Blood Haze

Blood Haze

By LR Potter

Copyright 2014 LR Potter

This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is
licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or
given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another
person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover Design By:

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For
beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror…

Rainer
Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies

Prologue

There was blood… so much blood.
She was swimming in a sea of it. She could feel it flow over her skin, sticky
and thick. Its metallic-smell made her stomach roil and it took all her effort
not to gag. All around her were bodies, dozens and dozens of them. She
remembered being a young girl at church and the preacher depicting the horror
and carnage of the pits of hell. That’s what this was… hell. She expected to
hear crying and gnashing of teeth, but she heard nothing but silence. The
silence in itself made the scene that much more horrifying.

She
looked above her at the brass-ring from which her wrists were suspended. The
bindings were so tight, her hands were nearly numb. Fear flowed over her, and
she struggled to maintain her control. Her eyes darted around the macabre scene
set out in front of her. A tiny shaft of hope pierced her chest. There was one
who could save her. She struggled to see him in her mind, but he was like a ghost…
a shadow… a mist. He swirled through her mind, and like tendrils of smoke, when
she tried to capture his image, he slipped away. His piercing, dark eyes, the
only clear part of him she could see, haunted her… taunted her even, as she
struggled to capture his image.

Arabella
Marks jerked upright, her chest heaving, clutching the sheet tightly within her
cold, trembling fingers. She struggled to suck much needed oxygen into her
burning chest. Sweat coated her skin as fear ran its icy fingers down her spine.
She sobbed and frantically glanced about the darkened room, searching for the
bodies she’d seen. When she’d assured herself it’d only been a nightmare – the
same nightmare she’d had time and time again, she lifted a trembling hand to her
lips and muttered, “Thank God, thank God!” Indeed thankful it hadn’t been real
this time. But by the blood running from her nose, she knew it would only be a
matter of time.

“Arabella?” a voice mumbled sleepily from the other side of
the bed.

“I’m okay, Drew. Go back to sleep,” she murmured quietly, as
she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them to comfort herself.

Without answering, he rolled onto his side away from her.
She stared at his outline, made shadowy by the night. The distance between them
in the bed increased her unease. Lately, that vast expanse seemed to have
invaded their lives in more areas than just here. She’d tried to ignore the
distance, hoping it would just go away. But it felt like an ocean to her –
vast, cold, and impenetrable.

A
small shiver ran through her. She was comfortable with him… comfortable, safe,
and secure. But sometimes… sometimes, she felt as if some integral part of her
was missing… as if she were just waiting for something… or someone. Her
reoccurring glimpses of an elusive man didn’t help either. She could
feel
him, but his shadowy features were
never revealed to her – just those piercing eyes. She never was sure what that
meant.
 
She shook her head at her own
foolishness. Drew was good to her… was good
for
her.

Would Drew be the one to save her when the time came? The
image of those dark, piercing eyes once again floated across her mind and she
shivered once again. No, she didn’t think so.

Chapter 1

The
lights positioned above, bounced off the crystals attached to the figure-hugging,
champagne-colored gown worn by the stunning woman standing on the stage below. Arabella
Marks stood with her long fingers wrapped around the microphone stand in front
of her. Her head was bowed, causing her long, dark, wavy styled-hair to float
down past her breasts. Her eyes were closed as she waited for the music to take
her away.

The
saxophone player, seated behind her, began to lob slow, sweet notes into the
air and the music seemed to wrap its silky arms around the woman. She allowed
it to swirl through her before opening her mouth to begin singing the sultry,
bluezy song. Her voice was soft and slightly husky. She opened her vividly blue
eyes and looked out at the tables surrounding the stage, even though the track
lighting up above made it nearly impossible to see anyone in the audience.

She
moved her hips seductively to the music, as her crimson-coated lips hovered
over the head of the microphone. She turned her back to the audience to face
Tommy, the saxophone player, while he played a solo in the middle of the song.
The deceptively demure dress she wore plunged drastically down the back, nearly
revealing a tantalizing glimpse of the crease of her behind.

She
turned back toward the audience and continued to sing, moving smoothly off the
stage, meandering through the room, going table to table. The men in the room
wanted her - the women wanted to be her. She moved about without really seeing
any one person. She’d perfected her act long ago. She returned to the stage as
the song reached its crescendo. At the conclusion of the song, she took a step
back from the microphone stand and allowed her head to once again bow demurely.
The audience clapped enthusiastically as she dipped her head to them and smiled
coyly in their direction before slipping from the stage.

Lynx
Rogan had sat up a little straighter in his seat when the sultry songstress had
begun to sing.
A voice like that and a
body to match
?
Wow
. He’d watched
as she’d gyrated her hips on the stage and when she’d turned her bared back to
the audience, he’d nearly come unglued. Her creamy, unblemished skin, which he
knew encased the pulsating blood beneath, caused him to swallow the influx of
saliva instantly generated in his mouth. He watched her move through the
audience casually, never making eye contact… never really making a connection
at all. He wanted that woman… and so, he would have her.

Once
she finished her set, Arabella made her way to the bar, being forced to stop
and greet several patrons of the club. When she finally made it, she glided up
on a barstool and placed her hand on Drew’s shoulder gaining his attention. He
turned and smiled at her.

“That
was amazing, as always,” he said.

“Thanks,”
she replied, returning his smile. Happiness swirled around her at his presence.
“What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

He
gave her an uncomfortable smile and shrugged his shoulders. “I got off work
early and decided to stop by. Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

She
tilted her head to one side, contemplating his odd behavior, before replying,
“A glass of house red would be great.”

As
Drew, turned to flag the bartender, the older woman seated next to him, who he’d
been conversing when she’d arrived, looked at her quizzically and slurred,
“Don’t I know you?” The woman’s eyes squinted, in her intoxication.

Instantly
on guard, Arabella smiled politely nonetheless. “No, I don’t think so.”

The
woman’s brows furrowed as she struggled to place her. Arabella quickly glanced
away, afraid of allowing the woman to dwell on
how
she might have known her.

As
she sat, uncomfortably waiting on her drink, the manager of the Night Owl
Nightclub, and one of the few people she considered a friend, Karmyl Rogan,
came around the other side of Arabella.

“You
never fail to wow me,” Karmyl said, as she wrapped her cool arms around her.

“I’m
glad you’re pleased,” she said with a smile, as she took in the stylishly-dressed
redhead.

“And
your dress is magnificent. You’d think your good taste would extend to your
selection in men,” Karmyl said dryly.

“I
heard that,” Drew groused.

“Well,
if the dagger fits,” she replied before turning her attention back to Arabella.

With
mock sternness, Drew said, “Arabella Marks! You better defend me!”

“I
always do…” she began, before the older woman next to Drew interrupted.

“That’s
it! You’re Olivia Marks’s daughter, aren’t you?” the woman slurred.

Fear
lanced through her. She hated these types of confrontations. She gave the woman
a small smile and a hesitant nod.

Almost
conspiringly, she leaned across the bar’s top and asked, “So, tell me, was she
really psychic or the phony people said she was?” While her tone said she
wasn’t actually trying to be insulting, her words still stung.

Arabella
tensed, not sure how to respond to the obviously drunk woman’s words. Before
she could, however, Tobias, the bartender on duty, stepped in, “Ms. Langow, why
don’t I call you a taxi?”

“What?”
Arabella heard the woman begin to protest before Karmyl placed a hand on her
arm, effectively drawing her attention away from the protesting woman.

Karmyl
rolled her eyes in commiseration. “Before you run off, I have someone I want
you to meet,” she said, as she tugged Arabella off the barstool.

Arabella
glanced quickly at Drew to see how the drunk woman’s words had affected him.
He’d turned back to the bartender, his lips grim. He’d had to endure this type
of thing right along with her for years. She wondered how long he’d be willing
to continue to put up with it. She feared the day when he wouldn’t.

“Who
are you dragging me off to meet?” she finally asked.

“It’s
my brother, and as he is the owner of the club, he’s technically your boss. So
be nice,” Karmyl replied.

“But
I thought he was, like, in South Africa or something?”

“Yeah,
he was, but now he’s back. I’m so excited,” she said as she clasped her hands
together.”

Arabella
tapped Drew’s arm and motioned her intent as she allowed the beautiful redhead
to drag her across the club. Karmyl guided them to one of the red leather,
horseshoe-shaped, padded booths located in the rear of the club. As they
gradually got closer, Arabella focused on the man Karmyl was taking her to
meet. Seated in a booth was a man with dark wavy hair, longer than would be
considered conventional. His dark, exotic looks reminded Arabella of a pirate
or a warrior god. From what she could see, his physique was lean and trim, his
jaw squared, and his lips full. He sat with one hand wrapped around the stem of
a fluted glass. The physical beauty of the man caused Arabella to straighten
her shoulders automatically, and a small flutter began low in her belly.

Embarrassed
by her own reaction to him, she looked away as they approached the table and
didn’t glance back until Karmyl made the introductions and she was forced to. “Lynx,
this Arabella Marks. Arabella… Lynx Rogan,” Karmyl said with a flourish.

Slowly
and leisurely, he slid his eyes up, from the tips of her tan stilettos and over
the simmering curves of her body. Irritation settled into the pit of her
stomach at his lecherous inspection of her. As insulted as she was by his
behavior, she couldn’t contain the shiver as she’d seemed to
feel
the heated slide of his eyes over
her. Her mouth opened to offer up a rebuke until his eyes finally found hers. She
sucked in a breath involuntarily. She’d seen those eyes, had been haunted by
them for a long time. That it was him, she had no doubt.

“Arabella…
what a beautiful name,” he murmured. His softly accented voice washed over her
with such sensual pleasure, it nearly made her swoon, as her grandmother used
to say. Her heart accelerated and her breathing quickened, as she was drawn
into the fathomless depths of his nearly-black eyes. When she finally found her
voice, inanely, she asked, breathlessly, “Have we met before?”

His
lips twisted wryly, “I think that’s supposed to be my line. But no, there’s no
way I’d ever forget a meeting such as that,”

She
blushed as she realized she was still staring at him. As she obviously couldn’t
say how she’d seen him before, she searched for something else to say. “Thank
you. Are you happy to be home?”

Lynx
watched her eyes as he spoke, never breaking his connection, “I am. I’ve been
gone far too long.”

“I
know Karmyl…” Arabella turned to where Karmyl had been only seconds before,
only to find her gone. She turned her head slowly back to him. “I know your
sister is happy to have you back.” Suddenly feeling awkward and wanting to be
away from his overwhelming presence, and needing to think about what meeting
him meant, she said, “It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Rogan. I’ll leave you
to enjoy the rest of your evening.”