Arcane Crossbreeds 1

More Than Blood

Gabrial Ferrar is a House Marshal, an enforcer of the laws of his people. But when his investigation into missing young girls lead him to a dark alley his path crosses with an incredible crossbreed whose blood promises him a lifetime of pleasure he’s willing to sacrifice everything to gain. Yet her past may be the key to stopping a deranged killer from taking the life of another little girl – but only if he can gain her trust before time runs out.

Kel Sheridan works for a private agency called Incog, a vigilante organization that deals with the dark underbelly of the Arcane. While investigating a local blood ring she finds herself uncontrollably drawn to a stranger and in the time it takes to press her lips to his, he’s made her his blood mate. Kel is furious, especially when she discovers he is a son of the House that turned her out on the streets as a child for not being of pure blood. When another little girl disappears she finds herself needing the strength of the unwanted blood bond between them to face the truth of her past to catch their killer.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

The darkness enveloped him, closing in around his semi-transparent form and cloaking him from his prey. Shifting deeper into the shadows beneath the rusted fire escape, Sanguen House Marshal Gabrial Ferrar’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as he watched the man on the adjacent corner. His people had lived and breathed the night for thousands of years, but now many lived in the mainstream and had forgotten the old ways, broke the codes that had been established for their own safety — and for the safety of the humans they lived among.

It was his responsibility to police the Sanguen that claimed the protection of the Ferrar House. To protect them. And sometimes to protect others from them. Tonight it was the latter.

Across the street the large man hunched and shifted, appearing one moment and then disappearing the next as he shimmered in and out of the jaundiced light of the street lamp, quick enough to not be discernable by the naked eye.
The human naked eye, anyway.

Gabe lifted his lips in a parody of a smile but didn’t feel the humor. He wasn’t human and wasn’t even supposed to be on the streets in this human neighborhood.

But then again, neither was the man he was hunting.

Suddenly the man straightened and arched his back beneath his faded army jacket. He clenched his fists and then shook his head in agitation. The light clearly highlighted his gaunt features and deepened the shadows of the familiar face. And of the fangs.

Gabe’s gut clenched in dread and perhaps a little disappointment. He had harbored just a little hope that he was wrong.
Fuck.

Karl Pryor, once his partner and friend, was using blood. Though blood was necessary for Sanguen survival, the wrong kind could be like a drug. Human blood was usually the drug of choice, and it was bad news, especially for those like him. Gabe came from a leading Sanguen bloodline, which made him incredibly strong and aggressive — two qualities that necessitated a serious amount of control to balance. Human blood would shoot that control all to hell in a single beat of his heart. Even in the others of his species it caused severe hallucinations and sometimes uncontrollable bloodlust.

Gabe curled his lip in disgust, absently reaching up to touch the outline of the medallion that he always wore beneath his shirt. The seal of his House served as a reminder of the laws he enforced.

Fuck! Why had Karl got involved with that shit?

That made that stupid fuck across the street very dangerous. And since the bastard was from his House and he was the House Marshal, it also made him Gabe’s problem.

The elders were not going to like this at all. Especially since neither he nor Karl had been granted permission to leave the House complex. Gabe had even been expressly forbidden from pursuing Pryor.

Gabe took his job as marshal very serious. Serious enough that he’d come to this foul-smelling alley in San Francisco from his House territory in Southern California against the recommendation of his elders — a very grave offense. Yet, his instincts screamed at him that Pryor was guilty of more than using tainted blood. Gabe felt certain he was somehow involved in the disappearance of four young girls near his House territory, too.

Eight months ago, a young girl had been collected from her home on a neighboring independent community. The community fell under his House’s jurisdiction, and he had gone to investigate. Two months later another girl disappeared from within the compound. Within another month, the Rainier House marshal had contacted him with information of two disappearances within three months time in the Rainier House territory, which bordered on theirs. None of the girls had been found.

Gabe was deliberate and meticulous in everything he did. The parents of all of the missing girls said the girls had been collected under the authority of the Ferrar House elders by a man matching the description of his partner. When he took the information to his House elders, they questioned Pryor and determined he was not involved. Gabe’s unconditional adherence to their decision had been expected.

Yet he couldn’t rid himself of the gnawing certainty that his partner was involved. Somehow. Karl Pryor was his great-aunt’s son, and Gabe believed the elders were biased in their refusal to consider him a possible suspect. The Ferrar House was an ancient and highly honored House among the Sanguen and very purist in its traditions. It would be a debilitating blow to their House if one of their own was implicated in such a crime.

Now, as Gabe silently watched his partner nervously pace in the dark recesses of the alley, he was certain his instincts were not off. Pryor was suspect in some aspect of these disappearances. Why would Pryor be in San Francisco? It was miles from their assigned territory. The fact he’d taken great effort to throw Gabe off his path was incriminating but Gabe could not take that before the elders. Without solid evidence this time, he would find himself reprimanded. But the elders hadn’t had to look the parents of those missing girls in the eyes and see the unending despair there. The evidence was out there. And if he had to live in Pryor’s shadow until he found it, he would. This time the elders were wrong, but he intended to make it right.

At any cost.

Gabe settled back into the shadows. It took an inordinate amount of concentration and strength to maintain suspended materialization. It made him mostly invisible. Mostly. Luckily for him, Pryor was not in a position to detect his presence.

Not is his condition.

Men like Pryor were a threat to their entire species, risking exposure with their repulsive weaknesses. Pryor had been nothing but a liability to both Gabe and his House since he’d been assigned to partner him last year. But what had that stupid fuck gotten himself into this time? Was he in trouble with a dealer? Blood dealers were a vicious lot. Perhaps he owed them money. Was he making deals? It had to be somehow connected to those missing girls. But what was the interest in blooding little girls? Female Sanguen did not begin to produce the protein in their blood needed by males until they underwent puberty.

Gabe settled back farther into the shadows, his eyes tracking over the tops of the buildings across the street as a disturbing thought occurred to him. Bleeding little girls could have a depraved appeal. It was all he could do to bite down on the snarl that rumbled in his chest. Was Karl bleeding those children? Or worse yet, selling them so someone else could? If Karl was involved is such an operation, Gabe would pass judgment according to his people’s laws with or without the consent of the elders. Karl Pryor would die by his hand, and his blood would soak the garbage that littered the cracked concrete of this dirty street, regardless of how sacred the act of bloodletting was to his people.

A movement drew his burning gaze away from Pryor to the darkness that blanketed the sky, draping over the buildings surrounding him. He tried to peer deeply into the thick shadows cast by the tall structures. He’d been in the cities before. Yet the seething and shadowy landscape still left him on edge.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. He glanced quickly at Pryor again before his eyes darted to the rooftop across the street. The darkness shifted and moved. As he watched, a shadow sailed over the alley to the roof of a neighboring building. Someone was watching them from the rooftops?

Moving forward, he focused his eyes and could just make out the silhouette of a small body on the rooftop. Although he had exceptional night vision, his eyes were only just better than the humans’. Yet he could see well enough to know someone had leapt from one rooftop to another. Gabe narrowed his eyes dangerously. The jumper had been slight. No child could make that jump. And he seriously doubted a human would ever try. A female? Watching him?

A small tingle of awareness tightened his scalp. He could almost feel the weight of her eyes through the darkness although he knew she couldn’t possibly see him.

Pryor stepped forward to meet another man. Gabe shimmered from behind the lowered fire escape, reappearing just within the shadows that protected him from sight at the mouth of the alley. He was careful to not completely materialize.
There was a watcher on the roof obviously angling for a better view of the street just as this new man approached. He didn’t believe in coincidences. Gabe’s eyes darted to the roof, eyes tracing over the woman’s silhouette before returning to the two men. The new man was slim and of average height with thinning brown hair combed slickly back. He was dressed sharply in a suit and his shoes sported a shine that could reflect even the sorry excuse for light from the nearby street lamps. His entire demeanor shouted greasy ruthlessness.

Gabe curled a lip in revulsion as his eyes followed the smooth drape of the man’s suit jacket, noting with little surprise the slight bulge in the material where it concealed a gun. When he pulled a vial from his pocket, Gabe didn’t even blink. The man was obviously the blood dealer.

He couldn’t hear most of what they were saying, but the conversation became heated and Pryor got even more agitated. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement. The dealer swore violently, the fear in his voice carrying across the distance of the street. The yellowed light of the street lamp glinted clearly off a silver cuff on the dealer’s arm.

Gabe carried similar cuffs. They were used to prevent Sanguen from disappearing; Sanguen couldn’t shimmer through silver, which meant the dealer was obviously a Sanguen.

With practiced ease, the dealer pulled out his gun. The discharge of the weapon echoed off the stained brick buildings.

Fuck!

Movement drew Gabe’s eye upward again, and his body tensed as he watched the unknown watcher step off her perch on the roof. There were no flailing arms or screams as she silently descended. Her small face was calm and focused as she reached the ground and knocked the gun from the dealer’s hand. She rolled to crouch a short distance away.

Gabe snarled in loathing. Only one being could pull off a stunt like that. The woman had to be a Guardian.

Guardians, one of the four non-human species that made up the Arcane, were a feral species that appeared human but were often more animal than man. They had unbelievable strength and speed, claws that burst straight from their fingertips, a second set of lethal teeth and could heal almost instantaneously from most injuries. They were every other member of the Arcane’s worst nightmare.

Guardians were usually employed by the Triumvirate as exterminators for any who opposed the Triumvirate or threatened the anonymity of the Arcane as a whole. The Triumvirate — a group of three ancient and exceedingly powerful Elemental witches that governed all of the species of the Arcane — was indiscriminate and ruthless in how they handled problems. There were no trials or questions; problems were simply removed.

Was this small female a Triumvirate Guardian? Why would she be here? The Triumvirate usually didn’t concern themselves with the Arcane unless they didn’t or couldn’t control their own species. And even then they had to be called in, and it usually had to mean the offender’s behavior risked their exposure to the humans. What could Pryor be involved with that would attract the attention of the Triumvirate?

Anger surged through him at the thought.

If Pryor brought the interference of the Triumvirate into their House, Gabe would kill him whether it was within the House code or not.

But it couldn’t be that. The Triumvirate Guardians came in destructive hordes. This time there was only one single female involved. His eyes scanned the darkness for more to be certain, but he could only see one. What would one Guardian be doing there?

Perhaps she was a rogue? A rogue Guardian didn’t live by any rules and often killed for pleasure alone. And they were a bitch to kill. He seriously didn’t need that added complication. He could let the feral bitch kill Pryor and that would be the end of it, but he still suspected Pryor had information about the missing girls. That meant he would have to save his bastard partner from the Guardian.

His hands reached down to grasp the two short swords he kept strapped to his thighs but paused as he watched the female disappear and reappear to evade Pryor as he lunged for her, clearly blood crazed. Had she shimmered? Guardians could undeniably move at incredible speeds but could they move faster than what his eyes could detect? He didn’t think so. That left one explanation.

A crossbreed.

Gabe knew the Triumvirate itself was vicious in its policy on crossbreeds. They usually enacted their fallback policy for problems: kill it. That further verified his assumption that the Triumvirate was not involved. So then what was a crossbreed doing here? Was she working with the dealer as a bodyguard? It seemed odd that any Sanguen would use a female in such a capacity, even a crossbreed female. Females were protected and sheltered in his culture. They were needed for his entire race to survive.

The female Guardian was quick. And strong. She flipped Pryor’s bulk over her shoulder, spinning away to put some distance between them. Gabe sprinted across the street, keeping his eye on the sparring pair. As he neared he could see that the front of Pryor’s body was soaked in blood and the larger man was desperate to get his hands on the smaller female. He was losing blood, and with the added effect of the human blood Gabe suspected Pryor was on, he would be ravenous. If he got his hands on the female, he would drain her.

Gabe cursed the limitations of shimmering as he dodged the hood of a screeching car, his eyes fixed on the struggling couple. He couldn’t shimmer to a location he’d never been in before, and he’d followed Pryor to this rotting community. As he breeched the entrance to the alley the woman jerked to a stop, her head swiveling toward him. He could see the slight flare of her small pert nose. A small diamond stud glittered rebelliously in one delicate nostril. Short glossy black hair stuck out from her head at various angles. Dark brown leather pants clung to every delicate curve of her small, clearly defined muscles. Her tank was a long way from reaching the top of her low hung waistband and his eyes were drawn to the flash of bare skin revealed as she moved. She was compact, her features almost impish with her heart-shaped face and wide, dark eyes.

Karl doubled over, clutching his stomach. His head snapped up, and his unfocused eyes bored into the woman from behind. Gabe sensed his partner’s movement before he saw it, and he called out a warning to the woman as his body erupted into action. Karl was on her before he could reach her, tearing into the exposed flesh of her neck with a hungry ferocity. Blood sprayed from around his mouth as his lips moved over her.

Fuck!

Gabe darted forward but was suddenly jerked to a halt as though restrained. Every cell in his body wrenched to a standstill. Poised on the edge of violent discovery, his eyes locked with hers. The scent of blood saturated his senses. The smell of Karl’s blood was familiar and nearly overwhelming, but another scent, barely a curling wisp of incense, rose from the taint of his cousin’s blood and sliced thinly across Gabe with the fury of a whip.

His every muscle clenched in recognition. The length of his canines exploded in his mouth. His lips parted with the powerful force of his reaction.

Gabe felt a mindless fury swell up from some unexplored depths inside him. It was dark and deadly as it flowed over him. Something stalked that darkness within him, something that had lain dormant, waiting patiently until this moment. Now it was alive within him, dangerous and determined. Gabe suddenly knew only one thing: the woman was his. Her blood belonged to him. Instinct clawed and snarled, tearing away from his mind, leaving him without his prized control. He couldn’t think; he could only react.

Gabe lunged and slammed into his partner. They rolled together, bits of garbage and papers scattering with the force of their movements. Karl fought with a single-minded intensity to get back to the woman, throwing Gabe from him and leaping at her. Shimmering, Gabe met him in mid-launch before he could reach the woman. Karl struggled to get back to his feet, but his body jerked convulsively and he went still.

The adrenaline coursed through Gabe’s body, his chest heaving with his breath as he rolled to his knees over his partner’s still form. Immediately his eyes sought out the woman. His woman. The smell of her blood still encircled him, obliterating everything else. No longer could he smell the oppressive scent of the garbage or the nearby bay. There was only her.

Swiveling his head, he allowed his eyes to travel over her. Every inch would belong to him. It was a fact his freshly roused instincts would not be steered from. She was speaking into a small black phone, calling for others to come, to “clean up.” His eyes focused on her lips, pink and glistening from the nervous slide of her tongue. They moved, but he couldn’t hear her words over the humming of the instinct murmuring in his head. She held her other hand against the side of her neck. Then those dark eyes turned to fix inscrutably on him.

Rising to his feet, he reached out and pulled her hand away from her neck where Karl had torn into the pale, delicate flesh. Blood smeared the frantic pulse, and fresh blood welled from the wound even as it started to heal before his eyes. Enthralled by her scent, he leaned in closer, and inhaled. The scent swirled thick and sweet, wrapping him in its promise. The shimmering crimson liquid beaded and began to slide down her neck — the only color in a world suddenly gone gray.

Lowering his head he caught those drops on his tongue, gently laving the bite. Fire streaked through him and his body jerked beneath the force of his reaction to the taste of her. He needed the exchange. Needed to give her his blood, to mark her with the essence of him, to claim her. At that moment it was a drive he had neither the strength nor desire to resist.

Deep inside him the darkness rippled, and a beast growled with satisfaction.