Read Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger Online
Authors: Theresa Hissong
Tags: #romance, #vampires, #paranormal, #werewolves
Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger
Blood
& Roses
Warriors of the Krieger Series
Book 1
By Theresa Hissong
Published by Theresa Hissong
Copyright @ 2013 Theresa Hissong
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Contents
my loving family:
I thank you for putting up
with me while I worked so hard on this book and for pushing me to
get it into print. I will always love you.
To Rico:
My dear Spanish translator, I
will always be grateful for your brilliant other language. And for
your love of everything vampire.
To Kelly:
Thank you for reading my first
chapter and bugging me for the next two years to let you read more.
Well, here’s your chance girl!
To Lee Safar:
Thank you for starting your
Dream Angel project. Without your encouragement, this book would
not have been written. Our talks inspired me to take a leap of
faith and look how that’s paid off. I will be forever grateful for
you.
Disclaimer:
This book is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental.
The names of people, places, things, vampires, or werewolves are
all created from the author’s mind and are only used for
entertainment.
Covers
Edited by: Anita Nichols
Formatting by: Wayne
Hissong
Glossary of terms:
Krieger
: The name comes from the
German ‘warrior’. The name
Krieger
was taken by the warriors
who became the defenders of their race. Their job is to police
other vampires and to enforce laws of their kind and that of the
humans.
Nachtmann
: The name comes from Nacht
meaning Night and mann meaning man. These humans have dedicated
their lives to protect a vampire during the day, which in turn
would be the vampire’s night. They are highly trained and paid very
well to be a trusted guard of the vampire race.
Joining
: Once a vampire mates, they
mate for life. The Joining is the official ceremony to complete the
bonding between vampires. Usually this ceremony is done in front of
a member of the Queen’s court. Occasionally, in a special
circumstance, the Queen herself will officiate the Joining.
Born Blood
: A vampire who is born.
Most were destroyed in the 1700’s when the church deemed them
abominations unto God.
Turned Blood
: A human who has been
changed by a blood exchange with a vampire. The human must be
drained just to the point of death. The vampire must give their
blood unto the human. Once the human drinks the tainted blood,
he/she will rise within a few nights as a creature of the
night.
destiny, and karma all fall into the exact same place. Hundreds of
years may pass, like a comet in the night, before the world is
right for two people.
This is our story.
Charity Harwood
Chapter 1
Charity
Sunset, my own internal alarm clock, had set
exactly six minutes ago. I knew this because I went from dead to
fully awake at 5:45 P.M. Ah, winter, a vampire’s best friend; less
daylight.
It was early January and the temperatures
outside were close to freezing. The first snowfall of the season
had been two weeks ago and the forecasters were calling for another
round in the next day or so. I’ve always loved a good snowfall.
Sitting on the porch listening to the soft hum of the delicate
flakes falling, as if they have no care in the world, was my
favorite thing to do, ever.
Closing my eyes, I let my senses range out
listening for any sign of danger. This was my evening ritual for
the past 265 years. You never know who, or what might be waiting
outside to ambush you; hunters, werewolves, or those scary
want-a-be vampire followers. Those humans scared me just as bad as
the hunters. There’s nothing like a bunch of teenage freaks chasing
you, begging to be turned into a vampire. I can honestly say that
they are the most annoying part of my existence.
Granted, I was encouraged to hire a
professional
Nachtmann
, but I feel pretty safe and don’t
think one is necessary. Or maybe I’m just extremely stubborn.
Nachtmann
are highly trained, human
bodyguards, who serve as daytime watchmen over a vampire’s home.
They have passed all security protocols, training and even lie
detector test to be qualified for the job. My best friend Lydia,
she has two.
Show-off!
Well, everything checked out, so I slid out
of the bed and jumped in the shower. After toweling off, I walked
over to the closet, swinging the doors open wide. I chose a pair of
black, form fitting jeans and a long sleeve hot pink sweater;
finishing it off with a pair of sexy ass boots and tossed them on
the bed.
Oh, how I love my boots!
From my dresser, I grab a
matching hot pink bra and panty set from Victoria Secret. No
Wal-Mart undies for me. With my rack, I love good push-up bras. So
sue me. I added little makeup to enhance my royal blue eyes and a
little gloss to highlight my already too plump lips to complete my
look tonight. Now that my make-up was all done, my heart shaped
face smiled back at me through the mirror over the sink. I had to
meet that friend of mine shortly at the local Red Cross for our
nightly feeding. After that, off to the vampire only club I own in
downtown Port Royal.
The town I have called home for the past ten
years is on the east coast of the United States. The city itself
isn’t very big, but there is a large population of vampires for
this area. On the east side of the Pearl River, most of the area
was riddled with low income housing. The crime rate in that area is
as much as a larger city. The west side is the newer and more upper
class part of town. The club I owned, Nights, is only three blocks
from the river on the west side.
The building was a two story, former
warehouse in the River District area of town. When I purchased it,
I had a contractor come in and reinvent the inside. The dance floor
is a beautifully polished hardwood that Lydia and I found in the
local paper. A human had stripped them from a house he was flipping
and gave them to whoever would haul them off. Because I had saved
on the dance floor, that let me spend a little extra on carpeting
for the entryways. We choose a blood red carpet and had it
installed. The walls remained white to contrast the dark colors of
the carpet and black pub tables.
After a fast blow dry, my hair was looking
exceptionally well. Some mousse to set my bouncy blonde curls and I
was good to go. Thank…you know who, that my hair was exactly the
way I like it the day I died. Well, just saying ‘I died’ was better
than, attacked by a crazed vampire, drained of blood and rescued by
Lydia. Forever frozen at the ripe young age of twenty-six; I have
no worries about wrinkles, cellulite, or saddle bags. Yippee!
Lydia, my eternal best friend, is also my
maker. Not by choice, but I’m thankful she was close the night I
was attacked and dragged off into the woods. Without her, I would
have been one with the earth by now.
I had gone outside of our family cabin, on
the outskirts of the town of Aberdeen, to retrieve wood for the
fire. My father died a few months prior and because I was the
oldest, I took on the role of helping mother around the house. The
night was very cold and my younger brother and sister were
suffering from a minor illness. My mother wanted extra wood placed
by the fire in case we needed it during the night.
Before I reached the wood pile, I was
attacked.
Something, or someone, grabbed me by the back
of the head and started gnawing on my neck. The sharp piercing pain
was excruciating. I can still remember the feel of his teeth
tearing at the flesh on my neck. The sound of the animal slopping
up my blood still echoed in my head. Unfortunately, I also remember
the feel of him forcing himself upon me after he had torn my
clothes away from my body.
The image of his profile haunts me to this
day. Dark red hair that hung in dirty strings down one side of his
face, a hazel eye glaring at my ravaged body, and the thin line of
his lips were my memories of the night I became a vampire. His
unearthly laugh echoes through my mind whenever I remember that
fateful night almost three hundred years ago.
All I remember after that was waking up
seeing Lydia, who had given me her blood and bada boom, bada bing,
I was a vampire.
I unlocked the solid steel door to my bedroom
that’s in the sunlight resistant basement and turned left for the
stairs. I passed the kitchen that was hardly ever used, and stopped
off in the laundry room to drop my dirty clothes in the hamper. Out
to the garage, where my beautiful ultrasonic blue Lexus IS F sat
patiently awaiting my arrival. The automobile was one of the best
inventions mankind has made to date; just my humble opinion. I can
and do frequently drool over sexy, sleek automobiles.
After backing out of my four car garage, I
glanced over at my two other babies; a fire red Aston Martin DBS
coupe and an ultimate black Jaguar XK. I tapped the garage door
clicker and drove down my long, tree lined driveway. I glanced in
the rearview mirror to double check the security lights that lit up
my one-story farmhouse, with an added basement, and the white
picket fence that outlined the front half acre. The vampire safe
guest house out back was dark, since I didn’t have any visitors as
of late. I twisted forward in my seat, and then I was off into the
night.
I live about fifteen minutes north of town,
in the country. I love the quiet rural living. No ambulance noise,
no gunshots, and no nosy neighbors to bother me. Owning a nightclub
subjects me to enough real world reality; so living where I do,
gives me a breather from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Lydia was standing by the vampire entrance to
the Red Cross, tapping her size six stilettos, when I pulled into
the parking lot. Jeez, she’s impatient. Her auburn hair was stacked
up nice and tight in a bun on top of her petite face. She was
dressed in her everyday best; tonight was a hunter green wrap
around dress. Rings that cost more than a few months’ salary
adorned most of her fingers, big gold hoop earrings, and matching
cuff bracelets completed her outfit. I grabbed my identification
card and locked up my beautiful baby, mentally promising to be back
as soon as I could.
“You’re late, Charity,” Lydia snapped, still
tapping that damn foot.
Checking my watch, I had to roll my eyes,
“Three minutes. For a person who will live for eternity, you sure
are impatient.”
She huffed and turned for the door. “I’m just
thirsty. Don’t start.” We showed our cards and the lady at the
counter told us to take a seat. The lobby wasn’t very full, but we
still had to wait.
Vampires came out about eight years ago and
now have the same rights as humans. The government welcomed us with
open arms, but also with restrictions; which suits me just fine.
I’m guessing the reason why we were welcome is because of the long
term taxes we will pay over eternity. Money makes the world go
around, I suppose.