Cold Hart (Soul Hunters) (Dark Hart Book 2) Read online

  It didn’t take her long to dress.

  “Let’s go,” she said when she was done.

  When I turned back around, I saw that she was wearing the bloody shirt, and her dark hair was soaked through and clinging to her. Somehow, she still looked beautiful.

  “Let’s get back to the house,” I said, leading the way. The slight rain had turned into a full-blown storm. Lightning and thunder cracked as we ran back to the witch’s house. We trailed a fountain of water behind us as we hurried inside. “I’ll get a fire started.”

  “Sounds enticing.” Olivia giggled, the thrill of the recent kill still running through her veins. “I’ll find us some dry clothes.”

  I used the stack of wood near the fireplace to get a raging fire going, feeling proud of my manly skills.

  “Nice work, Hart.”

  Olivia stood in the doorway, wrapped in a blanket. She held another in her hand.

  “Sophia’s clothes aren’t exactly my style,” she explained. “Yours neither.”

  “We can grab clothes from the car when the rain lets up.” I took the blanket from her and stepped into the hall to peel off my own wet clothes. When I returned, Olivia had found a bottle of scotch.

  “At least we don’t have to be cold, wet, and sober.” She took a big swig and winced painfully. “Wow, that burns so good.”

  I followed suit and then we both settled on the floor in front of the fire, taking turns drinking from the bottle.

  “I think I’m drunk already,” she confessed after only a few minutes had passed. “Sophia doesn’t mess around with her liquor.”

  “Maybe we should turn this into a game.” I thought for a second. “Truth or dare?”

  “Alright.” Olivia sat up straighter, a smile on her face. “I’ll go first.”

  “Pick your poison.”

  She tapped her chin thoughtfully and her eyes narrowed. “Truth.”

  “Even though you are a Were and you’ve got that whole Blood Mate thing to look forward to, would you ever date a human?” I probably would never have asked such a bold question if I hadn’t been drinking.

  “Just any human?” she teased. “Or a particular human?”

  “A human like me,” I suggested with a shy smile that I knew girls could resist.

  “Sure.” She grabbed the bottle from me and took a big swig. “I’d date you.”

  “But…?” I waited for the catch.

  “But nothing.” She took another drink and then lowered the bottle. A strand of hair fell over her eye and I reached up and tucked it behind her ear without thinking.

  “Truth or dare?” she asked me, sounding a little breathless.

  Feeling bold, I responded confidently, “Dare.”

  “Kiss me,” she said, without hesitation.

  “Olivia, I’m not sure-”

  “You don’t get to say no,” she said with a seductive smile. “You have to accept the dare.”

  “You’re drunk,” I said, really wishing I didn’t have to be responsible just once in my life.

  Her head shook furiously. “No. I’m not. I haven’t even been drinking.”

  I could see in her eyes that she was telling the truth. She’d been scamming me this whole time. And though I was a little annoyed that she had been messing with me, I was more than a little pleased that she had been sober when she asked me to kiss her.

  So I did.

  I moved so fast that I took her by surprise and she gasped a little when my mouth closed over hers. But then she kissed me back, parting her lips and letting my tongue slip inside her mouth. We got so caught up in the kiss, we both forgot that we had only been scantily covered by thin blankets. Olivia’s arms were around my neck and her blanket fell away.

  “Your blanket,” I tried to say, but she pushed her mouth harder over mine.

  “Forget about it.” She moved her hands down my chest. “Forget about everything but what my body feels like in your arms.”

  That wasn’t a suggestion I could possibly ignore. I pulled her close, then lay her down on the floor. As I leaned over her, I had a moment of clarity.

  “If you don’t want to do this, that’s okay,” I said.

  The words barely left my mouth before she pulled me down. “It’s too late, Hart. I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you.”

  “You sure didn’t show it,” I said with a smile, remembering how much shit she had given me when we first met.

  “Stop stalling.” Her legs wrapped around me as she waited in anticipation.

  I didn’t have to be told twice.

  I moved slowly at first, waiting for our bodies to adjust and guiding our movements rhythmically. But then Olivia started to move faster, urging me be more aggressive. The fire crackled next to us as we moved together, hands and lips exploring each other’s skin. I waited for Olivia to gasp loudly before I finished, collapsing next to her with my arm around her warm body.

  “Well done, Hart.” She rolled onto her side, dark eyes teasing me in the dark.

  “Glad I could be of service.” I slipped an arm beneath her, letting her curl against me. Her dark hair tickled my chin. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

  “Please. I was amazing.” Her fingers skimmed over my abs. “Now shut up and let me get some sleep.”

  I let out a deep laugh and then sighed as she buried her head against my chest. Maybe I wasn’t her Blood Mate, but I felt closer to her than I’d felt to anyone in a very long time, maybe ever.

  “Sweet dreams, Olivia.”

  I myself had no dreams, which was better than I could’ve hoped. Something about being with Olivia calmed me, even in my deepest sleep. I guess you could say she was good for my soul. So when I opened my eyes and she was no longer lying next to me, my chest tightened. I bolted upright, hoping to find her in the corner of the room again. But she wasn’t there.

  The fire had long since gone out and the room was cold. It grew even colder when I found Olivia, standing near the window. She was wrapped in a blanket again, but this time there was nothing enticing about the look on her face.

  “Link.” My name came out as a croak because the man behind her had a knife pressed into her throat.

  “Liv.” I bolted upright.

  “Take one more step,” the man said, the knife digging even deeper, “and I’ll slice your girlfriend’s head off.”

  To be continued in Dark Hart Book Three –

  Stone Hart

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  About the Author

  E.J. King is a dreamer and a storyteller. She combines these two loves to spin engaging, wild stories. She's an avid reader of all types of genres and writes what she loves to read. E.J. writes contemporary romance, urban fantasy, romantic thrillers, and paranormal stories.

  Her urban fantasy/ paranormal romance series "Dark Souls,” has ten stories to date and more on the way. She also recently launched the first two books in Dark Hart, a companion Soul Hunters series.

  Dark Souls – Book One

  Broken Souls – Book Two

  Empty Souls – Book Three

  Shades of Evil – A Soul Hunters Story

  Lost Souls – Book Four

  Dead Souls – Book Five

  Bound Souls – Book Six

  Shades of Good – A Soul Hunters Story

  Evil Souls – Book Seven

  All Souls – Book Eight

  Twisted Souls – Book Nine

  Haunted Souls – Book Ten

  Dark Hart – Book One

  Cold Hart – Book Two

  Keep reading for an excerpt from

  Dark Souls

  PROLOGUE

  Monsters lurk in the shadows. Evil comes out to play at night. Your worst nightmares are real. All of the ghost stories and supernatural tales you read to yourself as a child are true. You have every reason to be scared, you just don’t know it because you can’t see it.
You don’t have the gift. I do.

  Forces of darkness are at work, doing their very best to destroy all that is good in the world. I should know- they nearly destroyed me. My family was slaughtered, killed by the creatures we spent our lives hunting. I would have been killed, too, if it wasn’t for a mysterious man that appeared out of nowhere and saved me, then vanished just as quickly.

  I owe him my life. I also blame him for it.

  It’s been two years since that night, but it feels like yesterday. I can still hear their screams and see the blood pooled beneath their bodies. And I can still see the piercing blue eyes of the man that saved me and feel his warm, strong arms wrapped around me as he carried me to safety.

  I don’t expect to ever see him again. But then again, life has a way of surprising you, of kicking you in the ass right when you least expect it.

  CHAPTER ONE

  My morning routine was simple- an early morning run around campus followed by a full pot of coffee and a long, hot shower. Then I went to my closet and picked out the most comfortable outfit I could find. Every morning, I glanced at the trunk at the bottom of my closet and my chest would tighten. But once the door was shut again, so was my past.

  For breakfast, I fixed myself an egg white omelet and occasionally allowed myself a side of delicious bacon. If the weather was nice, I enjoyed a quiet breakfast on my porch, listening to birds chirp as the sun rose in the sky. That was pretty much the best part of my day.

  During the week, I attended classes at Jackson College. I was an undeclared freshman, certain only that I wasn’t ready to pick a major and uncertain of just about everything else. It seemed crazy to me that some people knew exactly who they wanted to be at just eighteen. I barely knew what I wanted to have for lunch on any given day.

  That’s not to say I didn’t like school. Quite the contrary. I enjoyed learning for the sake of learning, and I was hopeful that one day I might even make a friend or two. College was easier for me than high school. In high school, you spent your whole day trying to fit in and not stand out in any way. In college, strange was cool. And I had plenty of strange going on.

  I set off in the morning feeling motivated that today would be different. I would smile, even when I didn’t want to and I wouldn’t look away when I passed strangers on the street. On the way to class, I stopped at a corner coffee shop for a double espresso. My caffeine intake was excessive, but also necessary. It was the only thing that kept me going while running on a couple of hours of sleep.

  In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I slept through an entire night without waking in a cold sweat from the nightmares I doubted I would ever be able to shake. The good news was that after two years, I was starting to get used to living in a constant state of sleep deprivation.

  College was supposed to be amazing. I had been dreaming about it since I was 13-years-old, still living under my parents’ roof and hating every minute of it. I thought that when I got to college, I would be free to live my own life and I wouldn’t have to follow their rules any longer. I was ready to shake off my family’s expectations and start living for myself. Now, on my own, I would give anything just to hear their voices again.

  Some days were easier than others. On the days when I was busy, I could sometimes spend an entire hour without thinking about them. Those hours were rare blessings when I managed to trick myself into thinking I was just a normal college freshman. Then I would finish the test, or my shift at work, and I would have time to remember again.

  Today was going to be one of those busy days. I had a midterm in the morning, and a paper due for my afternoon class that I still needed to write. So I spent the day the same way I spent nearly all of my days- with my nose buried in a book in the library. As further evidence of my extreme nerdism, I felt a rush of excitement when my favorite table on the quiet floor was empty. It’s the small things in life.

  The semester started several weeks ago and while I still hadn’t made many friends, I did recognize many of the students around me. That wasn’t surprising considering they were members of my nerd club. We all wore the same nerd uniform- comfortable clothes in neutral tones. Our accessories were piles of books, laptops, and neat rows of highlighters and notecards. I felt comfortable around these people, except for one.

  The young man across from me had only started appearing a few days ago. He had just one book with him- a leather journal that was small enough to fit inside his jacket pocket. If that wasn’t strange enough, he also had a weird habit of wearing his sunglasses inside. I wasn’t sure how he managed to see anything in the poorly lit library, but he split his time making notes in the journal, playing on his phone, and staring at me. I did my best not to stare back, but it wasn’t as easy as you might expect. He was very attractive.

  “You are so obvious.”

  I jumped, completely busted. “Hope!”

  The only semi-friend I had made so far took a seat across from me. Her red lips turned up in a crooked smile. “I’m onto you, Kaylie Jones.”

  “Huh?”

  “You still haven’t written your paper.” She grinned smugly. “Slacker.”

  Hope was what my mom would’ve called a “firecracker.” She had a bubbly personality, a hazy understanding of personal boundaries, and a blatant disregard for rules and authority. We had met at orientation. While standing in line to get our student ID pictures taken, a fraternity guy had called me Babe and tried to slap my ass. Hope had kicked him in the shin, thereby establishing herself as someone I wanted in my life.

  Our friendship hadn’t exactly been instantaneous though. Hope lived in one of the dorms and had signed up for all sorts of clubs and social engagements. That made it hard for her to bond with a recluse like me that lived off campus. Fortunately, it seemed she had made it her mission to force me to have fun.

  “I still have plenty of time to finish it,” I said, stealing one more glance at mystery guy.

  He was no longer staring at me, but was blatantly checking out Hope. It wasn’t exactly surprising. She was petite, blond, and busty- a triple threat in the dating world.

  “Hurry up. We can go hang out in the quad and flirt with boys.” She pouted at me, but I stayed strong.

  “I really have to finish this paper, Hope. Besides, I have to work tonight anyway.” I turned back to my laptop and tried to ignore her dramatic overreaction.

  “Fine.” She sighed loud enough that several people looked over. “Bail on me today, but you can’t get out of tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night?” I was sure we had already had this discussion, but I didn’t remember the conversation.

  “Party. Beer. Woods. Bonfire. Hayrack rides.” She ticked each item off on her finger. “Please tell me you haven’t already forgotten about the most epic party of the year?”

  “Didn’t that already happen?”

  “No. It’s happening tomorrow night and you have to go with me.”

  I was vaguely starting to remember that Hope had mentioned this party over lunch a few days ago. I had been hoping she would forget or change her mind. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hope.”

  “No. Way. You are not backing out on me! I need a wing-woman.” Hope’s voice was getting progressively louder and the people on the quiet floor did not appreciate it.

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll go with you.”

  Hope squealed and clapped her hands. “Ohmygosh. This is going to be so fun.”

  “If you say so.” I lost my battle with a smile. “Now would you mind leaving me alone so I can get this paper done and not fail out of school?”

  “If you insist.” She jumped to her feet. “Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock. Don’t forget.”

  “Go!” I pointed toward the stairs. “Don’t make me change my mind.”

  Hope saluted me and skipped away.

  I finished my paper exactly ten minutes before it was due and sent off a quick email to my professor. School work done, it was time to head to my night job. As I packed up my books an
d supplies, I felt mystery-man watching my every move. I allowed myself a glance in his direction. In usual creepy guy fashion, he was wearing his sunglasses and I could see myself reflected in their mirror lenses.

  He smiled at me, not in a nice-to-meet-you way, but in an I-want-you-to-be-scared-of-me way. I flipped him a middle-finger salute and whirled on my heel. His deep laugh followed me as I stormed away.

  It wasn’t until I was back home, changing for my esteemed job at the Lucky Lady, that I realized I had made it through the entire day without talking to anyone but Hope. That would end in thirty minutes when I would be forced to play nice with drunk college kids for minimum wage and measly tips.

  While I would have greatly preferred to stay in my jeans and hoodie, I had learned that less was more in the world of bartending, so I found my shortest skirt and skimpiest top. Long legs- check. Ample cleavage- check. A quick brush through my long, red hair and I was ready to face the vultures.

  The Lucky Lady was located two blocks off campus and right in the middle of the bad part of town. The college kids thought it was cool to slum it with the locals and the locals came to hit on drunk college girls. I didn’t care who showed up or who they left with as long as they tipped well.

  “Hey, Boomer.” I smiled at our bouncer, a big guy with a bald head and plentiful tattoos. He was scary to look at, but he had a warm smile and quick laugh.

  “Kaylie. Lookin’ good.”

  Boomer’s eyes rested on my chest rather than my face, but I didn’t mind. He’d saved me from more than a few groping fraternity guys in the past few weeks.

  “How’s the crowd looking?” I asked. It was dollar draft night which meant the crowd would come early.

  “Drunk,” he said with a laugh that shook his round belly.

  I grimaced, knowing that was both a good and bad thing. Drunk people tipped more, but they also fought more.

  Immediately after I walked inside, a beer bottle flew across the room and crashed against the wall, exploding loudly. I sighed and headed to the back to get the cleaning supplies. It was going to be a long night.