VBT# Hunter's Prey: Immortalis #2 : Katie Salidas

 

Today's VBT# authoress is Katie Salidas and I welcome Katie back to my site and to visit me again, about this time last year or it might have been March/April round then I had Katie on my old site www.paulazone.blogdrive.com touring with her book "Immortalis Carpe Noctem" as part of BKWalker Books and today we have her sequel as part of Pump Up Your Books Promotions.

We have for you readers today , a Synopsis of Katie's book , a Review and a Rating , and of course for all those who would like a tease - a chapter excerpt.

                                                             

                     Synopsis : Hunter's Prey- Immortalis Book #2- Katie Salidas - December 2010

 

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.
If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she’ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan’s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum’s new threat.

                                           Review : Hunter's Prey - Katie Salidas- December 2010
 
For all those fans of Katie's first book Immortalis Carpe Noctem, you'll be glad to know that book #2 is available for those to read and book #3 is coming soon :). At the end of Book #1 we saw Alyssa fall in love with Vampire Lysander and then we read in anticipation as a war began between the Vampires and Alyssa nearly died and in order to be saved had to be turned into a Vampire. Now with a few months or so passed , Alyssa has put her new Vampire self to use by hunting those who prey on the innocent, men that hurt women, she has made it her goal to rid Las Vegas of those bad guys. However all is not well on the inside of Alyssa, she is still having as the book called them "daymares" as Vampires sleep during the day and not night about that fateful night that she died and had to come back as a Vampire and the evil one who harmed her Santino. Her partner thinks he's dead and gone for good, but is he or is he stalking his prey of Alyssa ? . When Alyssa became a Vampire , she had to get rid of her old life which for all those who read Vampire novels know what has to happen and that this is just part of the everyday Vampire protocol and rules , however Alyssa being the rebel she is makes contact with her old friend and soon Alyssa finds her and her mortal friend in danger ? Can Alyssa regain the trust of her clan or will it be too late as they discover that this is only the beginning and that they are up against a stronger force of Frenzy Soldiers?.
Find out in Hunter's Prey : Immortalis Book #2 and stay tuned readers for the release of Book #3 titled Pandora's Box .Other Books from Katie include Halloween Fantasies and the House of Immortal Pleasures.
 

 Chapter Excerpt : Hunter's Prey : Immortalis #2

CHAPTER 1

Hot blood coursed through my veins as I gulped down the gushing fountain of my victim’s neck.
He won’t be hurting women anymore. I thought to myself as I swallowed each hot mouthful of blood. How quickly the hunter becomes the prey.
Using the power of my mind, I sent him feelings: waves of pain and grief for the murder he had committed. The human mind was easy to control, and I called upon all the skill I possessed to make him suffer.
Murderers and those who dealt in crime and abuse were my prey. It was because of them, those vile individuals, that I was a vampire. Memories of my own near-death experience and echoes of past wounds fueled me.
As a vampire, I had power, the power to stop bad people from doing awful, evil things. Fate has a way of working things out, and it gave my bloodlust a purpose. If I was to be this creature, I would ensure that my feeding stopped the unnecessary deaths of innocents.
I drained him slowly and painfully, savoring the honey-sweet elixir of his blood. Keeping him alert enough to feel every draw against his neck, I gnawed at the wound with my sharp teeth and dug my nails into his flesh. I wanted him to feel everything. I wouldn’t let him go unconscious. He needed to know and understand the torment he had inflicted on others. I only wished I had found him, sooner before he ended the life of the poor woman lying at our feet. The fearful look in her dead eyes was a painful reminder of the men who had attacked me.
This man would pay with his dying breath.
My victim moaned pitifully. He beat against my back, struggling to free himself. I tightened my grip, locking his body in my deadly embrace.
He was going nowhere.
The heat from his blood coursed through my veins, strengthening me, warming me, giving me his life-energy. I savored this feeling: the tingling rush, the ecstasy, that filled my being.
Just as the wave of pleasure crested, his heart slowed to an erratic thump, and the gushing fountain became a trickle. I knew he wouldn’t last much longer. His blood pressure was dropping.
I lifted my head and gazed into his fear-filled eyes. “It’s no fun when you’re on the receiving end, is it?” I smiled at him, licking the last few drops of his blood from my fangs.
My head swam with energy—his energy. I felt powerful, strong, and just.
The wretched man was like putty—just a lump of mush—in my hands. Weakly, he exhaled a final dying breath. The light of life in his eyes extinguished. His head lolled and then flopped backward.
I listened carefully. His heart thumped once, twice, and then … nothing.
I bit my tongue and swirled a mix of my saliva and blood across the wound on his neck, ensuring it would close. The evidence of my feeding would be gone by the time anyone found him.
A strange prickling sensation tickled the back of my neck. The hair on my arms stood straight on end. I had come to know this unmistakable feeling quite well since I’d been turned. Another vampire was close. I dropped my victim unceremoniously on top of the woman he’d just killed and turned around to scan the area. Though the street was dark, my vampire eyes had no problem spotting another pair of pale eyes staring back at me from the shadows.
A footstep broke the silence. Still young, I’d had limited dealings with other vampires. Not all were friendly. I hoped the one watching me would be.
“I know you’re out there,” I called to the darkness. “Show yourself.”
Raspy laughter crawled out of the shadow. “Are you sure you want me to do that, Alyssa?”
In the space of a second, realization hit me. My eyes went wide and my heart slammed into my chest. Oh shit. Santino!
Another footstep echoed around me as he moved into the light.
A trademark of the vampire kind, his blue-gray eyes seemed to glow as he looked at me. A wild mane of salt-and-pepper hair jutted out in all directions on top of his head. Deep-creased wrinkles and scars covered an aged face that had seen many battles. His lips pulled back into a predatory smile, revealing a perfect set of sharp white fangs.I was running before I could even comprehend the thought of it. I needed to get away. Fast.
As the sun began its ascent into the sky, I settled down, safely at home, preparing for sleep. But it wouldn’t come peacefully. Somewhere, trapped between the dreaming and waking world, I felt his presence. The cold, prickling sensation. It crawled up my spine and raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
Not again. I tried desperately to rouse myself. I knew what would come next.
As if on cue, those cold, emotionless, blue-gray eyes appeared above me. They locked on me with contempt. Santino.
I’d dreamt of him for weeks after our last battle. I thought I had finally escaped the daymares that had haunted me, but now they were back. I knew every scar on that fearsome face, though I wished I didn’t. I’d met him only once before, and against the odds, I’d lived to talk about it. That was something only a handful could claim. Santino was not one to leave anyone alive once he’d set his sights on them. I willed myself to wake. But, just as before, the dream continued.His piecing gaze bore into my skull. I was motionless; my body barely held the strength to gasp for air. Laid out like an offering, I was an easy target, ready to be slaughtered.If I could have screamed I would have, but I was mute, destined to see the events unfold as they had when I had lived through them.Santino’s mouth formed a sinister smile. The tips of his fangs poked out from behind his lips, but I knew it was not his teeth I should fear.Stuck again in this nightmare, I tried in vain to will myself awake. Paralysis had me frozen in place, helpless. Slowly, he reached out, grabbing my head, balling up a fistful of my hair. Strands snapped under his grip, pinching and pulling away from my scalp. I needed to break free from his grasp. I needed to somehow get out of this dream. Fear gripped me. He rocked my head from one side to the other, inspecting me. Would this finally be the time? Would he finally kill me? His eyes focused on my neck. Wake up, damn it! “Not going to be much of a fight, are you?” he said, pulling out his knife—a large thick blade with jagged edges. Blood from his last kill still coated it.
He made the sign of the cross and mumbled a prayer under his breath.I willed my muscles to listen. Move, I yelled in my head. Move, damn it. Wake up! My heart beat wildly, thundering in my ears as Santino’s eyes opened and focused on me once more. Disgust flashed across his face, as if I were a mangy animal and it was beneath him to have to put me down. His lips again formed that sinister sneer. I shuddered. His gaze was like ice, sending a shiver slithering down my spine to the churning pit of my stomach. He exhaled a growling breath that echoed in the room as he placed the cold, heavy blade to my neck. No!I awoke with a start, shooting upright in bed. My heart pounded, and my chest heaved with each sharp breath.
Disorientation fogged my vision. I struggled to compose myself and come back into reality. It’s over, he’s gone. If this had been merely a bad dream, the sight of my room and Lysander sleeping next to me would have been immediate comforts, but this wasn’t just a dream. Those events were real. Re-living my first run in with Santino seemed to be my curse. The memories haunted me, playing out every detail of that bloody night, ending just before Santino attempted to finish me off. He’d nearly destroyed my entire clan that night. I shuddered at the thought of him. Santino was well known as the Acta Sanctorum’s best hunter—a vampire who made a career of killing his own kind. He and his team of hunters had tracked down and destroyed the largest coven of vampires known to exist. He killed their leader, Kallisto, right before my eyes. I was supposed to have been next on his hit list. If it hadn’t been for Lysander and the aid of our friends in the Peregrinus clan, I would have died. I was lucky to have gotten away, and Lysander had almost paid for my escape with his life. Everyone assumed Santino either dead or too weak after that battle to continue his hunt.
Deep down, I felt differently.