Blood Enchanted (Blood Enchanted, Book 1): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series Read Online Free Page A

hard yet.
    I stilled, sword raised, and waited. No more arrows. They'd gotten what they'd come for. I am faster than a human. As fast as a vampire. Which makes me faster than a Nosferatin. I hide a lot of things, but my speed is not one of them. My opponents today had not found out anything new.
    Finally a tall man emerged from the right hand shadows and crossed the space to where I stood. A crossbow perched on his shoulder, firing end pointing to the sky. I didn't lower my guard. My eyes met forest green in his, a colour unnatural for a vampire, even if I could tell he was a shifter instead. Too close to the sun for a vamp to be challenging, but something told me this shifter had a master. He wasn't acting alone.
    "Impressive," he announced, once he'd made it within four feet of me. His accent was European. Narrowed down the field a little, but not by much. Only coincidence placed him in Hakan Bahar's camp. Coincidence and a nice tan.
    I studied him, without offering a reply. People talk too much, enough can be said with silver. Even shifters disliked the sting of that particular metal. But what type of shifter was he? Not a Taniwha, not local. He'd be peculiar to his place of birth. But where exactly was that?
    "My name is Ediz," he offered. Score two for Hakan's man. "You do not look like him," he continued, studying my features with a slight frown. "But you fight like a child of his would."
    I didn't let the unease or anger show on my face. I'd been trained young to hide my emotions when needed from vampires. The same practice could be levelled against any enemy, and as this creature had just participated in the firing of multiple arrows at my head, he was firmly on the enemy team. But his statement was not unfamiliar. I'd taken pains to not look like my father and mother. Dyed my hair blonde, wore it in dreadlocks down my back, heavy make-up to change the shape of my eyes. Always covered my Sigillum .
    My parents had gifted me a lot of things at birth, the most unusual and annoying being their combined mark. Sigillums represented possession. I was part of their family, so was Luc. Theirs to protect until we were of age, and even then my father would have you believe he was my only chance at safety. The iridescent tattoo-like designs were their Sigillums . Mine worn on the left arm, Luc's on his right.
    Most Sigillums just exist, but something in our blood made ours unique. Right now mine would be a mixture of colours; sage for unease, magenta for anger. The leather of my jacket sleeve felt too hot. I forced myself not to show my imagined discomfort and shift my arm.
    "What do you want?" I demanded, sword still raised. I could hold it like this for over an hour and not tire. Punishment for misdemeanours in the Durand household had taken many forms, this was my mother's favourite.
    And I'd been a wayward child.
    "Merely to introduce myself," Ediz said. "And see if the rumours were true."
    I didn't ask. The rumours could have been about any of my known skills, speed definitely one of them. So I was going with that.
    " Bey Hakan Bahar sends his regards," the shifter announced with a flourish of arms and hands. A movement that had to mean something somewhere, but which made him look like an idiot instead. I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
    "Allow me to offer mine in return," I murmured, spinning in Nosferatin flight through the air and slicing my sword down his right arm, the one holding the crossbow. The weapon fell to the ground instantly, but I was already several feet past the shifter, and didn't turn around.
    An horrendous growl sounded out through the air, actually raising the hair on the back of my neck. But I'd passed the halfway mark and entered Travis' territory. I heard the telling sound of automatic weapons loading, the whir of mechanics as they moved to cover my back. That raised goose-flesh feeling didn't abate however. The growl had turned into an ominous threat.
    I paused, just outside the shadows that led into