Forbidden Love by Natalie Hancock

Prologue
     
     
    I need to escape.
    Katrina chanted the words in her head, keeping calm at the comforting thought of freedom. No more torture, no more nightmares haunting her every waking moment. No more guilt from the deaths she caused whenever other women were thrown into her cell for punishment.
    For weeks she endured the cries and screams. The helpless feeling of being the one who caused the pain, took a life from an innocent.
    Everything would change.
    Katrina could hear the whispering women behind her. Thrown in her cell for punishment.
    The vampires had a sick sense of humour.
    Though whispering quietly that no human could hear them, Katrina was no human and she could hear them whispering about her. She turned and saw the women huddled together in the corner of the room.
    They averted their gazes quickly, a sickly scent filling the proximity of the cell, letting Katrina know that they were frightened of her. They knew they were going to end up like the others. Dead.
    It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have stopped it even if you tried. Shaking off the guilt, knowing she was right, Katrina cleared her throat, silencing the women. “I’m escaping tonight when they bring in the food and I want you lot to come with me.”
    The women were silent, staring at her as though she was crazy. She probably was.
    “We’re not going with you.”
    Katrina turned her attention to a tall, dark skinned woman. “You would rather stay here and die?”
    “We’ll die by your hands anyway. I know what you did with the others. You’re a monster.”
    Katrina slammed her into the hard wall, putting a forearm against the woman’s throat. Being locked away for days or weeks had taken its toll. “That wasn’t my fault.”
    “You let your anger get the better of you. Is that what happened? Did one of the others insult you, forcing you to lash out and rip them to shreds?”
    Katrina growled low, pressing herself closer to the woman. “It’s the night of the full moon.”
    The dark woman’s eyes widened.
    Katrina pushed herself away from her and walked to the corner of the room. “They put those women in here with me for a reason. They knew I would change and they knew what happened when I did. Why do you think I’m still alive?” Katrina ran her hands through her dirty, tangled hair. “It was out of my control and the reason I want to escape. If I don’t, I’m going to have more deaths on my conscious. All for the fun of those sick men.”
    Each woman’s eyes were wide, their nostrils flaring, and chest heaving as they pressed their shaking bodies against each other, and against the wall to get as far away from her as they could. They knew what she was, knew what she was capable of. Knew she was a monster. They’d been the ones to clean up the mess in the cell while she’d lain unconscious in a pool of blood that was not her own.
    The vampires were quick to rub it in her face. It was their way of getting the women to behave.
    Katrina swallowed heavily. If only she’d been strong enough to control the beast and stop it from attacking when the smell of blood hit her hard.
    “They’re better off.”
    “Marie, don’t say something like that!”
    “No, she’s right!”
    Katrina turned to the arguing women, saw two holding hands, practically hugging their naked bodies together.
    A muddy blonde haired woman stared at her with big black eyes. “Marie is right. They are better off. Think about it, what we’ve all been through, the beatings, the fights we had to endure.” She swallowed hard. “The rape. Katrina did them a favour. At least they don’t have to be put through that anymore.”
    “I’m going with you.” Marie hugged herself against the blonde, still shaking.
    “You need to make sure you’re ready. Once I leave, you won’t keep up with me, but you won’t be able to turn back either.”
    The dark woman spoke up before the others could. “And how are you planning to do this exactly?”
    “When they