Blood Craving Read online

  Blood Craving

  I am everything you hunger for. I am vampire.

  For Sion, his only solace comes from reason and logic. Since becoming vampire in the 1940s, he has shunned feelings, morphing into a being more machine than man. As a Son, he keeps his distance from the others, allowing only one soul in the world to stir his icy heart.

  A vampire turned in ancient Greece, Kali is the only hope the Sons and the Order of Macaria have to decipher the prophecy now that Thane is gone. But her past hides a dark secret that has finally caught up with her. Demons she only barely controlled now threaten her very life and the safety of all dear to her.

  The one vampire who can help her knows nothing of how to reach another’s heart, but without him, they both may be lost along with any hope the Sons have of defeating the Archons.

  BLOOD CRAVING

  (Sons of Navarus #5)

  K.M. SCOTT

  WRITING AS GABRIELLE BISSET

  Blood Craving is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  2015 Copper Key Media, LLC

  Copyright © 2015 Copper Key Media, LLC

  Kobo Edition

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  Published in the United States

  ISBN: 978-1-941594-36-0

  Adult Content: Contains graphic sexual content

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  AND AFTER BLOOD CRAVING, BE SURE TO READ ON FOR THE SONS OF NAVARUS SHORT STORY, FORBIDDEN BLOOD!

  Click on the covers below to learn more about the series:

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Epigraph

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  Forbidden Blood

  About the Author

  Books by K.M. Scott

  Books by Gabrielle Bisset

  I am everything you hunger for.

  I am everything you need.

  I am ecstasy and agony.

  I am vampire.

  One

  The grey skies over Prague were shrouded in a thick cover of falling snow that had begun just as the barely visible sun had dipped below the horizon. The city’s spires and towers stood hidden from view as the storm settled in for the night. On the Charles Bridge, the lights stubbornly shone through the white flakes, showing the way to anyone who braved the mid-November weather.

  Turning up his collar, Sion bowed his head and stepped out onto the street in front of the tiny apartment he’d rented months earlier when he’d arrived in Prague. He’d never believed he’d still be there as winter moved in to make itself at home, but after eight weeks of searching, he still hadn’t found Kali anywhere in the hundreds of bleeder dens the central European city offered.

  Night after night, he trolled the ugly underside of Prague, seeing the worst of the vampire world but never the one he so desperately wished to find. Tonight he’d perform that same march through dank rooms filled with lost souls both human and vampire, hoping this time would be the last.

  The icy wind smacked him in the face as he made his way toward the bridge, reminding him of the winter days of his youth in Germany. Being so close to his childhood home brought back many memories of that past he’d worked so hard to bury, with the biting winds of winter being the most pleasant. Shaking his head, he pushed them out of his mind and focused on the night’s task.

  A group of Order supporters had given him a tip about a den where it was believed Kali had been spending time as recently as two nights before, so he had hope that he was getting close. He shuddered at the idea of what shape she’d be in when he finally did find her. Hoping he was wrong, he’d tried to convince himself that the vampire she was now was really no different from the gentle female he’d fed for months in Romania.

  But no amount of convincing could prevent the truth from penetrating his mind. Kali would be changed from when they’d known each other before.

  He’d seen what the life of a bleeder looked like each night, and it sickened him. Now with Bliss addiction seeping into every corner of the vampire world, the dens teemed with junkies both human and vampire. If he’d thought his human past had prepared him for the true horrors of the world, that belief was shattered the first night he entered the seedy underworld of bleeders and Bliss months ago.

  Women and men, naked and sprawled out on filthy floors waiting for the drug they craved to settle into their system and take them away from all their problems to deliver them into that haze of ecstasy, littered each place he visited. Some were vampires, already slaves to the Archons’ new drug, and others were humans, bleeders who joined centuries of their predecessors in the quest to find some part in the vampire world so seductive to so many.

  The image of Kali as one of those women repeatedly stole into his brain and made him cringe. With each group, he held his breath and prayed that every one he searched through didn’t contain her. These were the saddest souls he’d ever seen—willing slaves to a feeling so fleeting yet so powerful.

  There was no way Kali could be one of them. She was too strong. Too smart to let that life take hold of her. Not until he saw her in front of him like that would he ever believe she was the addicted vampire Nico had spoken of.

  The snow fell heavier now, and he squinted to see his way. The place was just a few blocks from where he walked, and while he could simply transport there, he rarely used that vampire ability, preferring instead to walk as he had when he was human. He was in no hurry to see another group of lost souls anyway.

  He liked to keep as close to human as possible, ignoring so many of the tricks his kind possessed. Except for the blood he drank to keep his connection to their world alive, he was every bit the man he’d been during his human life.

  Well, not exactly.

  That man had been quite different, in truth. What everyone saw in him now was more machine-like than human. He knew what they thought when they looked at him. All brain and no heart. No soul. A thinking creature capable of little else.

  That was a far cry from the man he’d been when he was turned in the 1940s. Then he’d been a violent beast, given over to the baser instincts of man, one who would hurt another sooner than help them.

  Becoming vampire had changed him into that Ice Man all around him believed he was. Turning vampire had saved him.

  He stopped and looked up to see the address of the night’s den scrawled in red paint on the old wooden door in front of him. Breathing deep, he inhaled the cold air into his lungs and closed his eyes. Inside him, the thought that tonight he’d fi
nally find her warred with the desperate need to never see her again if she’d become what he feared. His heart in his throat, he knocked and waited in the falling snow.

  The metal window in the center of the door opened and two bloodshot eyes peered out at him. “Vampire or human?” a thin voice asked.

  “Vampire,” he replied with less pride than he’d ever possessed as a member of the vampire race and one of the Sons of Navarus.

  The metal slammed shut, once again covering the window and the door opened, revealing an emaciated creature with sunken cheeks and vacant eyes. The man’s skin hung off his bones, a sure sign of his addiction to something that was slowly killing him. His frail voice matched his appearance, but at the sight of Sion, he instantly perked up.

  “We’ve been waiting for you. We’ve got at least a dozen who need you.”

  Sion looked at him, disgusted by the implication of his words. Like he would ever be a vampire who’d feed his own kind or humans the junk they craved.

  “I’m not here for that. I’m looking for someone.”

  His enthusiasm for his visitor undeterred, the man nodded his head quickly. “Oh, I have that too. What’s your type? Human? Vampire? Some of both?”

  “Stop talking. Where are the vampires?”

  “Ahh, a man after my own heart. I don’t do the humans either. Too much trouble. I can see that in you. You’re a man who hates the hassle. We have a lot in common.”

  Turning back to face the jittery scarecrow who didn’t seem to understand the command to shut up, Sion stared down at him considering how many fingers he’d have to use to snap his neck.

  “You say one more word that doesn’t help me find the vampires and I’ll kill you. Verstehst du?”

  Sion’s use of his native tongue had the exact effect he intended, and the scrawny creature’s eyes opened wide in fear. Even he had to admit he was never more terrifying than when he slipped back into German.

  “Got it.” Extending his spindly arm, the man pointed down the hallway toward an open door. “Right down there.”

  Forgetting him immediately, Sion marched down the dark hall. Each room he passed showed one horror after the next. Filth covered the floors, with empty vials of blood and Bliss scattered everywhere he looked. The first room contained all humans, pathetic souls strung out on every kind of drug there was. Vampires weren’t affected to any great extent by human drugs, but those of the race that enjoyed enslaving humans certainly got off on them begging for vampire blood filled with them.

  By the time he reached the room with the vampires, Sion’s stomach was twisted in knots. He scanned the room quickly for any sight of Kali, but she wasn’t there. That behind him, he moved to the second worst part of his nights.

  Crouching down, he shook the bony shoulder of a male sprawled out on the floor naked from the waist up. Pulling his own jacket tight around his neck, Sion sighed at the sight of the man, his breath frosty in front of him in the near freezing room. How old he was he couldn’t imagine, but he was in bad shape.

  “I’m looking for a female named Kali. Light brown hair, vampire, she’s been seen here recently. Do you know her?”

  The male turned his head slowly at the sound of Sion’s words and stared vacantly into his eyes. “A girl?”

  “Yes, a damn girl! Her name is Kali. Have you seen her?”

  He seemed to understand the words, but he just stared off into space. Grabbing him by the neck, Sion shook him. “Pay attention! Her name is Kali. Have you seen her?”

  The male slowly closed his eyes and faded off. Sion tried to get him to focus again, but behind him he heard someone say, “You’re wasting your time with that one. He can’t tell you anything.”

  Turning his head, he saw a tall, blond haired male standing behind him. He looked vampire but didn’t seem to be a junkie like everyone else in the room. Pushing the addict away, Sion stood to face the new vampire.

  “Can you tell me anything?”

  “She’s been here.”

  “Is she still here?”

  Sion waited for the answer with his heart in his throat.

  Shaking his head, the male answered, “No. Does she know you’re looking for her?”

  Disappointed, Sion sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

  The blond sized him up and opened up a bit more. “You don’t seem like you want to hurt her. What do you want with her?”

  Something about this guy’s questions made Sion feel like he definitely knew more than he was admitting about Kali’s whereabouts. Taking a step closer to him, he stared directly into his pale blue eyes.

  “If you know something about where she is, you need to tell me now. I don’t have time to play games with another fucked up vampire.”

  “What is this Kali to you? Girlfriend? Mate? Bleeder?”

  The idea of Kali as a bleeder sent a jolt of rage racing through his veins. Pushing against the blond’s chest, he lunged at him, leveling him hard against the wall. “I told you I don’t have time for this. If you know where she is, you need to tell me now.”

  Any semblance of calm slipped away quickly from the male and fear filled his eyes. “I saw her. She was here for a few days, but she left last night. I heard her say something about not being able to face some guy.”

  “Anything else?”

  The blond said nothing and Sion repeated his question as he pushed his forearm against his throat. “I said do you know anything else?”

  He shook his head violently. “I told you everything I know. I swear.”

  Sion released him and took a step back before he turned toward the door. Another night of no real progress. Kali was running from him. He’d had a suspicion she was, but why? Their disagreement over what she’d done with Sasa wasn’t enough to make her want to avoid him. Pushing that idea out of his head as ridiculous, he returned to the idea he’d been unwilling to accept since arriving in Prague.

  Kali was a Bliss junkie and didn’t want to face him like that.

  He stepped over someone lying across his path. Passed out, the emaciated female had a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. Her clothes hung in tatters off her skeletal body, and bruises marked the insides of her arms as if someone had held her against her will. Looking down, Sion tried to imagine the strong, intelligent female he knew beneath someone’s feet like this soul.

  Was she as lost as this one he stared at now?

  From behind him, the blond said, “Hey, you need to know. She’s bad.”

  Sion turned away from the pathetic creature at his feet. “Who?”

  “Your friend. This one doesn’t have anything on her. She’s in it bad. Much longer, and you won’t find much of anything if you ever find her at all.”

  As he left yet another failed lead behind him, Sion silently promised himself and Kali he wouldn’t let that happen. If he had to spend every night searching these wretched places, he’d find her and save her from the Bliss.

  Two

  Ramiel stretched his arms above his head, enjoying the feel of Noele’s head resting on his chest. If he could stay right there in bed with her for the rest of his life, he’d be happier than he’d ever thought possible. No Sons. No prophecy. No anything but the two of them and Theron living happily ever after.

  Now that was a future he could deal with.

  Noele moaned a tiny contented sound as she repositioned herself against him, and he brought his arms down to hold her closer. He loved these moments with just the two of them as the sun began to set each day. The feel of her soft skin on his after they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms made him feel like the luckiest man in the world.

  Even the sound of their son waking up was something he looked forward to. It had taken some getting used to but Theron was really no different than any other vampire child, or at least that’s what Noele kept telling him. For Ramiel, the idea that the little boy seemed to grow by literal leaps and bounds each day as they slept seemed pretty different, but none of that reall
y mattered.

  What mattered was that they were a family. A happy family.

  “One of us has to get up to check on the baby,” Noele whispered against his chest.

  “He’s not a baby anymore, Noele. We’ll be lucky if he fits into his clothes from last week.”

  Noele lifted her head and smiled up at him. “Ramiel, he’ll always be my baby. I don’t care if he grows to be as tall as you by next month. He’ll still be my baby.”

  “I think we can give him a few more minutes,” he said as he pulled her on top of him. “I bet he’s pretty tired tonight.”

  Wrinkling her nose, she grinned down at him. “I bet he is. He had a busy night with Dante, who by the way is becoming quite the babysitter.”

  The idea of Theron and Dante getting close made Ramiel edgy. Dante was like an overgrown teenager himself. What effect that Son would have on his son he couldn’t tell, but he doubted it would be good.

  He didn’t want to think about that now, though. Now he wanted to make love to the woman he loved. Maybe they could make another baby. A girl.

  “No more talk about Dante. I’ve got better things in mind.”

  Ramiel slid his hands down over Noele’s back and pulled her body into his. Her skin was supple, like it was meant to be molded by his hands and only his hands. Kissing her, he let every wonderful emotion she brought out in him run amok inside his heart. There was no point in trying to stop feeling them all. Something about her made him that one thing he thought he’d never be.

  Happy. And he loved the feeling of being happy as much as he loved her.

  He slid his tongue into her mouth and mingled it with hers as she began to slowly grind against his already hard cock. Her body’s movement was slow and gentle, like they had all night, but Ramiel knew better. Any minute Theron would be making noise letting them know he wanted to get up. In fact, he was surprised the little guy hadn’t cried out yet.