Authors: Erin Hayes

Damned if I Do

damned

if i d
o

the harker trilogy book one

erin hayes

They killed my sister and infected me.
Now I have to pick up the pieces before I die.
I’ve spent the last five months trying to find the bastard who did this. Yet, even with the help of a hot amnesiac vampire named Jude, I’ve had zero luck.
Until now. And it could change everything. Even though I grew up in a family that hunted the supernatural, there were still things I didn’t believe in.
Now I have to hurry for the slim chance that I could save us all. Because when you fight against immortal vampires, you’re the one who’s running out of time.

Also by Erin Hayes

The Harker Trilogy

Damned if I Do

Damned if I Don’t (Coming January 2016)

Damned Either Way (Coming June 2016)

Death is but a Dream

Fractured

Jacob Smith is Incredibly Average

How to be a Mermaid

I'd Rather be a Witch (Coming October 2015)

I Do Believe in Faeries (Coming March 2016)

Damned if I Do - ® Erin Hayes

No part of this book may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

Cover art by The Cover Lure

Edited by Felicia A. Sullivan

Dedication

For anyone who was ever stuck in the position of, “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t”. Don’t lose hope.

And for Chris. You know why.

DAMNED IF I DO

The Harker Trilogy Book One

Table of Contents

Prologue

Edie

"Edie, did you have to go with something so…
loud
?" my older sister Meghan asks as we walk out to the car.

I shift my shopping bags to my right hand so I can flip my long, pitch black hair with blue highlights over my shoulder in an exaggerated fashion. My hair has been freshly dyed during our shopping trip for last-minute Christmas gifts as a present to myself, so I’m teasing her with my show of flair.

"I kinda like it."

Meghan rolls her eyes and fishes her keys out of her pocket. "We both know the truth."

"That you're jealous?"

"Uh huh," she says with a good-natured grin. "Sure, Edie."

It's just after six o'clock on Christmas Eve, and Barton Creek Mall's parking lot is empty except for Meghan's CR-V. We spent a lot longer than expected gathering gifts for Amelia and Graeme, Meghan's daughter and husband. We have more bags than what's appropriate, but I'm feeling pumped at the prospect of seeing my three-year-old niece's face when she opens her Christmas presents. I picked out a camo bear at Build-A-Bear Workshop for her and dressed it in an adorable tutu with a tee that says, "I'm Unbearably Cool". It's perfect for Amelia despite Meghan's protests that camo is for boys.

My niece is going to be one of those plucky, cool girls that can do anything she wants.

The shadows lengthen as we near the CR-V, throwing the whole eastern side of the mall into twilight. Tonight, we're planning on having a family dinner with my boyfriend Mike, and we're running too late to cook anything. I imagine there will be a spruced up Boston Market rotisserie chicken in our near future.

A chill runs down my spine, as if there are eyes on me. I glance back at the mall, wondering if anyone else has left the building behind us.

I see no one.

I look back at Meghan to see if she senses it too, but she's too busy checking her emails on her phone. I hurry my pace and grab her arm.

"Come on," I say.

She looks at me with curiosity, then, seeing my face, she immediately goes alert. "What's wrong?

"Something's not right. Can't you sense it?"

She takes my hint and quickens her pace, somehow walking faster than me in high heels. She digs in her purse for something. Her keys are already out, so I know she’s searching for something else.

"Meghan?"

There’s a clatter, like someone has kicked gravel behind us.

My sister whirls back on me in fear, our eyes with their identical shades of hazel clashing against each other. Her eyes plead with me to do something,
anything
.

Although what, I'll never know.

They pounce on us.

Vampires
.

I don't even see where they come from. Talon-like nails grip my arms, pulling me backwards and separating me from Meghan. I scream her name and flail, helpless in their grasp. I'm strong, but not strong enough to throw off eight vampires.

"
Edie
!" Meghan shrieks, finally freeing what she's been looking for in her purse.

A wooden stake.

She uses it much like a dagger, flashing it about with deadly efficiency. She catches the closest ones in the chest, her speed surprising our assailants. As she stabs them and pulls out the stake, they crumple to the ground, gasping in pain as blood spurts forth in an uncontrollable fountain of thick ichor.

Still more take their place. It's a full on assault. I can tell that they've pulled out all the stops to attack us. This isn’t some random assault; they’ve coordinated this.

Both Meghan and I have trained for situations like this all our lives, but their sheer numbers overwhelm us. The worst part is, I can't help my older sister fight them off.

I'm forced to watch as Meghan spins and fights, parrying their attacks. She's in a ballet of death at the moment, reminding me why she's the best at what she does. And she hasn’t even pulled out the big, scary weapon yet. Vampires fall in heaps around her. They may have her outnumbered, but they can't match her passion.

I'm helpless.

Fuck!

I don't yell out to my sister any more for fear of distracting her. One false move and they’ll use it to ensnare her. I can't do anything to help, and Meghan can't get to me to free me.

I try calling up some magic spells to fight back, only they leak like water through a sieve in my brain. Nothing is sticking, nothing works. If I can't visualize the spell in my mind because I'm too freaked out, I’m useless. My meager powers don't offer any sort of help in this situation.

Fingers grip my throat, forcing my head backwards and tearing my eyes away from the carnage in front of me. I grunt in pain while I try to fight it off.

"
Shhhh,
little Harker."

A face floats into view, someone I don't recognize. I thought I knew most of the vampires in Austin, the good and the bad, but apparently not.

Built like a tank, my assailant is white and pale, a common trait for vampires due to their aversion to the sun. His face is, for lack of a better word, melted with keloided scars that make him look like a candle that has burned too long. His eyes are drooped; the skin has pulled down the outer corners. Deep within the folds, clear blue eyes rake over me and through me, like they're inspecting my soul.

He grins.

I shudder when his hot breath trickles over the skin of my neck, right where my jugular is. I've been bitten before without being glamoured, and it hurts like a son of a bitch. I try to prepare myself for it, yet I can't help but tremble in fear.

"Hey, Harker," Melted Vampire yells out to my sister, using her official title. "Drop your weapon, or I slit the little Harker's throat." I feel sharp nails on my throat, sharpened enough to draw blood.

The stake clatters on the ground and an eerie stillness follows his threat. I manage to crane my head to look at her. She’s being held by four vampires, who hold her hands at her side. Meaning that she can still…

My hopes fall when one of the vampires moves her left hand over her heart.

It’s the hand that can summon her magical sword Silver Bane from the palm of her hand.

Our ambushers know exactly who they’re dealing with.

"
No
," I gasp, "Meghan, don't—"

The melted face in my view gives an imperceptible nod, a signal. I hear their growl, knowing that they're about to descend upon her. All because I'm too weak to help her out. Every fiber of my body screams against Fate.

My sister is going to die because I am unable to help her.

I try averting my eyes. The hand against my throat tilts my head back into position, just in time to watch the vampires attack her. Her hazel eyes meet mine, pleading with me just before a female vampire slashes her claws against her throat.

I scream.

Blood spurts from Meghan's throat, now cut all the way to her spinal column. Meghan struggles for air and stumbles to her knees, then she collapses like a rag doll on her side.

I'm still screaming when the vampires lose themselves in the lust over her lifeblood. They bathe in it like a bunch of birds in a bird bath. Only, it's a shower in my sister's last moments of life.

My sister is gone.

My scream is cut short by the excruciating pain in my left wrist. There's a point with pain where you can no longer scream, only witness the agony. I was just flung over that point.

I turn to see Melted Vampire's face shredding the flesh of my left forearm. Then his lips fasten to the wound and I feel him drawing out the blood from my veins, intending to drain me dry.

My basest survival instinct kicks into gear, and I thrash wildly about. I want to break away from him. I want to kill him for what he did to Meghan.

Only, I'm too weak and helpless, and it’s getting worse by the second. He's unrelenting in his feeding of me.

Those blue eyes snap to mine, holding me in place. He doesn't glamor me, but he watches me as he sucks the blood from my veins.

Blackness swims into my vision, a darkness that threatens to overtake me. I can't lose consciousness. Not now. I won't ever wake up again if that happens.

Still, he keeps feeding when I start to gasp. Sounds fade, blackness tunnels everything in my view. I can no longer hear the vampires celebrating over Meghan's dead body. The pain dulls, signaling that I'm just on Death's doorstep.

Dimly, I feel the weight of another wrist, slick from blood, touch mine. Astonished, I look at Melted. He's grinning in satisfaction at my shocked bewilderment. Through the dark lens of near-unconsciousness, my eyes drift down to my forearm where his own open wrist is grasping mine, wound-to-wound.

No.
My mouth moves as I try to speak.
No! You can't do that.

This is how humans are turned into vampires. And I know that this is how I will die a slow, painful death, since vampire blood will not play nice with my not-quite-human blood.

Melted leans into me as I near ever so close to the precipice of darkness, his bloodied lips inches from my ear.

"Be seeing you real soon, little Harker," he croons.

"Anthony," a voice tells Melted, using what I think is his name. "Anthony, we have to go.
Now.
"

I register the name Anthony. The vampire who killed my sister. The vampire who’s killing me.

Then I fall into oblivion.

If I do wake up from this, I’m going to find my world turned upside down.