One Kiss: An Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy (Transmissions from The International Council for the Exploration of the Universe., #1) (11 page)

It slumped, like a wind-up toy that's suddenly run out of turns, and when Basil withdrew his knife, pushing against the dead man's shoulder to release it, the body fell to its knees and then to the side, its face landing at my feet. A hand grabbed my shoulder and I dropped to the ground, swinging my violin case over my shoulder, screaming, my whole body repulsed at the touch.

I knocked the case into a woman who stumbled away from me and, seeing Issa still leaning against the wall, lunged at him so hard that his head knocked against the wall, bounced, and flopped onto his chest. Basil was instantly on the creature, wrapping his arm around its neck, pulling it back from Issa, driving the knife through the woman's temple, as Issa slid to the ground, unconscious. Fighting through my terror, I scrambled across the ground trying to find my keys. I saw them on the sidewalk, lodged into a crack in the cement, and grabbed them. I went to stand but was knocked over by another zombie.

Its weight pushed me against the ground. Long hair and splatters of blood blinded me as it dove for my neck. I tried to get my hands up to push it off but before I could, the thing flew off of me, rising up in the air in an elegant arc, angling left, landing in the middle of the street, splatting in front of a fleeing runner, who screamed, leapt over it, and kept going.  A figure stood above me and I swiped at my eyes, trying to clear them. When I blinked up again I didn't believe what I was seeing. "Megan?"

"Yes, Darling," she said. "It's me."

D
arling looked pale. Her voice was almost reverential when she said Megan's name. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Can you go on?"

"I need to feed," she said.

"What would you like?"

"Something powerful."

"So nothing human?" I asked.

"You really don't know about my kind, do you?"

"That's what we are doing here today."

She laughed. "It's going to take much more than a day for you to figure me out."

"But you know how to stop them?" I asked. I bit my lip, hating how vulnerable and desperate I felt for her answer.

She just smiled. "Bring me one of your kind. I need to feed.”

<<<<>>>>

E
.J. Kimelman is the paranormal pen name of Emily Kimelman. She splits her time between the Hudson Valley and traveling the world with her husband, Sean, and her dog, Kinsey (named after Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone), researching exciting locations for her Sydney Rye Mystery Series. Emily is enjoying writing about places that only exist in her imagination with the KISS series. Kimelman has a passion for traveling and spends as much time as possible in the pursuit of adventure.

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T
hank you for reading the first installments of my KISS serial. I'm super excited that you made it through my whole bio right here to my "note". I'm guessing that means that you enjoyed my story. If so, would you please write a review for ONE KISS? You have no idea how much it warms my heart to get a new review. And this isn't just for me, mind you. Think of all the people out there who need reviews to make decisions. The children who need to be told this book is not for them. And the people about to go away on vacation who could have so much fun reading this on the plane. Consider it an act of kindness to me, to the children, to humanity.

Let people know what you thought about this installment by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble or iBooks.

Thank you, E.J. Kimelman