William's Tale (16 page)

Jackie playfully punched him in the arm. “You said those words very early in our relationship. It was during a carriage ride just before you watched me eat dinner at that nice country club.” She winked at Alex. “I had him earn it before I would say I loved him.”

“You didn’t have me wait that long,” he protested. “We got married six months later.”

“Sinclair came nearly a year after that; then we had Nicole. I asked William to turn me when Sulie diagnosed me with early stage ovarian cancer a few years ago.” She sighed as she looked over to William. “I love this man too much to leave him. Our vows are for eternity.”

Alex finished her glass of wine and set the glass down. “Your story is lovely, and I’m sure my husband was upset about your first date at the White House. He’s such a stickler for protocol.”

William hung the last of the ten finished costumes on a hanger and placed the outfit next to the others on the door handle. “Well, if not for us standing at that window, we never would have known about those special bullets. The glass in all the window panes was changed soon afterwards. We may have even saved the President’s life that night, so Raymond let the indiscretion drop.”

Alex’s phone buzzed. “Speaking of the devil. Raymond is calling from Oregon” She stood from the kitchen table and made her way to the door, waving goodnight to Jackie and William. “Hi honey,” she said into the phone as she closed the door to the apartment behind her.

The time was getting late, so William began cleaning the kitchen as Jackie put the sewing machine away. Their baby would get up sometime soon, and any quiet moment alone was to be cherished. Jackie had made a leap for love and as far as either of them could tell, they were both still up on cloud nine.

THE END

Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed reading my novelal, William’s Tale (Book Three and a half of The COLONY series). Please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Barnes & Noble. Reviews encourage me to improve my craft and to continue writing this series. Thank you.

Please visit my website (
http://www.reginamorris.com
) for more information about the other novels/novellas in the COLONY Series. Feel free to contact me through my website, through my social media sites (see my website for the list) or by email at
mailto:[email protected]
.

I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and two children. I graduated high school in Germany and I attended the University of Texas at Austin, where I received a degree in Computer Science with a minor in math. After enjoying a career in software engineering, I discovered that writing is in my blood, and had to put pen to paper!

The opinions I express in my novels are my own. My stories are my own intellectual property. Copyright (c) 2012–2014, Regina Morris

Sincerely,

Regina Morris

Vampires exist among us. They can be our neighbor, best friend, our child’s teacher…

They alter their aged appearance based upon the amount of blood they consume. They move to a new area, drink a lot of blood, and appear young. Slowly they limit their intake of blood and age, right in front of our unsuspecting eyes. After decades, they fake their death, move, and do it over and over again.

Most live quiet lives in an effort to blend in.

Some, however, want power and control.

The COLONY is an elite group of vampires sworn to protect the President of the United States from these rogue vampires.

Eternal Service (Book #1)
Amazon Top 100 Bestseller
978–0–9888222–0–7 (ebook)
978–0–9888222–1–4 (paperback)

When Agent Raymond Metcalf, vampire coven master of the COLONY, teams up with a human female operative–who has no idea that vampires even exist–will his mission or his heart be compromised first?

Career military woman, Alex Brennan, is being offered the promotion of a lifetime, and with it a romance that she has desperately been seeking. Does she dare accept the position as Director of the COLONY, an elite group of deadly creatures of the night and risk a dangerous romance with a man who isn’t even human? Together, can they save the President?

United Service (Book #2)
Amazon Top 100 Bestseller
978–0–9888222–6–9 (ebook)
978–0–9888222–7–6 (paperback)

Sterling Metcalf is a modern–day vampire who clashes with his father’s antiquated ideals. Being the half–breed of the COLONY group, Sterling hates being the team’s weakest link. He jumps at an opportunity to do some fieldwork rescuing kidnapped vampire children and is accompanied by Kate Spencer, the nanny of one of the children. Kate is a purebred vampire with a secret of her own. Can Sterling put aside his bad–boy ways and woo the lovely Kate? Will Kate accept the advances of a half–breed? Together, can they save the children from a religious cult who wants to kill them?

William’s Tale (Novella #1)
978–0–9914034–4–8 (ebook)
Available Summer 2014

Fifteen years ago, COLONY Agent William Wardell met his future wife Jackie Pearlman. She’s sexy, opinionated, and finds him to be a mockery of the American dream of equality for all. Can a past Freedom Rider and racial activist from the 1960s, now turned vampire, prove to the love of his life that he’s not a political puppet?

Reliant Service (Book #4)
978–0–9914034–2–4 (ebook)
978–0–9914034–3–1 (paperback)
Available Fall 2014

After faking his death from an assassination attempt on the President, and retiring his first and only alias with the COLONY, Daniel Brighton discovers the mandatory sabbatical to be less than exciting. He chooses to do a favor and act as a security guard for a fading pop–singer, Lori Austin, whose career is winding down. He travels across Europe with her and discovers her past to be one of deception and intrigue with a history leading directly back to the COLONY itself.

Lori Austin is struggling to keep her career alive, and is willing to do what is necessary to save it. From bad press and scandalous stories, she travels across Europe on a relief tour to revitalize her career, but doesn’t realize she is traveling with a vampire. Discovering a hidden family secret, she realizes that the one man who can save her is the handsome security guard she fought so hard not to hire.

Special thanks to my husband and our children for their love and support; to my sister for believing in me and encouraging me to follow my dream.

Many people have helped me in the creation of this novel. Special thanks to:

My Beta Readers: Lynn W. of the Paranormal Romance Guild

My Content Editor: Selena W. and Chelle L. of Literal Addition

My Line Editor: Sue M.

My Proof Readers: Pennie B, Jean G., Rorie S, and Deb T.

I’d also like to thank my Street Team of supporters – For the Love of Fiction Team and The COLONY Street Team.

The support you have given me gave me the courage, strength and resources to complete this novel. Thank you!

Raymond recoiled from the sight of the woman’s blood on his hands as he struggled to keep the exhausted blood–soaked forger pinned to the cold hard ground. “You son of a bitch,” he scowled. The crisp dried leaves crunched beneath his prey. “That woman had a life, and a family who cared for her. You killed her like she was nothing.”

The subdued forger shrugged, unwilling to make eye contact. “The woman was collateral damage, nothing more.”

The cool night breeze blew the scent of the woman’s blood into Raymond’s face, and Raymond grimaced. He shook his head in disgust. Suddenly needing to end the interrogation, he turned to his team. The darkness of the evening was even more intensified by the secluded spot where he held the forger down, but he could still easily make out the faces of his men.

One of the shadows separated from the dark. Agent Ben knelt down next to Raymond, his dark skin and stocky, muscular build contrasting sharply with Raymond’s tall, marble–like perfection. Ben callously crushed the forger’s hands as he digitally scanned his fingerprints.

“Aargh! Son of a bitch! Look, I’ll make a deal with you if you let me go.”

“You don’t know who hired you, so you have nothing to bargain with,” Raymond said dismissively as he watched Ben finish his task and pocket the scanner. Raymond then glanced over at his son, Sterling, who was checking the vampire’s belongings.

“I’ve got everything I need,” Sterling mumbled as he tossed the backpack to the ground.

Raymond pulled a dagger from his boot and wondered if the forger would show any remorse or fear now that he was about to die, but none came. Sterling moved to hold the captive’s feet down in preparation for the end.

“I can pay you. I can get you gems, gold, blood … whatever you want.”

Raymond didn’t bother to acknowledge the forger’s bribes. Instead, he showed him the cold steel blade as his answer.

“C’mon, everybody’s got a price. What do you say?”

“You breached the perimeter of the White House in an effort to kill the President,” Raymond said.

“It was just a job. I wasn’t sent there to kill anybody.”

Raymond looked at the man in disgust. “Tell that to the guards you attacked and the pregnant woman you killed as you fled.”

The forger’s eyes were wide, as if he were thinking of anything to say that could save his life.

“There’s also a price to pay for the lives you took,” Raymond said as he plunged the dagger into the vampire’s heart. Instantly, Raymond’s knees sank into the dirt as the vampire disappeared beneath him. A cloud of dust scattered across Raymond’s fatigues, and the once shiny blade now lay stained in a dusty mound on the ground. The last remains of the captive.

Ben knelt down beside Raymond, “We’ll have to list him as an enemy killed in action,” he said as he collected what was left of the EKIA for DNA.

“The Director and Homeland Security need to be informed that there’s been a breach,” Raymond said as he stood and shook the dust from his pants.

Nodding, Sterling took out his phone, “Dixon, we need to meet. McGregor’s Pub. Give us about an hour.”

*******

McGregor’s pub was located on the outskirts of the suburbs, the kind of place where the parking lot was still a back lawn, Appletinis didn’t exist, and the bartender was always willing for you to bend his ear. The neon beer signs were still lit and the open sign was still slung on the door, so Raymond led the team in.

They strode past the long bar counter, with its many empty stools sitting in a row. The few tables in the place were clustered together. Booths and pool tables took up all the room in the way back. It was an older place but still kept up, at least to the point where you could sit down and not worry about sticking to the chairs. They found Dixon sitting in his usual back corner booth drinking a beer.

“Dixon, good you could make it here so fast,” Raymond said as they approached the older man.

The waitress eyed the three handsome men as soon as they entered, and bustled to the booth to take their order. As she approached, she eyed each one and sized them up. Each stood well over six foot in height, and offered her a variety of flavors to choose from. Raymond, towering over the others and striking with his dark hair and pale, flawless skin, sat down next to Dixon. The other two men squeezed their large frames into the other side of the booth. The shorter of the two, with his long blond locks and playboy visage managing to look like he was lounging even in the small space, seemed to have tempted the waitress, as did the cocoa brown skinned and powerfully built muscles of the other. Of course each one was her senior by over a century, but that was undetectable. “You boys want something?” She winked over at Ben as her chosen favorite. Obviously there was nothing wrong with a little brown sugar in her sugar bowl tonight.

Raymond searched deep into her eyes and willed the human to obey him. “Quickly finish closing. We’ll lock up when we’re done here.” As he compelled the waitress, Ben rose with his usual military precision to contend with the bartender. At a stern glance from his father, Sterling slouched over to each of the few patrons in the place. The pub cleared within minutes. The men helped themselves to drinks and gathered around their table.

“OK, I’m guessing this has to do with what happened earlier tonight on the south lawn of the White House,” Dixon said, scratching the gray whiskers of his five o’clock shadow. He then added, “The guards are fine. The hospital released them a short while ago. Of course the media frenzy is still going on. It’s been classified as a random attack with the assailant having escaped.”