Life Blood and An Undying Oath by HK Savage

Titles: Life Blood & An Undying Oath 

Author: HK Savage

Genre: Speculative Fiction, clean adult

What if we knew how to live forever? Is any cost too great?

Ava Brandt has been plagued with indecision her entire life; her direction influenced by the people around her, not her heart. When a chance encounter with a stranger challenges everything she thought she remembered from her frightening past, she must confront hidden memories to survive.

Finally accepting the truth of her past and the dreams that have plagued her, Ava comes face to face with her fears. But just as she comes to terms with this new reality and new feelings for her mysterious rescuer, she finds herself in the middle of a battle that has raged for centuries and claimed untold young lives.

“Who is he to choose for me what I do with my life? He treats me like my opinion doesn’t matter.” Exasperation fueled her flaring temper. Her mother always told her it was her downfall. She pushed thoughts of her mother aside. His answer surprised her. “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. Ben is an old soul. He grew up in a time when men took care of their women. He loves you and doesn’t want to see you hurt. He’s only trying to do what he was raised to believe is right. Ben means no disrespect.” Alistair’s straight answer cooled her head yet her objections remained steadfast. “I understand all that. Except it doesn’t work for me. Women in my time are allowed to choose for themselves. My choice is to stand with him. If Ben dies while I sit here eating waffles and twiddling my thumbs, I will never forgive myself. And whatever happens, I have to be able to live with myself.”

Sergeant Justin Shaw returned from the war with what is left of his unit, though instead of being hailed as heroes, they are being sought as test subjects. Their last mission behind enemy lines to obtain a WMD ended with them exposed and on the run. Their goal is not only to destroy the weapon, but also the program being run by their own government. Justin and his men have sacrificed everything for their mission. Will it be enough? Samantha James, a girl whose father disappeared almost twenty years ago unwittingly holds the key. When her father returns bodies start to fall. Sam doesn't know who to trust. Both Justin and her father have their own agendas and either one of them could end up with her dead.

“Stop it Bill,” she scolded sharply. Carefully, she pushed open the door and entered her apartment. The growling ball of fur in her grasp was having no part of it. Clawing at her with his sharp back claws, Bill took a few chunks out of her forearms as he finally leapt free of her, racing down the hall and out of sight. Sam didn’t give chase or even turn her head to see where he went. He wouldn’t go far, he never did on the rare occasion he got out. In a few minutes he would be beating at the door with his soft, declawed front paws. Her focus was on what had incited such panic in her even keel pet. Why was Bill so scared to go inside? He liked Paul. Even more unsettling was the feeling crawling down her spine. Something was very wrong. She could feel it. There was no sound or movement coming from inside. When Paul was over he always had the television turned on a game whether it was football, basketball, soccer, whatever. He always had to have background noise. Unlike Sam, he liked noise. “Paul?” Sam realized she was crouching. Telling herself she was being ridiculous, she forced herself to stand up, pushing the door open and peering inside. There was no answer. Maybe he was tired and had nodded off she told herself. It did nothing for the now painful gooseflesh covering her body. “Paul?” she called his name again, whispering it this time. He wasn’t in the living room or kitchen. She pushed a cabinet door closed with the back of one hand as she walked past. He had to have been here, she never left drawers or cabinets open. Glancing around, she noticed a piece of mail hanging over the edge of her sorter. What had he been doing in here, snooping? With considerably more effort, she forced her feet toward the bedroom, stepping over one of Bill’s toys lying in the middle of the floor. “Paul?” His name died on her lips as she walked past the open bathroom door and froze. Without knowing what she was doing, Sam drifted inside and stopped just inside the doorway. Her hand flew to her mouth too late to stop the scream.

HK lives in the frozen hinterlands of the far North. The long, cold months provide ample opportunity to hunker down with her computer and create adventures far more enticing than scraping ice and getting frostbite. 

Between books HK reads voraciously. Anything with a good plot and compelling characters are her broad parameters. One is as likely to catch her with a copy of Don Quixote as with the latest Kristen Ashley.

When not writing or wowing the corporate world by day, HK practices martial arts, plays with her dogs and matches wits with her teen. Next winter she intends to brush up on her Spanish and escape the cold for somewhere more tropical.

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