Cynthia Eden - Marked by the Vampire

He slammed, face-first, into the stone, as his body went limp.

Shane whirled toward her. His breath heaved out and his hands were clenched into fists.

His fangs were showing.

And she didn’t have a stake handy. The sound of her ragged breathing filled the air.

He stepped toward her.

“Stop!” Olivia ordered. Right. Because that was supposed to do some kind of good. Her order to him. Shane kept coming toward her and then he—

Offered her his hand?

“Love, I told you this place was too dangerous.”

She blinked at him.

He pulled her to her feet. Held her injured wrist in his hand.

“Do not bite me,” she told him, and her voice only shook a little. Okay, a lot.

“Tempting…” His fingers held her carefully. His gaze was on the wound.

Footsteps thundered outside of the door. “Dr. Maddox!” A desperate shout.

She recognized Case’s voice. The cavalry had come.

“Your rescue party is a bit late.” Shane’s jaw locked. “That werewolf could have killed you long before that idiot and his men got inside.”

“How did you get inside? I mean, how did you get up to the window?”

His head lowered toward her. “It’s not the first time I’ve scaled a tower.”

She shook her head. That feat should have been impossible, even for a vamp. To get up that wall, so fast…

“I have to do this,” he told her then, just confusing her more. “I’m sorry, but I have to know why…” He started to raise her wrist to his mouth.

“No!” Olivia shouted as she tried to pull against him. He was even stronger than David. “Don’t!”

His eyes glinted at her. “He didn’t kill you.”

The guards were shoving at the door. She could hear their desperate efforts to get past the makeshift barricade that David had put in place.

“He tasted you…a werewolf’s senses are the most acute of any paranormal.” His eyes raked over her. “What the fuck has Pate done now?”

Her jaw nearly hit the floor. “P-Pate?”

He put his mouth on his wrist.

“Don’t!”

His lips pressed to her skin and he…he licked her. Tasted the drops of her blood there. And while his tongue slid against her skin, his eyes held hers.

The guards broke through the door.

“Get away from her!” Case yelled. “Now!” But he and the others were already running toward Shane.

“Interesting,” Shane murmured. “Very, very interesting…” He kissed her wrist. Then he let her go. He swung to face the armed guards. “It’s about time you all joined the party.”

She could practically feel the fear filling that room. The guards must have witnessed Shane’s display of power in the courtyard, and now they were afraid of him. Olivia knew they were right to fear him.

“Get the vamp in a cell! Get that damn werewolf out of here!” Case barked orders. His gaze landed on Brett. “And get a medic!”

Shane didn’t fight against the hands that grabbed for him. He did look back at Olivia, though. His gaze held hers. “Love, I like the way you taste.”

She put her bleeding wrist behind her back. Lifted her chin. “That’s the only taste you’ll ever be getting.” She could still feel his mouth against her flesh. Like a brand. Hot. No, scorching.

His laughter drifted back to her as the guards led him from the room.

Other guards dragged David out of there even as two of the medics rushed inside. Olivia backed up, trying to make room for them. She backed right into Case because he’d closed in on her.

“The vampire bit you?” His eyes were narrowed with fury.

“No.” She shook her head. Glanced toward the window. The courtyard must have been at least forty feet below them. “He saved me.”

“Bullshit.”

Brett let out a low groan.

“It’s true. David—David is the one who attacked me.” What are you? His words seemed to echo in her head. “He attacked Brett and…” Her breath rushed out. “My remote didn’t work on him.”

Case’s eyelids flickered.

“Why didn’t the guards come in immediately?” Brett was being carried out on a stretcher. “They were watching. Why didn’t they come in as soon as he attacked?”

“Because your vampire hero was causing a near riot downstairs. All hands were needed. You had a guard in here,” he gritted out as fury darkened his gaze. “We thought you were safe. ”

And she’d thought her remote would work. “What happened to the remote? Why didn’t it work?”

His gaze slid over the floor. He bent then and picked up the shattered remains of her remote. “Because it’s smashed to hell and back? It’s hard to work when it’s in pieces.”

He was a jerk. “David smashed it after—”

A medic tapped her shoulder. “Miss, do you need stitching up?”

Her wrist was still throbbing. She could still feel Shane’s mouth on her skin. “Yes.” The medic carefully pulled her toward the door.

“Where did the knife come from?” Case asked quietly.

She looked down and saw the bloody, silver knife near her feet. “I had to protect myself.” When the damn remote stopped working.

“You smuggled a silver knife into my prison?”

“I had to protect myself,” she said again. The medic was still pulling her toward the door.

“Why didn’t they kill you?”

At that question from Case, Olivia tensed. But she had an answer. The only answer that made sense. “Because David likes to play with his prey. He wasn’t done playing with me.”

“What about Shane?”

She glanced back at him. “You got here in time.” Lie. There was so much more to Shane than she’d realized. The vampire wasn’t at all what he appeared to be.

That was fine. She wasn’t exactly what she appeared to be, either.

The cell door slammed shut behind Shane. They hadn’t thrown him back in solitary. Probably because they realized solitary wasn’t doing a damn thing to him.

He closed his eyes as he stood in the middle of that cell. He could still taste Olivia on his tongue. A taste that was far too sweet, like candy. A taste that had sent a surge of power flooding right through him.

He knew the taste of humans. He’d sampled too many of them over the years not to know their taste.

Olivia looked human. She smelled human. She sounded human.

But she tasted…like something different. Like something special. Something I need to have.

Olivia wasn’t human.

He knew it, and now…so would the werewolf.

David slowly opened his eyes. The collar on his neck burned because the damn thing was still pumping silver into him.

They’d caged him again. Put him in the solitary confinement area designed just for werewolves—a small, two by five box with silver walls.

He laughed as he sat in his hell.

The guards had no clue. No fucking clue.

The instrument he’d needed had just been delivered right into his hands. Finally, finally, he could start his attack.

And the humans could die.

Olivia opened the door to her temporary quarters—and found a guard standing on the other side. Her heart jumped in surprise because she sure hadn’t been expecting the guy. “I, um, didn’t realize I’d have an escort this morning.” The night had been hell. Every time she closed her eyes, she’d seen not David—not his claws.

She’d seen Shane. He’d been in her mind all night long.

He mentioned Pate…Shane knows that Pate sent me in to Purgatory.

“I’m not your escort, doctor. I’m here to make sure you stay in the room you were assigned to.”