Title: Blood Lust
Author: L.E. Royal
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: February 18, 2019
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 73200
Genre: Paranormal, LGBT, Paranormal, contemporary, lesbian, vampire, family-drama, human slaves, horror, dark, paternal murder, blood play, psychic ability
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Synopsis
The sequel to Blood Echo.
For Rayne Kennedy, the only Hybrid in
Vires, a walled Vampire city in Vermont, life is almost over. Despite the new
family and temporary happiness she’s found, her vampire girlfriend, Scarlett
Pearce, has been given ninety days by the mysterious city government to turn
her into a vampire. She’s sure her days as a human are numbered.
Scarlett fights to find a way to avoid
Rayne’s death when her father and society have decreed it must happen. Between
new relationships formed, old ones reshaped, and a bloody romp through the
city’s darkness, Rayne must decide if she trusts Scarlett not to give in to her
blood lust. Thrown into the center of an unexpected revolution, Rayne tries to
save herself and Scarlett, unsure if her days as a human, and their time being
blood bound, are truly coming to an end.
Excerpt
Blood Lust
L.E. Royal © 2019
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
“Pick it up.”
Scarlett watched with lazy eyes as my
hand shot forward to grab the apple. I hated her a little for how easy she
found this.
“You’re scowling, Princess.”
I dropped the apple the minute she let
me and did my best to straighten my face.
The revelation that Scarlett and I were
blood bound was old news, but its implications were still new to both of us.
We’d been spending time when we were alone learning to overcome the
phenomenon—or trying.
The vampire stretched, reclining before
me on the black satin bedsheets, and I wondered if she felt me compelling her
at all. I tried to recreate the feeling inside myself from the rare times I had
succeeded in bending her to my will. Silently, I concentrated and willed her to
pick up the apple.
She yawned.
Raindrops ran down the sleek glass doors
of Scarlett’s balcony, the sky a dreary gray. Even from the great height of the
thirteenth floor, I could see little beige specks below that I knew were
actually humans. They came from the outskirts of the city—the Fringe, brought
in to work around the decadent skyscrapers that housed Vampire families, like
Scarlett’s. High up in Pearce Tower we could live under the illusion of safety,
for the moment.
Below, the streets of Vires teemed with
vampires, Deltas who were genetically advanced enough to walk in the daylight.
The non-Deltas would join them at sunset.
A flash of curiosity disturbed me,
pulling me back off the dark path I was traveling, thoughts of society in Vires
starting to consume me. Without looking, I could feel her watching me, taste
her curiosity. Her wish to know what was going on inside my head was clear
through the emotional connection we shared. I tried to lock her out, to shield
my feelings from her. She tipped her head and when I met her dark eyes, their intensity
burned. I figured I was successful.
Pick up the apple.
Her voice was liquid smoke, lingering in
my mind, penetrating every corner. My pale hand darted forward and grabbed it
again. She smirked. My stupid, smug, beautiful vampire.
My fingers released their grip the
moment she bade them to, and the abused fruit fell back onto the sheets.
“Your turn.”
I wanted to grumble, to ask what the
point was. We both knew I couldn’t resist the commands she gave. We also knew
she could resist mine effortlessly most of the time. I smoothed my hands over
my jean-clad thighs and tried again.
“I’m not resisting you, sweetheart. I
haven’t felt any compulsion to resist yet.” She was amused. It danced in her
eyes, in the little tug at the corner of her mouth, but I knew she was trying
to be diplomatic, at least.
“Why is this even important?”
She had been playful and light-hearted,
secretly enjoying the little game we shared. The minute I asked the question I
felt her growing cold, uncomfortable. The pleasant hum of her emotions as they
lapped at me waned before they shut down altogether.
The subject we were avoiding hung
between us, heavy and suffocating. After almost a week of sleepless nights and
uneasy dreams I knew sometimes she could share, I was ready to drag it out into
the light.
“I don’t ever want it to be used against
us.” She was somber, her expression dark and unreadable.
“Scar, if I’m going to be a vampire
anyway…”
She hissed. I prepared to backpedal,
wishing I had been a little more tactful, but she was already speaking.
“Why are you so obsessed with becoming a
monster?”
“Jade’s not a monster and she’s a
vampire.” Dark eyes softened at the mention of her younger sister, one of the
people she loved most in the world. Through our connection I had quickly grown
to love her too.
“Jade has struggled more than you know.”
It was cryptic and caustic and an answer that was oh so Scarlett.
“You’re not a monster, really.”
She scoffed.
We were silent for a few seconds, my
reply dancing on the tip of my tongue. It was a large part of what had been
keeping me up at night, but I was too afraid of her answer to voice the topic.
“Say what’s on your mind?” It was only
half a question, and I could tell it took some effort for her not to command it
out of me. Beneath the cold indifference she had painted on her face, tiny
tells and miniscule shimmers of her feelings told me she was nervous.
“I don’t want to get old when you’ll
always be young.”
She laughed, and the sound was ever so
slightly bitter.
“I’m three hundred and sixty-nine years
old, Princess.”
I wondered if I would ever stop being
staggered by that fact.
“Besides, I don’t think aging is
something we have to worry about. I’m almost certain you’ve already stopped,
being as you are.”
“Hybrids don’t age?” My voice was an
octave too high with surprise, and maybe a little bit of joy.
We hadn’t much discussed what I was,
what I had become, what she had made me. Her cool and careful handling of the
subject frustrated me, and it gave me the uncomfortable feeling she was making
plans without any of us.
“Just a hunch.” She tried to curtail me
before I got too fixated on the fact. “But if I’m right and age isn’t a factor,
are you still so eager to be turned?”
I shrugged, unsure.
“Being a hybrid is still dangerous. What
if the Government eventually discovers that us sharing blood is what caused
this? What if they find out we’re blood bound? Wouldn’t it be safer if I was
less…breakable?”
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Meet the Author
L.E. Royal is a British born fiction writer, living in Texas. She enjoys dark but redeemable characters, and twisted themes. Though she is a fan of happy endings, she would describe most of her work as fractured romance. When she is not writing, she is pursuing her dreams with her multi-champion Arabian show horses, or hanging out with her wife at their small ranch/accidental cat sanctuary.Facebook | Twitter
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