Hunted, The Complete Edition: A Full-length Steamy Vampire Romance (New England Nightwalkers) Read Free

time.
    "Stupid party," she muttered as she made her way to her car. It was already on the early side of evening, the skies a deep smudge of gray. The eerie silence of the parking lot was broken only by the mournful howl of the wind and it sent a shudder through her.
    She tried to keep her gait steady and even, but her walk soon became a jog and the jog became a sprint. God, she hated the dark.
    By the time she reached her car, her heart was pounding and her hands were slick with sweat. She could’ve asked Mike the janitor to walk her out because she sure as hell felt better with a buddy, but the truth was, she was sick to death of being afraid all the time.
    Maybe it was time to face that too.
    Her cell phone buzzed from inside her coat pocket, jarring her from her thoughts. She unlocked her car and dove in, slamming the door behind her before tugging out her phone.
    She peered down at the brightly lit screen and frowned.
    Detective Rick Gleason.
    Her mouth went bone dry as she pressed the green button, accepting the call.
    "Hello?"
    "Ms. Matheson?"
    "Yes," she said, taking a moment to clear her throat and compose herself.
    She hadn't heard from the homicide detective in weeks, and even then, it was only to tell her to stop calling him after she'd contacted him multiple times and gotten no response. He’d been kind about it, but very firm. If they had any new information on her father's death, she'd be the first to know.
    Which made his call tonight even more nerve-racking.
    "Yeah, look, I wanted to contact you personally." His tone was grave and apologetic and she braced herself. Whatever he was about to say, it wasn't going to be good.
    "Go on,” she managed.
    "We received a detailed report from that expert in Boston. At this point, we have no choice but to close your father's case and rule it as an accident. Their guy spent a month combing through the files and samples, and he concurs with our M.E’s findings. They both feel it’s clear that your father was killed by a large predator in the area."
    He paused and she could practically hear his gears turning as he tried to figure out a way to spin this into something positive.
    "This should be good news, Zara. Or, as good as any news regarding such a tragedy can be,” he corrected himself quickly. “There wasn't someone out there with malicious intent who wanted to murder him. There isn't a vicious serial killer on the loose, ready to strike again. It was just a terrible, tragic accident. He's still gone, but try to let the fact that we've left no stone unturned give you some peace."
    Peace.
    That was a nifty thought. But peace was the furthest thing from her mind.
    She clenched the phone so tightly, she could feel her fingernails cutting sharp half-moons into her palm.
    "Bullshit," she bit out, blinking hard as tears rushed to her eyes. "You know it's bullshit, Rick. No creature in the entire animal kingdom behaves that way. Wild animals hunt for food. They don't tear the fricking h-head off a grown m—" Her voice broke and she sucked in a shuddering breath as the horror of what had been done to her father washed over her anew. She swallowed hard and pushed through. "They don't do that. So, tell me, what type of animal did this coroner say it was, exactly?"
    The silence that crackled over the line said it all.
    "He doesn't know, right? He has literally no clue. Not even a frigging theory, because nothing fits.” She slapped the steering wheel with her free hand, using every ounce of self-control in her possession not to start shouting into the phone. "If he can't explain it, and you can't explain, why is no one willing to accept the fact that we need to start looking outside the box here? Why is no one willing to open their minds and consider—"
    Rick cut in, his voice sharper than she'd ever heard. "Vampires, Zara? You want me to go to my Loo and tell him that we're being close-minded because we haven't given enough consideration to the possibility that a