Free Fading Darkness (Bloodmarked #1) by Alicia Deters

death, which I just recently discovered could
be a real possibility for me.
    The idea of dying was never something I have
considered before. I almost felt renewed, like there was hope after all. Maybe
there could be a balance to my screwed up existence.
    I made my way back down the hall to my
bedroom where my most recent attempt at normalcy had been passed out, snoring
face down. Once we were outside of the club, Hol had done her best to play
matchmaker in attempt to get me laid, but all I wanted was a good night sleep
to forget everything about this night. Holly deserted me and took off with her
new friend, leaving Scott as my responsibility.
    I had every intention of taking him safely
back to his place and dropping him off, but he conveniently “forgot” where he
lived, and I just figured he might be safer if I escorted him back to my
apartment where he could sleep it off on a futon instead of a dark alley with
one of those monsters, either from my world or his.
    Reluctantly, I took him back to my place
where he snaked his way into my bedroom thinking he was getting some action. I
opted for the futon as I mentally thanked Holly for all her help with my love
life. I never could tell Holly about my lack of experience in that department
because it was just too strange talking about my fears of, not just emotional
attachment, but physically hurting a guy. Shane had voiced one of my unspoken
fears.
    I crept down the hall on the balls of my
feet so I wouldn’t wake him and have to deal with any more groping or flirting.
I didn’t hear any snoring now, though, and something felt strange. A feeling of
dread slowly crept its way into the pit of my stomach as my collective senses
told me something evil had just happened here.
    I stepped into the bedroom pushing the
half-opened door out of my way. Then I blinked, and my current hold on humanity
was abruptly broken in that one instant. I slipped quickly back into my own
personal hell.
    I smelled the blood once the door was open.
It hit me immediately with the force of a swift punch to the face. It was
strong and metallic, and spilled over the entire bed. This wasn’t just a meal
gone wrong. It was murder.
    It was a personal attack on me, a sign from
the vampire community telling me they were onto me. I never thought vampires
could enter into anyone’s home because it’s never happened, but then again, I’m
not exactly human, so maybe that rule didn’t apply to me. I think it was meant
to scare me off, but all it did was piss me off. I wasn’t sad so I
couldn’t cry. I didn’t know him, wasn’t attached to him. This was the reason I
couldn’t let myself get close to anyone.
    I was, however, very, very angry. How the
hell did they sneak in so quietly? I must have been out like a light, but that
was no excuse for allowing such a heinous crime in my own home. They took his
life from him, his future, and now, his family had to mourn the loss of their son,
brother, nephew, grandson.
    I knew this was on me. I was used to
bringing death into the lives I touched. I didn’t have to suck blood to be a
killer, because no matter how much I fought it, I was a part of this world. But
I would always fight like hell to bring what balance I could to my evil nature.
I had quite a few deaths on my conscience, but I used my killing capabilities
to keep that number from growing to be much higher.
    The rage was turning to adrenaline and as my
body hummed with hate and anticipation, I could no longer stand still. I needed
to move, to hunt, to kill as many bloodsucking sons of bitches as I could.
There were only a couple of hours before sunrise so I burst out of my door into
the dark and hit top speed in seconds dodging obstacles and jumping over cars
like track hurdles. I was so fast that the normal human eye couldn’t process
the sight of me in time to even notice I was there. The rage was still brewing deep
within, begging to be released so I couldn’t even enjoy the run. I tried to
remember