Vampire Thirst

 

VAMPIRE THIRST

Book Two of The Dragon Heat Series

By Ella J Phoenix

What others are saying about Ella J Phoenix’s romances.

“Dragon Heat (Book 1)”

“Magic, Dragons, Vampires, and more! A Paranormal Fan's Delight.”

“Loved the heat! (It) had some amazing world building and mythology. It was magical and unique.”

“Sexy and delicious. Awesome book!”

“An almost Romeo and Juliet story featuring the Draconian (dragons) and Vampires!”

 “Vampire Thirst (Book 2 of the Dragon Heat series)”

“And the story continues with more Dragons, Vampires, Shifters, and now Werewolves - oh my!”

“Phoenix does it again!”

“Awesome! Any fan of the genre will fully enjoy Vampires Thirst!

“An amazing addition to the Dragon Heat series!”

“Wolf Hunger (Book 3 of the Dragon Heat series)”

“From now on, if it's got Ella J Phoenix on the cover, I'll happily dive in.”

“5 out of 5 Stars! We are bathed in an amazing world of magic, vampires, shifters and dragons; with old and new characters that are so complex they could be as real as you and I.”

“I was totally caught up in the story from the very first book.”

 “Raven’s Awakening”
(previously known as Manataka)
 

“A sweet romance built on a mystery based in American Indian folklore with elements of paranormal, Indian magic, and a backstory that pulls in the belief of reincarnation.”

“This story is fascinating with Native American history mixed with the myths, legends, and magic. I would recommend this book to anyone. I give kudos to Ms. Phoenix for a unique story.”

“
“The characters were my favorite part of the story. Watching them fall in love was too much fun.”
 

“A great read for any fans of the genre that crave something different.”  .”
 

Dedication

Sometimes life takes you down a completely different path from the one you had originally planned. No matter how much you prepare, how much dedication you spare, it just doesn’t happen the way you want it to. But it’s in those times that your best works come to life.

This book is for all those people who have tried and have failed, but didn’t let
that
define them.

This is for you, for us all, ‘strivers’ of this world.

Ella

GLOSSARY

Apa Dobrý – group of five Gods, creators of life on Earth and the Universe

Apa Sâmbetei – the Land of the Souls, the afterlife

Calathor – someone who can cross to the Land of the Souls and return unharmed

Draco or Draconian – a dragon in human form

Hiad – the Underworld

Inmã – the soul

Razbians – lizard people known for their lack of intelligence

Soartas – the three witches of Destiny

Sujha – a non-pure being, offspring of the union between two different races

Terhem Viahta – the Land of the Living, the Earth

Ucidhere – God of Death, lord of the Land of the Souls

Zmyzel – Goddess of Life

Previously in Dragon Heat – Book One

Sam let out a long sigh. She couldn’t believe it had only been a month since Sam, Zoricah and Yara rescued Deirdre in New York.

Zoricah, a draconian demigoddess, was an amazing friend and inspiring leader. Sam first met Z when she showed up one rainy night and broke Sam out of the mental asylum she had been locked in. That was almost forty years ago. Yara joined their small band of sisters not long after that. Well, that is, Sam
reckoned
it hadn’t been long after that. Those years of her life were quite blurry in her mind. Long sessions of shock therapy do that to a person.

After Zoricah rescued her, she spent several years basically vegetating on a bed. Sam couldn’t remember her name, where she was from, her parents, anything, so after her brain mill started working again, she reinvented herself. While Yara helped Sam train and master combat fighting, Zoricah helped her control the weird electrical charges that insisted on springing out of Sam’s body whenever she was stressed or angry. Sam had no idea why or how that happened and was far from being able to fully control her powers, but at least now she could use that freak side to defend herself.

A couple of months earlier, they found out that Deirdre, the draconian senator’s daughter, had fallen prisoner to a vampire psychopath who wanted to breed a new race of super beings. Yeah – go figure.

Zoricah had even travelled to Apa Sâmbetei, the Land of the Souls, in search of an inmã, a soul, who had fallen victim to the same psycho, but to no avail. Oh, yeah, by the way, in addition to being an amazing friend, an inspiring leader, a dragon and a demigoddess, Zoricah is a Calathor – she has the rare gift of being able to travel back and forth to spiritual plains whenever she wants. Pretty cool stuff.

Yara also had a place in the hall of coolness. Very few people knew it, but she was actually a witch from Brazil who was cursed to share her body with a black panther. Sam’s heart ached for her friend’s pain – it couldn’t be easy to live with a beast inside you – but she couldn’t help but to be completely in awe every time the big black panther came out to fight.

Despite all the hard times Sam had endured, she wouldn’t trade her life for anything. Z and Yara had made it not only bearable but pretty awesome. The missions, the travelling around the world, the adrenaline rush after closing a case… Sam was far from reaching her full potential but she knew that whatever happened, she could count on those two. And they could count on her – that is, when she wasn’t too busy trying to control her damn energies.

So back to the mission. When they set foot in New York, things got a little hairy, so they had to convince Tardieh, the vampire king, to help them out, since America was his territory.

And then things got really hairy.

Suddenly, New York was too small for the three of them plus the king’s warriors. One in particular made Sam’s blood boil
–
Hikuro, the vampire king’s Doilea Ministru, a mix between second in command and prime minister.

Despite the bumpy start, however, they managed to find Yerik, the vampire psycho, save the female victims, including Deirdre, and fall in love. Zoricah and Tardieh, that is. Their affair took everyone by surprise, considering that dragons and vampires had been sworn enemies for millennia.

When everything was fine and dandy, they found out that Yerik hadn’t been working alone. Some of the prisoners were kidnapped in Europe and then taken to America. So Sam, Yara and Zoricah packed their bags, left the Big Apple’s sunny summer and went to the grey and wet London.

Damn.

Part 1

“Do you trust me?”

Chapter 1

“Are you going to help me or what?”

Samantha was not in a good mood. Despite having been born in this part of the world, she hated London with a vengeance. Every time she came here, it was raining, gloomy and grey. When she woke up late that afternoon, she thought of cooking a nice dinner for her friends. But this was London, so the quick trip to the supermarket turned into a two-hour journey to Hiad. The constant drizzle grew into a downpour, the supermarket was packed to the rafters, and the checkout chick wouldn’t accept her credit card for some stupid reason, so Sam had to leave the groceries behind, seek out an ATM and get cash out
–
in the rain. By the time she got back to Zoricah’s townhouse, Sam was soaking wet, her blond waves plastered to her face and her sodden top clinging to her skin as if she had just come back from a wet t-shirt competition.

“Yara, please get off the couch and come help me,” Sam pretty much growled as she placed the shopping bags on the granite bench in the open-plan kitchen.

Her friend lifted an eyebrow, but complied. Yara pushed up off the couch and dragged her feet to the kitchen. She hadn’t been her usual self lately. Yara was the epitome of the Latin beauty. Absolutely gorgeous with olive skin and dark hair, she usually pestered Sam and Zoricah to go out and “do something.” Ever since they got to London, however, Yara had spent her days sleeping or on the couch, browsing on her tablet. Fair enough, she was researching stuff for their case, but morose Yara was getting on Sam’s nerves
–
and it had been only a few weeks; there was no telling how much longer they’d have to stay in London. Great.  

“Why did you buy so much crap?” Yara asked, poking inside the plastic bags on the counter. “Dijon mustard, fresh mushrooms, puff pastry...who’s gonna eat that?”

“Look inside the last bag.”

Yara’s eyes went wide as she took out a large piece of premium beef fillet. “Yum.”

“I’m making Beef Wellington for us tonight.”

“At last, some proper food.” Zoricah’s voice came from the front door. She came in and locked the bolt behind her. The rain must have stopped because her long midnight hair was as luscious as always.

 “Why didn’t you go to the shops if you wanted
proper food
?”

“And keep you from such a pleasurable experience? Never,” Zoricah replied with a wink.

“At least someone is in a good mood,” Yara smirked as she hovered over the bags without actually putting anything away.

It was the first time in days that Sam saw any hint of humor from her leader. Zoricah had been quite sour lately. She hadn’t articulated much, but the day after they accomplished their mission in New York, she and Tardieh had a fight. About what, Z wouldn’t say, but Sam would bet her right pinkie that it was big because the vampires had gone to Spain instead of meeting them in London. And Sam was certain they weren’t just trying to dodge the bad weather.

“Have you heard from our vamp friends yet?” Yara asked Zoricah.

“Nothing. But I did manage to send a message across to Phillip.”

“Phillip?” Sam almost dropped a brand new bottle of milk on the floor. “What are we contacting him for?”

“Phillip may be a scum bag…”

“And a turncoat,” Sam added.

“Who’s Phillip?” Yara asked.

“But he is one of the most connected dracos in Europe.” Zoricah finished her sentence with a full stop, then grabbed her laptop and went to sit on the couch. “It’s been two weeks and we’ve got zilch. We are running out of time.”

“Who’s Phillip?” Yara asked again, with the patience of a two year old.

“Phillip is the tosser who double-crossed us in Geneva a few years ago,” Sam answered.

“Oh,
that
tosser.”

“Yes, he did double cross us then because he had a higher bidder for the same information.” Zoricah flipped her laptop open. “This time, I’ll make sure we’re the only ones in the race.”

“How?” Sam asked as she placed the contents for the Beef Wellington on the counter. “Phillip is a snake. The word loyalty was rubbed out of the dictionary when he was born.”

“You’re right, but he cares about two things in this world – money and his looks,” Zoricah responded. “All we have to do is offer more money or…”

“Threaten to give him a nice face-lift,” Yara added.

“Exactly,” Zoricah grinned, but then fell silent. Her eyes were locked on the computer screen.

The light mood in the room changed. Sam exchanged knowing glances with Yara, then turned her focus back to her leader. “What’s wrong? Still no word from Tardieh?”

Yara crossed the room and sat down next to Zoricah.

“An email has just come through.”

“Are they still in Malaga?” Sam asked, trying to hide her interest in the vampires. Well, one vampire to be exact – Hikuro, Tardieh’s rude and obnoxious Doilea Ministru.

Zoricah let out a sharp breath. “I suppose. Tardieh didn’t write the email, Hikuro did.”