My debut novel, Primed to Pounce, is on serious sale at Amazon! Click HERE to preview it and then pick it up for only $1.49. Note, this is NOT a quickie or short story, but a full-length novel. This book also received 4 stars from Romantic Times Book Reviews.
Jaguar’s Rule is on sale at Amazon, too! Click HERE to preview it, then pick it up at a huge discount. This is also a full length novel and was nominated for a CAPA award by The Romance Studio.
Neither of these books have been on sale before so grab ‘em while you can!
As for the “behind” part: I’m so behind on anything writer related. I do have a bunch of Goodreads posts to make so expect to see those pop up here soon. I’ll also put ‘em out there on Facebook. I’m also working on edits to my current WIP. I love this book, by the way. I’ll tell you more after it’s been contracted somewhere ;D
If you haven’t friended me on Facebook yet, I’m here –> TJ on Facebook
There’s nothing quite like family to make or break your day. Enjoy a bit of humor between Max and Sasuke as they discuss the female members of their family – all of which happen to be a handful and a half! After the post enjoy the rest of our fabulous Snippet Saturday authors!
Max would have laughed harder if he had the energy. He and Sasuke made one hell of a pair. Max’s name was known not only on the northern island of Japan but also by their affiliates in the States and Australia, while Sasuke was his underboss responsible for one of the most powerful and feared organized crime clans.
And they were both laid up like old women.
With painful effort, Max turned his head toward his best friend and Second sitting—or rather lying—on the couch on the other side of the coffee table in the living room. A gurgle rumbled up from Max’s diaphragm and ended in a laugh so consuming, he was bent over double in near exhaustion when he was through.
“What?” Sasuke hissed with a scowl.
“Look at us. Me, Max Maruyama, leader of Clan Ooeto, practically in need of a nurse. And you, my Second, covered with bruises like you’ve taken the beating of your life.”
“I did take the beating of my life, damn it. Then your sister made it worse by practically removing my ability to ever bear children. And stop laughing, you fucking sadist.”
Max laughed harder until his chuckles became struggling wheezes. After several long minutes of just trying to breathe, he turned back to Sasuke and spoke.
“So, tell me about the man who managed to turn you such interesting shades of purple and blue. And, uh, yellow? Is that yellow, or green?”
“Oh shut it, already. Kikiyo!” Sasuke called as loud as he was able. A stocky man in a stylish gray suit eased the door open. “Bring me some more ice packs, man. And some tea for Max.”
With a simple “Hai” and a slight bow, the man disappeared and returned shortly with several ice packs to replace the ones Sasuke had already used.
All the while, Sasuke’s grumbles turned the air blue. “Fucking pasty-faced, white-haired vampire. Damned pretty boy Seeker. Muscle bound clod of a …”
“All right, already,” Max wheezed. “Stop whining and tell me what happened.”
“You’d think…ah, God that hurts. You’d think it was obvious, Max. I got a call from one of our men who spotted your sister on the dance floor at Valdarre. I went to her house and waited for her, scoping it out, keeping an eye on her. Or so I thought.”
“Valdarre? Shinju went to Valdarre?”
“Yeah, Shinju and that damned long-haired fellow I told you I’d seen before. By the way, I contacted your friend in Clan Li and described the man. He confirmed our suspicions. The guy with Shinju is indeed a Seeker. And not just any Seeker, but what they call an elite. I’m not up on all their hierarchy, but the Clan Li vamp certainly seemed concerned for me while at the same time saying the guy was vamp law enforcement. A good guy. Anyway, they showed up at her house. I wanted to shoot the idiot.”
“Since when do you refer to Shinju as an idiot?”
“Not Shinju, damn it, Kenoe.”
“Who…?”
“Am I telling the story or not?”
“I think getting your ass kicked has made you cranky.”
“Fuck you.” Sasuke made to scoot up a bit higher on the pillows piled behind his head. A deep frown and annoyed-sounding grunt said his efforts were rewarded with some obvious aches and pains. Max watched until Sasuke’s head settled back on the arm of the couch.
“Great,” Sasuke grumbled. “Now my temples are throbbing in time with everything else on my body.”
At Sasuke’s grimaces and hisses of pain, Max bit the inside of his cheek to keep from cracking up again.
“So anyway,” Sasuke continued, “Kenoe, it turns out, is the name of the Seeker on Shinju’s ass. Literally.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Max thundered. Well, it actually felt more like a dull poof than a thundering bellow given how tight his lungs felt these days.
“He kissed her like they were old lovers right there outside her door before they went inside. After about twenty minutes I started to kick her door in, then Kimora showed up.”
“Kimora? What the hell is she doing in Tokyo? She’s supposed to be in London. And isn’t Shinju supposed to visit her family in Atlanta next month?”
“That’s what I thought. In fact the last time I spoke with your mother, she said Shinju was to come visit her and your aunt right at the beginning of summer vacation, as soon as school was out. She was trying to get me to talk you into joining them.”
“Well, she’s been working on me slowly but surely ever since she moved to America. But at least she’s got Kimora’s mother to keep her company and out of trouble.”
Sasuke replaced the ice pack on his thigh, another on his lower stomach, secured one to his shoulder and yet another over his left eye. “Your mother? Stay out of trouble? The woman is a man-magnet, even at her age, and speaks her mind no matter what. Of course she’ll always be in the middle of one thing or another.”
Sasuke was so right. But it was typical for the women in his family. Ever since Max’s grandfather showed up in Tokyo with his grandma so many years ago, it seemed to be a family tradition for the Maruyama men to go abroad to study or work, and bring home a dark-skinned, saucy, beautifully smart female as a wife. Kimora’s father, and his own, had been no different. Kimmie’s parents lived in Atlanta and welcomed his own mother into their home after Max’s father died. Max didn’t have the darker skin tones of his mother, but he had her fire and attitude—the two main reasons he’d risen up through the ranks of the Ooeto clan, taken it over, and expanded their territories—all without bloodshed.
“That Kenoe bastard beat me up one side and down the other. My enhanced speed and strength made no difference. Even after I pulled a blade on him, it didn’t matter. The man just dodged each strike while landing every punch he threw at me. And the asshole grinned the whole time. Fucking fangs gave me the creeps.”
“And then?”
“And then Shinju came outside and broke it up. After kicking us both in the nuts, she told me to tell you that she didn’t need, and I quote, ‘a fucking babysitter’. I was lucky she didn’t have a katana on her or she’d have shaved my balls. Then she bit the loc-wearing vampire’s head off and told him that she didn’t date thugs who were intimate with her cousin. What she meant by that I have no idea. But then she turned around and left us on our knees. And that damned cousin of yours stood in the doorway laughing. Bitch.”
BFF’s are cool, rare and occasionally a pain in the ass. My BFF is Valda Thomas. Though I haven’t seen her since I moved away from my home state more than ten years ago and we’ve lost touch, I’ll never forget that friendship. To this day, she is still my BFF. She was there when I was pissed off and needed to rant. She was there to tell me I was being an idiot and to sit my “goofy behind down somewhere”. She was there when I was sick and couldn’t take care of myself or my kids (I think she became an expert of doing tricks with Cheerios to keep my then five year old son occupied while I sweated out my fever).
In this Vampire Council of Ethics book, two BFF’s are having a typical conversation…well, typical for them considering Tameth (vampire) is an elite Seeker for the Council, and Carinian (human) is a genius biogeneticist who can hold her own in a no-holds-barred fist fight. Something fishy is going on and these two are going to get to the bottom of it. No doubt they’ll both be in trouble by the time it’s over!
Enjoy this excerpt from Hatsept Heat, Vampire Council of Ethics Book 3, then be sure to visit all the other Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of this post. Happy Saturday!
Tameth’s head swiveled around and followed Carin’s line of sight. Exceptional vision revealed the slightest movement of a shadow along the tree-lined path near the fence across the way. That path led to a grotto that couldn’t quite be seen from here, and on the other side of the thick stand of trees was a locked gate that was supposed to be guarded twenty-four seven.
“What the hell is she doing? Kenoe’s gonna kill her.”
“Yeah? Well who does she remind you of, Tam?”
Tameth rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but answer honestly…sort of.
“She does not remind me of either of us.” Tameth replied blandly.
“Riiiight,” Carin drawled. “What about that little excursion to Sausalito after we got back from the London mission?”
“You can’t count that,” Tameth huffed. “We are both Serati females and can do as we please. I was not even on duty and had no need to report in. Besides, I was well prepared to look after both of us.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have permission to take Stealth One. Which you, uh, sort of failed to mention at the time.”
“Oh shut up. You got a nice pair of designer pumps out of that shopping spree, didn’t you?”
“Sure did. And Bix on my ass. Hell, I was almost looking forward to him getting sent off on a mission somewhere just so I could go take a pee by myself!”
“Drama queen.”
“Me! And who complained after Alaan actually gave her a spanking then revoked her pilot’s license for three months?”
“Nobody I know,” Tameth lied boldly. Carin laughed out loud, then clamped her lips shut. She didn’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to them right now. Considering they’d gotten into plenty of trouble together by wiggling out from under Seeker radar, the last thing they needed was anyone running off to find their husbands.
The shadow eased closer to the grotto entrance then darted out of sight into the trees.
“Come on, we’d better save her ass before Kenoe turns it another color, like blazing red.” Carin wrapped her fingers around Tameth’s upper arm and tugged, almost surprised when Tameth didn’t put up a fuss.
Tameth shrugged. “What can I say? I like her. She’s good for Kenoe.”
“Yeah, but I have a feeling she won’t be good for his nerves.”
This week’s Snippet Saturday theme is hot spots. One of the places I would love to go on vacation is the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean. It’s one of the ports of call for the cruise ship carrying our hero and heroine as they attempt to catch a killer. After a night of passion with her lover, undercover agent, Chrysalyn Geyer, heads into Ibiza to blow off some steam with her two spirit guides, Adonei and Mahpiya. Can we say, bad ass African lions, boys and girls?
Enjoy this excerpt from Egyptian Voyage then visit all the Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of the post.
“Ibiza and Formentera have been a popular destination for visitors from overseas for thousands of years, but unfortunately it is only during the last few decades that these frequent visitors have brought money with them on their visits to the islands.”
Hardy har har. Chrys winced at the dry humor.
‘I am bored out of my head. I think I’ll go off on my own,’ Chrys whispered along her link with her lions. Strange how Mahpiya occupied the same space now, yet the feline was separate and apart from her awareness of Adonei. Almost like they had their own special connection without excluding “the guys”.
*Chrysalyn, it is not wise to venture off alone,* the lioness said firmly.
Apprehension snaked through the link and Chrys felt compelled to listen to the big cat and do exactly as she suggested. She pushed the strange feelings away.
‘I’ve got two bad-assed African lions with me. What do I possibly have to be afraid of?’
The uneasiness of the previous moment surged into full-blown protective instinct. Mahpiya was concerned for her. But why?
‘May I call you Mah, like Rahn does?’ she asked respectfully.
*Of course.*
‘Thank you. Now, Mah, what’s going on? I can feel you’re on full hunter alert. And shouldn’t one of you be with Rahn?’
Neither lion said a word for what felt like eons. Their postures seemed easy enough, but tension wrapped around the bond like a tangible thing. They were hiding something. But if Mahpiya was anything like Adonei, no amount of harping in the world would get her to spill.
Sigh. Well, perhaps she’d try anyway. Even picking away at the patience of a spirit guide had to be less boring than this stupid tour she’d signed up for.
‘Well, since neither of you are telling, I guess I’ll drop it.’ For now. ‘Meanwhile, let’s go into the heart of town and explore. Maybe get some lunch.’ Chrys didn’t wait for them to answer or give permission. With a farewell wave to an older couple she’d met while debarking off the ship, she turned and left the droning tour guide and the group of tourists behind her.
Down the road was a row of modern restaurants and shops, all top-notch according to her research. There was one that specialized in rare gifts. Oooh, and they carried Dominican Republic hand-rolled cigars. Wow. Would Rahn enjoy something like this? He’d never smoked in her presence, but a man of such impeccable taste might appreciate a seasoned mild cigar. For her, there was nothing better than a Tatiana groovy-flavored smoke with an after-dinner dessert. Or the coffee-flavored smoke of a Kahlua cigar mixed with the cool smoothness of a cream-laced beverage. Yum.
With her purchases tucked into her day bag, Chrys walked up a hill, turned down a quiet street and settled for a small mom-and-pop cafe for lunch. Suppressing laughter at Mah and Adonei’s antics, she stepped through the door and was immediately shown to a table out back with a clear view of the sea’s crystal blue waters off in the distance.
The food was fabulous. She’d never been a big fan of Mediterranean food, but this stuff was wonderful. With every kind of cuisine under the sun to choose from, perhaps the French five-star restaurant down the street would get a visit before she headed back to the ship later. After all, Ibiza was no backwater island, but a place where the young and chic came to vacation.
Her companions were quite a pair. The faint image of the two lions grooming each other lovingly as she sipped a cup of espresso produced an inward smile. Then the next instant, Mah swatted at Adonei’s head after he’d said something so totally male even Chrys grimaced. The lioness was quick-witted and even quicker with her claws. And, of course, Chrys had to throw in her two cents, usually on Mah’s side. Soon Adonei was mumbling about catty women who were too smart for their own good, and perhaps he would go and keep Rahn company after all. Chrys bit the inside of her cheek and tried to keep her mirth under wraps—not smart to have the locals thinking she’d gone bonkers by laughing at someone they couldn’t see.
After lunch, she stepped out into the bright afternoon sunshine. The sun was dazzling, shining off the many white stone churches common in every town on the island.
Then the hairs on the back of her neck hit orbit, standing on end as the bottom fell out of her stomach. Someone was watching her.
Hey all! This year we’re doing something a bit ‘bigger’ for the Brenda Novak Diabetes Research charity auction. In addition to a Nook, a group of awesome authors have graciously donated a ton of signed books to my basket. The winner will receive everything in the picture below, and then some!
Please spread the word. We want to raise more money for this cause than we did last year, as well as show these authors that we love their work. If you are unable to bid, pass the word to your friends, coworkers and relatives. They may know someone that would love to get their hands on this awesome basket.
Ever had a day where you just wanted to get up on the ledge and jump…or worse, push someone off? Well, our girl, Shinju, the heroine of Hatsept Heat Vampire Council of Ethics Bk 3, is having a meltdown. Why? Because she just found out that the very thing she saw almost kill her only brother is sleeping in her bed…but he didn’t bother to share his little secret before knocking boots.
Enjoy Shin’s meltdown and then be sure to visit the other Snippet Saturday authors via the links after the post. Come on, ya’ll, talk her DOWN!
Back in their room, Shinju had quickly dressed and was sitting in a chair pretending to read one of the romance novels she fancied. He knew she was faking it when her thoughts slammed into his head, practically screaming that some tragedy was coming, or that he really didn’t want her. The one that really got him was, Oh God, he’s married!
“Shin? You all right?” Kimora asked.
“Sure. What are you two up to now?”
Kenoe walked over and took her by the hand, leading her back to the bed and into his lap. “We’re not up to anything, but I thought it would be better to have your cousin here while I talk to you.”
“Really.”
Clearly she didn’t believe him. Actually, it wasn’t disbelief as much as it was fear of the unknown.
“Shinju, I want to tell you where I’m from. Who my people are.”
“Why in the world would you need Kimora here for that?”
“Because, love.” He took a deep breath and tightened his hold on her. “I’m…something you’ve never expected to exist. I’m not human.”
“What the hell did you pop while you went to get Kimora? You on drugs?”
“Shin, I’m a vampire.”
Immediately, her fear slammed into him like a two-ton steel demolition ball aimed at his chest. She believed him, and in the worst possible way.
“What?” she hissed through clenched teeth. Every muscle in her body tensed, ready for fight or flight.
So he said it again.
“Shin, baby, I said I’m a vampire.” This time he allowed his fangs to drop into place.
Shinju struggled in his arms and he immediately let her go. She flew to the other side of the room looking for something, anything with which to protect herself.
“Shin,” called Kimora. “It’s all right.”
“Are you fucking crazy? It’s not all right,” Shinju screamed, grabbing her cousin by the arm trying to haul her out the door. When Kimora didn’t move, Shinju dropped her arm and took off so fast, the other woman actually stumbled.
Kimora cut him a steel-sharp glance so hard blood should have spurted from his forehead.
She snarled, “You idiot! What the hell were you thinking showing her your teeth like that?” Taking off after Shinju, she called to her fleeing cousin’s back. “Shin, we’re on a damned plane. Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Away. Far. Somewhere, anywhere!”
“Shinju!” Kenoe ran to the door, yelling down the hall after her. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re my bondmate, damn it.”
“Noooo!” she screamed, her voice laced with enough fury and dread to leave a trail of terror behind her as she fled.
“Kimora, we’ve got to get out of here.”
“Shinju, will you relax already. So he’s a vampire, what’s the big deal?”
That worked about as well as a combination slap in the face followed by a bucket of iced water. Why wasn’t Kimora freaking out too? There was only one good explanation—the woman was demented.
“Are you out of your damned mind? I don’t care if we have to find a couple of parachutes and jump into the middle of the fucking Pacific, we’re getting off this plane.”
Just as her fingers wrapped around the knob to the cockpit door, Kimora caught up to her and pulled her into a fierce hug.
“It’s okay, Shin. Honest. Calm down, it’s all right.”
Shinju took a deep breath, or as deep as she could between wracking sobs. Kenoe’s dread of her doing something drastic slammed through her. No desire to bleed her dry, nor rip her neck to shreds. There was only care, concern. Love? The man, correction, vam-fucking-pire, was upset because she was afraid of him? Shinju was so stunned that Kenoe was more concerned for her well-being and absolute state of panic than he was about anything else, she didn’t even jump when his hand landed gently on her shoulder and slowly turned her to face him.
I had a fabulous time talking with author, Linda Mooney, on Others World of Romance. And yes, I did talk about the RT Samhain author party and how I DID NOT *grin* cause security to come and kick us out. I even named names *oooooh, no she didn’t!* Yep, I sure did ;D
Today’s Snippet is a bit from Caramel Kisses just because I feel kind of feel carefree and silly this afternoon. And Sydni is deviating a bit from being her totally serious executive self to being silly with her little sister. Enjoy! Then visit the other Snippet authors via the links at the bottom of the page.
After a hard day at the office bled into an even harder evening at home, Sydni switched off her laptop and wrinkled her nose in confusion. The numbers for the new shipping contract she’d landed still didn’t line up. Something was off but she was no closer to nailing it down right now than she’d been when she’d discovered the issue a couple of days ago.
Perched in the middle of a sea of cushions and covers all over her big comfy bed, the sexily dim lighting of the fireplace had her mind drifting elsewhere…mainly to a topic she’d been thinking too much of lately—sex. And lots of it.
It had been a whole week since her little run-in with the law yet any thought of that event instantly conjured the ruggedly handsome Mr. Drew Caruth. Sydni just couldn’t stop thinking about him. In fact her fantasies of late featured sun laden black sand beaches, hunky real-life lawyers and all kinds of naughty possibilities that sent her temperature soaring.
She jumped when the phone rang.
“Hello?” she grumped, hopping out of her personal haven of silken sheets and ran down to the kitchen.
“Is this Ms. Sydni Cannes?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Earl Matheson from KWQQ, your radio station for smooth jazz.”
“Uh, okay. How can I help you, Earl?”
Tilting the handset so she could hold it on her shoulder and still snatch the Häagen-Dazs Butter Pecan ice cream out of the freezer. Grabbing a spoon, she headed back upstairs. Treating herself for landing the big Sony account was overdue. She deserved this damn ice cream, and no one was going to interrupt her long overdue indulgence. Not to mention Earl was spoiling a perfectly good evening of masturbating in between TV shows.
“It’s not what you can do for me, but what we want to do for you.”
“Okay, Earl, I’m not trying to be rude but I’m in the middle of something.” Yeah, in the middle of creaming your fingers. “You’ve got thirty seconds to get to the point then I’m going to have to go. Deal?”
“Deal. Let’s cut to it. Your sister, Charli, has entered you in our Set ‘Em Up, Knock ‘Em Down contest.”
“I’m sorry, Earl. I don’t bowl.”
The man laughed, really laughed. Hard. Like she was the biggest idiot in all of creation.
“Okay, Earl, you’re down to about ten seconds here, bud.”
“Your sister has basically set you up on a blind date. You are to meet your mystery man at a place of your choosing tomorrow morning at exactly eleven o’clock. And since your sister knows the person it’s perfectly safe.”
“Two seconds.”
“No problem, Sydni. Let us take down your information on where you want to meet this dream date and we’ll take care of the rest. You can even choose what he has to wear so you’ll recognize him. You two hit it off, we’ll send you to a five-star dining establishment and tell your story on the air. If not, we’ll pay you for your time.”
“And this was my sister’s idea?”
“Yep. Miss Charli Cannes wrote to us when she heard about the contest and her letter as to why you should get the dream date was picked unanimously by our staff. Would you like to hear the letter? We can even get her on the phone if you like.”
“No. I believe you.” Damn woman. Just wait, I’m gonna strangle her, then resurrect her just so I can kill her again.
“What was that, Ms. Cannes?”
“Uh. Nothing.”
“So will you do it?”
“Yes. Okay. What do you need?”
Fine. Anything to get the man off the phone. She’d deal with Charli later. Meddling girl.
After a few minutes spouting off the most outrageous clothing she could think of for her so-called dream date to wear, Sydni hung up the phone and scooted down in the covers.
The ice cream carton settled onto the nightstand with a soft thunk. The spoon clattered against the wood just before Sydni’s eyes slid closed. Her tongue was cool against her lips as it slid from one side of her mouth to the other while her mind conjured the delicious image of…Drew? Again? What the hell?
Why was she thinking about that Drew guy so much? She shouldn’t be filling her mind with pictures of the one man every single female in their whole company wished would push them up against the nearest solid object and fuck them into oblivion. God, the man couldn’t be more than thirty years old. But damn he was a fine specimen of a man. Hell, a simple look her way made her knees knock together. But Drew wasn’t interested in her. Why would he be when there were plenty of other women his age that made it more than clear they were interested. The man could get any piece of pussy he wanted. And learning he was a good friend of Charli’s just added to the list of why he was off limits. Too young. Too damn fine. Sigh. Just the thought of his hands on her made her go red in the face. No, she shouldn’t…but then again, who’d know?
The second the thought formed in her head, a pair of gray eyes appeared behind her lids. Drew. A sexy smile lit up his face just for her. And in her fantasy, that face moved closer and closer to her own until he was close enough to kiss, but not quite. Instead, he dipped his head and nudged her chin up so he could inhale the fragrance of her skin. With nothing touching her but the tip of his nose, Drew explored the soft underside of her jaw before nuzzling his way toward the hollow behind her left earlobe.
Talented fingers touched her intimately, gently twisting a nipple before drawing it into his mouth, pulling deeply. Sucking hard, then laving the tip, round and round.
Breathing deeply, Sydni imagined Drew’s scent filling her nostrils. His tongue slid down the side of her neck and left a warm, wet path down to her collar bone. Her hips swiveled in a slow, deliberate circle as one hand closed around a swelling breast and the other slid between dewy labia. She wasn’t even surprised at how wet she was—it was becoming the norm with thoughts of Mr. Caruth, damn it.
And now her clit needed some attention. Reaching into her nightstand drawer, her favorite toy fell comfortably into her hand.
Just received these in the mail and I can’t wait to give them away at the Romantic Times Book Lover Convention in L.A. next week! I just learned that there was a trading card craze going on and jumped right into the fray. Luckily, Robin from Robin Ludwig Design Inc. was there to catch me.
Look at the beauties she made for me! If you’re a fan of the Vampire Council of Ethics series, especially if you’ll be at RT, be sure and hunt me down. I’ll also try and get them posted on the Romance Trading Card site for you.
With the recent terrible events in Japan, I want to dedicate today’s Snippet Saturday excerpt to the fabulous people of that country.
This book is set in Japan. In fact, the hero and heroine meet, have their first serious fight, and makeup all during the springtime. Enjoy this Snippet from Hatsept Heat! Afterward, visit the other awesome Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of this post.
God, please, please let a bad guy cross my path right now. The need to hit something, anything, was so strong Kenoe clenched his teeth and shoved his hands into his pockets as far as they would go. He’d already had his love play interrupted. The last thing he needed was for someone to see him knock a hole into a wall and call the police to take him to the crazy house.
The moist, cool evening air sank through his jacket and into his skin, adding a chill to his already morbid mood. A soft breeze brought the scent of cherry, birch and Japanese pear, all so prolific in this country at this time of year. In the distance, the low-hanging clouds were lit up by the profusion of lights and signs typical of the city’s nightlife.
Kenoe’s keen hearing picked up the sounds of one of Shibuya’s main drags a few streets over. Auto and foot traffic, crowds congregating, discos, bars, coffee houses. Young and old, it was all about fun at night in this district. Surely everyone was enjoying what was left of the evening…everyone except him. And it was all that damned Kimora’s fault.
Kenoe had made it six steps from Shinju’s front door when his body slammed to a screeching halt. Instincts on full tilt, he picked up a slight, almost silent rustle off to his left. Aha. Just what he needed. Right there in front of him crouched behind a bush was the man he’d seen tailing Shinju before. The same one he’d sent a digital photo of to Bix this afternoon. And Kenoe was in the perfect mood to do a little interrogation. Too bad he didn’t have his tainted blade on him. Kenoe liked to call the film on his katana the Dr. Carin Vampire Puke Serum. One cut with the stuff and a full-blooded vamp would fall to his knees in seconds, hurling up his guts. Took the fight right out of ’em and made the scum that Seekers spent their time
chasing a whole lot more cooperative.
Then again, this man moved like a vampire but didn’t smell like one. Would the serum smeared on Kenoe’s blade even affect him?
Well, since Kenoe wasn’t on duty and had left his gear behind in his apartment, his fists would just have to do. He eased up on the man without a sound, extended one hand and lifted him right up off the ground by the back of his collar.
The man responded by kicking backward with his heel to land a blow to Kenoe’s solar plexus. Even a vampire had to flinch at that one. Might even have a bruise in the morning, and the pain was just enough to piss Kenoe off some more. Dropping the guy to the ground, he moved in swiftly. Granted, the man got in a few good punches, but even with vamp speed he was no match for a full-blooded male Seeker in his prime. So Kenoe proceeded to kick his vampire-moving-but-no-smelling ass all over the front of Shinju’s porch. Finished playing with his prey, he’d just cocked his fist back to deliver a knockout blow when the door opened and a blur that looked like an enraged woman flew at him. Followed by a knee to the balls.
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