Bound by Danger (The Alliance #6) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,8

throat. The vampire started to howl, and its fingers dug into his flesh before it stiffened and the creature became immobile against him.

Uncaring about the suffering radiating from this victim, Lucien greedily consumed the blood until the thud of footsteps penetrated his bloodlust. More Savages were coming, and if he continued to feed, they would get to him and the woman.

Lucien tore his fangs from the Savage’s throat, drove his hand into its chest, and captured its heart. A feeling of rightness stole through him when its heart beat against his flesh before he tore it free.

He crushed the heart in his hand as he lifted the Savage’s body and threw it aside. The first Savage was sitting against the wall, its hand to its throat as blood spilled out around its fingers. A glint of silver at the thing’s waist caught his attention, and he lunged forward to rip away the keys hanging from its belt.

He was about to end the asshole’s life when a shout caused his head to turn. A horde of Savages was only twenty feet away and closing in fast. Leaping to his feet, he shoved the keys into his pocket and turned for the woman.

She was gone.

His heart stuttered before he spotted her disappearing into the shadows ahead of him.

“Shit!” he hissed and took off after her.

He was the only hope she had of surviving this place. Of course, she didn’t know that, as he kept biting her. Self-hatred rose from the depths of his conscience, but his thirst for blood also warred back to life; the Savage had done little to assuage that.

However, as Lucien sprinted after her, he realized the rotten blood of the Savage had helped him regain some of his strength. His steps were faster as he chased her into the tunnels.

He didn’t dare look behind him; the thuds of the Savage’s footsteps and the excited rush of their breaths were far too close as they pursued him down the corridor. Their fetid stench permeated the air until he felt as if he were running through a landfill instead of these damp, mildew-scented tunnels.

Callie turned left when the corridor split. She’d long ago lost any sense of direction, but she couldn’t pause to take in her surroundings no matter how badly her lungs burned and her legs ached.

In high school, she was on the track team, but she was far from the star. She’d joined because it would look good on her college applications. It had been years since she ran for any length of time, but she pushed herself to keep going. She would die before she stopped.

However, it didn’t matter how fast she pushed herself as she heard them closing in on her. No, no, no!

Lowering her head, she pumped her arms as she pushed herself faster. She only made it another ten feet before hands seized her waist.

She didn’t have time to react as she was lifted off the ground, turned around, and flung over a shoulder again. When her nose smacked off the taut muscles of a lower back and the potent scent filled her nostrils, she realized he’d been the one to catch her again.

She supposed she should be grateful it was him instead of one of the other monsters hunting them, but she was too damn pissed about being treated like a sack of flour again to be grateful.

However, though he kept biting her, she sensed a lot more malicious intent from the other creatures than she did from him. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t finish what he’d started and eat her.

Eat me. She shuddered as those words sank in. He may not be Hannibal Lecter enjoying her liver with fava beans and chianti, but he kept biting her and drinking her blood.

A possibility tugged at her mind. It was an impossible possibility, but once she considered it, she couldn’t shake the notion that he wasn’t human…. maybe he was something more.

She thought of his red eyes when she first saw him. Those red eyes hadn’t really pierced through the haze of terror choking her, but they registered now.

However, she refused to let herself traverse the pathways of what the something more he was might be. She had enough to deal with right now.

Placing her hands on the small of his back again, she lifted herself away from him. Her arms almost gave out when she saw what was pursuing them.

Their pursuers reminded her of cockroaches or gremlins as they chased them down the