Hi, everyone!!!  For those in the U.S., happy 4th of July!! Hope you have a great day filled with barbecue, fireworks, and, of course, books (you must have good reading time, right?) And, hey, speaking of books, be sure to check out Lauren Dane’s blog today for a chance to win a book by an author that I just LOVE!!  🙂

It’ s Saturday, so that means it’s time for the Saturday Snippet! Today’s excerpt is a scene in which the heroine meets the villain for the first time.  I decided to use a scene from IMMORTAL DANGER, and it’s actually a scene in which the heroine meets one of the villains (because there are a few in that story).  So, here you go!

***

So this is what death feels like.

Maya Black struggled for breath, struggled to fight the creeping cold that swept through her body.  Jesus.  She hadn’t wanted to go out like this.  Hadn’t wanted to die in some damn dirty, stinking alley.

She’d been born in an alley like this, and she sure as hell hadn’t planned to die in one.

“Ummm, you taste so good.”  The sick monster above her licked his fangs, freaking fangs, and she noticed that her blood coated his lips.  “Poor little cop, I think I’ve drained you dry.”

Her heart was slowing, the hollow beat barely echoing in her ears.  The ground was hard beneath her, the moon shining  brightly over her.  And hell looked back at her from the creature’s eyes.

A vampire.  She knew what he was.  She’d seen his kind before.  Others thought things like him were just myths, but she knew better.  She knew demons were real, knew the devil was real.  Evil lurked in the world, she’d known that fact for years.

“Beg me,” the vampire whispered, leaning over her and gazing at her with his soulless black eyes.  “Beg me to change you, beg me to let you live.”

To change you.  No, oh, hell, no.  She didn’t want to become a monster.  And she would never, never beg.

Not again.

He slashed his wrist open with the edge of his fangs.  Shoved the wound to her mouth.

No!

She turned her head away, trying to spit out the blood.  Her hands fumbled in the trash beside her.  Where was her weapon?  The vampire had jumped her, thrown her against the wall, sank those razor-sharp fangs into her throat and then had her on the ground in less than a minute.

She’d dropped her gun. Where was it?  Where—

Her fingers closed over the barrel of her Glock.  She pulled, struggling to bring the weapon closer.  It felt so heavy in her hand, so—

He laughed at her.  Actually laughed. Then he grabbed the gun.  Her fingers swiped out, clenched around the butt.  He pushed the barrel dead-center against his chest and whispered, “Do it.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot straight through his chest.  He smiled at her.

And her heart stuttered.  The beat was slowing, slowing.

“You can’t kill me, bitch, not with your weak bullets, not with—”

He broke off, gasping, and he stumbled away from her, raising a hand to his chest. Smoke rose from the wound, a long, thin trail of smoke.  The scent of burnt flesh filled the air, combined with the stench of rotten food in the alley.

Maya’s lips curled as she stared at him.

“Wh-what—”  He fell to his knees, holding his chest.  “Wh-what d-did y-you do?”

She’d covered her bullets in holy water.  She’d been doing that since she joined the force ten years ago.  Since her first night, when a vampire had attacked her while she was patrolling the park.  She’d barely gotten away from him.  Maya had kicked, bit, fought with every ounce of strength she had.  In the end, she’d been lucky.  She’d managed to keep fighting him until her partner arrived to help her.

She’d survived.

But tonight would be different, she knew that.  There was no backup for her tonight.  She’d been working the case alone.  Following a lead.

Following death.

The vampire lunged for her, grabbed her hair and jerked her head back.  His black eyes were rimmed with red.  Tears of blood leaked down his cheeks.

His teeth ripped across her neck, but she didn’t scream.  Didn’t have the strength to scream anymore.

Her finger jerked on the trigger, firing again, again, again—

But he didn’t stop. Didn’t stop biting her, drinking from her, killing her.

So this is what death feels like.

***

Want to read more snippets? Then check out these participating authors:

Leah Braemel

Shelley Munro
Anya Bast
SJ Day
Jaci Burton
Michelle Pillow
Juliana Stone
Moira Rogers
Sacha White
TJ Michaels
Lacey Savage
McKenna Jeffries
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Kelly Maher
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
Beth Williamson

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 4th, 2009 at 8:19 am and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.