How to Slay a Werewolf (Bedlam in Bethlehem Book 5) Read online

  How to Slay a Werewolf

  Bedlam in Bethlehem Book Five

  Nicole Zoltack

  Copyright 2017 by Nicole Zoltack

  Published in the United States of America

  Publish Date: 2017

  Cover Artist: Nicole Zoltack

  Cover Art Copyright 2017

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information retrieval and storage system without permission of the publisher.

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used in a fictitious situation. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, organizations, incidents or persons – living or dead – are coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  Created with Vellum

  How to Slay a Werewolf

  It should come as no surprise that Blake Damon hates vampires. He’s a vampire hunter after all. But there’s one other supernatural creature that he hates even more.

  Maybe he should’ve known better than to try to play at an ordinary life. He’d been weak.

  Blake will never be weak again.

  To those who live in Bethlehem. This one’s for you.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Other Books By Nicole Zoltack

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  The fog seeps through my jean jacket like it’s made of paper. I don’t shiver though. I’m too busy waiting, watching. It’s only a matter of time before she comes out of hiding.

  Just like that, the vampire appears not too far ahead of me. She’s tall. Beautiful in a tragic kind of way. Her eyes, though, redder than blood, a deep color that almost sucks your soul right out of your body.

  Those eyes turn toward me. I’m crouched behind a towering oak. Vampires sure love their graveyards, and luckily for me, this one has trees. Convenient for a vampire hunter, right?

  Not all vampires are beautiful. Most are hideous, actually. They’re disgusting, repulsive monsters. They deserve everything they get.

  Slowly, critically, heart racing with excitement and not fear, I stand.

  The vampire’s eyes narrow.

  She’s beside me in a second.

  My hand moved the moment her gaze fixed on me. My steel knuckles slice right through her chest. Damn. She’s taller than I thought.

  Before she can recover from her shock, I punch her throat. Dark blood oozes. She topples over, her head nearly detached.

  I stand, towering over her dead form. The moonlight reflects off the blood, creating a shimmer of silver in the sea of redness. Again, it strikes me a dark, tragic sight.

  Grinning, pleased with myself, I go to straighten my jacket and wince.

  I got blood all over it.

  Shit. There’s no way that’s coming out. I only have ten minutes if I want to pick up Lizbeth Knight on time.

  Black hair. Fair skin. Blue eyes. High cheekbones. Full lips. Tall. Curvy.

  Perfect.

  That sums up Lizbeth all right. She has to be perfect, or else I never would risk this.

  You see, Lizbeth is my girlfriend.

  And she has zero clues as to my profession.

  She thinks I’m a bounty hunter. Which isn’t a complete mistruth. I used to be one. After the first vampire I killed, I knew I would need to practice, to train. No way was I going to only kill one vampire and be done with it.

  So I used being a bounty hunter to learn how to fight, to protect myself, to defend.

  And even kill.

  Always in self-defense, of course.

  Yeah, I hadn’t been a legal bounty hunter. I wasn’t hired by a bail bonds company. Nope. Instead, a lot of drug dealers hired me. A lot of shady characters who wanted me to bring in even more disreputable characters, dead or alive.

  It was educational. It was lucrative.

  It wasn’t what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

  Not only did it serve me well to be able to go toe-to-toe with creatures of darkness who moved too fast to be seen. It also gave me the necessary funds to be able to become the vampire hunter that I am today.

  Lizbeth also doesn’t know my name. I’m Blake Damon. Well, born Blake Flack. She thinks I’m Brian Drake. Not much of a difference. If anyone does try to trail me, at least they won’t associate me with my real self.

  I created the Brian Drake identity just for her. Man, I never really thought about it, but I would love to hear her call me Blake just once.

  That will never happen though. I’ve got to keep Lizbeth separate from my vampire hunting side. I’ll be devastated if anything happens to her. If I lost her, I’d be adrift. Abandoned. Isolated. I’d be depressed. A wreck.

  It’s not something I even want to consider.

  My car pulls out front of Lizbeth’s apartment. Shit. I’m five minutes late.

  The front door opens, and there she is. I hustle out of my car and walk up to her, meeting her halfway. Her smile curls down into a frown.

  “Where’s your jean jacket?” she asks, rubbing her hands along my arms, leaving goosebumps on my flesh.

  “I didn’t want it to get dirty.”

  “Dirty? Aren’t we just going out to dinner and to see a movie?”

  I wrinkle my nose in mock disgust. “That’s far too mundane.”

  “So, you have something else up your sleeve, Brian Drake?” she asks with a laugh. She rolls up my right sleeve. “Nothing there.”

  “Check the other one.”

  Rolling her eyes but grinning wide, she complies and removes a candle.

  “Do you like to play with fire?” I ask her.

  “I’m dating you, aren’t I?” she retorts.

  “Fair enough.”

  Chapter 2

  Lizbeth just bought me that jean jacket. It’s my favorite. If I can’t get the blood out of it, I’m not sure what I’m gonna do. Well, I do know I’m not gonna worry about it now.

  Still holding the candle, she jumps into my car. She rolls down her window even though it’s in the forties. We’re in St. Marys, Ohio. It’s November. Winter desperately wants to arrive already.

  “Where are we off to? Some grand adventure?” she asks.

  “Maybe.” I grin and throw her a wink.

  “Every day with you is a grand adventure.”

  “You have no idea,” I murmur.

  Gunning it, I fly out of there. Not too far away is a park. Technically, it’s closed now since the sun’s set, but I don’t care. If I hadn’t been able to track down that vampire earlier, I would’ve had the picnic all set up already.

  When I park and pop open the trunk, Lizbeth jumps out. She races to the trunk and starts to laugh.

  Yeah, she’s not one to be patient. At all. In fact, she’d been the one to ask me out on our first date.

  I should’ve said no. I meant to. My world is black. It’s tainted by sin, madness, despair, anger.

  Lizbeth is light. She’s good, kind, sweet, amazing.

  I need her. I shouldn’t, but so help me, I do.

  She balances me out like no one else can. When I’m with her, I’m actually happy. Before her, the last time I’d been happy was before my dad died.

  By the time I get out of the car, she’s already grabbed the basket. She’s racing to find the perfect spot for our picnic. It
’s simple stuff—some sandwiches and berries and a bottle of wine. Nothing too fancy.

  As I drink my last swallow of wine, I realize two things.

  One, I didn’t glance around looking for red eyes in the darkness.

  And two, I never wanted my relationship with Lizbeth to end.

  Chapter 3

  When you’ve been a loner for years, it takes some time to get adjusted to having someone important in your life. We’ve been dating for only three months. Not a long time by normal standards. Not by any means.

  But for me to stick around in a city for three months, that’s saying something.

  That I’m dragging my feet to kill the last vampire here says something as well. Each day that a vampire hangs around humans is another day that a human will die.

  No more vampires. Not here at least once I nab the last one. Maybe I can settle down here. Maybe I can stop this insane quest of mine. A single man is not going to be able to hunt down all the vampires in the world. Hell, I’m not even going to be able to come close to killing all of the ones in the US.

  Why can’t I just stop? Walk away? Have some happiness in my life?

  I can’t imagine letting go of all the sorrow, hatred, worry, and fear I’ve lived with for so long. I’ve been all alone in my quest to destroy the detestable blood suckers.

  Yet, when I see Lizbeth, when I hear her laugh or see her smile, I know there’s hope.

  Hope for tomorrow.

  Hope for better days ahead.

  Hope for an actual life.

  I’ve been surviving.

  Maybe now I can try to start living.

  With Lizbeth by my side.

  For the rest of my life.

  Does this mean I want to marry her?

  Hell yeah, I do.

  Just realizing this is as surprising as it is liberating. How far I’ve fallen. From being an island of frustrated anger and disgust to being willing to walk away.

  For love of all things.

  It’s mind-boggling. It’s amazing.

  And it’s my life.

  I’m practically floating as I load up my trunk with silver stakes. My gun digs into my butt so I readjust it. Silver bullets. The best way to kill a vampire.

  This last vampire likes to hang out near a nursing home. It’s disgusting and repulsive. What does it say about me that I fleetingly think better there than an elementary school?

  Vampires never are out and about during the day. Yes, they sleep then, but they walk in the sunlight. UV rays weaken them though. They’re basically reverted back to humans. Any old bullet would kill them.

  The moment the moon shines though, they’re super strong. Super fast. Able to heal themselves. The UV rays given off by the moon is so much less intense than from the sun.

  After dinnertime, the number of cars in the parking lot slims down to next to nothing. It’s sad really. Leaving people behind in homes. Ignoring them. Waiting for them to die.

  In some twisted way, I bet this vampire thinks he’s doing the people a favor.

  An hour rolls by. Another. I don’t mind too much. I’m actually browsing for rings. Not that I would buy one online. I don’t use credit cards. This cell isn’t even mine. It’s an old one of Lizbeth’s. Still registered in her name.

  As much as I can, I avoid leaving a paper trail. I know how to circumvent the system. Ya gotta if you don’t want to get caught. To some, I’m a mass murderer. Considering I kill vampires, I don’t see it that way. I don’t feel guilty.

  Well, that’s not completely true. I feel guilty each time I discover another vampire victim. If only I worked hard, faster, I would’ve killed that vampire before he could’ve killed again.

  And now, I’m thinking about walking away. Of turning my back on the vampires. Of letting them have their way.

  So that I might be happy.

  Isn’t that incredibly selfish of me? And can I bear the weight of that guilt? Knowing that countless people will suffer? That their families will have sorrow? The devastation I could prevent?

  Suddenly, the lights in the Otterbein St. Marys Retirement parking lot go dark. I glance up and realize that the supernatural fog that announces a vampire has arrived.

  After shoving the phone into my pocket, I get out my gun. Quietly, I climb out of the car and then slam the door shut.

  The blur halts, and I spy the vampire near the door.

  I don’t aim for the vampire. I aim directly in front of me instead.

  Bull’s eye.

  The vampire darts over for me straight into the path of the bullet. He falls to the ground. For a long moment, I stare down at the body. A profound sense of relief washes over me.

  I’m done. I’m free.

  A wave of shock rushes over me. That burning, desperate drive to seek out every last one of these detestable monsters is gone. There’s no room for it in my life, not if I want Lizbeth to be my future.

  The last vampire I left to be discovered. A little reckless of me. This vampire I shove into my trunk. I’ll take care of it shortly.

  Whistling softly, I climb into my car and glance at the clock. You know what? It’s eleven. Lizbeth might still be awake.

  Go to turn my car on.

  It doesn’t start. Popping the hood and tinkering around doesn’t help any. I’m not a mechanic, but I’ve picked up a few tips over the years.

  Great.

  I whip out my cell and call Lizbeth.

  “I need a hero,” I say.

  “I’m fresh out of a mask and a cape,” she jokes.

  “You awake?”

  “Am now.”

  “You were sleeping?” I can’t help feeling surprised.

  “Didn’t mean to. I think my iron’s low again. Anemia is no joke.”

  I swallow hard, thinking about her blood.

  “Why do you need a hero?” she asks, sounding more awake now.

  I explain about my car and where I am.

  “I’ll be there in a half hour.”

  I groan. “What so long?” I whine.

  “I like to keep you waiting.” Her giggles are the last thing I hear as she hangs up.

  It’s only a ten minutes later that she shows up. Her uncle is a mechanic, and she’s able to get the engine started for me.

  To show my appreciation, I pin her against my car, kissing her as if my life depends on it. With a disgusted wince, I jerk away from her.

  “What is it?” Lizbeth asks, eyes hooded.

  I shake my head. I can’t tell her about the vampire in the trunk. I’ll always protect her from the dangers of the monsters lurking at night.

  But I will not have her worrying about them. She’ll never know that fear.

  “Do you know how much I love you?” I ask, brushing her hair back before cupping her face.

  “I think I might, but I’ll never get tired of hearing about that.” She pulls me close and kisses me long and deep.

  Over her shoulder, I spy eyes.

  Not red.

  Gold.

  Chapter 4

  Fear trickles down my spine, making me shudder.

  “You really need your jean jacket.” Lizbeth snuggles against me, probably to give me some of her warmth.

  But I remain cold. Those gold eyes remain there, surrounded completely by shadows.

  What in the world could they belong to? Not a vampire.

  Or maybe a vampire.

  It’s not fear that has me worried. I’m shocked more than anything. All right, fine. I’m not just dismayed. I’m freaked out that a creature of some kind is here, far too close for comfort. I have to get over my shock and discern what it is.

  But first, I need to get Lizbeth to safety without causing her alarm.

  I gently push Lizbeth away. “Go and get some sleep. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks.

  “Of course. I owe my hero.”

  “More than just breakfast.” She tousles my hair.

  “Believe me. I’ll make
it up to you.” After a breath, I add, “I promise.”

  I’m not the kind of person to make promises unless I fulfill them.

  Which reminds me, painfully, that I promised myself to kill all of the vampires. A broken promise to myself is one thing. I’ll never break a vow to her.

  Lizbeth kisses me one last time. I have to listen for her car to leave. I’m not about to turn away from those gold eyes to watch.

  Although the fog disappeared the moment I killed the vampire, I can’t see what has those eyes. An animal? A vampire? I’ve never seen anything like that before, but it’s definitely not natural.

  I’ve also never felt this level of fright before. Not even the first time I faced a vampire.

  Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised to realize there might be something else out there besides vampires. It’s disillusioning to be sure, astonishing in a terrifying way.

  Striving to be distant from my feelings, to exhibit disgust and not fear, I reach for my gun.

  That’s when it moves.

  The bundle of shadows featuring the gold eyes leaps toward me.

  It’s a wolf. A massive wolf. Larger than a wolf should be.

  And then it’s gone. Back in the shadows. The gold eyes blink out.

  But I’m not alone. I know I’m not. I can feel its presence yet.

  Reckless, anxious but careful, I dart forward and gasp.

  The wolf. It’s changing to a human.

  The guy stares at me, his lips curling into a snarl. “What did you do?” he asks me, his voice garbled.

  His teeth. They’re like that of a wolf’s yet.

  “I didn’t do anything. What are you?” I ask, trying to not be so perplexed about what the heck he is.

  He says nothing.

  I level my gun with his chest. “Let’s try this again. What are you?”