Dead End Read online

  Dead End

  (Kiera Hudson Series Two)

  Book 10

  BY

  Tim O’Rourke

  First Edition Published by Ravenwoodgreys

  Copyright 2014 by Tim O’Rourke

  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 organisations 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. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Story Editor

  Lynda O’Rourke

  Book cover designed by:

  Carles Barrios

  Copyedited by:

  Carolyn M. Pinard

  www.cjpinard.com

  For all of us who come to a dead end from time to time…

  Thanks to:

  Shana at abookvacation.com

  bookwormbetties.blogspot.com

  Caroline Barker at Areadersreviewblog.wordpress.com

  claricesbooknook.blogspot.co.uk

  Melly at the Vampire Forum

  Who all took the time to review my books – Thank you!

  You can contact Tim O’Rourke at

  www.kierahudson.com

  Or by email at [email protected]

  More books by Tim O’Rourke

  Kiera Hudson Series One

  Vampire Shift (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 1

  Vampire Wake (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 2

  Vampire Hunt (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 3

  Vampire Breed (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 4

  Wolf House (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 4.5

  Vampire Hollows (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 5

  Kiera Hudson Series Two

  Dead Flesh (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 1

  Dead Night (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 1.5

  Dead Angels (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 2

  Dead Statues (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 3

  Dead Seth (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 4

  Dead Wolf (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 5

  Dead Water (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 6

  Dead Push (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 7

  Dead Lost (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 8 Coming December 2013!

  Dead End (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 9 Coming Soon!

  The Kiera Hudson Prequel Series

  The Kiera Hudson Prequels (Book 1)

  The Kiera Hudson Prequels (Book 2)

  Kiera Hudson Series Three

  Lethal Infected (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 1 Coming 2014!

  The Jack Seth Novellas

  Hollow Pit (Book One)

  Seeking Cara (Book Two) Coming 2014!

  Black Hill Farm (Books 1 & 2)

  Black Hill Farm (Book 1)

  Black Hill Farm: Andy’s Diary (Book 2)

  A Return to Black Hill Farm (Book 3) Coming 2014!

  Sydney Hart Novels

  Witch (A Sydney Hart Novel) Book 1

  Yellow (A Sydney Hart Novel) Book 2

  Raven (A Sydney Hart Novel) Book 3 Coming 2014!

  The Doorways Trilogy

  Doorways (Doorways Trilogy Book 1)

  The League of Doorways (Doorways Trilogy Book 2)

  The Queen of Doorways (Doorways Trilogy Book 3) Coming 2014!

  Moon Trilogy

  Moonlight (Moon Trilogy) Book 1

  Moonbeam (Moon Trilogy) Book 2

  Moonshine (Moon Trilogy) Book 3 Coming 2014!

  Samantha Carter – Vampire Seeker Series

  Vampire Seeker (Samantha Carter Series) Book 1

  Vampire Flappers (Samantha Carter Series) Novella Coming July 2014!

  The Vampire Watchmen (Samantha Carter) Book 2 Coming September 2014!

  Unscathed

  Written by Tim O’Rourke & C.J. Pinard

  Flashes

  Flashes (Book 1)

  You can contact Tim O’Rourke at

  www.kierahudson.com or by email at [email protected]

  Authors Note

  Now at this point I should be writing a little bit about what has gone before in both Kiera Hudson Series 1 and Series 2 as the book you now hold in your hands is the concluding part to both of them. This is the eighteenth book I have written about Kiera Hudson, which amounts to approximately one million words of reading. So when I set about thinking how can I sum that up, give everyone a little reminder of what’s happened in Kiera’s world before we got to this point, I sat and scratched my head. To sum up eighteen books and one million words would probably be another book! So I thought of my lovely friend Lisa. She is a wonderful poet, so I asked if she could write a poem about the Kiera Hudson series, which I could place into the book. To my delight she agreed and below is that poem Lisa wrote for me – for us. And it is way more interesting and beautifully written than any author note I could have come up with!

  Thanks Lisa

  Tim

  Kiera Hudson

  Kiera was a young woman starting out life with a big ambition

  Her mum went missing and finding her was Kiera's life’s mission

  Luckily she had a gift of seeing things in a way, which others could not

  So she joins the police force in hope to find what she sought

  As a recruit, Kiera's partner is Tom and they become a soulful team

  But their sergeant separates them and sends them down the stream

  Now a police officer, Kiera finds herself in a creepy town called Ragged Cove

  Her incompetent and uncaring colleagues make her want to explode

  Kiera soon discovers that she is submerged in a nightmarish world full of gore

  Where humans aren't humans, but Vampyrus and lycanthrope who are at war

  Kiera battles these beasts alongside the men she works with and grows to love

  Loving one more than all, but he deceives her, so she gives him a hearty shove

  Kiera learns she too is a Vampyrus as she fights to survive in this new world

  And finds her mother who is evil, but there is so much more left to unfurl

  Once again Kiera finds love in a man and in others who become her kin

  Which makes it easier for her when she is killed and the push world begins

  She and the other become dead angels and struggle not to turn into stone

  Lot 13 is their saviour as the fight not to devour and savour flesh and bone

  Deceit and pain consume Kiera as her dear ones die, lie, or vanish

  My God, she has an unknown brother, the villain that causes her to perish

  Kiera brings out the best in him and he sacrifices himself for the greater good

  She seems to have that effect on people, she would do the same if she could

  Kiera has grown into a Vampyrus warrior who fights for worlds and her loved ones

  But, I don't think we've seen everything Kiera is made of, the best is yet to come

  She is split in two, as is the world, being not only a Vampyrus, but a

  Lycanthrope too

  Kiera has leaned to trust and love, but the real lesson was to love herself true

  Such a journey she has been on, I wonder if the pushed world will break or mend

  I guess the wait is over for Kiera and her fans, for we have reached the Dead End

  Poem by Lisa Ammari

  Dead End

  Chapter One

  Kiera

  How
ever hard Meren tugged on my arm, I wouldn’t move. I couldn’t, I didn’t want to go on without Potter. Although my head swam with the sickening images of Potter being decapitated, then having his corpse thrown to the wolves to be ripped apart, there was a part of me that said he wasn’t dead. But however much I tried to convince myself that the man I was in love with was still somehow alive, the stark realisation that he wasn’t jabbed at my heart like a blunt blade.

  “Kiera, please,” Meren begged, yanking at my arm again, desperate to get me to my feet.

  A sudden roar of thunder caused Meren to flinch, her hand falling from my arm. Now that she no longer had hold of me, I slumped like a doll back onto the road that led out of Wasp Water. Thunder boomed again, like cannonballs being rolled across the floors of Heaven.

  Meren grabbed my arm again, this time with more urgency. “Kiera, we can’t stay here. Something is very wrong…I think something very bad has happened.”

  “I know,” I murmured through my tears, wanting to just curl up into a ball and be left to die on the road.

  “I’m not talking about what happened…I’m not talking about Potter,” she said, kneeling down and talking into my ear.

  The roar came again and Meren shuddered. Although I heard it, I was numb to it. “It’s just the wolves,” I whispered, hands over my face. “Let them come for me. I don’t want to go on…”

  “It’s not the wolves,” Meren said, looping one of her arms through mine and again trying to hoist me to my feet. My legs felt like rubber and my heart like a dead weight. Each time I closed my eyes, I saw Potter looking at me just seconds before that blade…

  “Look at the sky, Kiera,” Meren pleaded. “Just take a look.”

  Slowly, I took my hands from over my face and peered upwards through my long black fringe. The sky was a deep indigo, the colour of fresh bruises. But it wasn’t just its colour. There were lines, hundreds – thousands – of them crisscrossing the cloudless sky. Screwing up my eyes and peering upwards, I could see that they weren’t lines at all, but fractures – cracks – the very fabric of the sky. It was like it was ready to break apart at any moment, showering the world below with shards of sky. The day had suddenly taken on an oppressive feel.

  “What do you think they are?” Meren asked, head tilted back as she stared upwards. Her long black hair blew wildly about her pretty young face, her hazel eyes lacking some of the sparkle I had seen in them before. “What do you think’s happening?”

  “I don’t know, and don’t care,” I mumbled, slumping forward again. But a part of me did care. That curios part of me – the part that thrived on solving mysteries – did care. I think Meren knew that too, as she suddenly took hold of me by the shoulders, dragging me to my feet away from the broken, weed-infested tarmac.

  “What is wrong with you?” Meren suddenly screamed, her face just inches from mine as she held me up.

  “I can’t go on – not without him…not without…”

  “But you’re Kiera Hudson,” Meren said, scowling at me. “I believed in you – I followed you. I thought you were strong and courageous. That’s why we half-breeds followed you when we were nothing more than statues. Fucking hell, Kiera, I wanted to be you.”

  “I’m no hero,” I said, breaking her stare and looking back along the desolate road toward the town of Wasp Water. The thunder boomed again and in the distance I heard the wolves howl. Had they finished ripping at and eating Potter? Then, looking back at Meren, I said, “Can’t you understand how I feel? I just lost…”

  “Lost!” Meren said, lower lip trembling as if she were about to burst into tears either through frustration or grief. “Don’t tell me about loss. I watched Nessa, my twin sister, die. I watched her turn to dust and blow away on the wind. For months I could only look on hopelessly as she slowly broke apart. How do you think that made me feel?”

  I looked away again.

  Meren pushed me in the chest. “Look at me, Kiera, not back at Wasp Water. I know what loss feels like. But one thing I didn’t do was give up. You can never give up. That’s something we don’t do.”

  “And who told you that bullshit?” I scoffed, turning on her.

  Meren looked at me hard, her hazel eyes now blazing again. “You told me that, Kiera.” Meren took a deep breath, her lower lip still wavering. “You told me that, and I believed you. You told all of us not to ever give up and we all believed you.”

  “Who’s we?” I said, not wanting to scoff and sneer, but it sounded like that.

  “The half-breeds who just lost their lives in that helicopter attack. Alice, Peter, Gayle and my father, Murphy, who lay injured, back in the overhang. Potter believed you, and that’s why he’s dead.”

  “So what happened to him is my fault?” I snapped, clawing stray lengths of black hair away from my face as the cold wind blew harder.

  “Potter died because he believed in you, Kiera,” Meren said, standing her ground. “Potter died because he loved you. Not so long ago, I asked you if you would ever marry Potter. But you told me that would never happen, as men like him don’t get married. But guys like Potter, and I’m guessing there aren’t too many of them, followed you. He might never have asked you to marry him, but he fought for you, he protected you. And why? Because he wanted to help you push the two worlds back together again. He wanted to help you put things right. He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t have believed in you – he wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t have loved you. And this is how you’re going to repay him? Give up when he never gave up on you?”

  I stared at her and felt like I’d had a verbal kick-in. “But…” I started.

  “No buts!” she spat, jabbing her forefinger at me. Then staring into my eyes, she said, as if she too were now defeated, “Perhaps you weren’t the hero I thought you were. Perhaps you weren’t the hero I wanted you to be. I needed to believe in someone, Kiera, and I stupidly believed in you.”

  Without saying another word, she turned and slowly headed up the centre of the deserted strip of road and back toward the woods that led to the overhang where Murphy and the others lay injured. I watched her go and knew now that she was more like her father, Murphy, than perhaps I’d first realised.

  “Where are you going?” I called after her, another roar of thunder threatening to drown out my words.

  “To help my father and my friends,” she said without looking back at me.

  I glanced back over my shoulder at the town of Wasp Water. Meren was right, however much it made my heart ache; I knew there was no point in going back. Slowly, and with the chill wind drying the tears that dampened my face, I followed the path that led to the woods. Meren had waited for me after all.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “Me too,” Meren said.

  As if being able to read each other’s minds, we hugged each other.

  “I know your heart is broken, Kiera, but all might not be lost,” Meren said. “If we find out how to push the two worlds back together then Potter might come back. Nessa, too.”

  Looking at her and not wanting either of us to have false hope, I said, “Potter and Nessa are dead in both worlds. Pushing them back together won’t change that.”

  Taking her hand in mine, I glanced up at the sky covered with thousands of opening scars. It really did look like the world – this world – was starting to break apart. Without saying another word, we entered the woods and headed back toward the overhang where our friends waited for us.

  Chapter Two

  Isidor

  No sooner had Coanda dragged me down through the crack in the ground, I realised that the Vampyrus were no longer prepared to stay hidden in The Hollows. Coanda had explained, as he led me to the medical caves deep within The Hollows, how he had gathered an army on Luke Bishop’s orders and readied it for attack against the wolves. I knew at once that Coanda didn’t recognise me, even though we had travelled side by side in The Hollows once before. But I had to keep reminding myself that all of that had happ
ened before the world got pushed. That was when Luke Bishop had been both our enemies.

  I knew Melody and me were in danger in The Hollows. If the Vampyrus discovered that she was really a wolf, she would be dead. But in a strange way, I was glad to be back. This was where my auntie had raised me and I couldn’t help but wonder if she lived where we had once shared a small hollow cut into the side of the Ageless Hill. I couldn’t stop the sudden pang I felt in my heart as I stared across The Hollows at it and how I wanted to go there and see if my auntie was still there. But I couldn’t, as I feared that just like Coanda failed to recognise me, then so might she. I didn’t know if I could deal with that. It would hurt too much. I glanced upwards and saw the tree roots protruding through The Hollows above me. They had been the tree roots I had once climbed, searching for a way to venture out into the world above. The roots had been infested with Spiderpedes and Slugworms, and I couldn’t help but shiver as I remembered how they had fallen into my hair and slithered over my skin. But it had been worth it. If I hadn’t have ventured above ground, then I would have never met Melody Rose. I would have never known what true love was. Potter would cringe if he could ever look into my heart and see the feelings I had for Melody. But I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone, and I wasn’t ashamed for thinking that.

  But even though a part of me was fearful to be back deep within The Hollows, it was good to feel the thick carpet of lime coloured moss beneath my feet. It felt soft and spongy, just like it always had. It never hurt when I fell over as a boy, while playing a game of Blast with my friends. There were thousands of trees, each looking as if they had been planted into the ground upside down. Their roots hung like vines. They were orange, brown, yellow and red, and from a distance they shimmered as if ablaze. The giant granite rocks I had climbed over as a small boy reached upwards like cathedral spires. They disappeared high up into the darkness and were the very pillars that supported the world and home I originally came from. And despite the beauty of The Hollows, I couldn’t help but feel a dark current of excitement – anticipation – ebbing and flowing all around me.