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Blood Rule (Dirty Blood #4)
Author: Heather Hildenbrand
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Description:
Forty-six.
That’s how many hybrids survived the Hunter attack in the woods after I revived them with an injection of my blood. That’s how many followed me home to Frederick Falls. And that’s how many were now mentally linked to me through a blood bond.
Two days. Three valium. Fourteen hours of sleep.
That’s what it took to realize I wasn’t losing my mind as a result of the noise in my own head.
Sixteen.
That’s how many days have passed since I almost killed Alex. That’s how many days I’ve sat by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. To ease the guilt, to understand his betrayal, to remember the exact shade of brown in his eyes.
Zero.
That’s my chances of skating by with Gordon Steppe and the Hunter Council. They want me for questioning. I’m afraid what’ll happen if I give them answers.
That’s how many hybrids survived the Hunter attack in the woods after I revived them with an injection of my blood. That’s how many followed me home to Frederick Falls. And that’s how many were now mentally linked to me through a blood bond.
Two days. Three valium. Fourteen hours of sleep.
That’s what it took to realize I wasn’t losing my mind as a result of the noise in my own head.
Sixteen.
That’s how many days have passed since I almost killed Alex. That’s how many days I’ve sat by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. To ease the guilt, to understand his betrayal, to remember the exact shade of brown in his eyes.
Zero.
That’s my chances of skating by with Gordon Steppe and the Hunter Council. They want me for questioning. I’m afraid what’ll happen if I give them answers.
“That’ll do it,” Jack said, giving the rope one final yank before
stepping away from the truck. He wrapped an arm around Fee and kissed
her cheek. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she said.
As one, they turned to face the house, the roof visible through the trees that lined the yard, regarding it solemnly.
“We’ll be back,” he said into her ear, so low I barely caught it. My chest tightened. I felt like an intruder, watching this moment between them.
A warm hand slipped into mine. I looked up at Wes, attempting a smile. It wasn’t full but I knew he needed to see I wasn’t going to fall apart.
“We’ll be back,” he whispered, echoing Jack’s words.
“I know. I’m not worried.”
He dropped his forehead to mine, and I knew he saw right through my lie. “Where you go, I go,” he said.
The curve of my mouth deepened toward something more meaningful. I squeezed his hand, caught somewhere between hope and longing for a life I knew I’d never see again.
The sun dipped behind the trees, casting shadows and making it darker here than it was elsewhere. More was gathering than dusk.
I shivered.
Derek looked at his watch, then the darkening sky. “Cambria should’ve been back by—”
“Here!” She emerged through a break in the trees a few yards away. Through the bond, I sensed Chris hanging back. He was thinking about how much Cord disliked him and he didn’t want to make this moment harder. George stayed with him, both of them watching us from the cover of branches, silent sentries.
It amazed me how much I’d come to appreciate Chris. But once we’d bonded and he’d fought for me in the clearing against Kane, things between us shifted, though slowly at first. Somehow, I hadn’t realized until now, I trusted him. To keep the pack safe in the woods when I was away. To walk my best friend home amidst possible danger and threat of death. To understand Cord’s anger wasn’t personal and give her the space she needed. I sent him a Thank you through the bond, letting him know I understood what he was doing.
“Where have you been and why aren’t you on the trail?” Derek asked, meeting Cambria halfway across the yard and pulling her into a hug. He’d been going for stern, but the way he smiled when he held her made it clear his irritation was feigned.
She kissed his nose and explained, “Chris said it would be good if we created multiple trails between here and camp for when Steppe’s men come.”
“Which will be soon,” Cord said. “We need to go.”
Derek ignored her and kissed Cambria on the mouth. “That was a good idea. I missed you.”
When she smiled at him, the sunshine in her hair was nothing compared to the light in her eyes. “I missed you too.” They kissed again, oblivious to the rest of us.
It still amazed me, the relationship that had sprung up between them. Cambria hadn’t necessarily been flighty when it came to guys but I’d never seen her this serious for any length. Then again, none of those boys had been Derek. Even I could admit he was hot. And when he wasn’t standoffish and actually decided to be friendly with me, I could see what drew her to him. He wasn’t nearly as serious as he pretended to be. And he loved Cambria, that much was clear from the way he saw past the summer-sunrise hairdo to the person inside.
I waited for them to break apart, but their kiss deepened. Arms tangled. I was pretty certain they’d forgotten we were all here. And about to go on the lam with a truck bed full of weapons. Or anything else remotely pertaining to reality. Geez.
After a minute, Jack cleared his throat.
“We’re burning daylight,” Cord called wryly.
“And a hell of a lot of calories from the looks of it,” Wes added.
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said, finally breaking away enough to formulate words. He slung his arm over Cambria’s shoulder and faced the group, a goofy smile on his lips. He wiggled his eyebrows. “If you’re jealous, Cord, I can give you the same goodbye.”
Cambria poked him in the ribs and he jumped. Cord rolled her eyes.
I chose to write about werewolves after reading Twilight and loving the different spin put on an old legend. I thought it made them refreshing and exciting and I wanted to do the same. So I set out to create a world of werewolves that was different than anything out there. Focusing on a werewolf hunter as the MC was a great way to do that. I wanted the reader to have empathy for both sides. I actually wrote the whole first draft in 30 days for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of that year (2010?) so it came into being pretty fast! From there, it was just a matter of imagination ;)
“As I’ll ever be,” she said.
As one, they turned to face the house, the roof visible through the trees that lined the yard, regarding it solemnly.
“We’ll be back,” he said into her ear, so low I barely caught it. My chest tightened. I felt like an intruder, watching this moment between them.
A warm hand slipped into mine. I looked up at Wes, attempting a smile. It wasn’t full but I knew he needed to see I wasn’t going to fall apart.
“We’ll be back,” he whispered, echoing Jack’s words.
“I know. I’m not worried.”
He dropped his forehead to mine, and I knew he saw right through my lie. “Where you go, I go,” he said.
The curve of my mouth deepened toward something more meaningful. I squeezed his hand, caught somewhere between hope and longing for a life I knew I’d never see again.
The sun dipped behind the trees, casting shadows and making it darker here than it was elsewhere. More was gathering than dusk.
I shivered.
Derek looked at his watch, then the darkening sky. “Cambria should’ve been back by—”
“Here!” She emerged through a break in the trees a few yards away. Through the bond, I sensed Chris hanging back. He was thinking about how much Cord disliked him and he didn’t want to make this moment harder. George stayed with him, both of them watching us from the cover of branches, silent sentries.
It amazed me how much I’d come to appreciate Chris. But once we’d bonded and he’d fought for me in the clearing against Kane, things between us shifted, though slowly at first. Somehow, I hadn’t realized until now, I trusted him. To keep the pack safe in the woods when I was away. To walk my best friend home amidst possible danger and threat of death. To understand Cord’s anger wasn’t personal and give her the space she needed. I sent him a Thank you through the bond, letting him know I understood what he was doing.
“Where have you been and why aren’t you on the trail?” Derek asked, meeting Cambria halfway across the yard and pulling her into a hug. He’d been going for stern, but the way he smiled when he held her made it clear his irritation was feigned.
She kissed his nose and explained, “Chris said it would be good if we created multiple trails between here and camp for when Steppe’s men come.”
“Which will be soon,” Cord said. “We need to go.”
Derek ignored her and kissed Cambria on the mouth. “That was a good idea. I missed you.”
When she smiled at him, the sunshine in her hair was nothing compared to the light in her eyes. “I missed you too.” They kissed again, oblivious to the rest of us.
It still amazed me, the relationship that had sprung up between them. Cambria hadn’t necessarily been flighty when it came to guys but I’d never seen her this serious for any length. Then again, none of those boys had been Derek. Even I could admit he was hot. And when he wasn’t standoffish and actually decided to be friendly with me, I could see what drew her to him. He wasn’t nearly as serious as he pretended to be. And he loved Cambria, that much was clear from the way he saw past the summer-sunrise hairdo to the person inside.
I waited for them to break apart, but their kiss deepened. Arms tangled. I was pretty certain they’d forgotten we were all here. And about to go on the lam with a truck bed full of weapons. Or anything else remotely pertaining to reality. Geez.
After a minute, Jack cleared his throat.
“We’re burning daylight,” Cord called wryly.
“And a hell of a lot of calories from the looks of it,” Wes added.
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said, finally breaking away enough to formulate words. He slung his arm over Cambria’s shoulder and faced the group, a goofy smile on his lips. He wiggled his eyebrows. “If you’re jealous, Cord, I can give you the same goodbye.”
Cambria poked him in the ribs and he jumped. Cord rolled her eyes.
Heather's inspiration for the series:
I chose to write about werewolves after reading Twilight and loving the different spin put on an old legend. I thought it made them refreshing and exciting and I wanted to do the same. So I set out to create a world of werewolves that was different than anything out there. Focusing on a werewolf hunter as the MC was a great way to do that. I wanted the reader to have empathy for both sides. I actually wrote the whole first draft in 30 days for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of that year (2010?) so it came into being pretty fast! From there, it was just a matter of imagination ;)
Heather loves Mexican food, hates socks with sandals, and if her house was on fire, the one thing she'd grab is her DVR player.
Heather is a co-founder of Accendo Press, a publishing group she operates with fellow authors: Angeline Kace and Jennifer Sommersby. Accendo (a-CH-endo), A Latin word, means “to kindle, illuminate, inflame, or set fire.” This is something Accendo strives to do inside a reader’s imagination with every title released. For a complete list of titles and author bios, visit www.accendopress.com.
Author Links:
Website: www.heatherhildenbrand.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Heather.L.Hildenbrand
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHildenbrandsFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherHildenbr
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4607856.Heather_Hildenbrand Newsletter: http://blogspot.us4.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=77abacb38959bc9c0f7b4e81b&id=739fdcef83
"Or the second kiss, in the hotel room after he’d rescued me from feral hybrids. " Well this series looks promising XD Lol
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a good read :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great series! How did you come up with the idea?
ReplyDeleteBarrie
This sounds like a great series! How did you come up with the idea?
ReplyDeleteBarrie