Title: Blood Rogue
Author: Linda J. Parisi
Genre: Vampire Romance, Romantic Suspense
Book Blurb:
There is the blood and can only ever be the blood.
Only on a night born in hell could vampire cop Charles Tower meet the woman of his dreams, Stacy Morgan, and lose the only father he’s ever known. Mikhail Kirilenko’s gone rogue, unable to satisfy his thirst for blood. Mikhail marks Stacy as the last person he’ll drain dry before he dies, but Chaz needs Stacy alive. She’s not supposed to know vampires exist, but as a forensic chemist/blood banker, Stacy might be able to figure out why vampires are going rogue before their time.
In a race against the clock, Chaz will have to figure out how to keep her alive while facing his worst fear when Stacy decides to put herself out as bait. Can Chaz drink from her enough to knock her out but not kill her as he did his wife? And then what? Chaz knows that in the end he’ll have to give her up as humans are not allowed to know vampires exist.
Will love conquer thousands of years of mistrust? Will love give him the strength to pull away? And what of the future? For Chaz is certain Mickhail isn’t the only BLOOD ROGUE he and Stacy are going to have to face.
Excerpt:
Creature? To call the one man he named his father a creature? He watched Stacy make sure the muzzle of her gun never wavered from his heart—Mick’s heart. Only Mick wasn’t a man anymore. He was…oh God…a thing. And the thing Chaz chose to call a man shifted from foot to foot, and crouched like an animal waiting to strike.
He tried to move slowly so that his body came between Mick and Stacy. Only, Stacy kept circling to keep her gun trained on Mick.
“What the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of horror movie?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he spoke to…it. “Mick. You need to go to Sanctuary. Please.”
“Charlessss,” the thing hissed.
Like fingernails on a blackboard, the long talons sprouting from Mick’s hands scraped against the macadam. Droplets of what looked like old blood, dark and brown, splattered the fabric of what was left of his shirt.
“Mick. Please. If you have any humanity left inside, stop this insanity. Go to the caves. Don’t make me kill you.”
Man? Sunken cheeks, lips drawn back in a grotesque caricature, were proof that whatever-it-was in front of him, it certainly was not a man. “Mikhail. Friend. Mentor.” Each word filled the air with heart-wrenching anguish.
The creature lifted its head. The words found their mark. “You taught me how to accept my life,” Chaz continued. The agony in his belly dug deep. “You taught me there was integrity in what I’d become. Don’t make me erase that goodness. Please.”
Short, staccato breaths left Stacy’s mouth in rapid succession. “Wait a minute. You know this…thing?” For a split second, her gaze flew to his. “What are you?”
“The only thing keeping you alive.”
“Comforting.”
He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Mick, if you want to die on your own terms, then let her go. No collateral damage.”
“Collateral damage? Really?”
Chaz watched Stacy stiffen, arms steady as she took aim. Her fingers tightened around the butt of her gun, and she inhaled. In the time it took her to release that breath, Chaz turned, sprinting over to the corner of the bar, pulled a vent pipe off the building and then charged, using the pipe like a baseball bat, swinging so hard he thought the muscles in his neck would break from the strain.
Mick staggered and fell, screaming in pain.
“Stacy. Run!”
“Not on your life,” she cried, holding her ground.
Mick shook his head and lifted into a crouch. A wave of foul decay filled his nostrils, dank, and putrid. Stacy coughed and choked just as affected.
“Get out of here now!”
“No!”
“You don’t understand,” Chaz said. “A terrible craving is tearing at his insides. Mick can hear your heart race, feel your blood pump. You’re the one he wants. Not me.”
“Feel my blood pump?”
Mick balanced on all fours ready to spring. His lips drew back in a feral snarl. Long sharp incisors hung over his bottom lip, unable to retract anymore. He stalked towards her.
“What the hell?”
Time to get her out of here. Only there was a huge problem. Mick stood between her and her car. She could run into the bar, but that would only put the two humans inside in danger. “Run! Run into the complex.”
Suddenly, Mick stopped moving. Dank, filthy tendrils of hair swung as he whipped his head around. The click of the handle sounded at the same time. A door opened and closed with a bang.
“Stacy. Shoot. Shoot now!”
She hesitated. Mick twisted, first towards the sound, and then towards her. And then it hit him—the sound of another human heart. Still beating normally as the person it belonged to had no idea the danger they were in.
“For the love of God, Stacy. Fire!”
She pulled the trigger, and her revolver exploded. Three shots in rapid succession, yet Mick still half-stood there even though his left shoulder flew backward with the force of her bullets. All three. Straight into its heart. If he had one left.
Just as a tiger can lie placid on the grass so it can leap and kill its prey in mere seconds, so could Mick. Or whatever Mick had become. He gathered and bunched and vaulted for Stacy. So did Chaz, landing on his back. Rooted to the spot, he realized Stacy could only stare as Chaz pulled back Mick’s head, yanked open his mouth, and tried to pour the extract inside.
Mick wasn’t having any of that and threw Chaz off him with a mighty swipe of his arm. The guard, hearing the commotion, came charging into the parking lot. Chaz scrambled to his feet. “Get back!” he yelled to the guard. “Get away from here! Run!”
Mick couldn’t make up his mind. Two human hearts thundered. Chaz ran to protect Stacy as the guard tried to scramble away. Stacy raised her revolver again. Before she could get off another shot, Mick lunged, tackled the guard, grabbed his collar, and tried to run. Chaz bolted after Mick and jumped on his back. He wrapped his arm around Mick’s neck to pour more extract, but Mick swiped his arm away. Mick threw him off his back, dropped the man, and sprinted away.
Chaz ran back to the guard and knelt down. Blood began pouring out of a wound in the guard’s neck. How fitting that Mick would use the last of his humanity to put him between a rock and a hard place. For he was going to have to try to save the guard while Stacy watched.
And he was going to have to try not to drain the man dry.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
Well written and very easy to read, a fast-paced, action-packed fantasy from page one. A story full of danger, love, and excellent banter. If you’re looking for a modern, urban vampire story this is a great book to pick up.
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Author Biography:
As a major in biochemistry with a minor in English literature, Linda has always tried to mesh her love of science with her love of the written word. A clinical research scientist by day and award winning author by night, she creates unforgettable characters and puts them in untenable situations, much to their dismay. Choices always matter and love conquers all, so a happy-ever-after is a must. Linda currently serves on the board of a fiction writing organization, and loves to teach the craft of writing at worshops and conferences. She lives in New Jersey with her husband John, son Chris, daughter-in-law Sara, and Audi, a Cocker Spaniel mix who had her at woof!
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