Once Bitten, Twice Burned

Vaughn had stilled beneath her hands. Her eyes opened and she stared back at him. His face had gone slack. “Vaughn?” She shook him.

He felt cold to her. He shouldn’t be that cold, not so soon. His body should still be warm. Not so icy. Not yet. Not ever.

“Vaughn!” Footsteps thudded behind her. She didn’t look over her shoulder. She knew those footsteps had to be Ryder’s.

He’d taken the other vampire’s head. With one slice of his claws. But she couldn’t think about that. Not then.

Vaughn wasn’t moving. The blood was thick on the ground beneath him.

Ryder’s hands wrapped around her. He lifted her against him. “The humans are coming.”

She felt numb. Vaughn was—

Moving?

His mouth was opening wide, and he started to groan. A low, pain-filled sound.

Relief rushed through her. Vaughn was alive!

His hands flew into the air, and—and claws were sprouting from his fingertips. Long, thick, black claws.

His mouth was open so wide because his teeth were growing, elongating into sharp points. Every. Single. Tooth.

Ryder jerked her back, keeping his tight hold on her. “Son of a bitch.”

Vaughn rolled over. Slowly rose to his hands and knees as his back bowed. “Help . . . me!”

Sabine tried to reach for him. Ryder just wrapped his arms tighter around her. Hauled her farther back.

Then, over Vaughn’s growing screams and the desperate pounding of her own heart, Sabine heard footsteps. Her head swung to the left. To the right. Men in black cargo pants and bulletproof vests were surrounding them. And leading those men, she recognized Keith Adams, Vaughn’s father.

“What the hell did you do to my son?” Keith demanded. He had a small gun in his hands. A gun currently aimed at Sabine’s chest.

She couldn’t help but wonder if, like her father’s weapon, that gun was loaded with wooden bullets, too.

“We didn’t do anything.” Ryder wasn’t letting her go. His body vibrated with fury. “You can thank Genesis for this one. They’re the ones who wanted to build bigger, stronger vampires.”

Keith staggered back. His gaze went to the ground. To the fallen vampire and his disconnected head. The vamp’s mouth was wide open, and you could see his mouthful of fangs.

Keith’s horrified gaze flew back to Vaughn. “No, son, no!”

But there was no denying what was happening to Vaughn. He was screaming and crying and his body kept twisting as the brutal change swept over him.

Sabine held herself still in Ryder’s arms.

“I’m going to kill them all,” Ryder whispered the words in her ear, barely seeming to breathe them.

She counted seven men. All with their eyes on Vaughn, not her or Ryder. All appearing frozen with horror.

One of their own was changing right before their eyes.

“I’ll kill them all,” Ryder said again, “and you stay behind me. It’ll be fast, I promise. Just close your eyes, and you don’t even have to see what I do to them.”

She had no doubt that he could kill all of those humans in just moments. She knew how fast he could move. How strong he was. He could take their heads easily or cut their throats.

“No,” Sabine whispered. She didn’t want more blood on her hands. She already had enough coating her fingers.

“I’m not going back into a cage.” Anger now, rage, roughening Ryder’s words. “Not even for you, love.”

Then he pushed her behind him.

He sprang at Keith.

Only . . .

Keith was firing his weapon. Aiming not for Ryder, but pointing his gun at Vaughn.

Vaughn . . . who was on his feet. Chest heaving. Body shaking.

Vaughn . . . who was rushing toward Sabine, snarling and opening his mouth to take a bite.

The bullet slammed into his chest. Another blasted into Vaughn. A third.

Vaughn fell to the ground.

Keith looked up.

Too late, Keith. Too late.

Because Ryder was at his side. Ryder had his claws at Keith’s throat.

“Tell them to drop their weapons,” Ryder’s voice was deadly calm.

Keith didn’t speak, but he gave a fast gesture with his hand. All of the humans immediately tossed their weapons to the ground.

“Good,” Ryder praised and offered a hard smile to the man. “For that, you can die quickly.”

“Ryder!” Sabine hurried toward him. “Don’t!”

Keith’s eyes, grief-stricken, lost, met hers. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

No, she was sure that she and Ryder were the ones who were supposed to be on the ground.