Hunters of the Dark #8 Teaser

I have set aside some current projects to focus on where my passions lie at the moment, which happens to be with our favorite monster hunters.  I'm very excited for this next book that merges the world I created in Dark Genesis with the Hunters of the Dark series.  And I kind of can't contain myself any longer, and NEED to share a little bit of what I'm writing.  So, here's a little teaser of the eighth book in the Hunters of the Dark series, Dark Revelations...

Prologue

“While our best and our brightest are playing interference with last week’s Kaiju Incident, it’s only a matter of time before we will have to act to protect ourselves,” Bast said, addressing the other members of La Faer Noir from a standing position.  She looked around at the other elders as she spoke, her eyes meeting each and every member, as if speaking directly to them.  “So far, we’ve managed to focus the media on the idea of a genetic experiment gone awry.  We’ve kept the genetic material of our kind out of the hands of the wrong people.  People who would want nothing more than to expose us and turn the world against us, hunting us down like animals.  Our anonymity is what will save us, and the Kaiju Incident has unfortunately come far too close to revealing us for comfort.”  She paused, letting her words sink in before continuing.  “I propose that we create new measures.  Stricter precautions will prevent a future catastrophe, one even worse than the one we have seen on all of the news channels, one that would expose us once and for all.  We need to rein in our peoples.  We need to come together as we never have before.  In solidarity, we will find the strength to endure the spotlight, until it passes harmlessly over us.  We will not waver, but we will continue to prevail, living on this world alongside humans without fear of retaliation, for millennia to come.”

Several members of La Faer Noir’s inner circle got to their feet to clap.  It probably would have looked suspicious if Vlad the Impaler did not follow suit, so he joined in, his face impassive as he lightly tapped his palms together, while the distaste rose in the back of his throat.

“What a delusional fool,” Abaddon the Destroyer announced in the dark hallway behind the meeting chamber during the next recess.  His stone head lit with a bluish fire, his black eyes smoldering a bright red at their centers like hot coals.  “They’re all fools.  Did you see the way they looked at her?  Adoring her for her cowardice?”  He scoffed, the sound like two rocks grazing one another.  “We should be subjugating the humans, not hiding from them like weak-kneed fawns.”

“Yessss,” Raum, another demon, hissed.  He licked his lips, and things crawling beneath his ill-fitting face skittered out of the way of his tongue.  “We should eat the humans.  All of them.  Oh, think of the merriment!”

Vlad clucked his tongue.  “Patience, Raum.  The Black Wings are setting the board with players as we speak.  These silly fantasies of co-habitation will be trampled beneath our feet before long, and bleeding hearts like Bast will be destroyed as we rise up to rule over this world, as kings and queens, as is our right.”  He met Abaddon’s eyes.  “As we speak, my vampire army continues to grow, readying for an attack against our enemies.  The cunning way we kill the humans leaves no trace behind.  No one is aware of their swelling ranks.”

“And who are our enemies?” Raum asked.  “The kitty-cat?”

“Bast, certainly,” Abaddon agreed.  “The shape-shifters are too powerful.  They can become anyone, infiltrate our ranks at any moment.  They need to be crushed, quick and clean.”

“They will be dealt with,” Vlad nodded, holding a hand up.  “But do not forget the witches.  The demons, we can count on to be on our side.  The magick that the witches wield is too powerful to ignore, however.”

“The Shadow Eater…” Raum said.  “She would not agree.”

“Oh, but she does agree,” Vlad smiled at him triumphantly.  “She sees them as competition, it seems, keeping her from attaining her true potential.  There are a few witches we can count on to be on The Black Wings side, under The Shadow Eater’s thumb of course, but the others must be eliminated, or we may give our enemies fuel to fight back.  And when we strike, we want them without fang or claw.”

“The witches?” Skree the Harpy barked, the fourth and final member of their little cabal in the shadows.  She squinted at Vlad suspiciously.  “Some of the elders are already whispering about The Shadow Eater’s absence, you know.  I’m not sure how long we can keep this under wraps.  I think the shape-shifters are the bigger threat.  Bast is the bigger threat.”

Vlad scowled.  “The shape-shifters will be dealt a swift blow.  Besides a handful of them, they are all in Egypt.  The witches, however, are scattered, with no allegiance to one another, save the ones that have formed their own covens.”

“What do you propose?” Abaddon asked.

“Do we eat them?” Raum asked, hopeful.  “I am so very hungry.”

Vlad sniffed.  “The Shadow Eater has sent a loyal servant to track down the witches.  She has been working in the shadows for months already.  Necromancers, herbalists, psychics, sorcerers, druids…all of them have been marked for death at her hands.”

“What sort of servant?” Skree demanded.

“A witch, of course,” Vlad shrugged.  “A very powerful witch, it seems, enhanced with some spell The Shadow Eater cooked up.  She will easily rid us of our magick problem, and then she will enjoy the spoils alongside us in the new world to come.  She has taken a blood oath to that effect, one that can not be broken.  It is impossible for her to betray us.”

Abaddon considered.  “With the witches out of the way, that does make things much easier.  And once the shape-shifters are destroyed, La Faer Noir will be no match for us when we seek to gain control.”

Skree scowled.  “Don’t be a fool.  Our demons and vampires will still have to fight every werewolf, wraith, fairy, giant and who knows what that selkie and merman have up their sleeves.  Not to mention Samantha and that cursed djinn of hers.  We will still be outmatched.”

Vlad scowled.  “Samantha Cummings is too self-centered to waste her final wish on saving La Faer Noir.  It would mean her own end.  No, we have nothing to fear from the djinn, even if Samantha should choose to ally herself on the losing side of this impending war.”  He paused.  “And there are others coming into play, soon enough.  One phoenix egg will resurrect an ally for The Black Wings who has proved cunning in the past, and as we speak, The Shadow Eater is set to open another realm to retrieve another strong enough to smite our enemies, by way of the second egg.”  He tilted his head.  “And then, of course, there is Diana.  She has united our kind before.  Once she is reborn, there will be nothing to stand in our way.”

“You are still planning on turning Shanna Hunt?” Abaddon asked, surprised.

“Absolutely.”

“It sounds like we will be doing a lot of sharing,” Raum murmured, rubbing his arms like he couldn’t keep them warm.

“Give some of the…minor players their own land, and they will be happy.  We will remain at the top of the food chain.  It’s the law of the jungle, after all.”

“It all sounds good and well,” Skree said.  “But you had better follow through on your end of the bargain, Vlad.  And I’m curious who these mysterious powerful players are who you plan on resurrecting.”

“Oh, you’ll meet them soon enough,” Vlad grinned.