Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5: Forsaking All Others
    The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5: Forsaking All Others
    The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5: Forsaking All Others
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5: Forsaking All Others

    By Katrina LaFond

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Lucian Davignon is out for revenge. His one true love, April, was murdered ruthlessly, and he is determined to hunt down her killer. But when he finally does, things don’t go quite as planned, and he ends upon the Lockwoods’ doorstep, mortally wounded and near death.

    Alexander and Madeline take him in to help him heal and give him time to recover. But the vampire hunter he’d faced traces him to the Lockwood home. Now, Madeline faces the same danger that took April. Both men vow to protect her, but is Lucian's concern more than that of a friend? What had really drawn him to London?

    Alexander is suspicious from the start. What is going on between the two people he loves most in the world? And how far will it go?

    Excerpt:

    Madeline was still on the stairs when James came into the living room from the foyer. “Who was that at the door?” she asked.

    “Isaac Porter,” James said flatly.

    Madeline froze. “How did he know to come here?” she wondered, annoyed at the fear she heard in her own voice.

    “He traced me here,” Lucian said from behind her, a few steps up. Madeline felt her heart skip a beat and she turned to look at him.

    “I believe he did,” James agreed. “I’m going to call Mr. Lockwood and inform him,” he said, and went into the kitchen.

    Madeline tried to ignore the look in Lucian’s eyes. “What do we do now?” she asked.

    Their eyes met. A spark passed between them and Madeline gasped. She stepped back unconsciously, thinking to put distance between them, forgetting that she was on the steps. She stumbled and lost her balance. Putting on a burst of speed, Lucian was there, and he caught her. He balanced her between his hard body and the railing. She looked up at him, still wrapped in his strong arms. “Thank you,” she said breathlessly.

    “I couldn’t let you fall,” he told her.

    She pushed gently against his chest. “You can let me go now,” she said, hoping he didn’t hear the regret in her voice.

    “I’m not sure I can,” he admitted hoarsely.

    “Lucian,” she implored. She heard the growl low in his throat, felt it rumble through his chest and into her body. Her heart leapt when she realized he was lowering his head, and she knew he was going to kiss her again. She flattened both hands on his chest and pushed, knowing it was futile. Like Alexander, he was stronger than she was and it was like pushing on a brick wall. “No,” she said urgently. “Let me go. Now.”

    He stopped, his mouth inches from hers. “I’m not sure what is happening here,” he told her, his voice raspy with effort, “but we cannot allow it to go on.”

    She shook her head, her arms beginning to tremble. “No,” she agreed, “we cannot.”

    He released her but didn’t move, forcing her to step to the side to move away from him. He remained where he was, one hand supporting his own weight against the railing, as she fled. She hesitated at the door to the kitchen and looked back. He was still standing there, his shoulders hunched, and she could see how tense he was in the line of his back. Squashing her irrational impulse to go back to him, she went into the kitchen.

    Lucian inhaled, taking in her lingering scent. Lilies. His body shuddered with the effort of remaining rooted to the spot, the strength it took not to chase after her. He closed his eyes and fought to bring his raging emotions and body under control. He hadn’t felt this sort of overwhelming desire, ever. It was consuming him. And he was feeling it for Madeline.

    Alexander was going to kill him.
    ---
    Forsaking All Others is the fifth episode in The Lockwood Chronicles series. It contains adult situations and some violence and is recommended for readers over 18 years of age.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKatrina LaFond
    Release dateSep 26, 2013
    ISBN9781301838455
    The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5: Forsaking All Others
    Author

    Katrina LaFond

    Writing is the ultimate escape from reality. You can read or watch a movie, but you're not truly immersed in another world like you are when you're creating one. When I'm not writing, I'm wishing I was and when I'm writing I'm living another life. There's some of me in every female character who lets me write her story--some more than others, but I'll never tell which ones. In my other lives I'm a sexy vampire, a powerful witch, an independent werewolf or a seductive human. I can be anyone and anything I want, and who wouldn't want to do that? My genre of preference is fantasy romance. I became infatuated with vampires in high school when I read a book about a girl, who'd recently been turned, who allowed herself to die in the first rays of dawn rather than feed on the boy with whom she'd fallen in love. I remember that part vividly because I thought it was the most beautiful depiction of unconditional and unrequited love that I'd ever read. I promptly devoured every book with vampires in it that I could get my hands on (in my age range, of course). At the time I wasn’t interested in romance novels, and eventually I ran out of teen vampire stories, so I tried my hand at writing one. Over the years, my characters and stories have matured with me. At first, the only characters I met were vampires, but eventually, other characters came to me, and I discovered I had a thing for tall, dark and handsome aliens as well. I spend so much time with my characters that they become real to me, and all my friends and family have gotten used to me talking about them that way. Thankfully, if they think I’m crazy, they keep it to themselves. I’ve also been very lucky in love. For 26 years, I’ve been with the same wonderful man who is very tolerant of the fact that I fall in love with the leading men in my books.

    Read more from Katrina La Fond

    Related to The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5

    Related ebooks

    Contemporary Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      In Love And War

      Jun 10, 2021

      April 1943 - Krakow, Poland Irena was bent over her needlework, stitching the frayed seam of her skirt when she heard a single gunshot ring out. She jerked and then scowled. After four years of war, she ought to be used to it. Why, the other night a

      11 min read

    • Article

      Alice And The Jabberwocky

      Apr 10, 2022

      ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe. Once again, Alice found herself in her bedroom, feeling rather mimsy indeed. Every day now, at two o’clock, she would sit at

      18 min read

    • Article

      Cricket Ceague

      Apr 1, 2019

      Penelope Berkeley, age 9 Mars Hill, NC Night had fallen, and Luna awoke from where she had been sleeping in a cornfield. She moved steadily through the stalks with barely a sound, keeping her eyes on the glittering glass rooftop of the greenhouse in

      7 min read

    • Article

      Just good FRIENDS

      Nov 2, 2022

      Just good FRIENDS
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Scarlet PEBBLE

      Feb 28, 2024

      The Scarlet PEBBLE
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Witch Finders

      Jul 16, 2020

      Beth pulled her cloak tightly around her. It was the very last day of October and the air was damp and chill. Dead autumn leaves lay in deep piles in the woods and smoke curled into the night air from her cottage. Not far to go now. She bent her head

      4 min read

    • Article

      The heartbeat OF PARIS

      Apr 10, 2024

      The heartbeat OF PARIS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Cast Out

      Jul 10, 2021

      Verity pushed back the quilts, rolled off her straw mattress onto the floor, felt for the poker, and stirred the ashes. The embers glowed. She wouldn’t have to go fire-borrowing again. Her chilled hands were clumsy. One glowing bit of wood rolled fro

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Education of Mrs. R.

      Sep 6, 2022

      An adolescent shriek woke her. Cockerels, she thought, cockerels, with a wry twist to the word. She lay in the dark listening. There was no use in covering her head; the screaming still came through. The soloist was suddenly submerged in the chorus.

      13 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      The Invitation

      Aug 21, 2023

      York, October 1644 Before I’ve even mustered the courage to knock, the door to the townhouse flings open. I drop my hand. “It is me, John Falmouth,” I say and wince at how loud my voice carries into the night. My greeting falters when I look up and n

      6 min read

    • Article

      Six Dart Out

      Sep 10, 2023

      Marc figured the girl was a vegan. Her puke had overflowed the sink and run onto the floor—tomatoes and rice marinated in microbrew lager. He’d told Vegan Girl to slow down, but her friends had won the turning-21-peer-pressure battle. Admittedly, Mar

      9 min read

    • Article

      Lost Children

      Aug 4, 2022

      Lost Children
      5 min read

    • Article

      Wayétu Moore

      Jun 15, 2018

      Lai was hidden in the middle of forests when the Vai people found it. There was evidence of earlier townsmen there, as ends of stoneware and crushed diamonds were found scattered on hilltops in the unexpected company of domestic cats. But when the Va

      29 min read

    • Article

      Cristina Rivera Garza

      Jun 15, 2018

      She would remember everything, out of the blue and in full detail. She would see the jade ring wrapped around her ring finger and, immediately, she would see the other jade ring. She would open her eyes wide and, without knowing why, would fall silen

      13 min read

    • Article

      A New Beginning

      Mar 25, 2022

      A New Beginning
      5 min read

    • Article

      Echo

      Jan 10, 2024

      Once, during a depressive episode, Stanley cut out thirteen small paper stars and taped them to the ceiling of his cluttered bedroom. They were made from the construction paper left over from his youth, stored away in a basket on a shelf in the basem

      14 min read

    • Article

      The Bees Are Coming

      Aug 4, 2022

      The Bees Are Coming
      7 min read

    • Article

      Gabriel & Holly

      Feb 8, 2021

      The first day was the most daunting. It helped that she’d arrived last night to settle herself in the cottage annexe before first contact this morning. Still, nerves attacked her as she stood before the door of the imposing but charming ivy-covered 1

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Needle

      May 30, 2023

      The Needle
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      Not Quite MR DARCY

      Aug 10, 2022

      Not Quite MR DARCY
      6 min read

    • Article

      O Fortuna, Velut Luna

      Sep 15, 2018

      What is Miss Treece’s trouble, according to a popular notion? The man A has failed to show up. Arousing herself at the restaurant, she fixes her lipstick when her solo supper concludes and takes herself down the stairs situated behind the bar. There,

      3 min read

    • Article

      On Uppermost Winds

      Mar 1, 2024

      On Uppermost Winds
      5 min read

    • Article

      Crescent City

      Dec 1, 2021

      Crescent City
      5 min read

    • Article

      Appreciating Hate

      Sep 10, 2021

      Felix thought of his mind as though it were artwork – a painting. His skull was the frame, the canvas inside the frame was the grey matter, the applied paint was his education, and that insubstantial feeling evoked by the art piece was his consciousn

      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Lockwood Chronicles Episode 5 - Katrina LaFond

      The Lockwood Chronicles

      Episode 5: Forsaking All Others

      by Katrina LaFond

      copyright 2013 Katrina LaFond

      Smashwords Edition

      Edited by: Laurie Williams

      Cover by Abstractionz

      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 return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Beginning of Book

      More Lockwood Chronicles

      Other Books by this Author

      Connect with the Author

      A few years ago, Paris— Lucian handed roses and champagne to the lady behind the checkout counter. She eyed the dozen red flowers and looked up at him, smiling knowingly. Something wonderful planned for this evening? she asked in French, a twinkle in her eye.

      Lucian smiled. Every evening with April is wonderful, he told her, also in French. I’d buy her a hundred roses if you had them.

      The woman gazed at him speculatively as he counted out the money. His ocean eyes were on his hands, his long, sleek, ebony hair falling forward into his handsome face, and for a moment she was jealous. Then she laughed. Lucky girl!

      Lucian looked up and smiled back at her. I’m the lucky one, he corrected.

      * * * *

      April was humming to herself contentedly as she roamed around the bedroom, lighting candles. When she got to the dressing table, she sat down and reached for her brush. As she pulled it through her long, dark hair she smiled at her reflection. Lucian would be back soon, and her heart gave a little flip of delight at the thought. Hard to believe that after all these years, decades really, she was still so excited at the mere thought of him.

      Her fingertips traced the platinum chain around her neck, coming to rest on the heart-shaped locket. He’d given it to her shortly after they met, and she never removed it. As was her habit, she lifted the heart to her lips before she left the dressing table. She glanced into the mirror, checking to make sure nothing was out of place, and smoothed the satin nightgown over her slim hips.

      As she was crossing to the bed to turn it down, she heard a noise. She froze, looking toward the open bedroom door. Lucian? she called.

      Silence. She reached for her robe and cautiously approached the door, peering into the darkness of the hallway. Her vampire eyes could see down the hall as if it was noon, but it was empty, and she’d definitely heard something. She paused, going completely still as only a vampire can, reaching out with all her senses, all her vampire powers. Lucian would have answered her when she called his name. Faintly, from very close by, she heard a heartbeat. It was so soft, almost as if it was being masked. April frowned. Who knew how to mask a heartbeat from a vampire?

      All alone? a voice asked.

      April’s eyes flew to the darkened guestroom at her right. Who’s there? she demanded.

      Maybe I’m the big bad wolf, the voice taunted. Or perhaps the boogie man?

      April slowly began to gather her power as she eased back into the bedroom. He followed, stepping into the flickering candlelight. He was an older man, around sixty, with grey eyes and hair, tall and stocky. He had scars on his face and neck, on the back of his gnarled hands and all the way up to his elbows. April frowned. Who are you?

      He smiled, revealing two gold teeth. I’m surprised, my dear. You must be very young indeed. Maybe I should have a talk with your Lucian about robbing the cradle.

      April stopped backing away from him. So, you know what I am?

      He nodded. Of course. That’s why I’m here. I’ve come to kill you, he told her matter-of-factly.

      April paled. You’re human, she pointed out. I could snap you like a twig.

      He chuckled. I’m Isaac Porter, he said. I’ve already been snapped like a twig. Didn’t like it much.

      April stared at him. She’d heard of Isaac Porter. The Assassin. Stall for time, she told herself. Keep him talking until Lucian gets back. How did you find me? And how did you get in here without my hearing you?

      Isaac pulled a necklace from under his shirt. The moment it lost contact with his skin, April heard his heartbeat loud and clear. She stared at the necklace, knowing what it was right away. It was a heart roughly hewn from a solid piece of rose quartz, hanging from a silver chain. The Heart of Serenity. A talisman created by her own people to mask the sound of a beating heart. Isaac chuckled and dropped it back down the collar of his shirt, silencing his heartbeat again. I figured you would recognize it, gypsy.

      How did you get that? April asked. I left that with my sister when I left my clan.

      Isaac patted the heart fondly through the front of his shirt. That was two hundred years ago, my dear. I bought it fairly cheaply, considering what it is. Calmly, he reached into one of the inner pockets of his jacket and came out with a cruel-looking dagger. That’s enough chit-chat. Trying to delay me until your boyfriend gets back won’t help, he told her. I’m going to kill him, too.

      April felt a flare of anger at the threat against Lucian. She threw her arm forward and electricity shot from her fingertips. At the last second Isaac dodged, but the bolts still caught him in the right arm. He grunted as he fell onto his side. April backed away further, gathering herself for another attack. Isaac was right. She was young for a vampire and she didn’t have much experience in fighting. She knew enough to protect herself while on the hunt, but none of those humans had ever tried to kill her. And if she’d ever been in any real danger, Lucian had always been there for her. She’d never had any reason to fight. Desperately, she focused and sent a call to him, hoping against hope that he’d hear her and come.

      Isaac pulled himself up and started toward her. April turned around and ran. He reached out for her arm but instead got a handful of her long, chocolate hair. He wrapped it around his fist and yanked her back. She screamed as she fell backwards against his body. The blade in his hand slid easily

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1