Descended in Vengeance: (Lexie Pearce Book 1)
Descended
in
Vengeance
L.J. Kentowski
Copyright © 2018 by L.J. Kentowski
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, things, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.
L.J. Kentowski
ljkentowski@ljkentowski.com
www.ljkentowski.com
Editing/Proofreading by Kathy Case
Acknowledgements
This is always the hardest part for me because, honestly, there are so many people in my life that have had a hand in making my dream a reality.
My husband is a saint, and I thank the universe every damn day for putting him in my life. He’s the one who believed in me the most, gave up so much, and supports me nonstop so that I can do this on a regular basis. I’m the luckiest woman alive. Truly.
My friends: Lauren, Darcy, KC, Kitt, Sandra…you’re my beta readers, boosters, pimps, and biggest supporters. I couldn’t do it without you. I freaking love the hell out of you ladies.
Kathy Case!!! Yes, I shouted that name and put in extra exclamations points (even though I know too many are a no no) because I love you to death. You’ve been making my novels shine for a while now, and I’m so lucky to have found you as an editor. You motivate me, pump me up, and boost my confidence. I love what you’ve taught me and can’t wait to learn more as I continue on this journey.
A special thanks to Michelle Hannemann for beta reading this novel and being one of my super ARC readers for many others. It’s fans and friends like you that motivate me and keep me writing. Thank you.
I saved the best for last because I want my readers/fans to be left with the biggest heartfelt thank you I can manage. You wonderful people keep me going every day. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Without you, all I’d have is a blank page.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Free Download
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Also by L.J. Kentowski
About the Author
Copyright
Chapter 1
I stalked the dark alley, targeting the man hunched over a woman near a dumpster. Deep in shadow, the couple may have gone unnoticed by most people, but with eyesight as precise in the dark as the light, I wasn’t most people. I could see every detail of the pair before me, down to the white fangs hovering inches from the woman’s exposed neck. She dangled helplessly in his arms, no doubt as oblivious to what he was about to do to her as the music thrumming from the building next door.
“Should have known I’d find you in a place like this, Thaddeus,” I called out. “It reeks of your kind. You know—dark, dirty, smells like shit.”
He stopped, the woman’s skin not yet pierced. His gaze cut through the darkness of the alley and focused on me as I approached him with a calm stride.
“Sexy Lexie.” A smile greeted me while he held the woman off to the side with one arm.
Locked onto his features, I stepped near enough for contact. “I’ve missed you, Thad. You left so abruptly last time. We never got a chance to talk.” I motioned toward the girl. “Dinner?”
“Just a snack.” Thaddeus’ eyes darted around, his body language signaling he was preparing to skip.
I fingered the leather casings hanging from the belt at my hips. “You’re going to make me do this the hard way, aren’t you?”
As if in answer, the whites of his eyes flooded with blood. I lunged, sinking one of my daggers into a shoulder, pinning him to the wall before the woman’s body hit the ground. With a hand on the hilt sticking out of his arm, I held the other dagger in front of his face, swaying it to and fro while shaking my head. “Thaddeus, I’m starting to think you don’t like me. Now, why would that be? All I’ve ever wanted to do was talk.”
“Everyone knows you don’t talk to vampires,” he said, the words slurred due to his fangs. “You leave a trail of body parts.”
“Now you’re just trying to flatter me. Honestly, Thad, I only want to talk. If you tell me what I want to know, I’ll let you go.”
“And if I don’t?”
I smiled. “I’ll start from the feet up.”
Thaddeus tried to remain unaffected as I held him, but I caught the slightest flinch of his eyes with my threat.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Good boy. Word on the street is, you know everybody who’s anybody in your slimy little vamp world. I’m looking for one in particular—about six-foot-four, black hair, likes leather, and has a tacky-looking tattoo of a fire-breathing bat on his upper-left chest. Sound familiar?”
He recognized whom I was asking about when I mentioned the tat. His features made it obvious he was picturing the bloodsucker in his puny head.
“Who is he, Thaddeus? You’re going to tell me one way or another.” I twisted the dagger in his shoulder. The minute he opened his lips to cry out, I jammed the tip of the other blade to the roof of his mouth. “Maybe I should start keeping souvenirs.”
He attempted to talk, but the dagger was in the way. I inched it out and hovered it near his lips.
“If he knew I told you about him, he’d kill me anyway. Probably in ways even you can’t imagine. You’re asking me about one of the oldest and most powerful of our kind. You may be a descendant, but you’re no match for him. He’d eat you alive. None of your little homemade weapons would be able to stop—”
Shoving the knife back in his mouth, I pierced the skin at the top. “I’ll make sure to relay how highly you thought of him. Where is he?” The blade was enforced with a special coat of silver-laced enamel that could melt into flesh the second I pressed a button on the hilt. Enough silver in his system and I wouldn’t need to make parts. The process would be cleaner, but less satisfying. I tapped the button to make him squirm and know I meant business.
He screamed like a little girl.
“Stoker,” he said, lisping around the dagger. I yanked the knife out and placed it against his cheek. “His name’s Stoker, but I don’t know where he is. I told you, he’s one of the most powerful vampires there is. You don’t get to know where Stoker is unless he wants you to know, and I’m not on that list. I swear.”
“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me. The guy’s name is Stoker? Like Bram Stoker? As in, Dracula? Give me a break. So, who can tell me where to find this clown?”
Thaddeus jerked as if to shake his head, then thought better of it when the blade pressed into his skin. “I don’t know. People are
tight-lipped about him. Maybe one of the regulars at Pulse might know. I’ve heard rumors some of his progeny go there.”
Wonderful. Pulse was the biggest vamp hangout in the city—an exclusive nightclub owned by a political hotshot who had no idea some of the patrons were drinking more than the booze on its fluorescent, three-story shelves. I’d held several stakeouts on the roof of the building across from the place in hopes of catching a glimpse of my vamp but never saw him. Once, I ventured inside. The urge to pull my daggers out and go postal was overwhelming, and since a hundred-to-one odds didn’t sit well with my survival instincts, I cut out and never went back.
Withdrawing the dagger from Thaddeus’ face, I sheathed it but left the other in his shoulder with my hand on the hilt. “You’ve been a great help, Thad. For that, I’m going to leave you whole today. But before I let you go, I want you to know some things. One: if I ever see you feeding on someone again, this relationship is over, and I will take a souvenir. Two: if you call me Sexy Lexie one more time, I’ll mount you on my wall…alive.”
He fell to the ground once I’d tugged the blade from his shoulder, clutching the hole it left. The wound was already healing, but it kept him from skipping.
I turned my back, spread my wings, and flew to the rooftop above the alley. “Oh, and Thaddeus?” I called out. “If you see Stoker around, tell him I’ve got a special cage with his name on it.”
***
From up on the roof, I watched Thaddeus after he thought I was gone. He seemed to be telling the truth about not knowing Stoker’s whereabouts, but I’d learned how much vamps could be trusted the day I’d become aware they existed at all; it had been the same day my mother and father were brutally slaughtered by the one I hunted today.
For two years, I had mourned my parents, balancing a thin line of insanity over what I’d witnessed, unable to come to terms with the fact there really were monsters in the dark spaces of rooms, preying on the unknowing innocence of humankind. But it wasn’t until the same savage came back for my sister that the realization of our coexistence became clear. I never got to bury Valerie next to the graves of our parents. She was simply…gone.
Three years of exhaustive research, intense physical training, a fierce determination to avenge our parents and find my sister, branded me a vampire predator for the rest of my life. I lured them in with feigned innocence and killed with knowing vengeance. For many years, hunting the fangy bastards had been a reason to wake in the morning and the cause of my nightmares at night.
I knew revenge was one of those emotions that claimed a person’s body and soul, but I didn’t realize how deep it was embedded until I died. Even in death, I wasn’t able to let the sentiment go, nor did I want to. Vengeance awarded me blackened wings, but I had work to do that no halo could help me accomplish.
It had been years since I’d descended, too many to bother counting anymore, and those feelings drove me as much today as they had back then. Only now, I possessed a few added abilities…and appendages…to help my cause.
By the time I crouched on the rooftop across from Pulse, it was almost midnight. I scanned my gaze along a line of shallow people, both mortal and immortal, dressed in provocative attire, desperately waiting to be noticed. Most of them wouldn’t make it into the club; Pulse was only for the well-paid and the well-made. One had to know somebody or be somebody. But sometimes, if a person was lucky or sexy enough, they might catch the attention of the cads who ran the place from their camera-installed boobs-eye view. It was how I got in the one unfortunate time I’d visited, and how I planned to get in again. Since I wasn’t much of a suck-ass kind of girl, I needed to psyche myself up for the mission. After spotting my target, I swooped down on the other side of the building and stepped out from around the corner.
Ignoring whistles and catcalls, I sauntered past the losers in line and stopped at the barricade directly in front of one of the bouncers manning the door. With both hands on the rail, I leaned over to show off the cleavage threatening to spill out of the leather, lace-up corset I wore.
“Hey, baby, remember me?” I asked in my best bimbo voice.
The bouncer ogled me from the boobs up. While I couldn’t remember his name, he was the same guy who’d let me in the last time I was at Pulse. I had promised to wait until he got off work to have our own private party if he let me in. He’d held up his end of the bargain. I didn’t. Hopefully, he didn’t hold grudges.
Beefcake sauntered over. I straightened, placing a hand on my hip as I watched him. Upon reaching the barricade, he eyeballed the rest of me from the peek of skin above my jeans down to my stilettos. I let him get his fill, biting my tongue to avoid telling him this body was capable of great pain to those who looked at me that way on any other day.
A slimy smirk played at his lip. “You’re not easy to forget, now are ya, doll? I also remember you ditched me the last time you were here.”
“Sorry about that.” I pouted for effect. “Something came up. I had to leave.” Leaning closer, I picked up his tie and skimmed my fingers down its length. He kept his eyes on mine. “How about I ante up tonight? That’s if you forgive me, of course.”
His gaze fell to my lips. I brought the bottom one in with my tongue and watched him suck in a breath.
That’s it, big guy, let’s seal this deal.
Beefcake’s grin became even cockier. “It’s Lexie, right?” I nodded. He bent toward me and whispered, “You’re going to have to go all in for this one.”
“Mmm. No problems there.”
After moving the barricade, he motioned me through.
“I’ll come for you when I’m off then, doll.” He walked with me to the door, a hand on the lower part of my back. I wanted to rip his fingers from my skin, but freedom was only feet away, so I suffered through my rage.
Music blasted us when he opened the door of the club. I turned and leaned close to his ear. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Oh, so am I.” He grabbed my ass.
Clenching my teeth, I resisted the urge to break his wrist and shot him a quick smile before leaping into the club. When the door shut behind me, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding. My relaxed state didn’t last long, however, once I glanced around the club and spotted every breed of enemy I considered myself to have.
I had no doubt the worst part of the night was yet to come.
Chapter 2
Pulse was packed. Electronic trance music blared, making it impossible not to feel its vibrations course through my body. A spectrum of lights cut through the darkness, gyrating to the beat of the music in the same rhythm as the bodies on the dance floor. Several other patrons mingled in plush booths surrounding the main area or sat on stools along the wall-length bar toward the back of the room. Inside the club was like being in a different world. The immortals fit right in.
Throughout my years as a hunter, I’d encountered more evil in the world than the fangy undead. With time, I had learned to adjust my skills to seek and destroy every species I’d come upon. While I was confident in my abilities, seeing so many monsters in one room made my skin crawl and fingers itch to hold my daggers.
The majority of the crowd were vamps—distinguished by pale skin, perfect features, and an undeniably arrogant demeanor made specifically to attract prey. The way humans were throwing themselves at the ones on the dance floor was proof the fangers knew how to work their innate gift.
I spotted some demons, witches, and other descendants co-mingling with the mortals. While not all of the immortals were bad news, I’d encountered enough of the vile type in my time to be on the defensive. The simple fact that they were at this club brushing shoulders with the vamps took them off my best friends’ list, but they were a means to an end, so I kept my distaste in check and options open.
A male vamp sat at the bar talking to a blond. I couldn’t tell whether the woman was mortal or immortal, but she appeared too earth-toned to be undead; she was probably human but could be a witch. Sidling up next to
an empty stool on the other side of the fanger, I leaned forward as if trying to get the bartender’s attention. My stilettos gave me height and great vantage of my tried and true corset if I could get the guy to turn around.
While waiting for the bartender, I listened to the blond talk a mile a minute about how her girlfriend had told her Pulse was the place to meet interesting men, and she was totally right, and blah, blah, blah. The broad was definitely human. If the vamp didn’t fall off the seat from boredom first, I wasn’t going to have a problem stealing his attention.
The bartender sauntered over. “What’s your pleasure, gorgeous?” he asked, giving me a glimpse of his pointed canines.
“Stoli Elit on the rocks,” I said.
He sized up what he could see of me. “A woman whose taste matches her beauty.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only the hot ones. All alone tonight?”
I winked. “Not for long, hopefully.”
“Well, if someone hasn’t snatched you up by the end of the night, I’d love to keep you company. Name’s Ash. Think about it. Be right back with your drink.”
Great. Two dance card prospects for my post-club party. How lucky was I?
The vamp next to me angled his head as Blondie continued to chirp away.
Pretending to search for something in my jeans’ pocket, I leaned closer, making sure to brush my chest against his back. “You know, if you need a save,” I whispered to the back of his head, “I’d be happy to help. Just tap your finger on the bar twice, and she’s gone.”
The bartender came and set my drink down. I tried to give him money, but he insisted on paying for the first round, with the added reminder of his offer. I promised to consider it, so he’d go away.
As I grabbed my drink, the vamp next to me reached a hand out onto the bar. I took a sip while watching his finger tap. Once. Twice.
Game on.