I am temporarily turning off the "Contact Me" form I normally have available here on my website. I'm being inundated with hundreds of spam entries every day about how I can make $1500 a day or get in on the latest cryptocurrency or whatever other scammy thing they're trying to hook me with. Frankly, it's irritating the shit out of me, so it has to go for now. Hopefully, the bots will move on after a little bit and I can turn it back on. If you want to contact me in the meantime, the best way to do so is to send me a message through TikTok  or Instagram (both @stephaniesummerswrites). I can't put my email address here, which would be the easiest option, because the same thing will happen, and I had to turn off Facebook messages long ago because of the constant barrage of unsolicited dick pics. Sigh...

Her Secret Savior is now available in ebook and paperback! Check it out here: geni.us/7gyhB

Her Secret Savior preorder is live now! It drops on March 16, 2021! You can check it out on all major book retailers here: geni.us/7gyhB

JET
Bastard.
That's what I am.
I walked away,
Left her high and dry,
Alone and shattered.
It was for the best.
Her life was on the line.
I did it for her.
For love.
 
Or so I thought...
 
But now, looking into her eyes,
Years later,
I still see the pain,
The passion,
Everything.
 
I should've stayed,
Should've fought harder.
For her,
For me,
For us.
 
But how do I fight against the man,
The one who raised me,
Who controls me,
Who can end it all?
 
EVIE
Bastard.
That’s what he is.
He walked away from me,
Shattering my heart to pieces.
With a painful revelation
And a broken heart,
I tried to move on.
I wrote Jet off long ago.
 
Or so I thought...
 
But now,
looking into his eyes,
Years later,
I hate myself for still wanting him.
Hate myself for recognizing the same pain in his eyes
That has burrowed itself so deep into my soul.
I hate myself for still loving him.
 
He says I’m in danger.
I should leave,
Run away,
Never look back.
 
But how can I fight against what my heart wants,
Especially when I’ve finally learned the truth?
 
Her Secret Savior is a steamy second chance contemporary romance that contains adult themes, adult language, and steamy situations. If you like second chance romances with tons of angst and a heaping helping of danger and intrigue, then Her Secret Savior is for you.

Reserve your copy now!
geni.us/7gyhB

*An earlier version of this book was published previously under the title Blowback.
 

It's been a while since I've updated this place, so I think it's time.

For the last several years, I've tried to separate my contemporary romance from my things-that-go-bump-in-the-night romance. That's usually the advice authors give other authors when dabbling in different genres or sub-genres, but I tend to thrive when I make my own way, so here I am... going back to my roots.

When I started writing, I just wanted to write books I wanted to read. That's it. It was that simple. I didn't want to have to worry about marketing and advertising and all that boring behind-the-scenes-stuff, but as I quickly learned, those things couldn't really be avoided if I wanted readers to actually find my books. But at some point, I lost the desire to do what I had always loved doing: writing books I wanted to read.

I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed that I've gone for long periods of time between book releases. Part of that is that I will never be someone who can crank out a book a month or even a book every few months, and while I applaud authors who can, it just isn't me. But part of it is because I just got burnt out on all of it.

Then Covid hit and zapped my creativity entirely. You'd think being cooped up at home all the time would've made it easier to write, but it just didn't because I had a family and pets to take care of and worry about, children that I had to educate, and no energy left at the end of the day to write.

The last couple of months have been getting better, and I've found that I missed writing and creating, which brings me to the overall point of writing this update. I am no longer going to be separating my books into pen names, at least not at this time. I'm going back to writing what I want to write and when I want to write it. I will never give up my vampires, but I wanted my PNR readers to know that I will have some contemporary releases (or re-releases as is the case below) coming up, but I'll be back to my vamps soon enough.

I've got a lot of stories kicking around in this brain and it's time to give them the spotlight they deserve. So going forward, I will be writing and releasing all sorts of things from short stories to novellas to novels in many sub-genres of romance. I'm really excited for where things are headed, and I hope to have you along on this journey.

The first release I have coming up will be Her Secret Savior. Some of you might remember a book I had out years ago by the name of Blowback. I unpublished it not long after it came out because I didn't feel like it fit "my brand". The story and characters have stuck with me all this time and I often found myself thinking about it. So I decided to give it a little facelift and some updating. It will be available on all major retailers on March 16th. As of right now, it's been uploaded to Barnes and Noble and Apple as a preorder. Unfortunately, Amazon cannot be trusted to properly handle preorders (all I'm going to say about that at the moment), so I'll be uploading it directly on the 16th.

Next up will be Take Me On and Take Me Home. Though they are still published at this time on Amazon, I will be publishing them in the coming weeks under my name on all the major retailer websites. They may be getting new covers, too, though I haven't decided for sure.

In the meantime, here's a look at the cover and the blurb for Her Secret Savior. As the stores populate the book info, you'll be able to find it here: books2read.com/u/47NkVN

Thanks for reading, and as always, much love!

p.s.
If you like wax melts and other smell-good things, keep an eye out because I'll be announcing something very exciting happening in that area very soon! And yes, part of that adventure will be somewhat involved with books, too. Stay tuned!

JET
Bastard.
That's what I am.
I walked away,
Left her high and dry,
Alone and shattered.
It was for the best.
Her life was on the line.
I did it for her.
For love.

Or so I thought...

But now, looking into her eyes,
Years later,
I still see the pain,
The passion,
Everything.

I should've stayed,
Should've fought harder.
For her,
For me,
For us.

But how do I fight against the man,
The one who raised me,
Who controls me,
Who can end it all?

EVIE
Bastard.
That's what he is.
He walked away from me,
Shattering my heart to pieces.
With a painful revelation
And a broken heart,
I tried to move on.
I wrote Jet off long ago.

Or so I thought...

But now,
looking into his eyes,
Years later,
I hate myself for still wanting him.
Hate myself for recognizing the same pain in his eyes
That has burrowed itself so deep into my soul.
I hate myself for still loving him.

He says I'm in danger.
I should leave,
Run away,
Never look back.

But how can I fight against what my heart wants,
Especially when I've finally learned the truth?

Her Secret Savior is a steamy second chance contemporary romance that contains adult themes and steamy situations. If you like second chance romances with tons of angst and a heaping helping of danger and intrigue, then Her Secret Savior is for you.

~~~Available now! Can be read as a standalone!~~~
https://amzn.to/2R0k4pv

A woman desperate to escape her past. A disgraced vampire ready to prove he isn’t a monster, if only to himself. An encounter that will set their lives down a path neither were prepared to travel.
Sydney Bryant, a waitress at a vampire-owned nightclub, has finally broken free from her past, but she can feel deep in her bones that something evil is coming for her. Stellan, a recovering blood addict, has been sent by the vampire king of Velum Mortis to intercept the abduction of the cute waitress from Club Dead and deliver her to him instead of the wolves who have been stalking her.
From the moment Stellan first walks into Club Dead, Sydney is intrigued by him. He’s tall, dark, and brooding with a hint of danger and an intoxicating scent that makes her want to abandon her inhibitions and see what kind of excitement the alluring vampire might bring to her life. But when Sydney reluctantly agrees to meet with someone from her past, the evil she knew was coming for her finally arrives, and to her surprise, Stellan is a familiar face in the group of men trying to steal her away.
When Stellan feels something inexplicable for Sydney, he refuses to hand her over to the king and vows to determine whether or not the intensifying feelings he has for her means she is his mate. But if she is his mate, why couldn’t he feel her presence before now? And why would fate pair him with someone who is something more than human?
Desperate to keep the walls she’s built around herself firmly in place, Sydney struggles with the way Stellan makes her feel during their short time together. He claims he can give her everything she’s ever wanted and more if she’ll just take a leap of faith and trust him. But how can she ever move beyond the horrors of her past to realize she’s worthy of the epic love she’s always dreamed of?
Travel Into the Storm to find out whether this pairing has been written in the stars all along or if they’re truly doomed to crash and burn!

Check out Chapter 1 of the second book in the Vampires of Velum Mortis series, Into the Storm

Something bad waited for me, lurking just beyond the shadows. I could feel it like fire igniting deep in my bones as I peered through the darkened room of the bar where I worked, waiting for my shift to end. The burn had been incessant for days. The urge to burst out of my skin had strengthened as the hours ticked by, like if I could just figure out how, I’d be free from whatever it was that stalked me now. I hadn’t felt this way since I’d broken free from the wretched path my life had been headed down years ago. Club Dead might have been a dead-end job, no pun intended, but it beat the hell out of taking my clothes off to line someone else’s pockets.
To make matters worse, my mother had requested that I meet her for dinner, which was likely the reason these old feelings had resurfaced. I hadn’t seen her since I’d accepted that she had never truly loved me, accepted that I was unlovable, and that no matter what I did, my life wasn’t going to get any better until I got away from her. In order to cope with what was severely lacking in my life, I’d told myself that if a mother could not love her child, then love was something that didn’t truly exist.
Her addiction had squeezed the life out of normalcy for me when I was a child, but the gambling hadn’t surfaced until I was a teenager. I’d stuck with her for far longer than I should have out of some naïve sense of loyalty. Once I turned eighteen, she put me on the pole and took nearly every last dollar I made while I nearly starved as she fed her addictions and began to encourage them to grow within me. I’d never given in, but she never gave up in offering me things a mother should never offer her child.  
She’s my mom, the only one I have, I’d told myself every time I started to work up the courage to leave. My father had bailed on me as a baby, and somewhere in this fucked up mind of mine I’d given my mother brownie points for not abandoning me like he had.
I regretted every chance I’d ever given her and had already started to regret agreeing to see her tonight. It was probably stupid to have cut my shift short just to meet with her. The likelihood that she had changed for the better was slim to none. Still, a part of me couldn’t help but be hopeful that maybe this was the time she’d pull through it. Maybe this was the time she’d apologize for everything she had put me through and actually mean it. Her voice had been chipper, nothing like the voice I’d grown accustomed to that had swung wildly between rage and defeat, depending on the hour and circumstance. She’d promised she didn’t want anything from me and had just missed me, but I hadn’t extended an invitation to my apartment. Nothing good could come from her knowing where I lived, at least as far as I was concerned at the moment.
Instead, I’d agreed to meet her at a restaurant downtown. Her treat, she’d said. I’m not too ashamed to admit that I felt like she owed me something, even it was only a free meal. That, and I had been wanting a thick juicy piece of meat for days but hadn’t gotten around to satisfying the craving.
“You’ll never guess who just took a table in my section,” Sabrina, one of the other waitresses said, pulling me from my thoughts. “Looks like he’s waiting on someone, too. Maybe you.” Her eyebrows jumped high as she grinned at me, like I should want to drop everything and go running to this man.
“Stop right there,” I responded, putting my hand up before going back to wiping down the bar. “He’s probably here to meet with Lucien. That’s usually why he’s here.”
“Oh, come on… You think we haven’t all seen the way you two look at each other? You’re the only one he ever talks to for longer than it takes to order. He might be here officially to speak to Lucien, but he’s here to see you.”
“Listen, love… I’ve got a lot of shit on my mind tonight. There is simply no room in my brain for any of that right now.” Even if he is the hottest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on in my life…
“What’s going on?” she asked, worry lines settling on her face. “You need my help with anything?”
“No… It’s just… My mother asked me to meet her at that new steakhouse that just opened down town.”
“Oh, wow… How long has it been since you saw her last?” she asked and placed her hand on my upper arm for a brief moment before letting go. Sabrina may have been the only person I’d ever told a few of the sordid details of my life to. She was the closest thing to a friend I’d ever had, though truth be told, if I picked up and left town tomorrow, I’m not sure she’d be all that upset. It’s not like we hung out outside of work all that often, and we had very little in common other than our place of employment. She was into country music and as far as I was concerned, the faster and harder the better when it came to what I liked to listen to. She had come from a rich family and working at Club Dead was her way of rebelling. I’d come from nothing and was thankful for every second I worked there.
“Two years, at least. Maybe three. I lost count.” Not true. I knew exactly how long it had been. Next week would be three years and two months. 
“Redwood’s back,” Tonya, the other waitress working, whispered into my ear as she squeezed past me behind the bar where I’d been cleaning. “Third time this week.”
“That’s nice,” I replied, acting as if I had no fucks to give.
“Oh, come on, Sydney,” she said. “I know you like him. Sabrina knows you like him.”
“It’s true,” Sabrina interjected.
“Even Willy the doorman, who never comes inside, knows you like him… Go talk to him.”
“Lucien wants me behind the bar cleaning and making drinks, not waiting tables.”
“You’re impossible… Why did you start calling him ‘Redwood’ in the first place?” Tonya asked.
“Because he’s huge,” I said quietly, glancing toward him. She didn’t have to tell me he was there. I’d known it the moment the door had opened and he’d stepped through it, even if Sabrina hadn’t announced his presence. Before I’d known his name, I couldn’t get him out of my mind and had given him a nickname to remember him by. “Like a redwood tree.”
His actual name was Stellan, and he’d definitely gotten my attention the first time I’d seen him come into the club weeks ago. I’d told him my blood type, as was customary for wait staff at Club Dead to do when vampires came in, but he’d declined. In fact, I’d never seen him take blood from anyone.
I’d begun to wonder if he was actually a vampire, especially since he didn’t smell like the rest of them. Every single one I’d encountered in my time at Club Dead had a distinct fragrance, like a hint of death. But not Stellan. When I’d asked the others if they’d noticed the lingering scent when a vampire was near, they’d told me no. Why I could smell them the way I could was a mystery to me, but most of them were great tippers, so I didn’t question it too much. I’d simply chalked it up to some weird sort of sixth sense.
“Funny you’d compare him to a tree… Almost like you want to climb him or something,” Sabrina said with a shit-eating grin as Tonya laughed loudly, drawing his attention our way. I wondered if he’d heard our conversation. Likely, he had.
Sabrina wasn’t wrong, but I’d die before I admitted it to her. In fact, he’d been the only man I’d ever found myself even remotely attracted to. Maybe that’s why I felt lighter when he was around, like the weight of the world had lifted from my chest and I could finally breathe. Of all the men I’d ever encountered, he was the only one who made me feel like he could protect me from all the dangers the world could throw at me, though that probably had at least a little bit to do with his size and build. How could a person that size not be able to offer protection? For all I knew, that was the normal reaction to have for someone you were attracted to, but as far as I was concerned, no good ever came from the male species, so why willingly congregate with them? I doubted vampire men were any better than human males, and I’d basically written them off ages ago. Thanks to my mother and the louses I’d been exposed to over the years, I’d been ogled, beaten, and groped, sometimes worse, by men more times than I could count, but working for a vampire had put a stop to most of that. The clientele at Club Dead had rules to follow, and number one was to treat staff with respect and don’t force them into anything they were unwilling to do.
Stellan could be a bit broody, but he was always respectful. Never rude or demanding, but it was his scent that had truly drawn me in; even more so than the way he’d physically made me feel. Masculine, rich, and a hint of danger, like nothing that had ever tickled my nose before. I was aware of it even now with him sitting at a table at the opposite end of the floor. I didn’t know how or why I could smell him, especially at such a distance, but I think the strength of his scent, despite the distance between us, had intrigued me more than anything.
“Looks like it’s time for my break,” Sabrina said, pointing at the clock on the wall. “And isn’t the bartender supposed to cover breaks when we’re not busy? Redwood hasn’t ordered yet.”
“Tonya can do it,” I said. “He probably won’t want anything anyway. He never does.”
“Oh, man,” she said. “I would, but my bladder is about to burst if I don’t find a bathroom right now. Be a doll, would you?” She winked at me, a big grin pulling at the corner of her mouth as the two of them took off toward the back.
“Oh, I’d love to,” I said sarcastically and grabbed a menu, secretly giddy at the thought of interacting with him and thankful that there weren’t any other customers I’d have to take care of while they were on break. The club was… well… dead at the moment, but that would likely change in a few hours. I wouldn’t be around for the excitement of the late shift since my boss had agreed to let me duck out early to meet my mother.
I made my way over to Stellan, his scent growing intoxicatingly stronger the closer I got. My bones began to ache as heaviness settled over my chest and I prepared for an asthma attack. Reaching into my pocket, I made sure my inhaler was within reach and hoped I could get through taking his order before I would need it. I thought my heart would pound right out of my body the closer I got to him, but the moment I was within a foot or two of him, everything subsided, like he was the cure for all my ailments. I could suddenly breathe again as the heaviness drained away. My heart still raced, but it was much less noticeable.
“Hi,” I said in an overly put-on tone. I called it my customer-service voice, and  much preferred using it over the shall-I-take-my-top-off-so-you’ll-give-me-all-the-money voice that I had cooed into too many ears to count. “I’ve got O positive on tap, but since you never seem to be interested in that, can I get you something else.”
“Coffee is fine,” he said, his voice smooth and deep. “How are you this evening?”
“I’m good… Cream or milk?” I asked, wondering why he would come to a bar and order coffee. Even if he wasn’t going to partake in blood, there was every kind of alcohol anyone could ever want.
“No,” he said, avoiding looking at me.
“Think you might want something else? Do you need more time to look over the menu?”
“No, I’m good. Coffee will be all.”
“Okay, I’ll have it right out for you,” I said with a smile.
“Thank you,” he said and returned a smile to me as his gaze landed on mine. The breath caught in my throat at the sight of his eyes, gray and intense, like storm clouds with a hint of chaos brewing just beneath the surface. My eyes drifted to his full lips and the way one side had turned up into a devilishly handsome grin. “Can you let Lucien know I’m here?”
I’d gotten so lost in his eyes that I hadn’t heard most of what he’d said. Every time I looked at him up close it was like a jolt to the system, like I’d forgotten just how fucking incredible he was until he was right in front of me. My brain went into overload, and I felt like an idiot for reacting so strongly toward him. His scent, his eyes, the way he stared at me like he wanted to devour me, and how badly I wanted him to do just that… It was too much.
A second later, I dropped the menu, which proceeded to hit the edge of the table and damn near fall into his lap.
“Shoot,” I said. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s no problem,” he said and handed me the menu, his finger brushing against mine as I took it from his hand.
Shockwaves traveled up my arm like a bolt of lightning the moment our skin met. The air seemed to sizzle with electricity as my skin prickled, the chaos I’d seen behind his eyes crying out to mine, and I wanted to answer it with every fiber of my being. I’d never felt anything like it before in my life. Was I going crazy? Perhaps that’s why I’d been able to smell his scent from clear across the room.
None of this was normal… What the hell was wrong with me? Or him? And why did I want to fall to my knees and beg him to take me away from this life? Did he have me under some sort of spell? Was this what it felt like to be seduced by vampire tricks?
I glanced at him, desperate to know if he felt it, too, but he’d looked away and there was nothing more than the normal couldn’t-give-a-fuck-less look on his face he usually sported. Retreating back to the bar, I quickly poured a cup of coffee and asked the other bartender who had just come in to start her shift to take it to him.
The ache in my bones grew once more and my head spun as I tried to catch my breath. Thirty minutes to go before my shift was over, and each second ticked by so slow I thought it would take an eternity to complete. I didn’t usually leave work early. Couldn’t generally afford to, but I headed to the back and grabbed my hoodie and my bag before finding my boss standing at the backdoor.
“Excuse me, Lucien?”
“Yes?” he asked and turned to face me. Lucien was handsome with his long blond hair, dark eyes, and lean muscles, but there was something cold about him that detracted from his looks. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to him for allowing me to get out of the shit I had found myself in. He’d given me the opportunity to escape my former boss and my mother and the protection to make sure no one harassed me, but he made me uneasy.
“First, before I forget, Stellan is out front. I think he might be here to see you,” I said, trying to remember if he had actually told me to fetch Lucien for him or not. The details of our short conversation were fuzzy, and I still couldn’t focus on much other than the way his skin had felt against mine during that quick second.
“Oh, how lucky for me,” he said, sarcasm coating his words as he rolled his eyes.
“And second, I’m going to head out, if that’s okay. I’m not feeling well. Probably nerves.”
“I suppose it’ll be fine. Business hasn’t picked up yet anyway,” he said.
“Thank you,” I replied before darting out the door and into the back alley.
Dark clouds gathered above, a crack of thunder echoing throughout the city. I pulled my hood up over my head and took a deep breath.  
It was most likely a quickly passing storm that wasn’t unusual for this time of year, but perhaps it was an omen for things to come.

Available for preorder now! Releasing March 23!
amzn.to/2R0k4pv
 

Beyond the Veil is now available to read in Kindle Unlimited or to purchase for $2.99!

amzn.to/2GRFgJv

A newly appointed slayer desperate to prove herself. A cursed vampire king waiting to be awakened. A kiss that would change her life forever.

Delia Adams has been given her first mission as a slayer, a task she’s not sure she’s ready for. Liam, the vampire king of Velum Mortis, has been sleeping these past twenty years and hidden away from his people, thanks to the slayers and a curse placed upon him by a witch.

When Delia is sent to kill the king, she doesn’t have to wonder how to find him. She knows exactly where he is, thanks to the nagging force that has beckoned her to the cemetery where he sleeps time and time again.

Desperate to prove herself, she prepares to shove her sword through his heart, ending him and claiming her first victory.

She’s a slayer. He’s a vampire. It’s her duty to kill him…

So then why is the urge to abandon her mission and kiss him so damn strong?

Unlock Beyond the Veil to find out whether Delia gives into her urges or stays true to her slayer training today!

Beyond the Veil is an adult vampire romance novel that was loosely based on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. It contains mature content, adult language, and violence. Though this is the first book in the Vampires of Velum Mortis series, it can be read as a standalone.

 Coming January 10, 2019, to Kindle Unlimited! $2.99 to buy!
amzn.to/2GRFgJv <---------- Check it out here!

Check out Chapter 1 of the first book in The Vampires of Velum Mortis series, Beyond the Veil!

“You’re going down,” I exclaimed as I stood poised and ready to strike.
I was so going to kick Harmon’s ass. A smirk graced my lips, as did his, but I knew I was about to wipe the smugness right off his face with quick-as-a-cat reflexes and stunning agility. At least, that’s how it had played out in my mind. Reality, though? That was a whole other story. 
With a quick thwack of his boot to my ankle, I landed with a thud right on my backside. The pain tore through me, coaxing out an embarrassing groan. Needless to say, the plan to wipe the smirk off his face had gone awry and it was mine that had been wiped instead. Why had I thought today would be any different than any other day?
I’d gotten the best of him here and there when we sparred, but this time was different. Every other slayer who’d come up with me in training had gone out on their own, ridding the world of all the things that go bump in the night, but not me. Not Delia Adams, daughter of Drew Adams, slayer-extraordinaire. I wondered sometimes if I’d ever live up to the reputation of my father. Would I ever prove I was worthy of being a slayer?  
“Eye on the prize, Cordelia,” Mitch Harmon, head trainer for the Mallory Falls Slayers’ Council and my fiancé, said as he snapped his fingers, jolting me out of the depressing headspace I’d found myself wandering down.
I hated when he refused to use my nickname during training. Cordelia was too formal and sounded almost jarring to my ear. Delia was the name I’d chosen to go by, but when we trained, he insisted on using Cordelia. Probably because he knew I hated it.
“If we were in the field, you’d be dead. You want to go out there and kill the son of a bitchin’ bloodsuckers? Get it together.”
“Sorry,” I said, nearly under my breath as I sat up and shook my arm. Hours of training had pain and stiffness setting in. If I had my real sword instead of the training sword, I might not have been so sore. The training sword was cumbersome, heavy, and clunky. It was nothing like the silver-tipped weapon that felt so natural in my hand, almost like it was an extension of my arm. I’d grown accustomed to handling it during solo training and when I practiced at home by myself, but if I used it against Harmon, I might actually hurt him. That was the last thing I wanted. Sure, knocking him on his ass would be wonderful, but really hurting him? Nope. I’d feel terrible.
“You should never have to say you’re sorry when it comes to slaying. Mistakes don’t happen out there because if they do, you’re dead. Turn off your emotions and be your instincts. Become one with your surroundings. Focus on every sound, every movement, and use it to your advantage. Go where your gut takes you. Don’t hesitate. Learn to do that every time, and you’ll be out there slaughtering the fucking beasts before you know it.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, pushing myself to my feet, ignoring that he was my fiancé and how weird it felt to refer to him as sir. But when we trained, we weren’t a couple. Not really. He was my superior and I was a trainee. His job was to teach me the skills I needed to make sure I didn’t get dead the first time I went out on my own.
Some days I felt like giving up, especially when the others I’d started with had passed me by weeks ago. They’d all been given their first missions, many of them moving on to the next in no time flat. And there I was, still training in the courtyard for the whole town to see, like a big old loser.
And their whispers didn’t help any. Yeah, I’d heard it from the others more times than I could count. If Harmon didn’t have such a hard-on for her because of who her dad was, she’d have been out on her ass ages ago…. She’ll never amount to anything… She’ll be sucked dry the first time she has to fight one… Why did he ever want to marry her in the first place?
That last one stung the most, as if I weren’t worthy of such a man as Harmon. As if there was something wrong with me as a woman and nothing wrong with him as a man. Like the very essence of perfection ran through his body and I wasn’t worthy enough to partake… And the part that bothered me the most was that the same sentiment had poisoned my own thoughts more than a time or two. Why had he agreed to marry me? And why had I agreed to marry him? I loved him, that was true, but it wasn’t the kind of love I expected to feel for the man I’d be spending the rest of my life with. There had to be something more out there for me, something breath-takingly epic, like the type of love story I’d read about time and time again in my favorite romance novels, but this was my life. My path had been set out for me years ago, and I was determined to make it work.
No use in chasing fairy tales.
Rolling my neck and shoulders, I took my place in front of Harmon and stared him down, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. He was attractive, easily one of the most handsome men I’d ever seen. Tall with lean muscles building his frame. His blond hair shimmered in the sun, hovering just over the horizon. His hazel eyes could be soft and sweet and deep enough to get lost in, but right now, he was all business. There was nothing personal between us.
“Come at me,” he commanded.
And I obliged. Launching myself forward, I jabbed the training sword out in front of me, aiming for his shoulder, but he blocked it before I could land the blow. Pushing me back with the force of his body, I managed to regain my footing before I could fall. Balling my hand into a fist, I struck, hitting his side and buckling him to his knee.
Capitalizing on the moment, I landed a blow with my foot to his abdomen, knocking him the rest of the way to the ground as I tightened my grip on the wooden sword. In one swift movement, the blunted tip of the weapon rested just above his heart. If he had been a vampire, it would’ve been over for him an instant later.
Looking up at me with a grin plastered on his face, Harmon slapped the ground, signaling that he had conceded. I moved the sword away, pride coursing through my veins as I stood. If my father could see me now, he’d be so proud.
“That’s what I want to see, babe,” he exclaimed.
Babe. It was a nice enough term of endearment, but I longed to be called something unique, something meant only for me. Not just babe.
Picking himself off the ground, he said, “I’ve never been so happy to have my ass handed to me as I am right now. Who’d have thought you could actually do it, Cordelia? There just might be hope for you yet.”
The smile on my face faded along with my pride. Way to believe in me, I thought to myself.
“You act like it’s the first time I’ve knocked you on your ass,” I said, wiping a thin line of sweat from my hairline. “Maybe it’s been a minute, but it has happened before.”
“Yeah… I’m sorry I put it that way,” he said and planted a kiss on the top of my head. I wanted to swat him away, but he’d left my personal space the moment his lips had disengaged. Every time he said something insensitive to me during training, his go-to move was to kiss my head to try and smooth things over, and then he was gone again. “I know you’re trying your best. I just worry about your first mission and what it’ll be like for you out there alone without me to guide you. I just hope you’re ready to do the right thing.”
Somehow, that didn’t sound much better. Harmon was sweet… most of the time, but during training, he was a whole different beast than the one I’d grown accustomed to during downtime. When we trained, he had a way of making me feel insignificant whether I made a mistake or performed spectacularly well. And every time he did it, it was like maybe all those whispers taunting me about how he was out of my league were right. Like he was a fierce warrior king, and I was nothing more than a peasant with no hope of ever becoming his queen.   
“You ready to go again?” he asked.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I replied, “Yeah. Starting to get a little hungry though.” That was an understatement. I was almost ravenous. Eating before a training session was a tricky thing. Too much, and I’d be doubled over in pain in no time. Too little, and I’d start to get shaky. Neither were conducive to a lengthy session, and I had training quotas to meet every week.
“We’ll go one more round, and if you can take me down again, I’ll come to your place and grill you a steak for dinner. What do you say?”
I could almost smell the meat, tender and juicy, cooking over an open-flame, complemented by a buttery baked potato and a nice salad with lots of fresh veggies from the community garden, maybe even a glass of wine. “I say let’s do this, so we can eat,” I said and lunged at him, catching him off guard.
Crashing into him, the two of us fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. Onlookers eager to see me fail glanced in our direction and looked away once they were satisfied that I was still a loser and that Harmon had no business going so easy on me.  
I buried my face into the arm he wrapped around me and gave him a playful nibble to the bicep.
“Ow,” he shouted through laughter. “We’ve got a biter.” Flipping me over onto my back, his finger grazed my top lip, pushing it back to expose my teeth. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Delia? Are you a vampire? Do I need to slay you right here right now for the whole town to see?”
Wiggling my way out from underneath him, he managed to keep ahold of me. I pushed at his shoulders, and said through laughter, “Let me go, you fucker.”
Someone behind us cleared their throat in an obnoxious manner, halting our laughter.
Harmon jumped to his feet and held out a hand to help me up. Malachi, one of the junior members of the slayers’ council, stood before us. He may have been little more than a messenger boy for the other councilmen, but he still outranked the two of us, and he wouldn’t tolerate us forgetting it.
“Your presence is requested in the council chambers.”
“Yes, master. I’ll head there now,” Harmon said.
“Not you. Her,” he said, pointing his finger straight at me, though his eyes never left Harmon’s.  
“Me?” I asked and glanced at Harmon who stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact with either of us.  
“Yes. We have something to discuss with you. It’s imperative that you make your way to the council right away.”
“Of course,” I said.
Malachi’s face contorted as if he’d gotten a snout full of shit.
“I mean, of course, master.” I’d nearly forgotten to address him properly while I’d been wondering what this something important could be.
“Follow me,” he said, turning his back to us and headed up the hill toward the council chambers where they gathered daily.
“What do you think it’s about?” I whispered to Harmon, hoping Malachi wouldn’t overhear me. I was about to burst at the seams in anticipation.
He shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t know, but the way his mouth had straightened into a hard line and the color had seemingly drained from his face, I suspected he knew more than he let on.
“Do you think it has to do with my first mission?” I asked eagerly. That would be so awesome if it was, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned that it maybe had to do with my lack of progression in comparison to my peers. Maybe the council was done with me and it was time to let me go. I’d wanted to be a slayer for as long as I could remember. Hadn’t even thought what else I would do with my life if I wasn’t. Were there any other jobs out there where you could basically read books, listen to music, kick ass all day, and get paid for it?
“Doubtful,” he whispered back. “I haven’t cleared you for that yet. I don’t think they would send you out without my recommendation, no matter the reason.”
My stomach nearly hit the ground. Not only had I not gotten the chance to really prove myself in the field, but it was Harmon who had stood in my way. The fact that he didn’t believe in me cut deep.
Harmon’s loyalty to my father persisted even now, nearly five years after he’d died. I’d always suspected my father had pushed us together because he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving me alone in the world. It had even been his dying wish that we get married, and I’d agreed, but now, that feeling that I was missing out on something epic reared its head again. I didn’t require much from a partner. I just wanted someone who believed in me.
I was silent the rest of the short journey to the council chambers.
We entered through a heavy mahogany double-door that took nearly all of Malachi’s strength to open it. Each member of the council sat at a stone semi-circle table situated in the center of the room, their eyes locked on me as I made my way toward them.
Malachi took his seat on the far right and announced my presence, as if they hadn’t seen for themselves that I was there.
“Miss Adams is here at your request.”
There were no women on the council, and I pictured myself sitting up there someday after a long and storied career, guiding the town of Mallory Falls and its slayers into the future. Nothing wrong with dreaming big. Dad had once been on the council after all, so why not me?
Master Lewis, sitting smack-dab in the middle, addressed me as the others sat back in silence. “Come forward.”
I did as I was told, leaving Harmon behind, thankful for the distance.
“As you well know your peers have all progressed to the junior slayer rank. Unfortunately, you have not been cleared yet and remain a trainee.”
“I can explain…” I said, trying my best to defend myself, though I was at a loss for what exactly I should say. Maybe that I was trying as hard as I fucking could… Or maybe, just maybe, I would rock their fucking socks off if they gave me the chance to prove myself.
“No need, my dear,” he said, his smile reassuring. His face softened before continuing. “I’ve been watching you nearly every day, and you have something special. Something that makes you stand out from the others, despite the fact that you haven’t been promoted yet,” he said, shooting an irritated glance toward Harmon.
“What’s that, if you don’t mind me asking?” Eager to hear his response, I straightened my back, pulling my shoulders back as I held my chin high.
“Heart,” he said and stood. Making his way around the table, he came to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. “You have heart, my dear. The same heart your father had. I see the way you give it your best and how you improve every day. As far as I’m concerned, you should have been promoted with your peers weeks ago. You have far surpassed the requirements as far as I can tell, though I would suspect Harmon’s reluctance to clear you is because of the way he feels for you. In any event, I’m relieving him of that duty and clearing you myself. Your twenty-first birthday is tomorrow,” he said and removed his hand from my shoulder. Why my birthday was important enough to mention, I didn’t know. Didn’t really care either. I was too elated at the news I was probably going to get my first mission to think twice about it.
I took a moment to catch my breath after his words had knocked it from my lungs. Someone had been watching. Someone had believed in me. Someone wanted to vouch for me. And it felt fan-fucking-tastic.
“Thank you,” I said, regaining my composure before it spilled out for everyone to see. “Does this mean I have an assignment?”
“Yes, and this assignment will make it or break it for you, though I have faith you will follow your training and prevail. It is of the utmost importance that you focus and make the right decisions on your way. You will travel into the forest to the west. An old cemetery lies there deep within the woods. Near its center, stands a mausoleum,” he said. “Much larger than any of the others. Two dragon statues sit on either side of its entrance. You can’t miss it.”
I was all too familiar with the graveyard and the structure Master Lewis described. A force so strong I couldn’t ignore it, like a terrible heaviness in my heart, had pulled me to that place so many times over the years that I’d lost count.  
I was eleven the first time I’d seen it. Cleaning my room while Dad was out on a mission was what I was supposed to be doing that summer afternoon, but I’d found myself wandering in the woods instead, meandering along a faint path and picking flowers until I’d stumbled upon a graveyard. The structure almost at its center had been large and foreboding and called to me in a way I never quite understood. My hands trembled when I looked at it during my youth, but I found it beautifully macabre. Visits back then were few and far between, but it wasn’t long before I wondered about the person or people resting in eternal peace on the other side of the mausoleum’s walls.
Though I’d continued to go there sporadically over the years, something changed just after my eighteenth birthday, like I couldn’t fully catch my breath until I visited the place that haunted my dreams. An ache formed deep within my chest—dull at first, but quickly intensifying to the point where I could hardly stand to exist—and it only seemed to be relieved upon visiting the monument. The feeling had only happened a couple of times at first, but over the last year it had become so strong that I went there nearly every chance I could get. Weekly, for sure, but sometimes daily when I could spare the time.
Each time I visited the place, I felt like I was getting closer to discovering something big about myself, like the secrets of my destiny were buried there, but there was nothing more than crumbling monuments and death greeting me. Forcing myself to enter the place wasn’t something I’d mustered up the courage to do just yet, but it looked like that’s right where I was headed. Ready or not.
 “There is a passageway just inside that’ll lead you underground to a tomb where your target lay.”
“I’m ready, Master Lewis. No vampire stands a chance against me,” I said confidently. Thankfully, they couldn’t hear my heart racing at the thought that the vampire resting there had been calling to me all along.
“Make no mistake. This is no ordinary vampire you seek to destroy, and you’ll have to use every bit of strength and training to guide you in your quest to slay him.”
“Who is this vampire?” I asked, getting the sense that this mission was much more dangerous than I’d expected my first to be.
“The vampire king of Velum Mortis.”

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A newly appointed slayer desperate to prove herself. A cursed vampire king waiting to be awakened. A kiss that would change her life forever.

Delia Adams has been given her first mission as a slayer, a task she’s not sure she’s ready for. Liam, the vampire king of Velum Mortis, has been sleeping these past ten years and hidden away from his people, thanks to the slayers and a curse placed upon him by a witch.

When Delia is sent to kill the king, she doesn’t have to wonder how to find him. She knows exactly where he is, thanks to the nagging force that has beckoned her to the cemetery where he sleeps time and time again.

Desperate to prove herself, she prepares to shove her sword through his heart, ending him and claiming her first victory.

She’s a slayer. He’s a vampire. It’s her duty to kill him…

So then why is the urge to abandon her mission and kiss him so damn strong?

Beyond the Veil is an adult vampire romance novel that was loosely based on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. It contains mature content, adult language, and violence. Though this is the first book in the Vampires of Velum Mortis series, it can be read as a standalone. Beyond the Veil will be available to read in Kindle Unlimited.

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