Ulysses Exposed (Blaire Thorne Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Ulysses Exposed

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  From the author

  Copyright © 2019 by N Gray

  All rights reserved

  No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without express written permission from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Ulysses Exposed is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  If you enjoyed reading this story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.

  You can find me here www.ngraybooks.com

  Or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ngraybooks

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  First Edition 2019

  Edited by Novel Approach

  Published in South Africa by Cutman Press

  ULYSSES EXPOSED

  A woman wakes in an alley, alone, in the dark and dying from her wounds. She doesn’t know her name, has no memory of what happened to her, who attacked her or why.

  Three men discover her and offer her help. One of her rescuers is a master vampire, and everybody knows their kind can’t be trusted. The other two are were-animals capable of ripping her apart. Before she can protest to their aid, she passes out from blood loss.

  When she wakes, she is lying in a bed between two strangers she doesn’t recognize and has healed from her near-fatal wounds.

  Can she trust the vampire who saved her from death and offers her his protection?

  Can she put her life in the hands of a were-animal as they race to understand their night together, and how she is ultimately connected to the vampire?

  For Mom, miss you.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE AIR WAS cool, the sun warm against my face.

  When did I arrive at the beach?

  Wasn’t it nighttime in Sterling Meadow?

  I pushed my fingers into the sand, but the hard concrete beneath shattered my dream. My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on cold ground, looking up at the dark night and the shiny stars scattered beautifully like diamonds across the sky. There were no clouds to ruin my view. It was peaceful and serene. I glanced to my left, but an ache exploded at the back of my head, my blood trying to thump its way out. My eyes flickered to the sky once again.

  My pulse thundered in my ears, and my eyes clouded over with dark swirls and stars of my own. I lay still for a breath. When I lifted my left arm, I found that I couldn’t raise it any higher than my body before pain caught me in my ribs. I made a small yelping sound and lowered my arm back to the cold ground.

  I tried my right arm and lifted it all the way to my head, feeling something wet and sticky in my hair. I brought my hand into view. There was no bright red; only the dark maroon liquid dripping from my fingertips.

  I didn’t remember much before I saw the stars in the night sky. I didn’t remember how I got there, wherever there was. With an effort, I sat up, leaning on my right elbow, but my vision swirled and a headache blossomed.

  When I could focus again, I scanned my shadowy surroundings. A large dumpster was in front of me, full of garbage. Now that I could see it, I could also smell it. The stench wafted upon the air; the disposal trucks hadn’t collected in a while.

  Behind the dumpster was a brick wall with boxes on the floor and trash strewn around. It looked like an average alley, except it’s not a place that anyone should lay in.

  I tried to sit, my breathing now labored, but pain tore through my abdomen and flooded all the way to my toes. A soft cry escaped my mouth. Beads of sweat trickled down my face as I pushed with both arms until I was leaning against the wall. In a half-sitting, half-lying position, I slowly bent my knees and noticed that my jeans were ripped, a wound on my left thigh visibly oozing a dark, murky liquid.

  It looked like claw marks.

  Was I attacked by a were-animal?

  Were-animals had been living among humans for a while now; along with all the other monsters, vampires, witches, warlocks, fairies and dragons, to name just a few. We, the humans, tried not to be food for any of them, and there were laws protecting us against the monsters.

  Being attacked by any were-animal, if it didn’t kill me, could leave me infected with the viral strain or virus of that specific were-animal. Shit!

  If I survived—which was to be a big ‘if’—I would turn furry once a month each time the moon was full. I didn’t want that to happen.

  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and pulled the rest of my shirt out from the waistband of my jeans, looking to see why there was so much pain in my side. I wore a black vest beneath a black blouse, and the two pieces of clothing came out of my jeans easily as I pulled. Pain cut through my side again and I clenched my jaw. I lifted the two shirts high, exposing my black bra, but as I was the only one there, there was no embarrassment necessary.

  What I hadn’t expected to see was a shoulder holster for a gun. The holster was empty, and I couldn’t see a gun anywhere nearby.

  Why was I carrying a gun?

  I hoped I had a license for it—humans got jail time for carrying a weapon without that piece of paper.

  With both shirts pulled high, I saw the wound. There were small chunks of flesh missing from my left-hand side; the soft delicate meat between my hip bone and ribs was gone, chewed and swallowed by something with big teeth. The wound had tears splitting from it that almost reached my belly button, like the were-animal had wanted to rip me apart.

  As I pressed gently on the wound, blood gushed thick and heavy from beneath my fingers, and the night sky swirled before me again.

  When I came to a few seconds later, the wound was still trickling blood. If an organ had been nicked by the animal’s teeth, there might not be enough time. If I was going to survive, I needed to do something quick.

  I unbuttoned my blouse and steadily slipped it off my shoulders. With my teeth and hands, I tore the blouse in half, scrunched one half into a tight ball, and pressed it gently against the wound on my side. Tears began to trickle down my cheeks and onto my chest. I pulled the vest down to cover the wound and to hold the make-shift gauze in place. With the other half of the blouse, I flattened it out and twisted it so that it looked like a long rope and tied it around my thigh. It was the best I could do to stop the bleeding without having a belt.

  There was a sharp, shooting pain vibrating up my spine and down to my toes as I tied the knot onto my thigh, holding the wound on my side closed with both hands.

  I felt all the pain; the tearing of the bite wound and the pulling of the clawed wound as the adrenaline tapered off. I lay quietly, concentrating on my breathing and contempl
ating what to do next.

  Should I scream for help and try to crawl out from the alley?

  There was a problem with that.

  I didn’t think I would be able move with this hole, and I didn’t know the neighborhood. Was it human friendly?

  What monsters might leer around the corner, and what would they do when they saw me?

  Vampires loved blood. Were-animals loved flesh. Witches could use me for their spells.

  Shit. My pulse hammered in my ears, and tiny sparks fluttered in my vision. I needed help soon.

  I sat straighter against the wall, my body positioned slightly to the right so that the wound on my left wasn’t compromised. As I bent forward, something thicker than tears ran down my face. I wiped it away with the back of my hand to find it was a dark, thick liquid—somewhere on my head I was bleeding. Anything else going to go wrong tonight?

  Men were talking and footsteps approached; they were almost at the opening of the alley. There was maybe three or four of them. I didn’t know if they were good men and would help, or whether they would finish the job that the were-animal had started. If they were vampires and saw all this blood, then I was the perfect victim. I hadn’t heard of a vampire that couldn’t resist so much blood. And no were-animal could resist biting into fresh flesh. I was a Happy Meal to go.

  But, I needed help urgently. At first, I cried out softly. When they didn’t respond, I cried out louder. The talking stopped, and the footsteps slowed down. I glanced over my right shoulder to see the entrance of the alley and rested my head; it was too much effort to keep my head up. In the light, I could see three of them, one slightly ahead of the others, and they were all staring at me.

  Their eyes glowed like a cat’s would when in the dark. The men were were-animals, and I was potentially vulnerable prey. The man in front, his face concealed in darkness, stood painfully still—was he tempted?

  I cried out again, this time a whimper as the pain ripped through my body.

  The men spoke quietly to each other, then the man in front nodded. I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them again, the two men were in the alley and heading toward me. One of them bent down on his haunches and showed me his hands, letting me know he had no weapons and meant no harm.

  I tried to speak, but no sound came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Help me,” I whispered.

  “Your leg is bleeding. I will try to stop it and then pick you up. If we don’t help you now, you will die here.” He looked up at his friend and then back at me. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes.” I nodded and swallowed hard. I think everyone around the block could hear me swallow. “Please help me.”

  “Give me your belt,” the man said to his friend, lifting his hand to wait for the belt. When he had it in his hands, he wrapped it around my left thigh and fastened tightly to stop the bleeding. When he pulled on it, to fasten the belt into place, I cried out until the night swallowed me.

  CHAPTER 2

  I WOKE IN a stranger’s arms. He carried me like a sleeping child with my right arm draped loosely around his neck. I tensed and grabbed hold of his neck as if I would fall.

  He must have felt me move because he patted me gently on my arm.

  “It’s okay. I have you. You won’t fall.” He looked at me as he said this, “I’m Sebastian. Can you tell me your name?”

  “Ah,” I started to say. I didn’t know. “I don’t remember.”

  I couldn’t think what my name was. It was stuck, right there but just out of reach. A headache thumped at my temples, and the streetlights above us swam in swirls as I swallowed hard. I closed my eyes and thought about the sky, the fresh Chinese take-away that I was smelling, and the ocean—we were nowhere near the ocean, but I could smell it, nevertheless. I swallowed again, chasing down the vomit—throwing up would not be a good idea, not with my pulse thudding behind my eyes.

  “We need to take her to an emergency center.” This from Sebastian’s friend, who was walking beside him.

  Sebastian said, “She needs help urgently.”

  “If we drop her off at the center, they will not treat her. They aren’t equipped to handle her condition properly.” This was the first time the man who walked ahead had spoken.

  I opened my eyes to glance at him, but all I could see was his dark brown hair, that was brushed close to his head and staying in place as he glided onward. I couldn’t see the front of him, but he wore a beautiful coat that flowed to his ankles and was made from expensive leather.

  Sebastian was doing his best to walk without hurting me, but every now and again pain shot up my left leg and dug deeply into my side. All the while, the headache burned through my brain. My blood was on fire as it moved through my veins. I winced with each step that Sebastian took, and I didn’t know if I could manage going any farther.

  I cried out and grabbed my left-hand side. Flesh started to tear near my bellybutton and spine like I was being torn in two. Would my insides exit the wound?

  I didn’t know what it was about this attack, but this couldn’t be normal; the burning of my skin, the fire in my blood and the feel of my flesh as it kept tearing.

  None of it could be normal.

  Sebastian moved me slightly in his arms so that he could gently lay his hand over mine as I held onto my side.

  “We are almost at my master’s place. Just one more block.” He smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes.

  If I was about to die, I might as well admire the view. I stared at Sebastian. He was beautiful, with his full lips, grass green eyes with slivers of gold running through them and long eyelashes. He had high cheekbones, a square jaw, and the ear that I could see was nicely shaped and sat neatly against his head. He had short blonde hair that was shaved at the sides and was a little longer on top, so that you could just see the beginning of velvety curls. His hair looked soft, and I so wanted to run my fingers through it.

  “Which animal are you?” I said, barely audible; my speech came as more of a mumble.

  Did I want to make idle chit-chat, particularly at this point? I thought not, but also wanted to stop thinking about the pain while my blood ran hot. The only thing I could think of was to talk.

  “I’m a were-leopard.” He flashed a wholesome grin. “How did you know?”

  I didn’t answer him. My eyes were heavy, and I rested my head on his broad shoulders, but I think I smiled. I couldn’t remember.

  And then I died.

  Okay, I didn’t die. I passed out from all the blood loss. I awoke to bright lights above me, and someone tugging on my abdomen. My whole body shook as they were pulling down. I tried to sit, but small hands came from behind the little curtain in front of me and pushed me back onto the table.

  “Don’t sit. I’m busy suturing your side.” Big brown eyes commanded from behind a pair of glasses, and her mouth hidden behind a mask.

  “Léon, I need help. It’s too much; it’s too deep.”

  The doctor stopped pulling on me and turned around. I looked to the left to see who she was talking to, and it was the other man—the one who had walked in front. His name was Léon. That name rings familiar. I knew it from somewhere—but from where? Just like my name, it’s sitting on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say it.

  One moment he was across the room, the next he stood beside the doctor—so close that I could touch him. Either he had used magic, or I was just slow; it could’ve been both. I did a slow blink trying to process this information and stared at him.

  He was talking to the doctor, but he stared at me. I saw his mouth move but couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. He had exquisite eyes; they were ocean blue. Eyes you could look at every day. The blue of water so deep that you could fall in and drown. The dark brown or black hair framed a pale face with high cheekbones and a strong jaw.

  They were whispering under their breath. I didn’t know why I wanted to do this, it’s like you always want to do the thing you shouldn’t because it’s not a good idea, b
ut it’s what I did. I tried to move my right arm, but it was heavy. I lifted it and a block of wood came with it along with the drip. Someone came into my view from behind and grabbed my arm to move it back into place.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered near my ear as he moved hair out of my face. “Just relax, we will take care of you.”

  I couldn’t see who it was, but his voice was smooth and soothing as velvet, and so I relaxed my arm in his.

  “Give her another shot.”

  I saw that the doctor who was watching me, as was Léon. Both their faces were blank, devoid of any emotion or telltale signs of what they were really thinking.

  Someone had their back to me and was tinkering with the drip. Another slow blink, and I closed my eyes.

  Hard grinding sounds and heavy moving concrete stirred me awake. I did not understand what the sound was, but it felt like the earth or I were moving. My arm rested around someone’s waist, and they were gently cupping my hand in theirs. Their skin was warm and smelled of the ocean, with just a hint of citrus. There was also the smell of leaves and grass mixed in somewhere. I snuggled my face against their back, and it felt so warm, so safe.

  What did I do last night to wake in someone’s bed? I tensed. Opening my eyes, I wanted to take my hand away, but he held onto my hand and started turning around to face me. I kept tugging on my arm to set it free, but he kept holding on as he turned around. My chest tightened as I held my breath. As he faced me, I recognized him. It was Sebastian, the man who had carried me. He smiled, and we were close enough that I could see how green his eyes were, even with the slivers of gold—they reminded me of eyes on black kitty cats, the color of true green without the grey hues that most green-eyed people had.

  His intense stare made me look down to see if I was wearing anything. The sheet came up under my arms. It covered everything, but I peeked inside the covers to see if I was naked—which I was, except for underwear. Thank goodness I still had something on. Why was he in bed with me? I hoped he wasn’t naked. The sheet was tucked underneath him from turning around, so that all I could see was his chest and lower to his waist. I felt heat creep up my neck and blushed. His smile widened. I pulled the sheet higher and tucked it all around me.