It’s here! The first book in the BEFORE THE SUN RISES series, The Red Fang, is now available! You can pick up this 370 page gothic action/adventure tale with an erotic twist as an eBook, paperback, and for Kindle! Visit Nicola’s LuLu Author Storefront or her Amazon Author Page to purchase your copy today!
a sneak peek at
The Red Fang
the first novel in the
BEFORE THE SUN RISES
series
by Nicola C. Matthews
Stealth? Ethereal’s mind prodded.
Yes, dearest? He responded after a few moments.
How are you holding up?
The half-fey knew that her manipulation of the elements made her mind a churning mess with little coherent thought. The sheer power coursing through her body and mind made it nearly impossible for Stealth to keep the connection open.
The first time he had tried to open up the link between them while she was manipulating the elements, back when they had been in the parking garage all those months ago, had nearly knocked him unconscious, the force of all that power almost too much for him to handle. It had taken him nearly a month of practice to be able to keep the link open for any length of time, and even longer to be able to control the connection enough so that he did not end up a blubbering mass of incoherence sprawled on the ground.
I’m okay he said to her. But it was a lie. He had begun to get a nosebleed several minutes ago, but there was so much blood already spattered on his face and body that Ethereal was not likely to notice.
What Stealth didn’t know was that his nosebleed was not a consequence of their shared link, but a symptom of it. Unknown to him, the red-headed elemental manipulator hiding outside the building was drenched in her own blood, the force of using so much power slowly destroying her brain.
She somehow managed to block this information from the vampire. The mission was the most important thing right now. If he knew that using her powers for such a long stretch of time would cause her harm, neither he nor Requiem would have allowed her to participate, even if it meant tossing her into one of the cells in the basement of The Compound.
There’s too many of them her voice whispered inside of his head. The vampire had not even made it past the first set of rooms. The soldiers seemed to be coming from everywhere, pouring from both sides of the building and out of the rooms that surrounded them.
Take a right and head down Hallway C, then turn left down Hallway B until it merges with Hallway D, then left again. This will take you back into the main corridor, going around one of the labs and interrogation rooms. The main hallway is going to be heavily guarded, as will Sergeant Hall’s office. Circumvent the lab and interrogation room and come up behind them; maybe you’ll get lucky.
Stealth nodded his head in agreement, suddenly making a hard right as he came to the first set of intersecting hallways. The doors on either side of him suddenly burst open, a small army of lycanthrope hybrids rushing out into the hallways. As soon as the first one set eyes on the vampire, he lifted his head and howled.
The warning was taken up by the small group, the sound almost deafening in such a confined area.
I don’t think this is going to work, he thought, the idea directed at the half-fey currently sharing his mind.
Ethereal was silent, giving Stealth a moment of panic as he frantically called for her through their shared mental link.
The labs must be where they do all the experimentation.
Stealth sliced into the soft underbelly of one of the beasts as it lunged for him.
I hate to point out the obvious, my dearest, but so it would seem, what with all the hybrids crawling all over me his mind whispered back.
Another one of the strange creatures, this one a combination of man and cougar, crouched down and then pounced. Stealth bent down and arched his sword upwards as the beast came down towards him, sending his blade clean through the hybrid’s midsection. Blood and bits of intestines rained down around the vampire, sending up a stench of the scientifically altered blood into the air.
Stealth wiped absently at the gore that had spattered his face and arms, his eyes taking in the mess. The smell was enough to cause him to nearly wretch where he stood.
The scent of the blood had the other hybrids in a frenzy, the group rushing towards Stealth with rolling eyes and lolling tongues. He pulled his sword up in a protective stance, but the animal-man combinations did not seem interested in the immortal anymore.
They all descended upon the body of their fallen comrade, their claws slicing into the body while their teeth crunched bones so they could get at the marrow hidden inside. The aroma of blood grew stronger in the stale air, causing the hybrids to begin fighting with each other in an attempt to get more of the freshly slaughtered meat.
Their growls and snaps turned into swats with their razor-like claws. As more and more of the animals became victims of the stronger ones in the group, the pile of body parts grew, the perfume of so much blood attracting more and more of the misshapen hybrids.
Stealth stood with his sword drawn, watching in fascination as the animals began to attack and devour each other. He didn’t understand it. The hybrids that had invaded his home and the ones they had fought in the underground parking garage had not seemed bothered by the scent of blood in the least. Now they were all fighting each other like rabid dogs.
Stealth, go back! The small voice in his head brought him out of his wonderment. Go back, past the main corridor until you come to Hallway A. Take a right, and that will take you straight to the sergeant’s office.
Stealth took a few steps backwards, easing away from the squirming horde of beasts that gorged themselves on the bodies of their fellow agents. Once he felt safe to turn his back to the feasting animals, he picked up his speed, dashing back down Hallway C and taking a hard right down Hallway A.
He made short work of the few SHiELD agents that he encountered, his body absorbing dozens of bullets as the soldiers continued to spray gunfire throughout the building. He moved past the second exam room, stopping when he saw a sign that read INFIRMARY.
Why are you stopping? Ethereal’s frightened but slightly annoyed voice whispered inside of his head.
Why would this place need an infirmary? He wondered more to himself than in answer to Ethereal’s question. The head of this operation obviously doesn’t care if these men live or die. They are all expendable.
So what? Ethereal practically screamed inside of his head.
So why have a place to patch them back up? Why not just let them die of their injuries?
Stealth put his hand out and turned the doorknob, Ethereal’s voice inside of his head begging him not to go into the room. The vampire opened the door and moved inside, his eyes taking in a sight that his centuries of immortality had not prepared him for.
The room was lined with beds, more than half of them taken up by men who were hooked up to all kinds of IVs, their bodies in varying stages of healing. Some of the men had lost limbs, the stumps wrapped tightly in bandages. Several of them were writhing in pain, others seemed completely comatose.
Stealth moved to the nearest bed, reaching out to turn the IV bags around one by one so he could read them.
Vampire A – blood
Vampire Q – plasma
Vampire R – hemoglobin
Drug – FK506
Drug – tetracycline
Drug – propafenone
What is all that? Ethereal’s voice asked inside his head.
Stealth shook his head. Whole blood, plasma, red blood cells, a broad-spectrum antibiotic. I’m not really sure what the others are. The vampire looked around. This whole place looks like a bad sci-fi movie.
A few images from my recent trip to Orange Beach, AL. I’m like Amy. I sooo want to move here!
A piece of driftwood I discovered on the beach. To me it looks like a hand with a bracelet. I may have to use this one as cover art for something one day.
A nearby sandcastle:
A few of the condos available for rent:
And some local culture:
While digging around some old photos on my pc today, I came across a few that were of some very special online friends. I miss chatting with them dearly, and often wonder what has become of them.
Crimmy aka Gnash Oscurita was the one who brought me into the whole RP world. It is from this world that most of my stories have come. Crimmy use to call me his “imagination,” oftentimes asking me to create the biographies and back stories for his RP characters. It is actually our two characters of LeeLee and Crimson from which the 3rd novel of the BEFORE THE SUN RISES series was taken. We entered the game as a brother/sister team. I wrote the back story for the characters and always thought the tragic story of LeeLee and Crimson’s embracement was a tale that needed to be told. It was from this early idea that Blood’s Embrace was born.
Thinking of LeeLee reminds me of another very dear friend who played in one of the online RP games. LeeLee was bound to Akito, The Dark Flame, in one of the games. I miss Akito something fierce at times. He was such a wonderful young man, funny and bright.
One thing I loved about the RP world was that your real-world age had no bearing on the game play. I am more than a decade older than Akito, but we got along beautifully. I think I may have spoiled him a bit, feeling incredibly protective of him. I think maybe he liked the fact that I babied him so much. Either way, I miss him so much sometimes, like I’ve lost one of my own kids. Which reminds me that my own nest of children will be emptying sooner than I realize.
It is because of my friendship with Crimson and Akito that I have decided to dedicate the 3rd novel in the BEFORE THE SUN RISES series to these two friends. It is my hope that they may someday stumble across Blood’s Embrace and realize that Nicola aka Lorian Emerald “LeeLee” Leigh still thinks of them and has many fond memories of our days spent chatting and creating storylines untold to mere mortals. I hope my boys are doing well, and are happy, and will remember the days spent with LeeLee with a smile on their face.
XOXO
Nicola
a sneak peek of
The Red Fang
a BEFORE THE SUN RISES novel
Chapter 1: … “Im protecting my household.” …
“Hey! Hey! Damnit, I said stop!” Her voice struggled to be heard above the hoots and hollers of the patrons.
The five foot tall red-head struggled to weave her way through the crowd, pushing past those who had gathered in an attempt to get a better view of the commotion. She stopped once she got to the scene of the disturbance.
Standing in amongst the masses was her ex-boyfriend, his nose bleeding all over the lower portion of his face. His opponent, the owner of the nightclub, stood off to the side without a single hair out of place on his beautiful head.
Seeing Eric standing in the middle of the dance floor caused the young woman’s blood to boil. Their relationship had been strained at best when they were dating. These days about all she felt for him was contempt. He was the last person she had expected to be fighting in the club. He was also the last person she felt like dealing with right now.
“My office, now!” She hissed at him between clenched teeth. She turned sharply on her heel, making a super-human effort to keep her temper in check as she walked. Once she reached her office, she turned and grabbed hold of the door, slamming it with such ferocity that the covered windows rattled in their frames. Eric had to practically dive into the room, the corner of the door barely missing his ankle. She ignored the fact that Requiem had materialized in the chair behind her desk. Instead, she turned her attention to Eric.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Her words were very abrupt, biting off the end of every syllable as she spoke. “I thought I told you to never show your face in this club again! And,” she continued without even giving him a chance to answer, “you pick a fight with the owner of this establishment of all people! What were you thinking? And exactly what did you think you were gonna do to a vampire any way? Bore him to death?”
Requiem let out a little chuckle from where he sat behind the desk. The sound reminded the young woman that Eric was not the only one to blame for this whole fiasco.
“And you!” She turned to look at the black headed man sitting so composed in her chair. “Why on earth would you openly fight with a human in your own club? Now everyone in this place is gonna know that the owner is a freaking bloodsucker. By morning everyone in the whole damn town is gonna know it!”
Ethereal stood with her hands on her hips as she waited for Requiem to answer. “Oh, please, my love. You worry too much.” The vampire made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “I do not care if they know. I have plenty of security. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Ethereal grunted in her frustration. She flopped down into a nearby chair, wondering for perhaps the millionth time why the six foot tall vampire sitting behind her desk insisted that he was invincible. “For the love of my soul, Requiem, you are the oldest vampire in the entire southern U.S.! Your blood would be worth millions on the black market.”
She sighed, her right hand moving to rub at the pain that was gathering in her temples. “The wrong people find out who you are and you may very well discover yourself strapped to a cold metal table.”
Requiem’s luminous blue eyes shone out from a face that not even six hundred years had managed to make pale. A slow smile spread across his full lips as he asked, “Is that a proposition, Ethereal, my dear?”
She let out a small screech as she picked up a pen from her desk and hurled it at his head.
Requiem laughed quietly. He dodged the pen easily, his movements so quick that the object appeared to go right through his body. He tilted his head to the side and regarded her with eyes that were twinkling in the lamplight. His dreadlocks barely budged with the motion.
Ethereal hated it when he wore his hair like that. He had such beautiful, silky black hair. But more often than not he would twist the shiny strands up, powder them down and leave them that way for years at a time. In all actuality, she had only seen his hair down once. That had been eight years ago when she had first met him.
The vampire sitting at the desk folded his hands together and regarded the small half-fey with interest. “Relax, my love. Everyone knows that draining vampires is illegal now. And as I said, I have plenty of security.”
He rose up from his seat and slid around the desk past her. He allowed his arm to caress hers lightly as he leaned in to whisper, “Besides, no one gets close to me unless I let them.”
His glowing blue eyes bore into hers as he turned away, walking casually towards the door before he stopped to glance at Eric. “I do wonder, though, whatever was so important that you thought you just had to speak to Ethereal.”
The vampire’s words reminded her that she didn’t know what had actually caused the fight between the two men. She turned her sapphire blue eyes to Eric, looking at him curiously. “Speak to me? About what?” She tilted her head to the side to ask, “What was so important that you couldn’t wait two measly hours until my shift ended?”
Both Requiem and Ethereal watched Eric sigh and run his fingers through his hair. Ethereal recognized the gesture as his classic ‘I’m frustrated’ move. His face turned serious. “I have news, and it’s not good. What I am about to say concerns all your little freak-show buddies of this town.”
She couldn’t see his face, but Ethereal knew that Requiem had just rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. She thought his eye-rolling was probably less about the derogatory slang that Eric was so fond of using in Requiem’s presence and more about Eric thinking he had news that had not already reached the oldest vampire of Shadow Cove.
Requiem turned back around and leaned against the door. He folded his arms across his chest as he said, “Okay, I’ll bite, if you’ll pardon the pun. What did you hear that was so damned important that my immortal life depends upon it?”
Eric glanced at the vampire before turning his attention back to the fiery little red head sitting opposite him. “Something, or rather someone, has been targeting the local packs. It’s been on the news about pack members going missing and being killed and so forth. Do you remember hearing any of the reports?”
She nodded her head. She had heard all about it. The packs’ members had been picked off a few at a time over the past year or so, but no one really thought much of it. Everyone just assumed it was a few radical humans who did not like living in the same area as werewolves and other lycanthropes. But she didn’t see what any of that had to do with her, or Requiem, for that matter.
“What they’ve been announcing on the news is only part of the story. Two of the five local packs have been attacked. One of those packs lost every single last one of their members. The other three have seen many of their packmates killed off over the past few months. There’s talk that the smallest two are gathering up what few of their members are left and going to the werewolf Compound. They own all that land on the outside of town. Their compound is built to withstand attacks, so they have asked the Alpha for refuge.”
Ethereal listened in fascination. Even Requiem seemed interested in Eric’s little story. “Okay, so the packs are being picked off.” Ethereal shrugged one delicate shoulder. “They figured this would happen once the vampires came out. We all knew there would be those who did not exactly relish the thought that the beasts of their nightmares were actually real. So what makes you think this is nothing more than a few radical humans out to dish out their own form of justice? I mean, why would you think that Requiem would be in danger?”
Eric raked his hands through his hair in frustration. “It’s not just the packs. There has been talk that Stealth’s mansion came under attack too. So I took a ride to have a look for myself. His mansion has been leveled to the ground. There’s nothing left! And get this, at every single attack there have been these military guys in camouflage fatigues carrying enough fire power for a third world war. All of them had the word SHiELD written on their vests.”
Eric’s already tortured green eyes took on a new look of worry. “But that’s not the strange part. Some of the refugees are telling tales, strange tales, of humans who turn into these half-werewolf hybrid-looking things. And then there are those who have super strength and speed, like that of a vampire. Only they are not vampires or werewolves or human. No one really knows what they are.”
Requiem pushed himself from the door to cross over to the desk. “Are you sure of this?”
Eric nodded. “Yeah, I, um, use to date one of the pack members.” Eric ducked his head in embarrassment. The truth was that he had cheated on Ethereal with Starr. And this was the source of their breakup a few months ago.
“I came across her in town last Tuesday. She said their compound is seeing refugees nearly every day now. It’s gotten so bad that Joshua sent her and a few others out to the other packs for search and rescue.”
Ethereal noticed Eric’s discomfort and was happy to see that he was showing remorse for the first time since their very violent, very public breakup. But she decided to ignore it for the moment. “So the lycans of this city are being attacked, and apparently some of the vampires as well. I still don’t understand why you thought this concerned me. Why tell me about it? I would think that you should have taken this directly to Requiem. After all, he is the Master Vampire of Shadow Cove.”
To her surprise, Eric jumped up from his chair, taking the two steps that separated them in one long leap. He grabbed hold of her arms, snatching her up from the chair and giving her a little shake. “Don’t you get it, Ethereal? All the supernatural beings of this region are being attacked. All of them! This group, this SHiELD as it calls itself, it’s not just picking off members of packs. It’s out to destroy every last supernatural being that it can find. You are in just as much danger as they are.”
He let go of her and turned his attention back to Requiem. “I’ve heard that they are also killing any humans that they think have had any contact with the packs or vampires. Familiars, donors, companions, it doesn’t matter to them.”
He looked terrified. Ethereal wondered if he was scared for her life, for his, or for that slutty werewolf that he had been screwing behind her back. “With this club being what it is, it’s just a matter of time before it comes under attack as well.”
Requiem picked up the phone and began to dial, saying, “Yes, I understand the implications.” He held up his hand as the party on the other end of the line picked up.
“This is Requiem, Master Vampire of Shadow Cove, requesting an immediate council with the Alpha of your pack. Tell Joshua it is in regards to this SHiELD I have heard so much about.”
Wow, full out formality, Ethereal thought to herself. Things really must be serious for Requiem to start throwing around titles.
She still didn’t really understand how the hierarchy of the vampire social infrastructure worked. She knew Requiem was considered a Master Vampire because he was the oldest in the region. The next step down was a Prince, and from there it followed along the lines of the royalty titles in England. It had something to do with the age of the vampire in the region.
The funny thing was that the High Council was so old-school that only male vampires were recognized. The only way a female vampire got any ranking was to become ‘bound’ (the vampire equivalent to being married) to a male holding the title.
Requiem paused as the person on the other end spoke. “Yes, I will also be bringing in my advisors and immediate household members. That would be fine. Give my thanks to Joshua.”
The vampire hung up the phone and turned his attentions to the two humans sitting in front of the desk. “Eric, I want you to take Ethereal to her apartment and help her pack. Take Jaxon with you. I want the two of you back here in one hour, understand?”
Eric nodded his head as he took Ethereal’s arm and began to steer her towards the door. “Hey, wait just a damn minute!” She dug her heels into the carpet in an effort to stop Eric. “I am not going anywhere with Eric and I sure as hell am not moving out of my apartment.”
Eric ignored her attempts to twist out of his grip. He just kept dragging her along beside him as he opened the door. In desperation she grabbed hold of the door frame and held on for dear life, beseeching the vampire inside her office as best as she could. “Requiem! Do something!”
Requiem looked up at her with those blue eyes of his glowing brightly in his face. “I am doing something, Ethy. I’m protecting my household.”
© 2007 Nicola C. Matthews
All Rights Reserved
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