Seducing the Darkness excerpt.

 Trinity stood in the shadows and watched as a group of humans exited a local hangout called Buckeye’s Bar. It was a known pick-off for her kind. Most of the humans that came and went from the bar tended to leave through the back entrance which led to the alley. Then bam! You were vamp food.

 People were so stupid. Why did they think they had their faculties in order when they plied themselves with alcohol? The brain was sluggish after several drinks and thus impaired their thought process. So of course, stupid and drunk, they stumbled through the alley thinking themselves impervious to harm. 

 When would they learn? 

 Considering the past few weeks, it seemed as though the vampires were out in full force. Okay, so people didn’t want to believe there could actually be such a thing as a blood sucking half dead creature taking up residence in their city. But come on, one look in the newspapers and you had to at least be worried about all the dead bodies being found lately. 

 Still, people never believed it could happen to them. Until they end up dead. 

 She watched a group of young girls—and if they were of legal age, she would eat her shoes—stumble from the bar. They separated and two went off towards the street while the last wandered drunkenly down the dark alley. 

 Oh yeah, like this was going to end well. 

 “Five, four, three, two, one. Bam!” She shot her hand out just as a vampire jumped from out of the shadows and right beside the stupid young girl. Shaking her head, Trinity moved towards the screaming girl. Idiot. 

 “I don’t think you want to be doing that.” 

 The tall, gangly, greasy haired vampire jerked and spun around to face Trinity. His teeth were primed for the kill, his yellow eyes glaring at Trinity as if she were his next meal. The poor girl in his arms was wailing something awful. 

 Now you regret going through the dark alley. 

 “Yeah, says who?” 

 Trinity lifted a brow, cocked her body to one side and rested her hand on her hip. “Jesus, could you have said anything more lame? Let the girl go and no one has to get hurt.” Okay, so that wasn’t completely the truth. He would be more than hurt when this was over. He would be dust. 

 “How ‘bout I keep her and you wait against the wall until I’m done?” He jerked the girl towards him, yanking her head back to expose her neck. He was just about to bite down when Trinity placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and his face froze. 

 “How ‘bout I don’t.” Trinity bared her fanged teeth to show him she was not going to back off. “Beat it kid.” She clamped her hand on the vampires shoulder, her nails digging into his flesh as she jerked her head at the girl. As she’d suspected, the guy was a wimp. He released the girl who immediately ran off screaming. 

 “Now, you wanna take off, or am I going to have to mess up that pretty face of yours?” she asked sarcastically as she glared down at him. 

 “You couldn’t handle me, bitch.” He slapped her hand free, then curling his fingers in a fist, threw a punch at her face. 

 She was ready and ducked out of the way. Slicing her hand up, she chopped him in the neck, sending him crumbling on the ground. “You don’t want to mess with me, jerk,” she advised as she planted a booted foot on his jugular. The razor blades she had attached to the toe drew a small amount of dull gray, deoxygenated blood as she pressed it just below his chin. 

 “Go ahead and dust him, he’s useless.” 

 Trinity glared over her shoulder at the man she had once been destined for and felt her heart ache. She couldn’t stop herself from admiring the beauty of the man before her. His long dark hair floated in the light breeze sweeping away from a face sculpted of fine bone and delicate skin. He looked so dark and dangerous in that long, black leather coat he always wore. One look into his translucent blue eyes turned her heart to mush. 

 Then she reminded herself how much she detested him. 

 To show she wasn’t a push over, Trinity pressed her foot harder, the razor blades cutting into the vampire’s neck. His arms flailed out, trying to yank her foot away from his neck. His legs kicked wildly, but Trinity had a good ten pounds on the scrawny vamp. Tilting her toe downward, she sliced deep into his neck, finally cutting his head off. In a whoosh he disintegrated into a pile of dust, his last breaths used to scream his way to death. 

 She took a deep breath, shook the remnants of a useless life from her boot then turned. “Basil.” 

 “Trinity.” They stalked each other like the predators they were, neither taking their eyes off the other. “You’re looking good.”

 Her breath always caught in her throat when she looked into those icy blue eyes of his. Unlike the rest of her race that had yellow eyes, he had the color of his heritage. He was royal. “So are you, but you already know that.” She circled him, her eyes never leaving his.  She knew how quick he could be, and she was prepared. “Was he one of yours?” 

 “Would I have cared if you dusted him if he was one of mine?” His hand slid to his pocket and he pulled the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “How have you been?” 

 She rolled her shoulders, the itch still irritating her. “Better now that I left you.” And wasn’t it odd how acrid a lie could taste?

 “I noticed you’ve had your belongings gathered from our home.” 

 “Your home,” she corrected, keeping her distance from him. She knew perfectly well being close to him would have dire repercussions. 

 “Have you settled into your apartment then?” 

 He was being so nice, so civil. She didn’t like it. “Why are you here, Basil?” 

 “I might ask the same of you, Trinity.” He lit the cigarette smoothly and the flame showed a devastatingly handsome face, with curves and lines and strength. 

 “I’m protecting the humans,” she remarked with an edge in her voice. “Always the warrior, my fiery princess.” He smiled sweetly as he drew long and hard on his cigarette then smartly blew a ring of circles in the air. All without taking his eyes from hers. 

 “Don’t call me that.” She hated when he called her that. Okay, once upon a time hearing him call her that made her hot, but that was then. This was now. 

 “It’s what you are and always will be to me.” 

 “Yeah, I was such a treasure, that’s why you decided to fuck another woman. Leave me alone, Basil.”

 In a quick shift that surprised her, he was in front of her, his hand clamped on her chin as he tilted her face to meet his. “Despite my indiscretion, I will always love you.” He dropped his cigarette and ground it out beneath his boot. 

 She jerked her chin free, snarling, “You have a funny way of showing it.” 

 Grabbing her chin again, this time he held a little tighter. “Love has many sides to it, my sweet.” He sealed his words with a sharp kiss, his teeth scraping her bottom lip right before he vanished into the night. 

 Cursing, Trinity spat on the ground, wanting to eliminate his flavor from her tongue. Bastard thought he could come back and act as if nothing had happened. Fuck him! She still remembered all too clearly what it had felt like to walk in on him and the woman crawling over his naked body. 

 Shaking herself free of him, Trinity walked away. The last thing she needed was the memory of Basil’s kiss or the feel of his touch on her skin. What she needed was a vicious kill. If only she could find one.