Four Times The Fight: A Vampire Urban Fantasy (Order of the Dragon), page 1
FOUR TIMES THE FIGHT
TINA GLASNECK
OTHER BOOKS IN THE ORDER OF THE DRAGON SERIES
Zero Hour
Once Bitten
Twice as High
Three Little Words
Charming Like A Wolf
A Vampire Gives No Quarter
Bite Me
A Half-Cocked Vampire
Four Times the Fight
CONTENTS
Blurb
Chapter 1
Leslie
Chapter 2
Alistair
Chapter 3
Leslie
Chapter 4
Alistiar
Chapter 5
Leslie
Chapter 6
Leslie
Chapter 7
Leslie
Chapter 8
Leslie
Chapter 9
Leslie
Chapter 10
Leslie
Chapter 11
Alistair
Chapter 12
Leslie
Chapter 13
Alistair
Chapter 14
Leslie
Chapter 15
Leslie
Chapter 16
Leslie
Chapter 17
Alistair
Chapter 18
Leslie
Chapter 19
Alistair
Chapter 20
Leslie
Chapter 21
Leslie
Chapter 22
Leslie
Chapter 23
Leslie
Chapter 24
Alistair
Chapter 25
Leslie
Chapter 26
Alistair
Chapter 27
Leslie
Official Music
The fun can continue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also By Tina Glasneck
Four Times the Fight © 2022 Tina Glasneck
Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Edition: 14feb2022NatEmfin-01
BLURB
I see dead people, and that is so not what I signed up for.
My vampire life itches, like I’ve thrashed around in poison sumac. I’m a freaking stranger in my own skin, balancing the day-to-day with paranormal shenanigans while my drop-dead gorgeous fated mate is sidetracked by supernatural politics.
When I’m knocked out by a ghost and fail my test to join the Order, my future in the organization is at stake. One thing is crystal clear. I can’t be a vampire without the Order’s protection.
It’s like everything I touch has that anti-Midas curse until I discover runic staves on an old Revolutionary War button from my late father’s things.
Then everything changes. And I’m led on a search for my family’s connection to magic.
And my purpose.
Maybe it’s not to just become a member of the Order. Maybe there is more for me…
..but, then again, nothing is ever as easy as it seems, not for me. Seems I may have more in common with the practitioners of the dark arts than I knew. And more trouble coming for me…
Ack! This vampire may have bitten off more than she can drink!
For Tina,
For the audacity of hope,
persuaded by purpose,
no permission required.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
– Frederick Douglass
CHAPTER 1
LESLIE
Vampires killed my best friend, and I bore the blame.
In the cold, racing after a rogue vampire was the last thing I wanted to do on a Friday night. I pumped my arms harder, moving faster, as the fledgling darted between buildings again. I kept my eyes on the prize, a scruffy young vampire who glanced over his shoulder and turned on a side street. The supernatural world existed, and vampires came out at night.
I should know. My new job required me to hunt, capture, and help bring in these nocturnal deviants.
New York City, with all of its flashing lights, honking cabbies, and crowds of pedestrians acted as both a beacon and buffet of choices for the blood-drinking cravens.
"The way he's going, he'll hit Central Park," I said to Goose, my partner from the Order tonight.
"Stay on him," Goose’s husky voice whispered back. "New vampires without oversight have to be caught."
When I died from hyperthermia, my dragon sire’s venom brought me back to life. All those weeks ago, I never thought having a future meant I’d have to be a vampire. Now, each obstacle produced a new change in me—be it a new familiar, or just falling more in love with my beloved Alistair. His bite had changed everything, so now here I was, running through Manhattan, hoping to stop a potential rogue vampire from finding its next meal.
The sound of loud traffic drifting over my headset gave me pause.
"Are you still in the car?" I asked.
"Well, New York traffic sucks." He honked and cursed. "I’m driving! Get out of here!”
“That never works.”
“Stay concentrated on the task at hand. You need to pass your entry test.”
If I wasn’t almost out of breath, I might have laughed. The Order of the Dragon believed in testing everything. Soon after this, Goose would take me to the doctor to have EKG Pads placed on me to see how I faired. Blech.
Sure, the Order couldn’t quite figure me and my talents out, or how I could do the things in my vast magical toolbox. Turning into a vampire hadn’t been the catalyst of change, though, in my opinion. Instead, I’d stayed focused, filling the well, learning everything I could. This energy co-created my reality and inspired a new conviction.
What connected us, after all? Want to know a secret? I still didn’t have a fucking clue. It would be easier for me to pull down an angel from heaven and pluck it than to answer the question of “What are you?” I wore guilt like cheap, pretty lipstick. Since entering this new world, I’d been stabbed, punched, and betrayed. At this point, I knew best not to wonder what mess might land on tomorrow’s menu of ‘shit’s real.’
“More like a pop quiz,” I responded. “When you said plans for Friday, I thought Alistair would be coming to town to surprise me.”
Alistair, the dragon commander and chief of all this, and luckily my fated mate, still wished to push me harder than half of those I’d encountered so far. Currently, back in Scotland, Alistair oversaw the dealings at the Order’s headquarters. I couldn’t imagine all he had to do to keep the peace. Rogue vampires waited in the shadow to take a stand, from what I saw. But they were only part of the supernatural ecosystem.
Apart from the conflict our world was immersed in, we were simply two vampires trying to make things work with our situation. Challenging on the best of days, long-distance relationships sucked. But, we were doing better now than before. Love needed sunshine and rain.
Luckily, I loved them both, and him, too.
Plus, who was I to tell him I’d learn all about his needs by learning mine? If I’d had met him in my twenties, well, I might have gushed over the possibility—falling in love with a billionaire to fulfill my every fantasy sounded terrific. But now? I had too many questions to just go along with his plan for my life. Life experience creates a shift and people change. Hell, I’m not the same woman I was when I’d lacked any and all male attention. Forget about being desired or embracing desirability (hey, it’s what my mom raised me with, the idea of heading off to college to capture my MRS. degree).
In my twenties, I might have loved for a Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet, to offer me a forever filled with butterflies and roses. But now, as a woman of a certain age, I had questions. Where did this forever go? What was the plan? Did I have to cook dinner?
Today, I stood proudly on my feet, navigating a new world that evolved every day.
“When I paid to get my hair done, I didn’t think you were going to have me running through the city to sweat out my blowout,” I quipped. I didn’t have a problem with any of my natural looks, and I loved my curly hair’s versatility. To get it straight, I either paid to get it flat ironed, used chemicals, or rocked my natural curls. Yes, my froth of curls was magical. I could pile them high on my head one day, press them straight the next, and then braid them and rock them with rainbow colors if I so chose.
“You got styled for the magazine shoot you were telling us all about.” Goose chuckled. “Sweat is good, and His Highness will still find you striking. Even more so when you can present him with your certificate of completion for entry into the Order.”
Panting, I understood what he wished me to concentrate on: capturing the rogue vampire who’d eluded them thus far.
“If I knew you’d have me running back toward my building, I might have stayed at home.”
The latest change meant ensuring my preparation in entering the Order and not remaining on the fringes—which brought me back to this big, tough, wolf-shifter training me in Alistair’s absence. Surely, joining the Order would solve some of the problems. Alistair probably just wanted me to prepare to make black leather my go-to outfit.
Not saying I minded.
I’d always wanted to play an extra in The Matrix.
Since my unannounced return, we’d played at everything being like it was before my time in Helheim, taken there by Lady Hel, the Norse goddess of death.
No one asked any questions as if we all walked on broken shards. Even Gran hadn’t said another peep, asked a question. Besides her first gasp of shock and embracing me with her ghostly arms when I’d thrown open our apartment door. She’d shouted in glorious praise…but now, it was just me back. Trying to fit back into a life that I’d thought once lost to me.
My feet pounded the pavement in black boots, skating on thin ice making the concrete slick.
Bypassing the subway entrance where a couple of homeless men rolled dice, I almost paused, feeling the dark waves of depression and anxiety they cast off. What was their story? How? Why?
Either of them could have been me. My glass house could have shattered my hopes and dreams, but my family had held on tight, not letting me go.
But what if they’d stopped listening? Stopped being there?
I pushed away those thoughts. This new piece of me came with responsibilities, a price I’d have to pay, a burden I’d struggle to carry.
If anyone had asked me if I’d expected to become a vampire, I would have asked them what sort of weed they’d been smoking.
My tomorrow had been a surprise, a destiny carved on wooden sticks by the matriarchs of fate I’d only heard about.
Pumping my arms a bit more, I watched the rogue vampire duck down a dead-end alley.
“Crap.” I’d lost him.
The alleyway stank of rotten trash, and out of the nearby wall exited a ghost. He appeared lost, confused even.
“Are you okay?” I called out to him as he stared at the brick wall. Where I stood, I blocked his way. Finally, he turned to look at me. His eyes grew wide, and he backed up until his back touched the wall.
“I’m getting furious here. Back up,” the ghost said. He shoved his hands into his pants pocket. His aura, first invisible, went blazing red. But, with the hat pulled down over his face, I couldn’t make out exactly who he was, although the what was quite clear. I paused.
“What is this? Some sort of joke?” I asked.
“Are you a fool? Don’t you know what’s happening? And you’re standing in the way. I got to get away from here.”
Maybe the old clothes were throwing me off. He was dressed like he’d stepped right out of the 18th century with a coarse brown jacket, shirt, breeches, stockings, and practical yet plain shoes. Not what one might consider a Revolutionary War reenactor type.
Trust me. New York played a significant part in the war. You couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a piece of history. So, all of this made sense. Plus, there was always some Revolutionary War piece—either casting or scheduled—between the college arts and Broadway and off-Broadway plays.
I buzzed Goose. “Something is wrong. The vampire disappeared, and all I have is a corporeal ghost. He’s not acting quite right.”
“Watch him, and don’t let him leave.”
Raising my hands, I waved them at the ghost before me and scrutinized him. His face was ashen, almost corpse-like, and his shirt had dried brown blood on it.
He moved as if to go past me.
“You need to wait.” I bared my fangs out of solidarity. “I’m trying to help. Ghosts like you—” I’d never seen one go even whiter.
He shook his head as if the news of his being dead was indeed a revelation.
“Why don’t you lay off?” I didn’t need to read energy to determine his aggression. He bounded toward me, his fist balled.
Baring my fangs wasn’t necessary but what I wanted to do, to show a kick-ass vibe. Vampires were entirely awesome—well, those who weren’t trying to rip out my throat, at least.
A little voice in the back of my head reminded me that being cruel for cruelty’s sake wasn’t helping the vampiric reputation, either.
He pushed me right into the brick wall, causing it to crack. Then, he removed a blade, and I just knew he was going to pierce me through. His hand shook. This was no typical ghost. A poltergeist? But since when did poltergeists take on physical form to attack in an alley? The sound of horse hooves thundering my way distracted him. I turned my head and saw a massive black horse with fiery eyes. On his back rested a headless rider.
I wasn’t prepared for that.
The ghost grew more agitated—his once human-looking face taking on a blueish hue and contorting into something surreal with inhumane eyes.
Letting my jacket go, he turned quickly and roundhouse kicked me in my face with a strength I wasn’t expecting.
As I hit the ground, I heard a horse’s sharp neigh.
Vampire lights out.
CHAPTER 2
ALISTAIR
Date night usually didn’t come with a murder scene.
This wasn’t how Alistair wished to start the night, especially when he had plans with Leslie, his fated mate. He stared down at the latest body they’d found, missing its head. The scent of the blood smelled human, with no magical taint.
He stood on the cold street of Manhattan as the Order’s detective unit secured the crime scene. Sure, a bit of magic could hide it in plain sight, when combined with film production vans and equipment, as well as security guards. But, should a beat cop have a bit of curiosity, he’d find a permit in their system and a hardcopy in the lead detective’s possession.
The meeting with his sister, the Dragon Queen, required this slight detour, but nothing would stop his plans for this evening. He’d been planning it for the last ten days—ten days without seeing his Leslie.
Rose, his second in command, approached. Her rainbow-colored hair dangled in a ponytail behind her looking like she worked on one of those crime shows Leslie had introduced him to. But her fae eyes were bloodshot red. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“This is getting out of hand, even for this city. Not since the crack epidemic on the human side have we had so much violence, and this time, well, where are the heads? I’ve had Beau’s wolves sniffing around, and it makes not a bit of sense. What sort of being might be running around ripping off human heads for the fun of it? Whoever has a bloody sense of humor.”
As the head of the Order, Alistair would usually have been either stuck behind his desk in Scotland or the Order’s American liaison’s tower. Yet, tonight, things were different.
This crime had been so brutal as to manifest into the human world, revealing long-held secrets if they didn’t lock it down.
“And the blood? Drained?”
Rose nodded. “Every drop, not enough remains to feed even a mosquito. This is maddening and happening a bit too often.” She lowered her voice to just above a whisper, releasing a pent-up unearthly growl. “Someone is trying to reveal our secrets, and all of the film tricks aren’t going to change what this is: murder.”
Alistair stared at the grisly remains of a person dressed in a Washington-Adams T-shirt, skinny jeans, and Italian leather shoes. The human male’s head was ripped off, leaving behind jagged skin and a large hole filled with visible bones, ligaments, arteries, and veins. His gaze fell on the man’s wrist, where a leather bracelet hung. Sure, he knew they’d have to issue press releases before this became a PR nightmare.
