The Fugitive LegacyLegacy of the Shadows Blood™
E.G. Bateman Michael Anderle
This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2020 E.G. Bateman and Michael Anderle
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Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
A Michael Anderle Production
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First US edition, April 2020
Contents
One: Kindred Legacy
Two: After Kindred
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One: Kindred Legacy
His teeth were on her neck.
Lexi should never have allowed him to get so close. Goosebumps rose in response to the light graze against her skin. “Do you swear you’ll turn me?”
“Sure, baby. You’ll live forever like me and you won’t get a single wrinkle on this beautiful skin.” He stroked a finger slowly down her shoulder and arm before he held his wrist to his mouth. Holding her gaze, he bit into his vein and offered his wrist to her.
She took his arm, brought it close to her mouth, and turned her face toward his. “Can I ask one more question?”
“Is it a quick one? Because that vein will close in a few seconds and this is a one-time offer.”
“I only wondered…is it okay to do this? Doesn’t it contravene Section VB02 Subsection Twelve of the Kindred Treaty?”
“Fuck!” The vampire leapt back but even his vamp speed wasn’t fast enough to escape the trap that had been laid hours before.
The spotlights in the room sprang to life and he screamed as ultraviolet beams struck his skin and a hiss filled the air. The only safe area for him was a circle in the center of the space.
Lexi strolled away, unharmed by ultraviolet lights as she passed beneath them. She turned and gave the seething vampire a little finger wave before she slipped through the door.
Outside, she was met by her Kindred unit commander, Braxton. He was the “father” of her unit.
He stood with an ultraviolet flashlight, held her face up by the chin in one hand, and shone it into her eyes and mouth. “That wasn’t what we discussed, was it?”
She shrugged. “He was getting skittish. I could see it in his eyes.”
“You almost gave me a heart attack.” He pinched her chin playfully and flicked the flashlight off. “You’re lucky. There are no contaminants. You’re clean.”
“What if there were contaminants?”
Braxton’s face became serious again. “You don’t want to know.”
“You always say that.” She rolled her eyes.
Lexi headed outside and behind her, the sound of the vamp being read his rights—or lack thereof—faded.
Her older Kindred sister Maggie approached from the other side of the street with a rifle slung across her back. “Oh, my God. You were so hardcore. I almost pulled the trigger.”
“I almost gave the signal.” She stared at the girl for a long moment and they both laughed. The pretty chain around her wrist jingled when she shook it. “I wondered if this would still shield me if he broke the skin. He got very close.”
Her companion put a hand over her heart as though injured. “So little faith. When I cast a shield, no one can sense what you are or find you by magical means. But don’t break it.”
“You’re a liability.” Their Kindred brother Isaac frowned as he unlocked the car. “You both are.”
“What did I do?” Maggie’s jaw dropped.
He pointed at the rifle. “You have a case for that and here you are, walking down the street with it.”
She lowered the rifle from her shoulder. “Oh, right. My bad.” She slipped it into the case and placed it in the trunk of the car.
“And you…” He rounded on Lexi. “Letting a vamp get that close when you don’t have your weapon or anything near the legacy abilities required to fight one.”
His comment stung. Like him, she was a Kindred legacy, infused with the blood of ancient supernaturals. It was supposed to enhance her strength and speed and allow her to police the supernaturals efficiently. Sadly, in her case, she was considered little more than a dud.
Lexi smirked to cover her discomfort. “That sounds like fighting talk to me.”
Isaac folded his arms. “I’m happy to fight you if you go through a metal detector first.”
Although she lacked in legacy abilities, she made up for it with an obsessive devotion to training and where that failed, she was no stranger to dirty tactics. She chuckled at his comment and recalled their last fight when she almost paralyzed him with a shuriken she’d hidden in her mouth. Maggie had all but exhausted her entire magical reserves healing him and she had been grounded for a month.
He removed his own smaller case from his shoulder. She knew it contained his pistol crossbow. It had been his weapon of choice from the day he picked it up when he’d been ten years old. Her weapon, much to Braxton’s disappointment, had been the katana. He’d have preferred her to devote her efforts to firearms and keep a safe distance from the supernatural criminals. She spied her weapon of choice safely stowed in the trunk of the family SUV.
The three of them looked up when a car parked nearby. A young man in a sharp suit climbed out of the passenger side, nodded once at the three of them, and headed into the building.
Lexi frowned and followed the man with her gaze as he disappeared through the door. “Who’s that?”
Maggie shrugged. “I have no idea.”
She was about to ask if
