Blood Money: An Alice Worth Novella

Book 1: Alice Worth

by Lisa Edmonds

Genres: Paranormal; Urban Fantasy; Occult & Supernatural; Paranormal Romance; Crime & Mystery; Supernatural suspense; urban fantasy; prequel novella; prequel; magic; female sleuth; paranormal mystery; vampires; kickass female protagonist

Synopsis

Charles Vaughan has always had great taste in women, and the Vampire Court's newest investigator, Alice Worth, looks very tasty indeed.

Find out how Charles first met Alice in this thrilling prequel to Heart of Malice!

After an epidemic of attacks by newly risen vampires terrorizes the city, authorities pressure Charles Vaughan and the Vampire Court to determine who is responsible. Complicating matters, a local businessman hires infamous bounty hunter Jack Justice to find and execute the rogues after his sister is attacked. Justice and his entourage turn the city and the investigation into a three-ring circus of media attention, vamp-hunter groupies, and self-appointed “deputy” vamp hunters.

When mage symbology is found on a captured rogue vamp, Charles enlists the help of veteran mage private investigator Mark Dunlap to figure out what involvement mages have in the attacks. Dunlap brings in his newly hired MPI-in-training Alice Worth to help unravel the mystery.

In two hundred years, Charles has never met anyone quite like Alice. Minutes after meeting him for the first time, she threatens to burn down Vampire Court headquarters. By the end of the night, Charles is sure of two things: Alice is not who or what she seems, and someday she will be his...if she doesn't get herself killed first.

Release date: February 13, 2018

Publisher: Lisa Edmonds, Author

Print pages: 169

Content advisory: Language, violence, sexual content

Sample

Visitors to the Vampire Court were expected, if not required, to dress appropriately. Business casual or evening wear was rather the minimum expectation, even for an unexpected middle-of-the-night summons. Either Alice Worth was unaware of this expectation or she had decided, like her boss, to ignore it. Charles wagered on the latter.

She wore a leather jacket over a purple shirt, jeans, and tall boots, and her long dark hair was pulled back in a neat French braid. Her makeup was minimal, her jewelry simple: a monogram pendant in the shape of the letter A, crystal earrings, and a charm bracelet with a half-dozen smaller crystals. A messenger bag hung across her chest, leaving her hands free.

Once inside the conference room, Alice moved to put the wall at her back. Her eyes swept the room, assessing each person with a disconcerting speed and efficiency. Charles had the distinct impression she had automatically catalogued all items in the room for either weapon or threat potential. His enforcers followed the same habit, but as a result of years—or decades—of training and experience. Where and why would a trainee MPI with Alice’s privileged background have learned such behaviors?

When Alice’s dark eyes met his, Charles saw only curiosity and professional detachment, with perhaps a hint of judicious reserve, rather than the usual apprehension of someone meeting a master vampire and member of the Vampire Court. She did not fear him, and that did not sit well with him. 

Charles came around the conference table to greet her. “Ms. Worth, a pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending his hand and flashing his fangs. He sensed dismay and anger from Dunlap at the deliberate provocation. 

He expected fear, anger, shock, or irritation—or some combination thereof—from Alice in response to his challenge. Given her youth and the guarded demeanor he had seen in her photos, he also expected her to acquiesce and accept his handshake, perhaps in bad grace.

Instead, to his surprise and annoyance, he sensed, of all things, amusement. Her eyes twinkled as she leaned forward in a perfectly executed bow. “The pleasure is mine,” she said.

The Court rules of conduct required that he return her greeting in kind. He withdrew his proffered hand and gave her a perfunctory half-bow, the prescribed response by a member of the Court to a guest who had shown formal deference with a lower bow.

He had been outmaneuvered in his own territory, in front of his head enforcer. Infuriated, he attempted to sense her magic and got another surprise.

Nothing.

He sensed nothing, when he should have felt the cool white of her air magic and the peaceful green of earth magic, if not also the delicious searing red of blood magic that never failed to arouse him. Her shields were incredibly strong. That meant years of training.

The only way to sense her magic would be to attempt to disrupt her shields, but he was reluctant to do so, as it might reveal his ability to sense emotions and he preferred to use that to his advantage without her knowledge. It was likely she was on her guard for a first meeting with a member of the Vampire Court. She would not always be so alert. There would be other opportunities.

A small, almost mocking smile turned up the corners of her mouth, as if she suspected he’d attempted to sense her magic and failed. Few would dare smirk in front of a master vampire. Her impudence both angered and interested him. It had been a very long time since any human had dared to defy him so openly.