Once Bitten, Twice Burned

They hunted better at night.

Grayson Hughes stalked around the empty interior. He’d expected Ryder to return by dawn, but Ryder always loved doing the unexpected.

Tricky SOB.

“What happens now?” The soft, feminine voice came from behind him.

Ah, so he wasn’t quite alone.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Julia, the sexy little bartender, was edging away from the stockroom. Stockroom, blood freezer, whatever you wanted to call it.

He raised a brow at her. He’d wondered when this conversation would happen.

“I mean . . . I thought this place was yours.” She smoothed her hands over the front of her jeans. Julia was new to the vamp life. She’d only been changed a little over a year ago. “But the dark Ryder comes in and just takes over.”

The Dark Ryder. Dark Rider. Yes, that had been the name he’d gotten centuries ago. When he rode into towns and fought vampires, then left, covered in blood.

Ryder was the vampire judge, jury, and executioner. If you crossed a line, he came for you.

And, of course, he was the one who drew the lines to begin with. The vamp with all the power.

Because he’d been created first.

“What happens?” Grayson repeated as he turned to fully face her. He knew exactly how to play this game. Over all the long years, he’d gotten so good at playing roles. “What happens is that we keep our mouths shut and our minds as sealed as possible.”

Julia’s eyes widened. “What if he finds out about what we’ve done?”

What did she think would happen? Ryder would try to kill them, obviously. So he just stared back at her. She swallowed and glanced away.

After a moment, Grayson said, “If you’re smart, you won’t talk about that again, not here.”

But Julia shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what’s said or not said. He’s going to push with his power. He’s going to scan us all. Then he’ll know.”

Ryder would know that they’d been in on the plan to kill his ass? That they’d helped to set him up?

“He won’t know if we take him out first.” And wasn’t that supposed to be the goal, anyway? To stop the vamp king before he stopped them? “Call the others,” Grayson ordered her. “Set up a meet. Ryder’s distracted by his lady, so we have time to move, now.”

Her lashes flickered. “His lady?” she repeated. “I’d wondered if he—”

“Ryder is obsessed with her.” Obviously. The vamp could barely keep his fangs off her. “That buys us time.”

A faint smile curved Julia’s full lips. “Yes, it does. I’ll get all the others, and we’ll do it—we’ll kill him.” Her face didn’t look so soft or so sweet as she said, “Let’s see how he likes it when all of his power is ripped away. When he becomes just like the rest of us.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

They’d made it to the couch. Lost the rest of their clothes. Her body was so sated that she never wanted to move, and Sabine could admit, she rather enjoyed the way Ryder’s arms felt around her.

“What’s going to happen?” Sabine asked him because she couldn’t help herself. “Is there any way out for us?”

Frowning, he raised his head to look down at her. His fingers skimmed up her arm. “We’re going to kill our enemies.” Said with perfect certainty. “Make them beg for death. Then we’re going to walk away.”

Her lips had curled into a smile at first, then she realized he was dead serious. “Uh, I haven’t exactly ever made anyone beg for death.” Her smile dipped down. “Genesis . . . that lady there tried to turn me into a weapon, but I couldn’t even carry out one job. The werewolf . . .” Her fingers rose to her stomach. The wounds were gone, but the memory would always be there to terrify her. “He just ripped me open.”

Ryder shifted their positions, moving so that she lay beneath him on the couch. Then he slid down, pushing between her legs. His mouth lowered over her stomach, and he pressed a light kiss to the skin there. “You scared the hell out of me then.”

She stared at his bent head. To be so fierce, he had his tender moments. She’d never felt more cherished in her whole life than she did in that moment.

She could feel his arousal, but he wasn’t pushing her. He was just . . . kissing a wound that wasn’t there. And his kisses were making it all better, well, almost all better.

“I would have just burned,” she said, and her fingers brushed through his hair. “Even if your blood hadn’t turned me, I would have come back.”