Authors: Faleena Hopkins
Fire Nectar 2 (13 page)
L
ocking
the door of his condo behind him, he saw the light in the sky change. Just in time. The walk has cleared his head. He knew that when he arrived in Los Angeles tomorrow night, he would convince them to put the beast into The Sun. It was the only way.
He walked to the kitchen island, picked up the remote, and closed the window blinds. He walked to the counter and cleaned up the splattered blood he’d left behind, thinking of Mikhail and his disgusting cave. He would not allow himself to be anything like that heathen, no. When it was immaculate once again, he cleaned the chalice and left it to dry, upside down on a black dishtowel.
He scanned his home, and saw the painting he’d commissioned of his wife. He nodded to her, his eyes somber. “I was good to them tonight, my love. You would have been proud.” Her painted eyes did not move, nor her smile, change. He sighed and walked to his bedroom where he keyed in the complex security password combinations, and touched his thumb to a space in the wall beside the door. As it opened he felt the Death Sleep pulling him and knew The Sun had risen. The wench. He went inside, locked the door, and lay down on top of his expensive goose down comforter, in pitch-black darkness.
“Another time,” he whispered, and fell unwillingly asleep.
T
hese links will take
you to photos and places on the web, all from things that happened in this book, to further your experience, and for the fun of it. After that, you can check out more titles on the following pages, if you’re interested.
Enjoy!
•
P
ulling
Her Down By Her Braids
•
•
T
he Abbey Where Matilda Died
•
•
R
osa Parks
Wouldn’t Go
to Back of The Bus – in 1964 •
(yes, that recently)
•
M
artin Luther King’s Wife Coretta
•
J
OSHUA
•
Napoleon’s Regulations of Brothels
•
(notice the dates of death– I fictionalized the story)
(notice the dates of death – I fictionalized the story)
The renaming of Le Retour A Paris happened… why? We will never know for sure.
I
f you’re not read
Part 1, this does not really give away spoilers as Part 1 is Daniella’s story, and William and Joshua are only mentioned.
Fire Nectar 3 will continue where these have left off. I’ve been sidetracked “Owned By The Alphas” - a werewolf erotic romance that’s become quite the hit. Book 1 is FREE (turn the page for info and link) I’ll finish and then release Part 3 of Fire Nectar, which I’ve begun, but have not finished. My apologies. I had to go where the readers were taking me, and that was the Alphas, for now. If you’re dying to know what happens to Daniella and her family, shoot me a note. I listen.
My email is
[email protected]
On the following pages, in the “
Reader’s Bite”
you’ll have links to places in this book - a clickable appendix.
It was a joy to interview the vampires Joshua, William, Elizabeth and Marion for a blog tour. You’ll find these interviews on the next pages as well. Daniella could not be reached as she was occupied. I’m sure you understand. Marion spoke to me from a place not of this earth – not that she knew it. She believes it is still the year 1812. Let’s not tell her, shall we?
Xx, Faleena Hopkins
A
li's life
is missing something. She's broken up with yet another wishy-washy guy, her career path is nonexistent, and all she wants is what everybody laughs at when she says it: to be happy. She's left the city to hike Yosemite National Park...alone. When she hears a branch snap behind her, and the baby hairs stand up on her spine, her life finds the thing it has been looking for…
Calt's a new alpha and the title has come with pain, the loss of his father to a hunter just a month ago. No one knows werewolves exist, but when a very curvy human female stumbles across his territory in the middle of a pack war, he has to do what he's never done before in order to save her: he has to show her the beast he really is.
For mature audiences 18+, this werewolf paranormal erotic romance is the first episode in the serial WEREWOLVES OF YOSEMITE and is 17,500 words in length. Explicit everything. Please be warned.
I
wasn’t surprised
when Joshua had no qualms in doing this interview with me. He is the kindest of the FIRE NECTAR vampires I have met so far. He’s a composer, thoughtful, highly intelligent, and an introvert. He is quiet… reserved.
Restraint and self-control are two things I believe he has mastered, in fact. But this skill came at a high price. When I look into his eyes I see an underlying sadness that haunts me. You can see it in his portrait that I used for the cover of his novelette. He’s stunning, though. His lips are very full and his face is thin and angular beneath sandy-brown colored hair. His eyes, as you can see, are beautiful.
I believe that if I looked at him a long time, I would blend in with him, because his energy just flows. We are sitting in the San Francisco Airport, where he is waiting to go to Los Angeles, to help Daniella and Elizabeth – from FIRE NECTAR. The story of what happens when he gets there will be in SUN, the sequel.
He has purchased a ticket for me so that we could conduct this interview at the gate. The vampires don’t care about money – they have as much as they want. I found out how in WILLIAM, when he finally told me their secret. I’m almost done editing that novelette and I will share it with you soon.
J
OSHUA
:
You’re looking nervous, mon ami.
F.M Hopkins:
Am I? Well, I upset William yesterday.
JOSHUA:
William has a temper. Just give him time.
F.M:
Why are all of you telling me your stories, Joshua?
JOSHUA:
I cannot speak for the others, but for me, I wish to make it known that we are not evil. We have helped more than we have hurt.
F.M:
What do you mean?
JOSHUA:
Because we kill only bad people, we have cleared the world of many potential wrong doings.
F.M:
Bad things are still happening.
JOSHUA:
Yes, but there would be more. And because we do not take the lives of the good, we have not robbed the world of all the good they will do.
F.M:
Who came up with your rules?
JOSHUA:
William. When William was human, he was brutal, but he was just. He respected bravery. He cut off hands and put heads on spikes, but only if someone deserved it. Plus, it was the way of the time, you know.
F.M:
So he took that philosophy with him when he became a vampire?
JOSHUA:
Exactly. And he taught it to us.
F.M:
Why did you all listen to him?
JOSHUA:
He is a born leader. When he speaks, you listen. And what he said, what he taught us, our Vampire Creed – it makes sense. If you’re going to live eternally, why cause chaos, why disrespect each other, why…
F.M:
Turn people into vampires who aren’t good people?
(He falls silent, and looks at me for an uncomfortably long time. Then he just nods.)
F.M:
I’m really bad at this interview thing.
JOSHUA:
No. You ask provocative questions. It doesn’t mean we have to like it. I won’t answer what I don’t wish to.
F.M:
I find you very interesting Joshua.
JOSHUA:
How so?
F.M:
Well, you’re barely moving, for one, and yet you seem so like liquid to me.
JOSHUA:
I suppose that is because my energy is balanced with what is around me.
F.M:
Can I do that?
JOSHUA:
You can, in a way, yes. Humans fight what is in front of them so often. And also, what is in their hearts. I have to follow what is in my heart when I create music. Align myself, with it. That is who I am now. But the stillness, all vampires have. We can move with great speed, or none at all. I believe it has something to do with time. Since we live forever, time does not own us as it does you. But this is just a theory.
F.M:
Interesting. Do you have a best friend, Joshua?
JOSHUA:
I do not. Not anymore.
F.M:
I’m sorry.
JOSHUA:
As am I. As am I.
(He looks away from me and his stare travels to another place. I lean forward and ask him, quietly…)
F.M:
Why do you live alone? Why not live with another vampire, or a human?
JOSHUA:
A human I would have to confide in, and since we are not able to walk in daylight, I would be vulnerable to her every day. This is something I will not risk. Not ever.
F.M:
What about a vampire then?
JOSHUA:
I have lived with friends over the years. I’ll tell you about that soon.
F.M:
No I mean, what about turning a human into a… oh, sorry…
JOSHUA:
It’s alright.
F.M:
I’m sorry. Really. I keep –
JOSHUA:
It’s alright.
F.M:
Umm… you’re fond of Daniella, yes?
(Daniella is the lead vampire in FIRE NECTAR. In JOSHUA – a novelette that is already out – Joshua and William have been summoned to help Daniella.)
JOSHUA:
Very
fond of her. I am looking forward to seeing her. It has been a very long time.
F.M:
How long?
JOSHUA:
More than a hundred years, I believe.
(shakes his head at the thought)
F.M:
That has to be so wild.
JOSHUA:
It is peculiar, when one thinks of it. But I spend so much time on my music, and on making friends with people in the places I inhabit. There are so many things to see, people to meet, that it is easy to get lost in it. Time moves faster as you get older.
F.M:
Daniella may have changed since you saw her last.
JOSHUA:
Do you think she has?
F.M:
Well, the way you described her and the way she described herself to me, when she told me to write her story, they’re not really the same.
JOSHUA:
How so?
F.M:
Well, how would you describe her again?
JOSHUA:
Innocent. Open. Kind. Honest. Charming. Happy. Adventurous. All that is beauty in a woman.
F.M:
You love her, don’t you?
JOSHUA:
(smiles)
Do you think that she is not those things anymore?
F.M:
Some of them maybe. But you’ll find out, and then maybe you can tell me what you think.
JOSHUA:
I might.
F.M:
Did you know people are really liking your book?
JOSHUA:
Are they?
F.M:
They are. Some great reviews have come in for JOSHUA – the only complaint is that it needs to be longer.
JOSHUA:
More is coming. That is only the first installment. I have many stories to tell.
F.M:
Oh good. I’m glad you’ll be spending more time with me.
JOSHUA:
It has been a pleasure mon Cherie. I must be going. They are boarding now. I will look forward to learning if what you say is true, if Daniella has indeed changed. I hope it is not so.
I
watch
him pick up his leather satchel and walk away. I think to myself that we all change over time, in some ways. You can’t hold onto innocence forever. Can you? He turns as he hands his boarding pass to the attendant at the door and tilts his head, sends me a smile and bids me adieu. I wave and smile, secretly pleased to know that I’m the only one there who guesses the truth: The strikingly handsome male who just boarded a 747, is a vampire.