Excerpt: Midnight Hunter by Kait Ballenger

23413903Midnight Hunter
(Execution Underground, #3)
By: Kait Ballenger
Publisher: HQN Books
Release Date: Sept. 1, 2015
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Goodreads

Hunters of the supernatural, The Execution Underground are an elite group tasked with protecting humanity…but can dark temptation destroy good intentions?

Occult specialist and witch hunter Dr. Shane Grey is called upon to investigate a string of crimes that bear all the hallmarks of black magic. But he can’t take on this daunting assignment for the Execution Underground alone. He’ll need the help of Vera Sanders, a witch with a dark past—and a woman who disturbs him as much as she intrigues him.

Vera is determined to ignore the dangerous chemistry between herself and Shane so she can prove her loyalty to his cause; otherwise she risks the wrath of the Execution Underground once again. If she can’t make Shane trust her, they won’t stand a chance in hell of defeating the evil that’s terrorizing their city. No easy task, considering old habits die hard…and Vera may be the very person responsible for luring Shane into a killer’s trap.

 

 

Excerpt

 

Shane stepped slowly through the hall, examining the floor for any stray fibers, herbs or possible leftovers from a black-magic ritual, signs the Rochester CSU wouldn’t have noticed or had otherwise written off as too unimportant to include in their report. When he reached the room at the end of the hall―which, based on its placement directly next to the bathroom, was likely the master bedroom―he paused. Light crept out from underneath the door, as if one of the policemen who had previously scoured the scene had left a lamp on. He pushed open the door.

The “Holy fuck!” that escaped his lips didn’t even begin to cover it.

He drew the Walther PPK and aimed. Atop the bloody mattress sat a woman who he immediately recognized as Mrs. Foley, and by Mrs. Foley he didn’t mean the corpse she should have been. Oh, no. Mrs. Foley looked exactly like she had in life, only with no color to her face and a flat dead look in her eyes because, well…she was fucking dead.

Her head snapped toward them. Vera let out a string of screamed profanities that would have impressed a sailor. Shane didn’t think. He squeezed the trigger off several times, aiming directly at Mrs. Foley’s head. His shots hit the dead woman point-blank in the forehead. Her body jerked with each impact. Blood and brain matter spattered onto the already-blood-soaked bed behind her. She fell back onto the mattress, twitching.

Shane released a long breath. Adrenaline filled his veins like a live wire. Holy shit. This was…

Mrs. Foley sat upright again, looking even more gruesome and disturbing than before. “This is for all the times you sat on your ass, Ted.” She lunged toward Shane as she spoke.

Shane repositioned his gun and fired. The bullet sailed straight into her chest, but that didn’t deter her. She tackled him full-on, with the power only someone who wasn’t concerned about pain was capable of. He toppled to the ground with Mrs. Foley on top of him as she attempted to claw his face with her fingernails.

“Every time I cooked you dinner, you never appreciated it, Ted!” she shrieked into Shane’s face. Her breath smelled like death warmed over.

Shane punched her in the jaw. It popped out of its socket, only to correct itself a moment later. Shit. He was fighting a battle he just couldn’t win. Using all his weight, he flipped the two of them over until he was on top. He slammed his fist into her face over and over again. Blood spattered onto his shirt from Mrs. Foley’s nose. The bones of her face broke as he hit her with blow after blow, then healed moments later.

“Vera,” he grunted through the hits. “Get me a…” He looked up, only to find Vera had disappeared. Shit.

 

 
author

Kait Ballenger is a full-time paranormal romance author, wife, former professional bellydancer, and soon-to-professor. She lives in Central Florida with her husband, their doggie-daughter Sookie (like Charlainne Harris’ character), and two kittens, Elliot and Olivia (like the SVU characters). Kait believes anything is possible, and one day, she hopes people name their pets after her characters, too.

 

Be sure to stop by Kait’s facebook page. She’s having a giveaway every day until Midnight Hunter’s release. 🙂

4 Thoughts on “Excerpt: Midnight Hunter by Kait Ballenger

  1. I’m a bit nervous to read this. The early reviews are starting to trickle in and it’s mostly so-so…

  2. Thanks for the excerpt!

  3. I haven’t read any of these but they sound really good. Thanks for the excerpt!
    Jen @ YA Romantics

  4. Oys. I still have the first one on my tbr pile. lol

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