Stake and Dust (Stake and Dust series, Book I) by Karen Michelle Nutt Read Free Book Online Page B

rose. "And which dilemma are we
referring to exactly?"
    "If you're going to play hunter, you need to
act the part and walk in the daylight."
    "Aye, but I fancy my pale hide. Going up in
flames is not a way I'd like to leave this world."
    "That's just it," Sheerin said, his light
eyes glowing brighter than usual. "I've been working on a serum to
allow us to venture out in the sun."
    "Of course you have," Tremayne murmured.
    "It's not perfected," Sheerin continued,
completely ignoring his snarky remark, "and by no means will you be
able to spend hours sunbathing, but if need be, you could make the
hunter believe you are as human as she is." He grinned and
continued to blather on about a formula he'd been working on, among
other things.
    Tremayne only heard, blah, blah, blah… as
Sheerin rattled off Latin words or what sounded like Latin
words.
    "Those ingredients will perfect the serum,"
Sheerin finished.
    "Yeah, boyo," Tremayne said, "that didn't
make a lick of sense to me."
    "But are you game?" Sheerin asked.
    Had there been the question to what he was
game for? His mind had wandered. "For what?"
    "To try out the formula. Haven't you been
listening to anything I've been saying?"
    He ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't
that he didn't trust Sheerin, but really? Walk in the sun? "Why
not?" he found himself saying and wished he'd bitten his tongue. He
glanced at Bram who was shaking his head. "What?"
    "You just volunteered to be his Guinea pig,"
Bram said. "I don't know, I think you'd have better odds of
surviving if you just tell the hunter you're a vampire."

Chapter Eight
    Lorelei Rivers swam to the surface and broke
the water beside La Belle Dame , the name of the yacht she'd
purchased over six months ago. Her lips curved as she recalled the
poet she'd inspired to pen such memorable romantic poems. Her hands
gripped the railing and she shifted from her Otherworldy form to
her human existence as she stepped on board. She was long legged,
curvy in all the right places, and she possessed a face worthy of a
goddess—or so her many admirers had often claimed.
    She spotted Gunthorn as he stepped out of the
shadows and handed her a silk robe. "I trust your swim was
satisfactory?" he asked.
    The Draugr was an original vampire of Viking
blood – big, blonde, and ruthless. He was also a serial killer, but
not everyone was perfect. He kept his killings discreet and he
helped to dispose of her victims once she had her fill. In
exchange, she supplied the funds so he could keep a low profile
when he went hunting. A perfect partnership—for now.
    She tied the robe at her waist and then
padded toward the door that led to the cabin below. "It was most
refreshing," she said, as Gunthorn followed her. "Did you leave the hunter where I asked you to put him?" she asked as he
moved toward the bed.
    "I did. Only the GOJ didn't find the body,
Tremayne Greer – that's the name he's using now –decided to throw
out the trash and must have picked up the hunter's scent. The
corpse was beginning to smell like rotting fish."
    Her gaze riveted to his and her talons
lengthened, but she harnessed in her anger before she lost control.
"Dammit," she hissed. " Her cleverly thought out plan ended up
being flawed. Tremayne always was unpredictable. "What did he do
with the body?"
    "Tossed it in the ocean. Took the hunter's
belongings though – mobile and wallet. He called someone, but not
sure who, since I watched him from afar. Didn't want him sniffing
the air and detecting another vampire lurking near.
    "Yes, it wouldn't have boded well for you,"
she said. "I thought the hunter's death would propel the GOJ into
looking into Tremayne's affairs and of course lead them to the
other killings. Now we have to try something else."
    "Why do you waste your time on Tremayne of
Graystone?"
    "It's payback for what he did to me."
    "Then why not just kill him and be done with
it?"
    She glanced at Gunthorn. "Do you not play
with your victims before you end their