Chapter 7 is up on Patreon!
Mikayel Simonian was a fledgling vampire once, though he doesn’t remember how he was turned. What he does remember is waking up in the year of 1986 to a group of magical misfits with the ability to cure vampirism—with exceptions, of course. Their history as fledglings themselves combined with the power of their magic enables them to do what no normal human can: hunt vampires. Over forty years, Mikayel has brought an end to more fledglings than he can count, and even a few full-fledged vampires. He’s seen most things. What he’s never seen before is a vampire deliberately seeking his coven out with a new fledgling in tow to beg them for a cure. Because a cure for the fledgling would mean turning her into a vampire hunter. But this handsome and unusually principled vampire named Erich Krüger seems insistent, so Mikayel and his team agree to try.
People have started dying on Mikayel’s home turf, and new fledglings are the cause. Whoever is controlling them is wily and secretive, and neither Mikayel nor his fellow hunters can track the fledglings down once they vanish into the night. It may require the help of a foe. Erich claims to know the vampire villain and has insight into what he has planned. But no one has ever teamed up with another vampire to hunt a vampire—Mikayel may be the only one crazy and desperate enough to try.
Contains: mxm with some light fxm, blood (obvs lol), gore, murder, sex scenes, slow burn romance, some nazi shit (bigotry, homophobic slurs, etc)
Genre: Horror/romance/thriller
“That special guest they mentioned, did they tell you who it was?”
“I don’t—I don’t… know.” Dave slipped, readjusted and kept going. “Who is it?”
“Someone very dangerous you don’t want to be around.”
“Can we stop for a sec? I’m going to pass out. I guess they stopped shooting at us.” Dave pulled up and turned around, peering through the darkness toward the firepit. “Why aren’t they chasing us?”
A strong scent of rot wafted toward Erich. Erich grabbed Dave’s wrist. “Get on my back.”
Erich didn’t have time to deal with these questions, so instead of waiting for Dave to climb onto his back, he swung out an arm, caught Dave around the waist, and hoisted him up onto his shoulder like a sack of flour. Dave let out an indignant stream of swearwords, but Erich could move much quicker this way, which was imperative. Dave struggled for a few seconds, demanding Erich put him down but his kicking and punching couldn’t do much when even a bullet ricocheted off Erich’s skin. On the uneven and mucky ground of a cornfield, Erich still couldn’t run that fast, but he could certainly do it easier than he had with Dave stumbling around behind him.
The smell of rot intensified, and Erich knew they were now being pursued. So he threw all he had into getting to the treeline, which was where he dumped Dave in the leaves scattered around a drainage ditch currently several inches deep with agricultural run-off water.
“Here.” Erich thrust the keys of his van into Dave’s hand before Dave could even fully regain his bearings. “Get to the van, drive as fast as you can out of here, do you understand?”
Dave stared at him with wide, terrified eyes from his position sprawled on the ground. “What are you?”
Erich frowned. “Go, Dave. Now! I’ll hold them off.”
“Hold who off?” The answer to his question came seconds later—the sound of their pursuers, now just a hundred yards away. Their breathing was stilted and harsh, snapping at one another like riled up hunting dogs. It was not the sound of excited neo-Nazis cornering prey. It was the sound of ten hungry fledglings about to fall upon them.
“Go. That way!” Erich jerked a finger toward the road and for once, Dave did as he was told, scrambling to his feet and leaping over the drainage ditch. Erich watched him until he was forced to whip around and face his opponents. He had just enough time to grab the tiny nickel-plated pendant around his neck and give it a look. Then Erich ripped it off its chain, tossed the chain, and swallowed the pendant.
