Adrienne Blake [Blake - Blood Curse (Misty Cedars - Vampire Edition)

Blood Curse

Killing the vampire, Micah, may be Hollys only chance to survive. In three days his Blood Curse will be complete, and Hollys soul damned forever.

During a chance traffic stop in remote Pennsylvania, Holly is dragged out of her car by a rogue cop. Her neck is ruthlessly torn open, and the last thing she sees as she passes out is a gargantuan wolf leaping toward her.

When she wakes in a handsome strangers home, she fears shes been kidnapped, only to discover a truth far more frightening. Within three days Holly will turn into an undead creature of the night, a slave to her vampire sire, Micah, who has been terrorizing the valley for years.

With the help of Noah, who saved her, and relying on a combination of wits and willpower, they set off to hunt down Micah... not knowing that the ancient vampire is aware of their plan and is waiting for them....

1

Escape

"O h, bite me!"

Holly tossed a final couple of tops into her suitcase and struggled with the zipper, which stuck halfway.

"What have I done now?"

Nate sat down on the edge of her bed, a vacant, hopeless look on his face. That right there was the problem.

"Nothing, you haven't done anything," she lied.

"What, then?"

Holly put her full body weight onto the case, and at last, the zipper moved on to close. She pulled it off the bed, extended the handle and grabbing her keys, made straight for the door. She reached for the doorknob then paused, her shoulders slumped. Nate wasn't a bad guy. He didn't deserve this.

"I just need some time away from this city, from the university. From everything."

"Including me?"

Especially you. "I'll call you when I get to my motel, okay?"

"Fine." There was no fight in him. Maybe she wished there was, maybe she didn't. But Holly knew Nate wasn't what she wanted right now. There was just too much pressure in her lifeher parents, her doctorate, and Nate's unrelenting yet passive attempts to get her to fuck him. It was just all too much. She opened the door and left without turning for a final goodbye.

Down on the street, she coerced her case into what little remaining trunk space she had, then jumped into her swanky, arrest-me-red Alfa Romeo with its rear spoiler and tinted glass. On days like this, Holly was glad her people were loaded and that she owned a reliable, fast car. Fair play to her poorer fellow students in their beat up Beetles and Kias, but she needed out of this place fast, and this was just the motor to do it.

As soon as she was out of town and beyond the reach of most traffic cameras, Holly put her toe to the gas and floored it. She loved the roar of the engine as it hugged the asphalt, and had the satellite radio cranked up full blast to sing along to. At last, she was free.

As the miles sped by, she turned down the music to listen to her own thoughts. It was funny, but they seemed muted in the crowded confines of the big city. Only here, when she was totally alone in the big open, could she hear them properly. Holly wound down the window and let the rushing air fill her lungs. Not perfect yet, but it would be soon. Just a full day's ride away.

After a while the light faded. Soon it would be totally dark, just her and her headlamps, cruising along the lonely road.

She first heard the sirens, then saw the lights. Shit. Slowly, Holly eased off the gas and pulled over onto the dim shoulder. Where had he come from? She hadn't seen him, that was for sure, and the road was flat for miles around. Pretty odd. But what did it matter now? He'd seen her, and a ticket was coming.

Holly saw a solitary figure emerge from the police car, and she leaned over to her glove box to pull out her registration. Once she found it, she rummaged inside her purse in search of her license. Might as well get this over with. The sooner he wrote her up, the sooner she could be on her way.

With a sigh she waited for the familiar tap on the driver window and prepared to wind her window down. "I'm sorry officer, was I speeding?"

Holly never heard a response. In that instant, she was dragged effortlessly through the window, like a meal bag at a fast food drive-thru. She stopped breathing as the adrenaline surged through her. Whatever had her held her by the throat. Her toes barely grazed the ground as she battled in a futile effort to gain control. And then after a biting sting to her neck, Holly felt her life's blood pulsing through her, as it was forced upward against its natural flow, causing every inch of her body to pause and surrender to the deadly sensation.

There was no pain. Her fight and her will were overcome by the relentless draw of her life's blood. In fact, after a while, she didn't want this feeling to stop. Ever. Holly managed to raise her hand to her attacker's wrist but not to fight him. Quite the opposite. She never wanted this feeling to end and would ensure his grip on her forever.

The world around her began to fade away. There was just her neck, and the blood that pulsed through her body, and the pursed and hungry lips of her assailant. Holly was sinking into a glorious sleep, her eyes fluttered on the brink of unconsciousness, only to be ripped violently away from the source of her pleasure. Still she felt no pain, but the dust from the road irritated her nostrils and caused her eyes to water.

Somewhere about her was a scuffle. Who, what or why was beyond her. All she knew was she'd been dragged from a delicious death, and she groaned, punching her fist against the earth as if the world itself had cheated her.

And then the tingles. Small flutterings surged through her body as her nerves began to reawaken. And then she heard a low groan, which grew louder with every passing second. Such pain. Such hopeless, debilitating suffering.

And then she realized the cries around her were her own as she writhed about in the dirt in hopeless agony. The job was not done. She lived. Yet would never live again....

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