Page 1 of Blood Illusions

CHAPTER ONE

The frozen ground crunched beneath my boots as I backed up against a tree, my breath forming misty clouds. My silver knife, gleaming in the dim moonlight, was frosted over, a peculiar phenomenon that only occurred when my twin brother Damon and I hunted these unusual vampires. I gripped the handle tighter, and a blend of fear and resolve pulsated through me.

As the vampire neared, the air filled with a curious blend of scents. The sharp tang of electricity, the chilling touch of frost, and a faint, almost imperceptible floral note reminiscent of night-blooming jasmine. The sensory paradox was as intriguing as it was unsettling, hinting at the complex nature of these creatures.

“Damon, now!” I shouted, my voice cutting through the dark forest.

Heavy footsteps thumped through the fallen leaves, accelerating my heartbeat. I raised my cold knife, my blood freezing as an angry snarl erupted nearby. The vampire’s hiss rattled my ears, sending goosebumps all over me. It had a definite scent. A burned electric smell, as if something had short-circuited. I’d never encountered anything like this in the supernatural world.

“Stay where you are, Sawyer,” Damon yelled. “I’ve got him.”

I peeked from behind the tree and watched Damon charge, his blade held high. He flushed something dark from the bushes. A vampire, towering and menacing. It swung and hit Damon, who flew through the trees like a baseball.

A rush of bitter air brushed over me as a dark shape sped past. Without hesitation, I swung my blade hard, slamming it into its back. The creature cried out in pain, stumbling forward, then whirled, blood dripping from its many sharp teeth. More like Jaws than Dracula.

What was this creature?

He stepped toward me. He was twice as tall as a grown man and made of pure muscle. His eyes glowed red like embers, and he flashed me a deadly smile, sending a chill up my spine. “You shouldn’t have done that, beautiful. I bet your blood tastes sweet.”

I pushed my fear behind me and crouched, ready to pounce, holding my blade firmly in my hand.

The creature lunged at me with vampire speed, but I was ready for him. He snapped my head back, his hot breath beating down my neck. As I gritted my teeth, a sudden, sharp jolt of electricity surged through my body, a sensation I’d come to recognize when these encounters turned deadly.

Ignoring the electric tingling that raced along my skin, I plunged my silver blade into his chest. The moment the metal met his flesh, a more intense shock burst through me as if the blade itself conducted a supernatural current.

He released me abruptly, staggering backward, clawing at the silver embedded in him. The electric sensation faded as quickly as it appeared, leaving a lingering buzz in my fingertips.

Damon screamed, lifted his sword high, and decapitated the vampire with a powerful blow. The creature’s head rolled to the side.

My brother panted, glaring at me. “Sawyer, what were you doing? You could have gotten yourself killed.”

I put my foot on the vampire’s twitching carcass and pulled out my blade. “Don’t act like Dad, Damon.” I lifted my head high. “I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done.”

“You don’t want to?—”

I held up my palm. “Don’t even say it. I’m tired of both you and Dad thinking I’m going to end up like Mom. I’m not her.”

“But according to Dad, you’re reckless like she was.”

His patronizing tone spiked my anger. I didn’t answer for several seconds as I cleaned my bloody knife on the grass. “I’m not her. We needed to flush out the creature. This was the only way to do it, and you know it.”

Damon knelt beside the vampire’s head. Its eyes stared into the moonlight sky. He examined the mouth. “This thing isn’t like any vampire I’d ever seen. It’s got like a million teeth, and it smells like an electric charge. Never seen or smelled that in a fang before.”

I came up alongside him. “Where do you think this creature came from? Do you think it mated with something like a werewolf, and it’s a weird side effect?”

“No.” Damon shook his head. “I’ve seen the offspring of a vampire and a werewolf, and they don’t look like this. It’s almost as if…” His eyes turned solemn.

The hair on my nape stood on end. “As if what?”

He exhaled in frustration. “As if the damn vampires are doing something to make themselves more powerful, powerful enough to reign over the other supernaturals and humankind.”

My brows furrowed. “Do you think the Paranormal Mercenary Corps knows about this?”

The Paranormal Mercenary Corps was made up of supernaturals that included vampires, fae, orcs, dragon shifters, and wolf shifters. They claimed to protect not only their own kind but humans as well. The PMC was supposed to keep the supernaturals under control, meaning they didn’t hurt humans.

They maintained an uneasy truce with us human hunters. Our worlds coexisted as long as they adhered to the PMC’s strict laws. However, when any supernatural entity strayed, violating these laws, it fell upon the human hunters to intervene. This task was far from simple. Unfortunately, many supernaturals saw humans as nothing more than tempting prey, a bunch of walking Happy Meals, making our job both necessary and dangerous.

He gave me a hard stare. “Or maybe they’re involved up to their eyeballs in it.”

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