Sinners in the Dark
Inger Iversen
(Running in the Dark #2)
Publication date: March 25th 2016
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
War is coming between vampires and humans, and the Vampire Nation will stop at nothing to eliminate their enemies. Former assassin, Echo sees the Nation for what it is – a corrupt organization with its sights set on destroying the Sect, a group formed to eradicate all things vampire. Now Echo is a Ghost, a traitor of the Vampire Nation, determined to build a new life with the Sect. But choices he’s made in the past might cost him the one person who could truly redeem his soul.
Sequel to:
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Chapter 1
Present Day
Give as Good as You Get
Present Day
Give as Good as You Get
Via crept slowly along the back wall of the seedy motel, keeping her body out of the light. Quietly, she tucked her lucky silver cross in her shirt and reached to her side to pull her queb, a weapon made from wood, from her belt. With her other hand, she palmed her gun and released it from her side. She studied the two hoodlums with intense disdain as they eyed the mom and pop diner. Via knew the owners, and ate there often back when she was a dollar away from being homeless.
The sound of glass shattering pulled her out of her thoughts. Now would be the time Via should pull her cell from her pocket and dial up her dhampir partner, Echo. Her stomach roiled at the thought, and though Austin believed it a good idea to partner a human with a trusted dhampir, Via wasn’t feeling the love. Using the excuse of having her hands full, she didn’t make the call and inched closer to the opening leading out to the main street. She darted across the street and damn near ninja dove into the window. Once she cleared the glass and debris, she smoothly rolled under the nearest table for cover.
Via was no fool, with vamps’ excellent hearing and sniffers, they’d easily discover her in the café, but she was banking on one thing to help her out. She took a quick peek at the bottom of her queb for reassurance. The stake-like rod was thick as a baton, the tip sharp as a razor’s edge, and it gave a faint glow from the rune placed on it by an enchantress. This particular rune obliterated Via’s human scent. A handy tool when hiding from vamps.
Like with any mission, sanctioned or unsanctioned, Via had a plan: attack, kill, and repeat, until all vamps were dead. Ordinarily, Echo had point and took out the lookouts. His superior vision and hearing had often given him and Via an advantage, but since he wasn’t with her, it’d be like old times.
Vamp number one, who she’d decided to call Lefty, since he was missing his right eye, slid to a halt in front of the broken window. Ambient light from the streetlights filtered into the small café, creating shadows across Lefty’s perplexed face. Via inched her gun up—loaded with silver nitrate bullets—and readied her queb just as the pale faced vamp turned. The first shot rang out like an explosion in the night. Seared flesh, blood, and pieces of Lefty’s remaining eye showered around Via.
Standing to take care of the second vamp sliding around the corner, she lost her balance in the blood and fell to the floor. In a second, she made the choice to drop the queb, and aim the weapon. To her surprise, instead of one vampire, there were now three. These were more than some run-of-the-mill gangbangers, breaking and entering. The one she’d aptly named Blue, for his intense electric blue eyes, held a few boxes in his hand, and not one of them had made their way to the cash register, or the wall safe.
Blue’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “Hey, baby.” His voice held a sickening slimy quality. He handed the boxes to Tyson, who she’d named Mike Tyson since they both had those stupid matching face tattoos. “Did you come to play?” Licking his lips, his eyes did a perusal of her body, taking time to linger on her breasts.
Slowly, Via stood and placed her empty hand on her hip while keeping her gun aimed. “Stop, in the name of the law.” None of the vamps spoke. The silence filled the room and Via tensed. Okay, so these guys didn’t like her joke.
The three vamps, Blue, Tyson and Shit Eater—no explanation for nickname needed—stared at her longer, before there was a blur of movement, and one of the three stooges knocked the gun from her hands. Next came a gut-crushing blow to her stomach. Bile rose in her throat as she hit the ground.
If Via lived to tell this story, she would say that in seconds she was up again ready and raring to take on the vamps—which would be a lie. Those who had called her hardheaded would be happy to know that too was a lie because as her skull hit the floor with a deafening crack. Via’s body refused to listen to her command to get the fuck up. Even with skill such as Via’s, taking on three vamps in the middle of the night, with no damned back up, was something akin to suicide.
Character interview with
Echo
Today we sit down for a brief moment with Echo, ex-assassin for the Vampire Nation and true king of the Russian vampires.
Inger Iversen:
Thank you for being here with us today. Let’s jump right into this interview and start with explaining to the readers the difference between a blood born vampire, a made vampire and a dhampir.
Echo:
As you know, most humans are misguided in their theories about my world. Most humans assume a vampire female is incapable of giving birth, however; that is not wholly true. A blood born vampire is born from a demon and is able to reproduce. However, turned vampires are unable to reproduce, as their wombs are barren and the undead cannot nurture life inside of their body. A male dhampir can reproduce with any fertile female.
II:
Wow, that's fascinating. So would it be safe for me to assume there’s an underworld out there most know nothing about?
Echo:
Yes, and in more ways than one. Our world is kept secret from humans at the request of government officials. They do not want you to know that there are creatures of the night.
II:
Okay, well I think some humans know that the government hides information from us. What about things like the cure for cancer and other deadly diseases?
Echo:
Let me put it like this. My dhampir blood isn't nearly as potent as the blood of a blood born vampire, and yet, I can heal broken bones, cure poisons, remedy genetic diseases and much more human and lore illness. Just imagine what the blood of a blood born vampire can do.
II:
Amazing. I hope one day we are able to use vampire blood to help those in need. For my last question, I would like to ask you something personal. When you find your brother, what do you plan to do to him? As you told Via in Sinners in the Dark, please give detail.
Echo:
Ha! Shall I spoil the end of a series for the readers? No, I won’t, but I will tell you this. When I capture my brother his death will be so bloody and gruesome that readers will not sleep for many nights for fear of the monster I am.
II:
Chilling, but Vasily deserves nothing but death for all the trouble he has wrought. Echo, thank you for sitting down with us today. Your time is most appreciated.
Echo:
No problem. Via made me come.
Wow, that's fascinating. So would it be safe for me to assume there’s an underworld out there most know nothing about?
Echo:
Yes, and in more ways than one. Our world is kept secret from humans at the request of government officials. They do not want you to know that there are creatures of the night.
II:
Okay, well I think some humans know that the government hides information from us. What about things like the cure for cancer and other deadly diseases?
Echo:
Let me put it like this. My dhampir blood isn't nearly as potent as the blood of a blood born vampire, and yet, I can heal broken bones, cure poisons, remedy genetic diseases and much more human and lore illness. Just imagine what the blood of a blood born vampire can do.
II:
Amazing. I hope one day we are able to use vampire blood to help those in need. For my last question, I would like to ask you something personal. When you find your brother, what do you plan to do to him? As you told Via in Sinners in the Dark, please give detail.
Echo:
Ha! Shall I spoil the end of a series for the readers? No, I won’t, but I will tell you this. When I capture my brother his death will be so bloody and gruesome that readers will not sleep for many nights for fear of the monster I am.
II:
Chilling, but Vasily deserves nothing but death for all the trouble he has wrought. Echo, thank you for sitting down with us today. Your time is most appreciated.
Echo:
No problem. Via made me come.
Inger Iversen was born in 1982 to Anne and Kaii Iversen. She lives in Virginia Beach with her overweight lap cat, Max and her tree hugging boyfriend Joshua. She spends 90 percent of her time in Barnes and Noble and the other ten pretending not to want to be in Barnes and Noble.
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