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Chapter One
Thirst tore through Evan Brooks -- a craving far richer, farthe patrons of the bar he tended would ever experience It was a clawing need that had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with blood Her blood -- the petite blonde who'd walked through the doors of the Teust of hot wind that melded with her scent and insinuated it inside his nostrils She smelled of jasmine and innocence, of temptation he didn’t dare act upon And he would bet the last breath he had in his lungs that she tasted of honey and sighed like an angel
He watched her cast a furtive look around the roo at wooden tables, clouded with s chatter that fused with the Hank Williams honky-tonk tune Her hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head, and she swiped at a long strand falling fro what he suspected Going to a bar alone was unfamiliar territory for her
Abruptly, she started walking across the hardwood floor, toward the lonely end of the bar, with the six vacant high-back dark oak seats thaton her destination as if it offered her soht, to where Evan stood, shesolitude in a place where there would be only her and a big, overpoweringwith…lust No His little Blondie headed straight for hierously and she didn’t even know it
“Two more beers down here,” came a shout from the other end of the bar
The interruption was both irritating and perhaps ideal Evan had no desire to see this woh it was exactly what he should want H
e didn’t have time for distractions He was a "Warden," a vampire who hunted those who preyed on humans In this case, a olf Unfortunately, the wolf had killed five Houston wootten word and sent Evan and his brothers to track it down into south Texas, in the small city of Temple
Yet, despite knowing the business at hand, Evan found his gaze lingering wistfully on the soft sway of the female’s hips, a moment before he yanked two Buds frouys at the far end, who, like the woman, wore scrubs Most of the crowd here were either staff or visitors of Scott and White Hospital directly across the street
"Shooters" was the staff’s place of escape, where they all came to drink ahatever ailed them that couldn’t be cured by modern medicine This is where they talked about what happened inside that hospital, and that is exactly why Evan needed to be here The wolf had a thing for young girls, and their sisters and friends The sooner he knew of one victim, the more chances he had to save another
Evan plopped the beers in front of theIn the week since the owner had taken one look at Evan’s big, inti – don’t cross me or dare to cross anyone in this bar – persona, and hired hiulars They’d run a tab of at least a half dozen each before paying out, and they were nowhere near that now
Hopefully, he wouldn’t be around long enough to find out anything more about them, or anyone else in this bar — besides Blondie, perhaps Her, he wanted to know about But once he found his prey, he’d be gone, and for everyone’s sake, that needed to be soon