Please welcome Annie Nicholas and her Vanguards Series!!!
The Omegas
The
Vanguards
Book One
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: Jan 2010
ASIN:
B00IGFXCTM
Number of
pages: 97
Word Count:
25,000
Cover
Artist: Renee Rocco
Book
Description:
Only a
vampire is man enough to teach werewolves how to fight.
Pretty
librarian Sugar wants her life to stay quiet. That’s hard enough when friends
and neighbors turn into furry werewolves every full moon. But when a hot
vampire gets involved, life’s bound to get complicated.
The Omegas
have always been the pansies of the paranormal. Now Chicago’s top werewolf pack
has issued them a life or death challenge. Their only option: hire a vampire
warrior to teach them the moves.
Daedalus has
been a powerful vampire for ages. Intrigued by the chance to train the geeks of
the underworld, he wasn’t bargaining on losing his heart to a human. Can he
make the Omegas a success, fit into Sugar’s quiet life, and avoid being ripped
to shreds in the process?
The Omegas
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Eric strode
into the living room holding an envelope. “I found the solution to our
problem.”
Sugar
uncurled her legs from under her and sat straighter as she watched Eric’s lanky
form approach. They had both survived growing-up in the same low income
neighborhood. Friendship forged in such fires never died.
He handed
her a letter and joined the rest of his pack lounging on her mismatched
furniture.
Sugar
examined the front, then the back of it. “Pal Robi Incorporated. What’s this?”
“It’s our salvation.” Eric shifted in his seat
to lean forward. “Read it to everyone.”
She glanced at
him with a questioning look. What was he up to?
Slidding her fingernail under the corner, she tore it open. The letter
was printed on good quality paper with a huge golden company emblem stamped at
the top. An errant blond curl slid in front of her eyes and she shoved it back
behind her ear.
To the Omega
pack:
I have
reviewed the details of your plight. Pal Robi Incorporated deals mostly in
security issues, but I find your problem worthy of my personal attention.
Enclosed you will find a non-negotiable contract. Please review it closely, and
have your signature notarized. The return fax number is listed on the contract
so proceedings can begin. Mail the original to my office. Thank you for your
business.
Sincerely,
Daedalus Pal
Robi
Cold claws
of fear gripped her stomach. What had
Eric done? “You hired a vampire?” Her shout shattered the silence around them.
The other
wolf shifters responded to her outburst with low growls directed at Eric.
What had she
gotten herself tangled in? She wasn’t pack, just a plain vanilla human. The
Omegas were her neighbors and also her closest friends, each of them an
outcasts from their old packs.
Driven by
loneliness, Eric had solicited Sugar to help him search for others like
himself. Werewolves with no attitude. Geeks of the underworld. Pansies of the
paranormal.
Their
friendship spanned years, since high school, when he’d rescued her from a home
of drug abuse. Eric had treated her like a little sister, advising her on life
in general. When he survived his werewolf attack, both their worlds shattered
and their roles reversed.
Eric found
four others to join him: Sam, Tyler, Katrina and Robert. No alphas ruled in
this pack. They needed each other, so they became a family. All five lived in
the apartment next to her.
Eyes wide,
Eric held his hands out in front of him. “Mr. Pal Robi is offering to teach us
how to fight.”
Sugar tilted
her head as she surveyed her friend. “Yeah, for a substantial fee. How can you
guys afford this?” He always thought with his heart.
Eric looked
at his pack, pleading. “Before you make any judgments, let’s have Sugar read
the contract out loud.”
She held it
in front of her.
This is an
agreement between Pal Robi Incorporated and Eric, Sam, Katrina, Tyler, and
Robert, from here forward to be known as the Omegas.
Scope:
1. Pal Robi
Inc. will provide to the Omegas, training in defense, hand-to-hand combat and
small weapons use.
2. Training
will take place for the duration of the period beginning with the trainer’s
arrival until the challenge date.
3. Combat
training is inherently dangerous. Pal Robi Inc. is not responsible for injury
or death sustained during such training.
4. Trainer
will not intentionally hurt and-or kill any Omega during the period of this
agreement.
Responsibilities
of the Omegas:
1. Omegas
will provide trainer from Pal Robi with appropriate lodgings.
2. Omegas
will provide daylight security of said trainer.
3. Omegas
will submit to the direction of the trainer without question for the duration
of the training.
Fees:
1. Omegas agree
to pay Pal Robi Inc. $8,000 in cash prior to the beginning of training.
2. In
addition, Omegas will provide the trainer with fresh, consumable blood upon
request.
Penalties:
1. Failure
to provide payment renders this agreement null and void.
2. Failure
to abide by the terms specified represents a breach of contract which renders
the agreement null and void.
3. Breach of
contract will result in an immediate investigation. Vengeance will be swift and
unmerciful.
Sugar placed
the contract on her lap while waiting for their reactions.
Robert held
up his hand to speak, like a kid in a classroom.
She sighed.
How could this pack of puppies fight a pack of wolves? “Robert, speak up. You
don’t need to ask permission to talk anymore, remember?”
He grinned
sheepishly. “What do they mean ‘vengeance will be swift and unmerciful?’”
They turned
to Eric, but it was Tyler who answered. “It means if anything happens to the
vamp, we can kiss our asses goodbye.”
Sugar folded
the letter closed. She agreed with Tyler. Vampires were bad news. Literally,
all over the news swearing they had turned a new leaf and won’t hunt humans
anymore. Wouldn’t catch her becoming a donor any time soon.
Eric stood
and faced his pack mates, staring at each one in turn. “How can we not hire him?
The Ayumu pack officially challenged us. One of us has to fight and beat one of
their alphas in a month. There’s no other way.”
“We will be
absorbed again,” Katrina whispered in her thick Asian accent, as she hugged her
knees tight against her chest. Being a submissive female in a pack equated to
being anyone’s meat. Sugar had tried to help Katrina come to terms with those
old wounds, but they kept her captive.
Tyler
shuffled closer to Katrina, petting her long, black, silken tresses. She shrank
from him, fear etched on her delicate features.
He looked at
Sugar and shrugged.
She crumpled
the letter in her hand. How did preying on weaker members of the pack equate to
strength? She just couldn’t understand shifter culture.
“You should
run away.” The weight of Sugar’s words hung in the sudden silence.
Eric crossed
his arms. “There will always be another Ayumu pack wherever we go. We’re
finally happy. We have jobs, friends, and a home. It’s all worth fighting for,
right guys?”
Sugar
watched her friends’ expressions harden and her heart sank. So it would be a
fight.
They nodded
to each other, sealing their fates.
There went
their quiet life.
Worst of
all, a vampire would be moving in next door.
* * * *
Daedalus Pal
Robi strode across the foyer of his house and tossed his car keys to a passing
vampire. “Can you park it the garage for me? I’m done hunting for the night.”
He pointed to a piece of wood protruding from his abdomen. That was a close
call. He would let the others think the vampire-gone-bad he’d been hunting and
finally killed had done this. In truth, a clumsy fall almost ended his long
existence.
The human
police were discovering decapitated bodies in the river. They thought a serial
killer responsible so far. Daedalus knew better, decapitation was an excellent
way to hide bite marks, as well as burning the bodies or shredding the flesh to
make it look like a shifter kill. As Nosferatu Prime of Northeastern America,
it was his responsibility to take care of these issues before the humans did.
Vampires didn’t need more bad publicity. History did that for them.
Daedalus
killed the lazy son-of-demon. It didn’t take much effort tracking and staking
him. In his over-confidence, Daedalus had spun around to leave and tripped on a
fucking extension cord. It sent him flying face forward onto an antique wood
chair, hence the chair leg sticking out of his stomach. A little to the left
and two inches higher and a pile of dust would all that would have been left of
him.
His nest
mate stared at the injury. “Do you need help, Master?”
“Nah. Just a
flesh wound. It won’t take long to heal.” He closed the door to his study
behind him and crossed the room to the fireplace. Leaning against the mantle
with one hand, he wrapped the other around the wood shaft. He took a deep breath
and yanked the son of a bitch out.
“Fuck.” Wood
burned. It didn’t matter where in the body it stabbed him. He tossed the piece
into the fire and rested his forehead against the mantle. Blood trickled from
the wound in a steady thin stream. He’d have to feed to finish the healing
process.
He pressed
his hand to the wound and retreated to his comfy chair close to the fireplace.
That was too close. If he’d perished, how would people remember him? The
Infernal Champion of the Brotherhood, Vile Butcher of Babylon, and Subjugator
of the Accords, to name a few of his titles.
For the last
two hundred years he’d been trying to be good.
Whatever that meant. It started out as an experiment but over the last
century it had transformed into a true desire. After an age of depravity and
lack of role models, he still wasn’t clear what he should and shouldn’t be
doing.
The Vampire
Council ordered no killing of humans so he enforced that law to the best of his
ability. If a few unsavory ones vanished in the night and nobody missed them
then he turned the other way. Ridding the human race of evil doers seemed good.
Someone
knocked on the door.
He jerked in
his chair at the sharp noise and stifled a moan at the stabbing pain. Careless
again. Too lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard the footsteps. He’d grown
complacent in job surrounded by his loyal nest. “What?” Yanking his leather
jacket closed, he hid his healing injury.
The door
cracked open and Clementine, his vampire secretary, stepped inside, her eyes
downcast as always. She hurried across the room and handed him a large business
envelope. “This arrived while you were gone, Master.”
“Thank you.”
He glanced at the return address, glimpsing the word Chicago, and fingered the
edges of the seal. It wouldn’t behoove a Prime to tear it open like a boy on
Christmas morning. “Could you call for a donor to attend me, Clementine? I feel
like eating in tonight.”
She bobbed her head and backed out of the
room. One day she’d stop fearing him, he hoped.
Ripping open
the envelope, he saw what he’d been hoping for. The shifters signed the
contract. He could afford to leave his nest for a few months and take this
small side job. He grinned and buzzed his personal security team.
“Yes,
Master?”
“We’re going
to Chicago tomorrow night. Come by my study so we can make arrangements.”
Training a few shifters to defend themselves seemed like a good thing to do.
The Alpha
The Vanguards
Book Two
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: June 2010
ASIN:
B00IGFXDCI
Number of
pages: 92
Word Count:
25, 000
Cover
Artist: Renee Rocco
Book
Description:
Someone is
about to get some Spice in his life.
Spice has
nothing but the clothes on her back when she returns to Chicago. She’s looking
for a better life, and that means reuniting with her estranged twin sister,
Sugar. She isn’t thrilled to find out Sugar’s boyfriend is a vampire. But then
she meets Eric, once the bottle-cap-glasses wearing nerd next door - now grown
into the kind of man she’d love to snuggle with on this cold winter night...and
he’s offered her his room in Sugar’s house.
Eric can’t
believe Spice has returned. He’d given up hope of ever seeing her again, let
alone having her stare at him as if he’s sex on a stick. But now that all of
his fantasies for them are coming true, reality rears her ugly head and Eric
must tell Spice his intimate secret; he’s actually an Alpha werewolf looking
for his mate and he thinks he’s found her.
Content
Warning: Graphic sexual content.
The Alpha
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Tyler
followed Eric into the kitchen with Robert and Sam in tow. “What’s wrong with
you, Eric? You almost lost control of your beast.”
Running his
fingers through his hair, he tried to hide the blush heating his cheeks. Spice
is home. He’d lost hope of ever seeing her again. The desire in her eyes when he
loosened her jacket and the smell from her pussy set his beast-side on a craze.
I, Eric
Turner, the geek next door, turned her on. The sexiest, most confident girl
he’d ever met, his high school obsession.
“Sorry, she
took me off guard.” He looked at Robert, his calm, overly serious second in
command of the pack, who shook his head at him. “Damn, I almost changed in
front of her. What a disaster.” Eric’s mouth went dry.
Sam handed
him a glass of water. If anyone understood losing control of his beast, it was
him. Ever since the Omegas conquered the Ayumu werewolf pack, their females
kept knocking on the door. The bodybuilder had trouble refusing them, and his
beast liked the attention. He didn’t completely transform mid-intercourse
anymore but they heard his howls.
Eric needed
to stop thinking of the pack as Ayumu. They were all Omegas now and he their
alpha. The sip of water he tried to swallow went down the wrong way and blocked
his windpipe. Nothing came out, not a cough and not a breath.
“Eric?” Sam
asked.
Katrina
scurried into the kitchen. “I make tea. You want some?” She stopped. “What is
wrong with Eric?”
He coughed
out a manly squeak and pointed to his throat.
Redheaded
Tyler pushed pass Sam and pounded on his back.
Not a moment
later Spice sashayed into the room. Even in his distress, her presence drew him
like a magnet to iron.
A solid
smack on his back set off a cough. He expelled the water from his throat, and
it landed on her generous, rounded chest.
She stood
with arms out at her sides, and her mouth hung open.
“Smooth,
real smooth.” Sam patted him on the shoulder and exited the room. The others
followed in silence but a few seconds later, Eric heard their restrained
laughter from the direction of the living room.
He grabbed a
dish towel from the rack by the sink and raced over to her. “I’m sorry.”
Without a coherent thought in his scrambled brain, he dried her tight, white
sweater.
Tension in
her shoulders as he bent over to stroke around her curves clued him in that
he’d done another boneheaded maneuver.
Her intense
stare weakened his knees as he glanced up with her breast cupped in his hand.
The urge to fondle it sent a shiver up his spine, but the ingrained gentleman
inside of him beat down the beast, who wanted more than just a touch.
He jerked
his hand away. “Sorry.” Alphas shouldn’t apologize that much. Daedalus would
kick his ass if he heard him.
Eric
straightened and swept the annoying hair out of his eyes. Why did he decide to
let it grow? Who cared if all those guys in romance books had long freaking
hair?
“Don’t be.”
She gave him a small, seductive smile.
He kept
waiting for this wet dream to end.
“Who’s
Daedalus?”
Nothing more
deflating to a man’s ego than to ask about the resident stud vampire. “Sugar’s
boyfriend.”
“The one she
has to ask permission to cut her hair. Then you’re not together?”
“No.” That
question showed how much she paid attention to them as kids. He and Sugar had
been best friends since sixth grade. Dating her would be like dating a sister.
Even though they were identical twins, Spice got placed in a different category
from Sugar. She topped the list for the five-finger-knuckle-shuffle when he
needed it.
She leaned
closer and ran her finger down his chest. It left a trail of heat along his
skin. “What’s happened since I left two years ago?” Gesturing around the room,
she raised an eyebrow. “New house, new boyfriend, new friends, and…” She
stepped to press against his body and gazed at him with green sparkling eyes.
“New Eric.”
Where did he
start? We hired a Nosferatu vampire to teach us how to fight about a year ago,
who by the way, is banging your twin sister. Oh yeah, all of us are werewolves,
except Sugar, and I defeated the local alpha in a fight to the death so it made
me top wolf in Chicago.
“Nothing
much. We pay rent to Sugar and live here.” The old Eric she referred to still
resided inside of him. He still liked Star Trek, ‘live long and prosper,’
worked from home for a computer software company, and read as much as Sugar.
His heart
twisted a little. She didn’t like him; she liked the changes the beast made
inside of him. After the werewolf attack, his eyesight returned to
twenty-twenty. He got stronger and faster, which meant leaner and more
muscular.
She moved
back and placed her hands on her hips. “Six of you live under this roof?”
“Seven.
Daedalus lives here too.”
Shaking her
head, she grinned and looked at the floor. “Unbelievable.”
He heard the
front door open and close. “I’ve got Thai.” Sugar’s voice, higher and more
musical than Spice’s, called out.
“What’s
going on?” Daedalus must have given her a ride from work. “Why are you guys so
serious?”
The Beta
The
Vanguards
Book 3
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: May 2011
ASIN:
B00IGFX5JY
Number of
pages: 97
Word Count:
25,000
Cover
Artist: Renee Rocco
Book
Description:
Three days
of hell, in charge, and running out of antacids.
As the
pack’s Beta, Robert needs to watch over the Vasi werewolf pack for a few days.
He hates the responsibility, but his job is to dissolve any problems while his
Alpha honeymoons. Nevertheless, trouble comes to town and her name is Esther.
She’s beguiling, beautiful and picks his pocket. Although Robert doesn’t trust
her, he still wants to possess her.
Esther
arrived in Chicago with the intention of slaying a vampire named Daedalus.
While trailing her quarry, she encounters Robert who unhinges her world. He
doesn’t know her trade, and she doesn’t know his connection to the vampire.
Disturbed by her attraction to this unusual werewolf, she can’t decide which
prey to hunt—the one who’s stolen her heart or the one who’ll fill her bank
account.
Content
Warning: Hot graphic werewolf sex, growing body parts, and one pissed off
Nosferatu vampire.
The Beta
Excerpt
Chapter One
Another man
exited the building not long after the vampire. He wore a rumpled button-down,
short-sleeved shirt tucked into loose jeans. His mouse brown hair cried for a
cut and a comb.
He pushed
his glasses up his nose and bent to tie his running shoes.
Recognizing
him as the person who had accompanied Daedalus earlier, Esther heard
opportunity knocking. He didn’t look like a threat being thin and weak. She
crossed the street and approached him from behind. “Excuse me. Do you have the
time?”
Glancing
over his shoulder, his gaze traveled along her bare legs, to her knee length
loose skirt, and finally met her stare. Her breath caught in her throat. The
irises of his eyes reflected a non-existent light and shone pale amber. He
blinked and it vanished, must have been the glasses that gave such a strange
effect.
He rose in a
single fluid motion that set her predator alarm off. Checking his cellphone, he
gave her a shy smile. “It’s ten after two.” He scanned the area around them.
“This is a dangerous part of town, ma’am. You shouldn’t walk around alone.
Trouble is going to find you.”
Or maybe
find him. She eyed his wiry arms and changed her assessment of him. Lean, tight
muscles slid under his skin as he moved. He wasn’t weak, more like a cross
between a martial artist and a geek.
“Are you
offering to walk me home?” Flashing him her most flirtatious smile, she toyed
with a piece of her hair.
He
swallowed. “S-sure.” Shuffling to her side, he fell in next to her, eyes
darting around them.
Men were so
easy to manipulate, but this one actually wanted to protect her. So cute, she could
have pinched him. Trying to be discreet, she took quick peeks at him. Nice
strong chin and straight nose. Maybe a hint of freckles? It was difficult to
tell in the dark.
“I’m
Esther.” She held out her hand. What the hell prompted her to use her real
name?
Wrapping a
firm hand around hers, he shook it. “I’m Robert.”
His touch
sent tingles along her arm. The name seemed too mature for him. “What are you
doing out so late, Rob?” How did such a polite man like him get involved with a
Nosferatu? She checked his neck for bites and didn’t see anything, but there
were more places on the body to feed from besides the neck. It would be a shame
if he was a blood slave.
“Robert is
fine. I was checking on a…friend.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “And
you, Esther?”
She laughed.
“I’m up to no good.” And she winked at him.
A rosy blush
surfaced on his cheeks as he stumbled.
Something in
this man attracted the devil inside of her. She entangled her arm around his
and leaned into his hard body. The strength hidden under the geeky exterior
sent a pleasant shiver through her body. Not all things were as they appeared.
She hated surprises but not this one. If this was an act then he deserved an
Emmy. She glanced at him, pleased that she needed to arch her neck back
slightly to meet his sharp green gaze.
God, what
was she doing? She assessed him like a potential lover instead of a possible
avenue to get her mark. Stupid, focus. Once Daedalus was out of the picture
she’d come back for Rob if she still wanted him. Until then…she stopped in
front of a duplex. “This is my place.” She lied with the ease of an expert.
Omegas in Love
The
Vanguards
Book 4
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: March 2012
ASIN:
B00IGFXF0I
Number of
pages: 100
Word Count:
30,000
Cover
Artist: Renee Rocco
Book
Description:
Some things
are best to forget. But what if the past won't be forgotten?
Born in
China of a pure shifter bloodline, Katrina was raised with only one purpose--to
breed. Abused by her alpha, she runs away to America as soon as she can. With a
new pack and her true mate, she thinks the nightmare is behind her, but when
she is abducted on the streets of Chinatown, Katrina must face her past and
fight for her freedom.
It took
Tyler a year to earn Katrina's love, another to build her confidence and pride,
and only a moment to lose her. Broken-hearted, Tyler won't give up his search
for Katrina. But he never trained as a warrior like the other shifters. What
chance does a real estate agent have in the fight for his mate?
WARNING:
Explicit shifter sex, heartbroken torment, and an unstoppable shifter in love.
Omega’s In
Love Excerpt:
An antique
red archway covered the entrance to the tourist trap to keep evil spirits away
and good luck in. Sticking his hand in his jacket pocket, he rubbed the small,
velvet jewelry box he’d placed there earlier today. He could use all the luck
he could get–just because Katrina was his mate, didn’t mean she’d agree to get
married.
Raised in an
all-wolf-shifter community in rural Mongolia, she didn’t think like American shifters.
Like him. He took a deep, shaky breath. Marriage was a foreign ritual to her.
He’d chosen
this location not just for his superstitions, but for its significance. Katrina
worked in the area, a place where the old Asian world met the new, as an interpreter
for some of the local companies.
She waited
under the arch, facing him, her delicate eyebrows furrowed. An Asian man he
didn’t recognize spoke with her.
Facing the
stranger’s back, Tyler could only see his short black hair and long fall trench
coat.
A sharp stab
of jealousy drove him to quicken his pace. He couldn’t help it. As a shifter,
possession was nine-tenths of the law, and Katrina belonged to him.
Passing half
a dozen souvenir shops offering cheap trinkets, Tyler trotted along Wentworth Avenue.
Katrina’s raised voice reached his ears, but he couldn’t understand Mandarin.
He growled low in his chest. His mate didn’t yell often.
Three other
men broke from the crowd and surrounded the arguing couple.
Tyler’s
heart rate took off like a locomotive on a downhill slide. He smelled shifters.
Non-Vasi shifters on their territory. Surrounding his mate.
The Asian
stranger grabbed her arm and yanked her into his embrace.
“Hey!” It
took every ounce of Tyler’s control to keep his beast from busting out on the
tourist filled streets of Chicago’s biggest attraction. He shoved the stranger
from behind, knocking Katrina from his arms.
She stumbled
and landed hard on the ground. Tears stained her cheeks. The cold wind blew
strands of long, black hair across her face.
“Get your
hands off her.” He bent to help her, but the stranger blocked him.
Straightening, Tyler glared at Katrina’s assailant and met a cold, dark stare.
His beast
rose closer to the surface and clouded his thoughts. She belonged to him and
this male thought to block his way. The only solution was to tear this asshole
limb from limb. “Get out of my way.” He spoke each word separately and clearly
to get his point across.
“This is
none of your concern.” The stranger spoke with a thick accent like Katrina’s.
“You’re on
Vasi territory. Anything that happens here is my concern. And she belongs to
me.” Tyler pointed to Katrina, then back to himself.
“Chinatown
is not Vasi territory. Never has been and never will be. And this female mated
me before she ran away.” Crossing his arms, the stranger planted himself in
front of Tyler. “She still belongs to me and has never been yours to take.”
Tyler’s jaw
hung as if on broken hinges. He shot her a questioning look, but she stared at
the ground, not meeting his gaze. Katrina hated to speak about her past. Now,
he knew why.
She wiped
her face, huddled on the ground, and didn’t deny a thing.
Every bit of
joy in his life lay with Katrina, but truth’s claws dug into his heart. He
didn’t know which hurt more, the lies or the way she hunched on the ground,
submitting to this stranger like an omega all over again.
Sigma
The
Vanguards
Book 5
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: August 2012
ASIN:
B00IGFXFCQ
Number of
pages: 97
Word Count:
30,000
Cover
Artist: Renee Rocco
Book
Description:
To defend
and protect, at any cost.
Sam is Sigma
of his pack, defender of the innocent and frail. Too bad the one time it
mattered most, though the urge to guard the weak runs strong in his shifter
blood, he failed to protect his best friend from an attack. Just when his
self-confidence can't go any lower, he becomes entangled in a vampire skirmish
and is left with an injured female in his arms.
ampire
accountant for Pal Robi, Inc., Clementine can't believe her master would ask
her to commit corporate espionage. She’s shot when discovered, but a shifter
comes to her rescue. It's as if he's made of her fantasies, and in the few
hours with him she lives more than the decades she's spent among her clan.
Hiding with
him on the streets of Chicago, in the midst of fighting together to stay alive,
can a petite vampire break through her hero’s jaded heart?
WARNING: Hot
dominating sex, an action packed evening, and a first date gone all to hell.
Sigma
Excerpt:
Sam ground
his teeth at Clementine’s stubbornness and hovered around her in case she fell.
Blood soaked the back of her pink t-shirt
and dripped, leaving a gruesome trail as she walked along the exterior balcony
toward their motel room on the second floor.
“You paid with cash like I told you?” She weaved on unsteady feet.
“Yes, ma’am.” He barely had enough money in
his wallet to buy a soda now. “No credit card to track.” He reached out to grab
her elbow, but she swatted his fingertips. Reflexively, he shook the sting
away. “Playing tough and insisting on walking doesn’t get you brownie points if
you pass out.”
He unlocked and opened their room door. The
scent of cheap air freshener and stale sweat swept over him. He turned and
sneezed.
“Bless you.”
He wiped his mouth. “Thanks.” Wasn’t there
some supernatural law against vampires being polite?
“It smells odd in here.” She leaned against
the door frame and pointed to the faded yellow bed. “Can you pull off the
blanket?”
“We got what we paid for, a cheap-ass
room. At least they don’t charge by the hour.” He winked and did as Clementine
asked, then watched as she crawled onto their bed, lying on her stomach. “What
can I do to help?” The deep red stain continued to spread under his scrutiny.
“When Daedalus was staked, he didn’t bleed like this.”
She twisted around and whispered, “You were
there?” With her blue eyes wide, she appeared very young, but vampires were
experts at fooling people. Clementine could be five hundred years old, for all
he knew. With a wig, Daedalus looked twenty, younger than Sugar.
He chuckled at the memory and recalled the
expression of horror on Sugar’s face. “It happened in my old apartment.”
“You’re one of the original Omegas?”
“You make it sound like a bad thing.”
They’d had five pack members at the beginning, before Daedalus came and changed
everything. Now they numbered in the triple digits and were called the Vasi. He
pointed at her wound. “Can you bleed to death?”
She rolled back onto her stomach. “No, but
I’ll need to feed before the blood lust takes over me. You have to remove the
bullet.”
He grabbed the edge of her shirt and tore
it open, exposing her back.
She hissed and glared at him over her
shoulder. “I could have taken it off.”
Pasting mock surprise on his face, he laid
a hand on his chest. “Where’s the fun in that?” Not waiting for her response,
he went into the bathroom and washed off his pocketknife. A pair of tweezers
would have been handy. And some gauze. He grabbed a face cloth instead. “Do I
need to sterilize my knife or find some antiseptic?”
“I’m a vampire. Disease doesn’t plague us.”
He shrugged off her prickly tone, betting
she was as gentle as the sound of her name on his lips. “Good, because I can’t
provide either.” On his knees, he straddled her legs and leaned forward to
examine her wound. He planted his palm between her shoulder blades.
“What--” She struggled under him. “What are
you doing?”
“I don’t want you to move.” Using his
shifter strength, he shoved her flat against the bed and wiped the blood away.
“Stop wiggling so much. It’s distracting.”
“Not like you can do more damage.” Her
words came out muffled.
“No, but you’re turning me on.”
She went limp, her breathing heavy and
strained.
He
couldn’t help but chuckle. This shitty day was getting better. Using the tip of
the pocketknife, he gently probed her wound. “Tell me if it hurts.” The hole in
her flesh was deep. It appeared as if her backbone had absorbed the impact of
the bullet. Damn, vampires were tough.
Prima
The
Vanguards
Book 6
Annie
Nicholas
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Publisher:
Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: Feb 2013
ASIN:
B00CFXOXZI
Number of
pages: 215
Word Count:
40,000
Cover
Artist: Hailey Edwards
Book
Description:
Shattered in
forgotten memories.
Sugar
survived a shifter attack but it left her broken. Paralyzed on the left side,
she fights for her independence in her day-to-day life. Her worst injury, the
scars on her soul, has her pushing Daedalus away. How could he still love her
when she is just a shadow of herself? But a new threat on Daedalus’ life yanks
the veil of self-pity from her eyes and she’s resolved to protect him, even
precariously balanced with her cane.
The vampire
council sends an emissary to Daedalus. His clan brother, another Nosferatu,
hands him an ultimatum. Return to his post as Prime in Pal Robi or he’ll kill
Sugar and her shifter friends. Daedalus has brought enough trouble into Sugar’s
life. He won’t be responsible for more, so he agrees to leave Chicago.
To both
warriors surprise, Sugar’s not willing to remain behind, and with her own
shifter guards she’s ready to help Daedalus regain control of Pal Robi.
Prima Excerpt:
As soon as
he closed the sliding glass door shut, Daedalus would bet his bank account that
his conversation with Pallas would only have a pretense of privacy. Shifter
hearing could be miraculous, especially when pressed to cracked-open windows.
The distant sound of a chair clattering to the floor in the dining room reached
his own sensitive hearing. He could picture his housemates scrambling to find
the best places to eavesdrop.
Pallas
strode to the center of the moonlit garden. “So the rumors are true. You’ve
lost your mind.”
Daedalus
chuckled. The other Nosferatu hadn’t changed. They’d been close once. “Maybe. I
wish the one about you was true.”
Pallas spun
around. “Which one?”
“You being
dead.”
“That would
be too convenient.” A familiar crooked smile bloomed on his ugly face.
Daedalus
laughed louder and shook Pallas’s hand, squeezing his fingers together as hard
as he could.
“You’re such
an ass.” Bearer of bad news or not, he was still a brother, a tie to his past,
and a comrade at arms.
Pallas
returned his strong grip. “I learned from the best.” His clan brother, and he
used that term loosely since they weren’t born from the same parents, bore the
trademark appearance of their people—bald, pale, and deadly. “You’re creating
quite a stir in the council, enough for them to coerce me to wake and seek you
out.”
They
released the painful handshake, and Daedalus shook his numb fingers, grinning
as Pallas did the same. “You can tell them, for once, I’m happy.”
He snorted.
“Like they care. I can’t believe you’re living with shifters again.” He made a
distasteful noise. “Nasty habit. They
said you left your post.”
“I did, and
I left it in good hands.” Then the fools were killed and the traitors who took
over tried to have him assassinated, but Pallas didn’t need to know that.
“Your
company is in chaos. I went there before arriving here.”
“No.” Pal
Robi Inc. was his private security company, hence it being named after him.
What better than hiring an almost indestructible vampire as a guard? The
company also served as a front for the vampire political structure in his area.
Vampires had revealed themselves, with the other supernatural creatures, to humans
fifteen years ago. Vampires were expected to follow human laws and their
government, but vampire society had had these things in place long before
humans had figured out how to organize themselves. The Vampire Council didn’t
expect their people to follow human laws, but Pal Robi Inc. was developed to
give his people legal jobs and to police their hunting. In other words, if a
vampire couldn’t feed without killing, it was his responsibility to stop that
person before humans were aware of it.
“I didn’t
assign those who presently think they are running my company.”
Pallas
sighed. “Are they under your command?” He gave Daedalus a pointed stare.
“Currently.”
“No.”
Daedalus shrugged. “How much damage can they do? The last thing they want is to
draw the Council’s attention. I haven’t truly lost control.”
“Your estate
is abandoned.”
“It’s not
abandoned. I dispersed my staff to other tasks, and there’s a shifter house
sitter. You probably scared the shit out of him.” He’d have to call Stephen and
check on him. The young shifter didn't like company, let alone drop-ins from
hell.
“A little
scare never killed anyone. The council wants you to straighten things out at
Pal Robi Inc. and return to your post as Prime. Things are falling apart in the
area.”
An alien
sourness curdled his stomach. He examined the odd sensation and decided he
didn’t like the source. “Or what?” This visit was expected. Not Pallas himself
but someone the council would send. The Prime kept the peace among vampirekind
in his area. Sort of like a sheriff. If those traitors hadn’t been so greedy
and tried to kill him, things would still be fine.
“They’ll
make me kill everyone at Pal Robi Inc…” Pallas’s gaze wandered to the house,
“…and here.”
“Do you
think you can defeat me?” It had been ages since he’d fought one of his own
kind. Living among the Vasi pack had softened him.
A hard
shield fell over Pallas’s eyes. “Yes.”
About the Author:
Annie
Nicholas writes paranormal romance with a twist. She has courted vampires,
hunted with shifters, and slain a dragon’s ego all with the might of her pen.
Riding the wind of her imagination, she travels beyond the restraints of
reality and shares them with anyone wanting to read her stories. Mother,
daughter, and wife are some of the other hats she wears while hiking through
the hills and dales of her adopted state of Vermont.
Annie writes
for Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, and Lyrical Press.
Website: www.annienicholas.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annienicholas
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/annienicholas/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/yt8Kv
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