Mindstalkers - A dark sci-fi, tame romance about a hybrid and a top secret agent she’s falling for. (Novel Excerpt)

Fear, unlike anything I’d ever felt, bubbled in the pit of my stomach, clawing savagely at my insides like a ravenous beast.

I gripped a short glass, once filled with ice, Tito’s Handmade vodka, soda, and a couple of wringed limes. Now, the contents dripped down the angular jawline of a dark-eyed, belligerent man. He stood before me, wiping his face with his right hand, smearing the liquid down his gaunt cheeks, letting the droplets splatter the ground from a hand with permanently bruised knuckles.

The bartender remained silent, feigning ignorance, his back turned towards us after he pocketed his tip. The angry man in front of me glowered, shaking off the remaining droplets from his fingers with another flick. His fierce gaze contrasted with the liquidity and lull of the trance music blaring from all four corners of the rooftop bar, called The Canopy.

His nostrils flared, his brows furrowed, and veins darkened, bulged, and throbbed at the corners of his bloodshot eyes. I can’t recall a time, I’ve seen someone so enraged.

The guy wasn’t much older than me — late twenties or maybe thirties — but the dark circles beneath his eyes hinted at late nights spent doing whatever men like him did. Maybe harassing women like me or his other favorite activity stalking his ex-girlfriend, Carmen Stahls.

“Do you know who the hell you’re messing with, swine?” His voice was tight, barely audible through the roar of blood between my ears. Heat flushed my cheeks like a sunburn.

What the actual hell come over me?

Why did I just throw a drink in my long-time friend’s ex’s — Gavin Crest’s — face.

Oh. Right.

Last time they were together, Carmen and I had drifted apart as life got busy. I would’ve never known about the horrors of their relationship, if she hadn’t posted a cryptic message (obviously deleted hours later), mentioning they were no longer together.

I wish, I had the guts to pick up the phone to check on her. Instead of having to find out, like a complete stranger from social media that she was in pain and the monster in front of me was the cause.

“Are you going to stand there? Sucking up all the air, like the blowfish you are?” He scowled.

For some weird reason, between the insanity of bumping into this jerk and then later throwing a drink in his face, I managed a pained laugh. A sounds that could’ve been described as a hybrid of a squeak and gasp.

He closed the distance between us in the amount of time it took me to recover my breath. His hand clasped around my throat, bony fingers tightening with surprising grip strength. The balls of my feet barely scraped the fake turf that lined the bar. I wasn’t light by any means — as a curvy girl who shopped for double digits at clothing stores — I’d never been lifted like this ever in my life.

He snarled, an eerie light flickering behind his gaze — something inhuman and unsettling. My fingernails dug into his wrist as I drew back one of my heels to plant a kick in his groin, but he must’ve read my movements and slammed me backward onto the ground. The force, left me breathless. My bones seemed to rattle as pain started radiating up my tailbone.

A white-hot searing pain engulfed my body, starting at the base of my skull. A scream tore through the air. Not from me, strangely, enough.

I turned my head slightly, wincing through pain pounding like a snare drum. I stared at the lithe body hanging off the side of the bar. It belonged to the bartender. Perhaps he tried to stand up for me after my body slam, a deep indigo-bluish liquid trickled down his nape and dampened his blood soaked scalp.

Gavin arched his back like a feline, something slithering underneath the fabric of his denim jacket. He squared his shoulders and threw his arms above his head, stretching as if waking up from a nap.

Silence enveloped me. My body twitched involuntarily as the pool of blood from the bartender started to trickle towards me, puddling and seeping into the turf. My pain dulled, little by little, like the fainting sound of raindrops on a tin roof.

The bustling rooftop bar — erupted in screams. The trance music seemed to be crank up a notch just to down the sounds. Muffled screams echoed around me, mixed with strange, guttural snarls. The patrons that weren’t screaming, or searching for an exit. Weren’t quite human anymore.

Gavin laughed, and said, “Eat ’em up!”

He turned to face me, his flash of a toothy smile, disappeared with my dull ache.

Somehow, I was standing, staring at the bartender, and raising my eyes back to his attacker.

“What’re you doing up? Ready to be devoured, I see?” Gavin said with visible disdain. He stalked towards me, his long lilt frame resembled how I imagined a modern day grim reaper to walk. His all black outfit did nothing to hide the visible wetness of blood and some other bodily fluids that made his shirt and jeans seem clingy, and shine.

Without warning, a dark figure tackled the man to the ground.

It stunned me. My legs became like jelly as Gavin was pinned one minute, and the man who tackled him was bucked off of his body, the way a bull bucked off a cowboy with one powerful hind kick.

“Who the hell…?” Gavin started.

The man drew a weapon, pointing it at Gavin, a silvery-chrome colored weapon, a gun? Was the guy standing in front of Gavin a cop?

I didn’t have time to process everything. Gavin turned to me and a lightning quick whip of pain forced itself into my nape. I tasted copper as bile rose in my throat. Something took over my limbs, and time slowed. I saw a flash of blinding bluish-white light.

Darkness consumed me, pulling me under until my sanity slipped away. That small part of me that held everything together dissolved. The real me. The one I feared. The one I kept hidden beneath the surface of my skin was awakened and unleashed.

“She’s coming to…”

“Don’t! Just let go of her!” A sharp feminine voice snapped.

“Do you think I haven’t done this before?” A man replied.

My eyes flew open. My blurry vision caught hazy yellow light streaming from above. I blinked, focusing on the industrial fixtures suspended from burnished bronze rods. The high ceilings, iron beams, and exposed brick gave the space a hipster warehouse vibe.

My head throbbed — a relentless, pounding ache. Something sticky clung to the hairs at the nape of my neck, worsening my irritation.

“Finally,” the woman said, her voice both authoritative and soothing. “You must be confused, but you’re safe now…”

A cool hand touched my forehead, and I inhaled lavender mixed with eucalyptus. My body briefly relaxed, but I felt weighed down. Lowering my chin to my chest, I met the gaze of an incredibly attractive man with coffee-brown eyes.

Once my hormones settled, my brain kicked in.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He straddled me, pinning my hands above my head. His thighs clenched my hips, his knee pressing hard against my bones.

“You. Need. To. Stay. Calm.”

Every alarm in me blared. I thrashed and squirmed, my body on autopilot, barely avoiding landing a punch.

“Let her go!”

“Jaida, she’s not some helpless fawn,” he muttered, sounding slightly amused.

“Release her!” Jaida demanded.

He leaped off, landing beside a coffee table. I sat up quickly, eyeing the woman, who approached slowly.

“You’re safe here.”

“Safe? Where’s the bar… and why were you holding me against my will?” I snapped at the man, who stood behind Jaida, smirking briefly.

“A wolf isn’t dangerous unless cornered,” he sighed.

“Quiet, AJ,” Jaida warned.

I gripped the couch armrest, the leather cool against my skin. It hit me — I wasn’t wearing my top! My blouse was gone! All that remained from my outfit was my black lace bra and pinstriped slacks. Jaida held out a charcoal blanket. I snatched it, wrapping it around me as a dull ache traveled down my spine.

“Where’s my top?” I demanded, glaring at AJ. “And where the hell am I?”

“You were injured. Your clothes were soaked in blood, and I…” His voice trailed off as he noticed the horror on my face.

I felt numb.

“You’re safe now,” Jaida reassured me, placing a warm hand on my knee. I still didn’t trust her.

“Safe from what?” I asked.

“It’s a long story…” AJ mumbled. “If you stay calm, we can explain everything.”

“Stop telling me to be calm!” I snapped. “Where am I, and why am I here?”

“This is a safe place,” he said. “My home.”

I glanced around and spotted a large window offering a panoramic view of Tampa’s skyline. We were several stories up.

“I shouldn’t be here,” I muttered, standing up.

“You need to stay,” Jaida insisted.

“No, I don’t belong here.”

My mind raced. Why was I topless? Where was my phone?

“Where’s my stuff?” I demanded.

AJ exchanged a glance with Jaida. “I have it, but we need to explain first.”

“I’m Jaida Patel, a private investigator specializing in missing persons and homicides.”

“A cop?” I asked, startled.

“Retired,” she clarified. “I’m called in on cold cases. And, the guy next to me, he is Aleksandr Ward, but he goes by AJ.”

“And, your name is Solstice Bellatrix,” AJ said. “You were at the bar looking for your friend. Something happened at The Canopy. What do you remember?”

I studied him closely, noting his disheveled hair, smooth honey-toned skin, and athletic build. His lips, which seemed soft, deepened into a frown.

Suddenly, a vision hit me: AJ’s hands, covered in a deep blue substance — the same substance found on the bartender’s body.

“You… you stopped Gavin. You shot him,” I whispered. I remembered the bluish fluid running from Gavin’s mouth.

“I didn’t stop him,” AJ replied. “You did.”

Tears welled up.

“I-I didn’t…” I stared at my hands, remembering the gruesome scene.

“Solstice.” AJ’s voice brought me back to reality.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You can trust us. What happened at the bar wasn’t your fault. You acted in self-defense.”

I shuddered.

“You saw what happened.” I choked on the words. “It was me… I did that to Gavin.”

AJ stepped closer, gripping my shoulders as a spark of energy pulsed through me.

“We know what you are,” he said softly. His eyes glowed, inhuman and eerily familiar.

“What exactly are you?” I asked, looking up at him.