs downtown Copper Square area. He took a sip from the beer bottle that sat on the table in front of him keeping his eyes trained on the crowded sidewalk. Copper Square afforded the ideal place to hunt for the undead. In the heart of Phoenix, the square created ninety blocks of urban living and attractions, as well as businesses. The number of restaurants and bars alone kept the streets filled late into the night. Little did the mortals realize something evil stalked them as they enjoyed their night out on the town. But they didnt need to know. That was his purpose, to protect them so they could blissfully go about their lives totally unaware of the battles that waged around them.

He took another pull from the bottle and set it down. The mortals who sat around him gave him surreptitious looks, ready to scatter if he so much as moved. He ignored them. His sheer size tended to spook some mortals. At six-foot-eight, and two hundred and ninety pounds of pure muscle, he stood out in a crowd. Even though dressed in formfitting jeans, tight t-shirt, leather motorcycle jacket and motorcycle boots, all in black, he still drew peoples stares instead of blending into the shadows. Mehen knew half the stares came from women who had more than a little interest in him. With his straight, jet black hair hanging just past his shoulders, chiseled looks, pale brown eyes and tanned skin, women forever stared at him with looks of longing. Sometimes he used that to his advantage, but this night he found himself uninterested. He had bigger prey to catch.

Scanning the crowds, Mehen waited for his skin to prickle, to let him know one of his enemies lurked nearby. He had the duty to fight the demon-kind who only existed to collect the souls of the living for their demon god master, Apep. The mortals they preyed upon who became what had hunted them just added to Apeps evil plan to escape the underworld. Like a disease it had the hunter as carrier, able to pass on the contagion to its victim. If left unchecked it theoretically could spread through an entire population. He and his fellow warriors had to make sure that never happened.

There had been times when Mehen thought their battle with Apeps minions could very well be a losing one. The demons numbers only seemed to increase no matter how many of them he and his brothers-in-arms put down. In the end, they always managed to turn the tide. They may not be able to completely eradicate Apeps undead, but they at least kept their numbers down to the minority. Such was the case now. The pitifully small numbers of undead had Mehen thinking that it would be only a matter of time before the demons tried to change the tide once more. Things had been too quiet for too long. Centuries had passed since the last big uprising.

Deciding there would be no action to be had this night, Mehen drained what remained of his beer and stood to leave. The mortals pulled their chairs in closer to their tables as he walked past, not wanting to block his path. Mehen barely spared them a glance. Once he hit the street, he headed for the lot around the back of the building where he had parked his bike. It had been over two weeks since he had last seen one of the undead, never a good thing in his books. There had to be something brewing.

Reaching his BMW HP2 Sport motorcycle, Mehen unlocked the black helmet, chosen to blend in with the rest of his clothing, that hung from the side and put it on. He pulled the dark visor down over his face. Even though night time, he could still see everything around him. He possessed vision three times better than a mortal, a necessary attribute since his prey only hunted mortals during the hours of the night.