One-Percenter Vendetta Read online

One-Percenter Vendetta

  Kevin L. O'Brien

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  Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Biker From Hell font distributed under a free-use license by Gilang Purnama Jaya

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  License Notes

  Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

  If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever. Finally, certain words use British instead of American spelling, to simulate the characters' English accents.

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  Table of Contents

  Preface

  One-Percenter Vendetta

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

  Sample Excerpts

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  Preface

  Sir Differel Van Helsing had pretty much decided she would never marry. For one thing, security concerns prevented her from meeting men, except at official royal or government functions, which she loathed more than paperwork. For another, family ties would make her vulnerable to extortion or assassination. Finally, she just couldn't imagine herself having sex with a man. She knew that remaining single would mean the extinction of her two families, but being a woman her children would bear her husband's name in any event, so it made no difference.

  Then in 2000, Differel attended a government conference on the challenges facing the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations in the new millennium, and gave a talk on the future of paranormal activity. There she met Victor Edward Plunkett, 26th Viscount Dunwich and special envoy for the Foreign Office of HM Government. He became interested in her and tried to pursue a relationship. That was nothing new to her: for seven years various men had tried to do the same, but she always managed to discourage them, because their primary interest was securing control over Vlad Drakulya. However, Victor was different, for two reasons. One was that he persisted, despite her efforts to convince him to drop it. The other was that even she could tell he had a genuine romantic interest in her rather than some ulterior motive. He slowly wore away her resolve, until they became friends and then lovers. They became engaged on Christmas Eve and were married less than a month later. A son, Henry, was born eight months after that, and Differel had no reason to believe her new life of domestic bliss would not last for years.

  In 2004 she and her family were targeted by a rival monster hunting organization for assassination. Though she and Henry survived, Victor was killed. The loss devastated her, and she suffered a crisis of faith. She questioned whether she could continue to run the Caerleon Order, or even if she would want to. To find the answer, she took a cue from her parents. Before they were married, they sometimes toured the back roads on motorcycles, and she decided to do the same.

  She doesn't know how long it will take her to make her choice, but she is prepared to remain on the road for days, weeks, even months if necessary. She expects it to be the decision that will determine the course of her life once and for all, and she wants to make sure it's the right one.

  This story takes place in late spring of 2005, seven years after the events in "The Beast of Exmoor".

  Back to TOC

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