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Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed reading this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.
It is very important for me to hear what you think about the book. Your thoughts and opinions mean a lot to me.
Please enjoy a sample of Seduced By Voodoo. The battle of good versus evil will soon take place in the bayous of New Orleans, Louisiana. The foolish mortals thought they could stop her. However, Bianca Honore with her new vampire lover, Joshua, will raise an army of the living dead. Can Father Mark Trahan stop this ever growing evil before it is too late?
Also, be sure to check out my website and social media sites for upcoming books and giveaways.
Sincerely,
Mary Theriot
Links
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Blog Page, www.maryreasontheriot.me
Seduced by Voodoo
****
By: Mary Reason Theriot
Prologue
THEY CAME IN THE DARK of the night. They came when man remained alone, forced to face his failures and fears, when man’s horrors and atrocities could be shown to them. This was when the frightening and unexplainable would appear.
It was time for creatures that went bump in the night to awaken. As the dark heavens peeled back, a glowing orange moon was revealed. Evil lurked about in the darkness of the night. This was when mortals found out exactly what walked amongst them. This was where horror and mystery made its appearance.
Of all the supernatural beings, there was one to be most feared. Vampires were a pariah even amongst demons. They were the most foul and barbaric of what walked this earth or were they? Or was there something worse that walked this earth?
Chapter 1
Detective Grace Hutcherson never considered falling in love. Yet, she was falling completely head over heels for Detective Mike Bailey. She couldn’t get over how falling in love changed your view of the world.
Hell, she never even looked for love. Somehow, it found her. Fate stepped in and set in motion the chain of events over the last few months that led up to her meeting Mike Bailey. Right now, she was putty in cupid’s hands.
Fate never asked if she wanted to fall in love. It simply decided that she needed Mike to fill the hole in her heart.
She had never felt like this for another human being and now here she was aching to be in Mike’s arms once again. Her world bloomed with that beautiful never ending ache. Now that she had fallen in love with Mike Bailey, she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
She feared for Mike’s life, though. The vampire escaped and kept intruding upon her thoughts. She saw what happened to people in his way. It was funny how fate worked. Fate brought the vampire and Mike into her life and now they were all intertwined. She prayed that the vampire would soon be out of her life so that she and Mike could enjoy their new found love.
She didn’t know what she would do without Mike. He was the gravity that kept her center aligned. Without him in her life, she would be adrift in this world without a compass.
Grace woke this morning with a sense of foreboding. She was bleakly certain that something would happen today and she prayed that it did not involve anyone she knew or loved. The master vampire attempted to infiltrate her thoughts once again last night. No matter how hard she tried to block him from her mind, he still managed to do so. He sensed her ability to read his mind and used it to his advantage. She detested the fact that he could invade her mind and read her thoughts.
Something was off about today; she could feel it in her bones. From the very moment she roused this morning, her instincts were on alert and they were never wrong. Before the vampire started invading her thoughts, she only saw visions after they happened. She could never predict the future, but lately, she felt a calamity barreling straight for her and she had no idea what it could be.
She wished she knew more about this gift of perception and insight that she had. If this was such a wonderful gift, then she should have been given the ability to change what was about to come. How could she ward off a disaster if she didn’t know what it was, when it would happen or where it was coming from?
As she locked her front door and headed to her car, she looked around the street. A sensation that someone was watching her every movement washed over her. Perhaps she was letting her imagination get away from her. There was no immediate threat lurking in the shadows just waiting to make a move. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that came from deep inside of her.
She leaned against her car and stared up into the sky. Maybe looking into the cloudless expanse of blue would give her some answers. Letting out a sigh, if only the answer would come to her.
She should be truthful with herself, she was nothing more than a scared animal, one that sensed an impending earthquake coming and ran around frantically looking for shelter. Whatever was coming for her, she would not be able to outrun it. No, she would have to stay and fight whatever it was.
As she settled behind the wheel of her car, she caught her reflection in the rearview mirror. She looked normal, but why didn’t she feel normal? Grace never shared the knowledge about her gift of precognition with anyone other than Guy and Mike. She saw the way her community treated her grandmother and she feared being treated the same way. Perhaps the fact they lived in a small town was why her grandmother was treated so differently, but she couldn’t be certain. The supernatural may be more tolerated here in New Orleans, but still, she didn’t want everyone at the precinct looking at her as if she had a third eye or something. It was bad enough that she, Guy, and Mike were treated differently since they headed up the supernatural section for the precinct. A few detectives believed the mayor was wasting the city’s money. Then, there were those who knew better. Between the three of them, they had seen more than anyone else who lived here and what they saw could not simply be explained away. Mike had a difficult time convincing Guy about the possibilities of the supernatural living here in New Orleans, but Grace was easy to convince.
Pulling out of her parking spot, her mind abruptly saw a quick flash of a boy fleeing the woods with shadows chasing after him. The vision only lasted a few seconds. Unlike her other visions, this one lacked any clarity and was over before she could even comprehend what was happening.
She gripped the steering wheel as she calmed her racing heart. This was the first vision that came to her so suddenly and in the middle of the day. Usually, she had to walk the scene in order to have a vision. She had grown accustomed to the victim’s emotions barraging her, but this was something more. She not only felt the boy’s fear, but the killer’s exhilaration.
Once again, a sense of hopelessness came over her. Something evil was coming and she prayed like hell that they could survive it.
As soon as she walked into the precinct a cacophony of sounds barraged her. The sounds were anything but harmonious. Instead, the sounds of the precinct were varied and discordant. The most obvious of sounds was the dozens of human voices; each carrying on an independent conversation. Underneath the conversational clamor, the hum of the copy machine could be heard as it spit out papers and the continuous sound of fingers clacking on keyboards. There was also the sound of doors as well as file drawers opening and closing, shoes slapping against the old linoleum floor and finally the incessant ringing of the phone. Topping it off was the cry of an ill tempered baby on its mother’s hip.
Not wanting to be outdone by the sounds was the smell that radiated from a mixture of the older building’s pungent odor mixed with the stench of body odors and coffee brewing, which from the smell, it had been cooking for several hours. The only thing keeping anyone from choking on the atmosphere was the ceiling fans running constantly on high speed.
As she made her way down the hall, she saw door after door leading to the various offices for sergeants, detectives, interrogation rooms, conference rooms and storage closets. It took Hutch a while to learn the layout of the precinct, but now that she was used to it, she knew it like the back of her hand.
***
GRACE WAS UNSURE HOW she survived the day without anything bad happening, but she did. Perhaps her gut instincts were wrong. As soon as she pulled into her parking space at her apartment complex, Grace was overcome again with a sense of foreboding. It hit her hard, as if someone sucker-punched her in the stomach. Instead of getting out of her car, she gripped the steering wheel and stared out into space.
It was almost as if someone was telling her not to go inside her apartment. She couldn’t explain it, she knew something was wrong.
She moved her eyes from side to side, taking in her surroundings. The massive oak trees flanking the complex were no different. She didn’t sense anyone lurking behind them. Nothing sinister lurked in the shadows, as far as she could tell. As the sun set on the parking lot, all was quiet.
She turned off her ignition and stepped out of the car. If something was waiting for her, she would soon find out. Opening the front door, she listened for any movement. She could sense the evil all around her, even though she couldn’t see it. She could smell its dank odor as it filled the room. Could something be hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce?
As she locked her door, a voice spoke inside of her head. “Hello, Detective.”
Grace went still. The voice was deep and resonated, but also seductive and alluring. He slid into her mind like honey; yet, she was bone-chillingly afraid. She tried to block him from her mind, but he was stronger, “Tsk tsk Grace. We need to talk cher. We have a lot to discuss.”
Grace tried to ignore her racing heart and the growing sense of dread. She attempted to block him from probing her mind. Finding the strength, she told him, “I don’t like you invading my mind and reading my thoughts.” In that moment before he could tell her anything else, she was able to block him from her mind. Grace could only hope that he didn’t learn anything too important while in there. If he discovered her weaknesses he would use it against her.
***
JOSHUA WAS FURIOUS. He’d hoped to catch her with her guard down. He would learn more about this woman! They had tap danced around each other for months now and he had yet to learn anything significant about her. He hoped that it was the same with her. However, if she knew his exact location, she would be here, attempting to end his life. No, he knew that their location was safe for now. He had hoped to find out if she knew he was close by, but he could not even answer that question.———
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