Heart of the Damned
He’s a shapeshifter. A hunter. And she’s his next target
For hundreds of years, Dain had hunted and killed Humans, and he was good at it. One of the best. But that all changed the day a captivating siren with a heart of gold entered his life.
From the moment he set eyes on Amberly, he knew there was something different about her, something special. She was unlike any Human he’d come across. But as desire burns bright between them, danger stalks her from the shadows.
Can he keep her alive and safe? Or will his growing feelings for her cloud his vision and let the darkness consume them both?
Excerpt
“Quickly, Amberly,” her mother urged as she pulled her along behind her. “You’ve got to be faster.”
“I’m trying,” Amberly said between panting breaths.
Her little legs weren’t able to go as fast as her mother’s yet, but she was getting faster every day. She was even practising in the bunker so she could keep up the next time they needed to move.
Unfortunately, she still wasn’t fast enough. No matter how much she practised, her legs just weren’t long enough. She always ended up falling behind, making her mother slower because of her.
“It’s not much further,” her mother promised.
Amberly didn’t reply, she was finding it hard to breathe let alone speak.
“Here!” a woman shouted from up ahead. “We’re over here!”
Amberly’s mother suddenly swept her off her feet and ran in the direction the woman had shouted from.
“Take her,” her mother said, handing Amberly over to the woman as soon as they reached her.
“Come inside quickly,” the woman said.
“I can’t,” her mother said, shaking her head. “They’re right behind us. I’ve got to lead them away.”
She gently brushed the hair out of Amberly’s face and kissed her on the forehead before racing off into the woods.
“Mummy!” Amberly shouted.
“Shh, little one, they’ll hear you,” the woman whispered in her ear.
“But my Mummy,” Amberly whimpered.
“I know, little one, I know,” the woman softly crooned as she carried Amberly down the ladder and deeper into the bunker.
***
“Amberly,” Donovan called her name as he gently shook her awake. “Amberly, you’re having a nightmare again.”
“I’m awake,” she groaned.
If only it was just a nightmare, she would be able to handle it, but it wasn’t. It was a memory from her childhood, one she would much rather forget.
She wanted to remember the good times with her mother. She might only have a few of them, but she was trying desperately to hold on to them. She didn’t want her main memory of her mother to be the last time she saw her.
Anything was better than that one.
“Thanks for waking me,” she told him.
It wasn’t the first time Donovan had interrupted her dreams, and it probably wouldn’t be the last either. As much as she missed her mother and wanted to see her in her dreams, she was grateful each and every time he woke her up.
“No problem,” he said.
“Has the storm eased off any yet?” she asked.
They were halfway through a mountain pass when a horrendous snowstorm hit. It came out of nowhere, rolling over the mountain peaks and encasing them in a wall of white, like a wave crashing over them.
Within seconds, they couldn’t see a thing. So, they had no choice but to take shelter in the nearest cave. Thankfully, there were plenty of caves about for them to choose from.
When they first set out along the mountain pass the weather had been fine, but it soon turned against them. Admittedly, they should have known it might happen. They should have prepared for it. After all, mountains were extremely unpredictable.
Amberly couldn’t stop her thoughts from drifting to Natalia. Not long after they’d set off, her best friend had turned back to go looking for another member of their group.
Bella had wondered off, most likely in a tantrum. She was prone to throwing a hissy fit whenever she didn’t get her own way, which was the majority of the time.
Most of the group thought it was because they’d left people behind when they left the last bunker, but Amberly disagreed. She had a feeling Bella stormed off because she didn’t like the fact that Natalia was in charge.
She’d always had a superiority complex. Butting
heads with Natalia at every opportunity she got. Even though none of them liked the woman, they couldn’t leave her behind, but especially not Natalia.
After the last of the elders had gone, Natalia took on the leadership role since nobody else stepped up to the plate. Nobody wanted the responsibility of making sure everyone in the group was safe, which was a difficult task when there were literally thousands of monsters out to kill them.
With very few humans still alive, it was imperative to keep everyone safe, even if they were the biggest dick in the world.
“Yeah, it’s eased off quite a bit,” Donovan said. “We should be able to carry on when you’re ready.”
“Good,” she said. “We need to reach the other side before another one hits. I don’t know how much further our supplies are going to stretch. So, we can’t risk being stuck here for too much longer.”
They’d only packed enough to last them a few days. It should have been enough to last until they reached the other side, but they would need to look for more as soon as they arrived. If they’re stuck in a cave for too many days, they were going to run out way before they made it.
Hopefully Natalia wasn’t far behind them. She had even less supplies on her than they did.
“Make sure everyone is ready to go in ten,” she said, stretching out her aching muscles.
The blanket she’d laid out on the floor did little to stop the cold from seeping into her skin. Her bones ached from sleeping on the cold hard rock. Well, what
little sleep she managed to get.
“They’re all ready to leave,” he said. “We’re just waiting for you.”
“Oh, okay,” she said. Sitting up with a groan, she wrapped the blanket around her legs and scooted closer to the fire. “Give me a minute to wake up properly first, and then we’ll get going.”
“No problem,” he told her before standing up. “Take as long as you need.”
He re-joined the others by the entrance to the cave, leaving her alone to wake up and get herself ready.
She didn’t want to get up. As much as the cold hard ground made her bones ache, she knew it was going to be worse outside. Even if the storm had passed and all was calm, it was still freezing out there.
She watched as Donovan talked with the others. She appreciated his help keeping everyone together and safe while Natalia was looking for Bella.
Their group wasn’t as big as it once was, but it was still bigger than she could handle on her own. She didn’t envy Natalia’s job. She would much rather support Natalia than take her place.
Sometimes she wished she’d been born before the Great War, before all the monsters that went bump in the night came crawling out to take over the world. Back when life was simple and nothing was out to kill them.
Back then, nobody knew the monsters they read about in books were actually real. That all changed the day the war broke out. Every mythical and supernatural creature ever written about… and some that weren’t…
came out of hiding to fight one another.
The Human race was decimated over the course of the war. Caught up in the middle of a fight they had nothing to do with, they were unable to find somewhere safe to wait it out.
It wasn’t until the war ended that the real problems started. No longer fighting amongst themselves, the monsters turned their attention solely on the Humans. Ever since then, they had hunted down and killed her kind nearly to extinction.
If it hadn’t been for the secret bunkers dotted around, Amberly was certain there wouldn’t be any Humans left. Thankfully, they were able to hide in the bunkers, but it was only a matter of time before the monsters cottoned on.
If Amberly was honest, she was surprised they hadn’t cottoned on already.
Nobody knew why there were so many hidden bunkers scattered across the land, but they were grateful to whoever put them there. Without them, the Human race would have gone extinct years ago.
For all she knew, their group could be the last of their kind. Which was why Natalia hadn’t wanted to leave Bella behind, no matter how annoying she was.
Before joining the others by the entrance to the cave, Amberly pulled out a few items from her bag and put them in a separate one. If she was right, Natalia was going to need extra provisions before reaching the other side.
She knew it was a long shot leaving a bag of food in the cave. There was no guarantee Natalia would stop there, but Amberly had to do something. She couldn’t stay there and wait for Natalia, but she could leave a care package hoping she found it.
Climbing to her feet, she rolled up the blanket and stuffed it into her bag. Turning her attention to the fire, she kicked dirt over it to put it out. Instantly, the cold air wrapped itself around her.
Amberly pulled her coat tight around her. Throwing the bag over her shoulder, she traipsed to the entrance to join Donovan and the rest of the group.
“Right, I’m ready to go,” she said as she walked up to them.
“Okay,” Donovan said, clapping his hands. “Let’s go everybody.”
A few people moaned as they walked out into the freezing wind, pulling their coats tighter around them.
With one last look behind her at the bag, Amberly headed out the cave and followed the others as they made their way through the snow-covered mountain pass.