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  Tori

  Book #2 of Glory

  Dale Mayer

  Book in this series:

  Genesis

  Tori

  Celeste

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Back Cover

  Complimentary Download

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Author’s Note

  Complimentary Download

  About the Author

  Also by Dale Mayer

  Copyright Page

  Back Cover

  Hurt and betrayed, Tori has gone into hiding. Anything to give her time to heal from losing the love of her life.

  Devon came looking for her—for all the wrong reasons. He needs her help to save a large band of locals caught behind a weird energy pattern.

  As an energy worker, she can’t turn her back on those in need. She will help him, but only if he disappears from her life forever.

  He agrees, but has no intention of honoring his promise. She’s finally let him back into her life—he has no intention of screwing up a second time.

  Tori isn’t big on forgiveness, but she is big on Devon. Only the weird energy pattern was a problem—a big problem—and the start of something sinister.

  Before she can work out what’s going on, the stakes go up, and she realizes there might not be a future for either of them.

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  Blood doesn’t just make her who she is … it also makes her what she is.

  Like being a sixteen-year-old vampire isn’t hard enough, Tessa’s throwback human genes make her an outcast among her relatives. But try as she might, she can’t get a handle on the vampire lifestyle and all the … blood.

  Turning her back on the vamp world, she embraces the human teenage lifestyle—high school, peer pressure and finding a boyfriend. Jared manages to stir something in her blood. He’s smart and fun and oh, so cute. But Tessa’s dream of a having the perfect boyfriend turns into a nightmare when vampires attack the movie theater and kidnap her date.

  Once again, Tessa finds herself torn between the human world and the vampire one.

  Will blood own out? Can she make peace with who she is as well as what?

  DOWNLOAD a complimentary copy of VAMPIRE IN DENIAL? Just tell me where to send it!

  Chapter 1

  Tori Chandler checked her watch. Damn. She had just two minutes to make a decision. Her break was only fifteen minutes, and she didn’t dare be late. Not with a new job and a strict boss. Should she risk a trip to the bank? She could always walk out if the line wasn’t moving fast enough.

  She needed the little cash she had for her rent. She had to pay daily until she had a month’s worth saved up, and she was already behind. Her landlord had caught her in the hallway this morning and had given her an ultimatum. Moving again wasn’t an option. She needed that hideaway. It was walking distance to her new job and saved her bus fare. That meant keeping her landlord happy until next week when she’d get her first paycheck from the health food store. She’d already given him the last of her cash, and there was no way she was using plastic. It was too traceable. She didn’t know if she was still on anyone’s radar, but she just knew she couldn’t take the chance. She’d left in secret and had planned to stay gone. Except for her sisters, there was nothing left for her back home.

  In the past year, she still hadn’t found another place to call home. Pain and anger had sent her on this journey, and now she was afraid she didn’t know how to stop.

  Moving a lot meant no accumulation of stuff. She had so little to her name that if her landlord dumped her belongings outside when he kicked her out, it would take no more than a single tote bag to pack them up.

  This was her first chance to settle down in a long time. Now if she could just make it work.

  “Tori, go for your break now,” Mary, her supervisor, said. “See you back in fifteen.”

  “Thanks.” Tori smiled. “I’m just going to hop over to the bank.”

  Mary frowned. “Bad day for that. It’s the last day of the month.”

  “And that’s why I have to go.” Tori gave her a bright smile. “Not to worry, if the line is too long, I’ll just come back.”

  That brought a smile to Mary’s face. “Good idea. You’ve been a model employee so far. You know how the owner feels about tardiness. Best not to push it.”

  Tori rolled her eyes at Mary’s back as the woman walked away, then she bolted for the front door. Did no one in this world understand that sometimes shit happened and had to be dealt with?

  The bank was only a few stores over, in the big strip mall. Thankfully, it was a small branch and served mostly locals. Regardless, it was still almost noon, and that meant there’d be a rush. As the building came into view, she saw that there was no one else hurrying to get inside. That, at least, was a good sign. Tori pulled open one of the two glass doors and rushed inside.

  Blissfully cool, an air-conditioned gust hit her, but she barely noticed. Her senses went on full alert.

  All around here, there was an eerie silence. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the service counter. The tellers were all staring at her, a mixture of fear and anger on their faces…and horror.

  She straightened and realized that something was very, very wrong. Instinct screamed at her to run. Get the hell out of there.

  Then she heard it. Click. And something round and hard was shoved into her back.

  “What a nice day for you to come to the bank.” A gravelly voice spoke in her ear, accompanied by the smell of beer and stale pizza, mixed with the remnants of a sour belch that almost dropped her to her knees. “Welcome to the party.”

  Tori closed her eyes. Shit happened, all right.

  But why did it always happen to her?

  Chapter 2

  Politely, the only way one should approach a man holding a gun, she said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  His croaking laugh made her wince. Yeah, he was so worried. Not. She tried again. “Honestly. It will be fine if you just let me walk back out of here.”

  “Shut up.” The sour, breathy voice sounded pumped on Glory juice, a drug manufactured from the main flower the planet was named after.

  Damn, a juice junkie to boot. She really didn’t need that. Glory juice made people hyper, excitable, and unpredictable. This situation was volatile enough without it.

  Then again, so was her temper. And damn it, she’d needed that cash.

  The metal jabbed harder into her ribs. She winced then snapped lightly. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Hey, get her over here. Stop messing around, man.”

  At the sound of the other man’s voice, the gunman urged her forward. “Walk over to the tellers.”

  She whispered mentally, Escort me to the front door.
Let me out and let me go. Escort me to the front door. Let me out and let me go.

  “Hey, I said get moving,” But his hand had turned her around and pushed her toward the front door. She kept her smile inside and walked forward agreeably.

  “Hey, Porter, what the hell are you doing?” one of the other robbers cried out. “I said stop messing around.”

  As a precautionary measure, Tori whispered, Ignore them. Open the front door and let me out.

  The robber nudged her forward. “I said move it.”

  Happy to comply and knowing time was running out, Tori walked faster and got to the front door. “Open it,” he snarled. “Hurry up.”

  She quickly pulled the door open.

  Behind her, the others started shouting. “Porter. What the hell?” A gunshot rang out, and her escort stiffened. She took one look at the deathly pale face and bolted through the doors. Shouts erupted behind her.

  Outside, she raced to the left toward the alleyway that would take her to a large parking lot at the back of the mall. She scanned the lot. Lots of small vehicles, and nowhere for her to hide.

  Except there.

  She spotted two large delivery trucks parked close together, the cab of each empty. She squeezed in between them and waited for her panicked breathing to calm down.

  There were no signs that she was being followed, yet neither could she discount it. She’d escaped. That meant the gunmen would have to make a fast decision. She could only hope that didn’t mean a bullet for those left behind.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  She so didn’t need this right now. She didn’t dare head back to her job in this state, and neither could she leave those other poor people alone and helpless in the bank. She called the hotline. As it was a computer that answered, she quickly gave the details and shut down her phone before it could be traced. Thirty seconds was about the limit, and her call came in under that.

  Hopefully that would be enough.

  After several more bolstering deep breaths, she peered around the corner of the truck. The parking lot looked the same. She hadn’t heard anyone approach, so chances were good she’d gotten away. She still had to get back to work, though, and she really didn’t want to be recognized. To that end, she slipped off her sweater and wrapped it around her waist, then quickly turned her long hair into a single braid down her back.

  It was the best she could do in these circumstances. With a last glance at the time, she walked to the back alley-entrance of the shop and entered. Inside, she slapped her hand over her chest as she tried desperately to calm her breathing. So far, so good.

  “Tori? Is that you?”

  “Yes. I’m back. Just getting a drink of water.” She did need water. She grabbed a glass and filled it from the bathroom sink. Feeling calmer, and hoping she was not as flustered-looking as she felt, she plastered a smile on her face and walked out to the front of the store.

  “Did you get through the bank lineup that fast?” asked Mary. A customer walked out of the store, a bag swinging on her arm.

  “No. I saw the line from the outside and kept on walking.”

  “Told you.”

  “Yeah.” Tori smiled. “Doesn’t help me out now, though.”

  “You need me to lend you a few bucks?” Mary lifted her cup of tea. “I have fifty on me.”

  Hope bloomed inside Tori’s chest. She hated to do it, but she was desperate. “If you could, that would be…awesome.”

  When Mary handed the money over, Tori could feel the pressure in her chest ease. This would get her past her landlord. At least, until she received the rest of her money.

  The bank thing was a whole other story.

  She wasn’t likely to get as easily out of that one. There were cameras all over the place. The cops were going to be looking for her. And she had nothing she wanted to tell them. In fact, she had nothing she wanted to say to the police in any way.

  But how to keep herself out of the line of fire?

  She could run again. But she was just as likely to get caught. Burnside wasn’t very big. And she didn’t have enough money to skip to another town farther away. Back to that whole needing her paycheck thing.

  She might be able to bluff it.

  But not likely.

  At closing time, Tori raced through her closing procedure and, with Mary, locked up the store. She cast a look over toward the bank but couldn’t see anything different. It was so tempting to think she’d imagined it all. But she couldn’t be so lucky. With a quick smile goodbye to Mary, she headed home.

  At the end of her block, she stopped and checked out her surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary. No one looking for her. No one even noticing her.

  Just the way she wanted it.

  She ran up the few stairs to her place and let herself in. Ground floor apartments weren’t her favorite, but they allowed for a fast escape. And she should know.

  First things first, she put on the teakettle. “Jessie, I’m home.”

  There was a brush and a scuffle of noise, and then with the lightness that always amazed her, Jessie jumped onto her counter.

  She sighed. “Jessie. Show yourself, please. Remember the rules.”

  Instantly, her pet Polten, a red panda-raccoon hybrid that was common on Glory, showed up. In purple. “Purple? Really?”

  He grinned. And showed his fangs.

  She stared at him a moment, then shook her head. “Whatever.”

  With so many moves and energy changes over the last year, he’d changed colors a lot. Now his colors shifted and his fangs grew apparently by whim.

  Jessie chittered in response, then raced to the opposite side of her counter to jump across to her window. The woods were just outside. He knew it. She knew it. But he wouldn’t go there until darkness fell. And then he wouldn’t likely return until morning. She had no idea what he did overnight, but he’d been with her for as long as she could remember. He was more than her spirit pet—he was her best friend, and her family.

  Besides, not many friends understood about paranormal abilities here. A number of Earth-like planets had been selected for population after the Earth started to die and needed emergency assistance—mainly requiring humans to get off the planet and to quit hurting it. In its entirety, the evacuation had taken years, but thankfully, they’d had a program in place for decades prior, so when it came to crunch time, they’d actually managed to get everyone safely off.

  Glory had been one of the farthest and less-tested options. But many had opted to come, and over time, the planet had developed a decent population, with paranormal abilities popping up more and more. She could see a future when they would be more common in the general population.

  In fact, given her current situation, Jessie was all she had. Here, at least.

  Rummaging in the back of her fridge, Tori found the mostly-empty bottle of Glory wine on the bottom shelf. “Gotcha.” She dragged it out, popped the cork, and took it outside to the puny-sized deck. She collapsed on her single chair and propped her feet up on the railing. She needed this. What a hell of a day. She took a long gulp from the bottle and leaned her head back.

  Someone pounded on her door. She bolted upright and spun to stare in the direction of the entryway. Now who would be calling her here? She groaned. Right, the landlord.

  Grumpy, she stood and walked over to the front door, her fingers already fishing for the money in her pocket. Then the secondary thought struck her that maybe it wasn’t her landlord. Considering what she’d witnessed today, the police might have found her. Keeping that thought in mind, she tiptoed quietly to the door, peered through the peephole, and froze.

  No. It couldn’t be.

  The door shook with more knocking as she stood there, her mind still trying to decide how life could hate her this much. Hadn’t she been through enough today?

  “Tori? Are you in there? We need to talk.”

  Talking with this man was the last thing Tori wanted to do. But it appeared that running hadn’t gotten her anyw
here.

  Devon Wiltshire was still finding her.

  That was his talent.

  She’d done her best, and still he’d beaten her. She dropped her forehead on the door and silently whispered, Go away. Turn around and keep on walking.

  There were sounds of footsteps on the other side of her door. They faded, then grew loud again.

  “Tori, open up. I know you’re there,” Devon said, humor in his voice. “At least, now I do.”

  Tori reached a hand up to pull at her hair, wanting nothing more than to scream. Then, resignedly, she snorted in disgust. She opened the door to face her ex-fiancé.

  Chapter 3

  “Devon. Long time no see. And now that we’ve seen each other, feel free to turn around and leave.” She peered around the doorway to see Devon’s henchmen walking away. She smirked and shot him a look before turning and walking back into her kitchen. He wouldn’t leave. No way. Not now that he’d found her. She snagged the bottle of wine in her free hand and flopped down in her chair on the deck. She took a long swig of the cold liquid.

  “Still drinking cheap wine, I see.” Devon stood in the open patio door.

  “Not being in the same financial category as you, I’d say that’s a yes.” And she tilted the bottle back and finished the last dregs. She put it down on the cement and sighed. “What the hell do you want?”

  “You.”

  She froze, and then a broken laugh slipped out. If she hadn’t turned to make sure he was joking, she wouldn’t have caught the hurt as it flickered through his eyes. Him hurt? Hell, no. Now, his pride might have been dented… That she had no trouble believing. That went along with all the men in his family. Protectors. The whole long line of them.

  And they had the skills to make that happen.

  Unfortunately.

  She turned away and stared out at the forest behind her building. “Joke’s over. What’s the real reason?”

  “I came to get you.”