The Price of Blood: A Dark Fantasy Novel
The life of a beast hunter is often short and bloody. But in Victoria Boucher's case, it is eternal. After a vampire supremacist cult wiped out most of her kingdom and left her with a savage curse, she roams the empire of Guillamar with one desire: destroy any and all undead she gets her hands on. When the cult finally comes looking to finish what they started ten years prior, Victoria is faced with a choice: embrace the bloodthirsty instincts that drive her to kill the undead, or try to find a cure before the curse drives her to madness.
Chapter 1: Lost and Found
Victoria grunted as her feet hit the ground. She steadied herself against her horse, glad to be out of the saddle. The ride back ...
Chapter 2: The Last of Her Kind
Once she'd retrieved Riven from his stall and tipped the stable boy, Victoria steered him down the south road out of town. The s ...
Chapter 3: A City Up in Arms
It was just before dawn when Tru'Lis came into sight. The triplet sister cities, as it was known. Victoria never liked coming he ...
Chapter 4: The Empress Beckons
Giselle groaned into her pillow when she heard someone knocking on the door. From out in the hall, she heard the housekeeper, Ma ...
Chapter 5: On the Prowl
Every bounty hunter doing business in the Ilham District knew that if they wanted to keep doing business there, it came at the p ...
Chapter 6: An Intruder at Midnight
TW: Blood, Gore, Injury, ViolenceNothing excited Victoria quite as much as the thrill of the hunt. The sound of her prey's feet ...
Chapter 7: The Price of Blood
TW: Brief description of corpses"Trus'Lis certainly has... changed over the years," Klen said as he and Victoria emerged from th ...
Chapter 8: A Little Too Late
Giselle drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair at the head of the table as she waited for everyone to enter the room. Thus ...
Chapter 9: A Huntress Names Valerie
"Are you certain this is the place she was staying, Auguste?" Giselle withheld her grimace as they slowed to a stop in front of ...
Chapter 10: Witch Hunt
Giselle had never found Tru'Lis to be an appealing city to be in. The tall buildings hid the sky from view and seemed to absorb ...
Chapter 11: Killer Instincts
TW: Blood, death, discussion of physical and emotional trauma, violence"Please! Mercy! I'll tell you what you want!" Victor ...
Chapter 12: Vengeance
“Please! Mercy! I’ll tell you what you want!” Victoria blinked twice as her vision came into focus. The m ...
Retired Chapter: On the Streets of Cintois
This chapter, along with a few others, has been heavily revised, but I wanted to preserve some of my old writing to see my own p ...
Retired Chapter: The Wolf and the Raven
“Tell me where he is!” Victoria hissed as she twisted her dagger further into the vampire’s leg. “You kn ...
Chapter 13: Friend or Foe?
To Giselle's relief, everything seemed normal at the estate as the carriage pulled through the gates. The guard waved to them as ...
Chapter 14: First Impressions
Giselle found herself pacing as she awaited the Witch’s arrival. They’d been waiting for over an hour for Valerie to ...
Chapter 15: A House Divided
The sparse woodlands along the Salieu River were famous for being full of fantastic fungi for poisons come late spring. Victoria ...
Chapter 16: On the Edge
TW: Themes of Sexual, Physical, and Emotional Trauma. Giselle smiled at Klen as he entered her study. Quietly, he shut the ...
Retired Chapter: Coming of Age
Victoria smiled as a puff of hot breath blew against the back of her neck. She finished latching the barn door closed and turned ...
Chapter 17: The Lord Alarie
Victoria smiled as a puff of hot breath blew against the back of her neck. She finished latching the barn door closed and turned ...
Chapter 18: The Missing Piece
Giselle drummed her fingers rapidly against the arm of her chair by the fireplace in the study as she waited for Auguste and Kle ...
Retired Chapter: A Daring Rescue
Victoria wrinkled her nose up at the smell coming from the crystal decanter that Lucaese was pouring from. Despite its rich, rub ...
Chapter 19: Bird in a Cage
For the umpteenth time in three weeks, Victoria awoke to her face pressed against the floor of her very own dreadfully dark and ...
Chapter 20: No Turning Back
Victoria's stomach dropped as they began to descend the steps from her tower. Every available agent in the fort seemed to be lin ...
Chapter 21: The Village of Nans
Victoria woke with a start, sitting upright as she looked around the room. Wherever she was, the room was tidy and clean. The sh ...
Chapter 21: Only the Finest Will Do
"I still don't see why I couldn't have gone with Victoria. What if she's fighting for her life right now and needs help?" ...
Chapter 23: Sisters in Arms
Riven was hitched outside of Wornwick's as Giselle arrived, much to her surprise. Perhaps Victoria had found something she wishe ...
Chapter 24: Homeward Bound
Victoria's hand paused on the handle to the private wing of the infirmary for a moment. She took in a deep breath as if to ready ...
Chapter 25: Fashionably Late
The ballroom was full of people dancing and chatting. Victoria hadn't expected this many people to respond to the invitations--n ...
Chapter 26: Irresistible
“You’re bouncing your leg again, Giselle.”“Sorry.” Victoria put her right hand on Giselle&rsq ...
Chapter 27: Her Majesty
Giselle’s head was pounding when the early morning sun shining through her window roused her. She groaned quietly to herse ...
Chapter 28: In the Shadows
"Rowdy bunch, those witches," Auguste chuckled as he glanced over his shoulder at Victoria's campfire. Giselle shook her h ...
Chapter 29: City of the Dead
Victoria's stomach clenched as they rode through the gates of Garignon. The town was famous for the size of its graveyard. Count ...
Chapter 30: Martial Law
Victoria drummed her fingers against her leg as she stared out the gates into the forest beyond. Once night had fallen, a deafen ...
