Shocked

Excerpt From: Shocked

Lissa Ford often wondered when she’d find her very own rabbit hole to fall down. All her life, she’d been so curious that she could give her cat, a sarcastic-looking tabby named Sherlock, a run for his money.

As a child, she’d wandered through the woods, poking sticks into bushes to see what would scurry out, and had even investigated a few holes in the ground once she’d seen the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. She’d been captivated by the idea that a different world could exist somewhere, if she could only find it. She never had.

As she’d grown older, her focus had shifted to more conventional, educational avenues of exploration, and here she was, nearly thirty years later, a fully qualified clinical biologist with plenty of research to do. Her focus was now on the wonders of undiscovered science rather than Wonderland itself. She loved her work and the way the results of her research often surprised her.

Not that it stopped her from reading fantastical tales about mythical creatures and supernatural predators in the night. After all, ‘scientist’ didn’t have to mean ‘sceptic’.

Lissa ran her fingers over the spines of her book collection with a small smile. Unicorns...well, they were out. She was far from virginal by this point in her life. Werewolves...Lissa knew enough about human anatomy to know that it was not flexible enough to contort like that.

Vampires...now that would be an interesting one. Not that she actively believed in such things, but if enough genetic anomalies were grouped together...

"Lissa, the cab’s here!"

Annie had come over to use her straighteners before their big night out, and she was on taxi lookout duty. Lissa took one last glance in the mirror, checking her hair and makeup before joining her friend at the apartment door and running downstairs to the waiting taxi.

Tonight there would be no work, no fairytales—just lots of dancing, plenty of Red Bull and maybe even a cute guy or two.

Chapter Two

He’d been tracking a specific thread of energy for three blocks. The hunger was a persistent tingle in his brain that occasionally spasmed into a full-blown electric shock, and the energy source that had caught his attention would be more than enough to satisfy his craving.

Nick Callaghan had finally caught a break.

If it was enough to get his attention, then it’d be a beacon to the sick fuck he’d been tracking for months, too. All he had to do was locate this energy source, and it was a pretty good bet he’d cross paths with Steven Taylor.

There was compatible energy all around him, of course. Humans were everywhere, especially on a Saturday night downtown. Though Nick had never been human, he looked like one, and that was an advantage he was thankful for in everyday life.