Lucas (Immortal Blood) (17 page)

He brought his lips close to my ear. So close I could feel his warm breath. “You’re going to be a perfect protégée. A ruthless killer and a passionate lover.” His lips touched my skin. “Your name will be the last one they scream before they die. A name that will create fear, and before the year is up you will have earned a mark like mine.”

He slid his sleeve up and I glanced at his tattoo. So many pictures. So many meanings. But one thing was certain: I would never be the assassin he wished me to be. I would find a way, no matter what; I would learn how to trick him and beat him at his own game
. But before I could say a word he had grabbed my chin and turned my head to him.

“And you’re
gonna enjoy it.” He smiled devilishly.

I swallowed and was just about to protest when he pressed his lips to mine. It wasn’t a passionate kiss. Oh no. It was more like he was marking me as his. I wanted to scream and fight, but by now I knew better. So I just sat still and kept my eyes open. The kiss was over before it really started, and apparently I had done something right, as he looked at me approvingly. He licked his perfect lips and let himself savor my taste for a second. I shivered.

“Driver!” he shouted and the driver opened the hatch. “We need to feed.” His eyes never left me.

I felt the car pulling off and a terrible thought crept into my mind. He wouldn’t … would he? But oh, he would.

The driver stepped out of the car and slid into the back with us. He moved his collar, revealing his neck.

Jason flashed me a grin. “Lesson number one,” he said softly. “Always travel with food.” He sank his teeth in the driver’s neck.

One cold winter evening I was spending some time with my dear friends. After that night I ‘saw’ the story of Lucas clearly in my head, and when I arrived back home I started to write. It took me two weeks of non-stop writing, a lot of junk food, and innumerable caffeine-laden drinks to prepare the first draft. So huge thanks to my soul sisters Karita and Johanna. Your words of encouragement, 24-hour phone service, and support made this story possible. You are my heroes.

A special thank you to Marie Godley and Brian Ritchie, my fellow writers, who did an amazing job by beta reading, correcting, and advising me. This story would be a lot shorter and duller without your comments.

Thank you to Amanda Burfoot for the proofreading and editing. Amanda, you’re amazing!

To Eveliina Tommola from Viima Graphics for designing the fabulous cover. To my talented daughter Iida Loiske for taking the cover picture. To Annukka Salminen for loaning her brother and letting me transform him into a smoking-hot vampire. To the cover model Janne Salminen for being the perfect Lucas. I hope you’re not drowning under the fan mail! I’ve been receiving a lot (and I mean A LOT) of emails from the readers asking for details about you (like your phone number, address, status…).

To Paul Brück for my promotional photos and for the much-needed ‘kick’ one particular evening in our local supermarket. To Mirva Vainio-Ketola, a Word wizard, who helped me with the formatting and designed my promotional swags.

To my family, Kimmo, Iida, and Anna; thanks for putting up with me, and my weird habits. Love you lots!

Huge thanks to my readers. I wouldn’t be where I am now without you. Keep sending me those awesome emails, tweets and updates!

And finally, thanks to everyone I forgot to mention but should have…

www.jenniferloiske.com

www.roguehouse.net

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Loiske lives in Finland in Naantali, which is a small sunny town at the southwest coast.  She is a workaholic Teen/Young Adult author, a lover of dark fantasy, teen movies, chips and candies and warm sunny days and a sucker for charity work.

Jennifer’s books are available at Amazon worldwide and to any retailers who purchase from Ingram. A big part of her royalties goes to the charity; mainly to help families with epileptic children but also to the epilepsy units in the hospitals. Jennifer is also part of the Authors For Charity.

More about Jennifer Loiske:

www.jenniferloiske.com