Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

“They’re not sleeping.” Horace’s eyes glowed orange and he held her against him with surprising strength. “They’re fucking. Which is exactly what I’d like to do with you.”

“No.” Maya shook her head and tried to extricate herself from his grasp. It should have been easy—she was, after all, a vampire—but to her horror, it wasn’t. “Let me go.”

“Think you’re stronger than me, little vamp? Not a chance,” he growled. In a flash, Horace’s hand curled around her throat. “I guess your boyfriend didn’t school you on our kind. We’re even stronger than you bloodsuckers. So you’re not going anywhere. You have something I want, and you’re not leaving until I get it.”

Maya’s fangs erupted as anger, fear, and panic filled her, and she locked gazes with Horace. Using every ounce of strength she had, Maya pushed into his mind with hers in an attempt to glamour him. For a moment, just a moment, she thought it had worked. When a slow smile cracked his face and a low, guttural laugh bubbled up…she knew it hadn’t. Trixie was right. Werewolves couldn’t be glamoured.

“Sorry, baby vamp.” Horace yanked her neck so that her face was right next to his, and the orange glow from his eyes was almost blinding. “Didn’t they tell you? You can’t glamour a wolf.”

Horace growled, his teeth extended into the sharp canines of a wolf and his body began to contort and stretch against hers with frightening speed. Maya screamed and struggled to get away from the repulsive feel of his body shifting, but Horace was too strong—it was just like before. Only this time, there would be no Olivia to save her. His claws emerged, ripping her sweater, and Maya prayed for the sun to rise.

His claws sliced across her arms at the same moment that something rocketed out of the sky and sent them both flying to the stone floor of the terrace. Maya wept in a bleeding heap in the corner, frozen by fear. Memories of the past filled her head, and all she could do was pull her knees against her chest, squeeze her eyes shut, and pray for it to end.

Glass breaking. Snarls. Gunshots. Howls. Shrieks.

Maya pressed her hands over her ears and let out a scream just before the darkness consumed her.

Shane had followed them from a distance and stayed on the roof just above the terrace of their suite. He was torn between being absolutely furious with Maya and worried for her safety, although he knew he was partially to blame. He should have let Maya tell Horace “no” all by herself. Instead Shane had blurted it out before he could stop himself.

What. A. Dope.

He swore under his breath and glanced at the brightening horizon. It was yet another moment when he showed an appalling lack of self-control, once again related to Maya. He made a note to himself to speak with Doug and Olivia about the bloodmate legend. He had hoped to keep his suspicions under wraps, but based on the way things were fucking up at every turn, he needed help. Besides, he heard Trixie and Sadie’s conversation with Maya about their inability to telepath with her. Odds were that they had already shared that tidbit with the czars.

Squatting on the edge of the roof, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped, he remained stone still, tuning into Maya’s and the wolves’ scents. Having tasted her blood, he should be able to find her anywhere, but to his dismay, the scent of the wolves was interfering somehow and making her exact location difficult to pinpoint.

He frowned. That had never happened before.

Over the four centuries of his vampire existence, Shane had battled all kinds of supernatural creatures, including werewolves, but he’d never had their presence interfere with his ability to track. It was a less-than-appealing development and was going to make his job that much harder.

Maya’s scent in the air captured his attention, and he looked down to see Horace bringing her outside. Shane’s eyes narrowed. Something was wrong with her. He instantly reached out to touch her mind with his, but it was like running into a mass of psychic cobwebs. She wasn’t blocking him. He’d felt that type of mental stonewall before, and this was different but no less disconcerting.

Shane’s fangs broke free the instant Horace started to get more physical with Maya. Shane leaped to his feet, and though he wanted to fly down there and intervene, he resisted. He knew that he had to give her the opportunity to get out of this situation on her own. All bets were off when the situation grew more violent and Horace began to shift into the wolf.

Maya was in way over her head.

Shane flew down like a bullet with her scream filling the predawn sky. He slammed into them, which released Maya from Horace’s grasp and sent her curling up into a weeping ball in the corner. Shane wanted to grab her and take her back to the apartments beneath The Coven, but Horace was spoiling for a fight.

He leaped onto Shane’s back, snapping his powerful jaws and attempting to bite the vampire, but Shane reached around, grabbed Horace, and tossed him through the glass doors into the living room. A werewolf bite was almost certain death, due to the poisonous effects of the saliva on vampires. That bite could turn a human into a werewolf, but it could kill a vampire.

Seconds later, the remaining glass shattered to the ground like rain, and all five of Horace’s pack members appeared in their werewolf forms. Shane barely noticed the human women running out of the suite or the two vamps who flew out the windows because the only sound he could hear was Maya. Her keening wail tore at whatever shred of soul he had and cut him deep in his core. The wolves leaped toward him but skidded to a halt when Shane drew a gun loaded with silver bullets.

All of them froze and one, a wolf with darker, almost black fur, tilted his snout to the air. Their eyes glowed orange, and the smaller brown one on the right took a step forward, but the big one growled a warning. Shane knew the wolves could telepath with each other, and in all likelihood, the big one smelled the silver.

Horace was naked and had shifted back to his human form. He rose to his feet, swiping at the blood that dripped from his forehead and with a wicked smile on his face. His five pack members stood by his side, all of them snarling at Shane.

“Thanks.” Horace laughed at Shane’s obvious confusion. “Not bad. A sentry for the Presidium attacked a member of the royal family and, in the process, has broken the truce.”

“Hardly.” Shane kept his voice even and took a step toward Maya, who had passed out. “I was protecting a member of the czars’ coven—one of Olivia’s progeny—from a wolf attack. I’d say the truce was broken by you.”

“I guess it will be your word against ours.” Horace gestured wide with both arms. “I’m sure your czars won’t be too happy with you or the girl. She comes here, leads me on, plays games with me, and then the bitch tried to suck my blood,” he smirked, the lie slipping easily from his mouth. “If anyone used self-defense, it was me. She’s a fuckin’ tease, and from what Rat tells me, everyone knows it.”

Shane gripped the gun tighter, frustration surging through him. Maya’s reputation for toying with men and her willingness to break the rules was working against them now. Olivia and Doug would believe Shane’s version of events, but what would King Heinrich and the rest of them believe?

“I will make a full report to the czars about exactly what happened here.” Shane holstered his gun beneath his jacket but didn’t take his eyes off the pack. “Feel free to do the same with your father.”

Their growls rolled around him in the air like a herd of elephants, and he knew it was only a moment before they’d attack. The moment that thought went into his mind, the five wolves lunged. Without taking his gaze off Horace, and in a blink of an eye, Shane scooped up Maya and shot into the sky like a bullet. As he flew away, he heard Horace shout, “Welcome to the war.”