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Chapter One

It wasn’t being shot that was the problem Or the fact that someone had apparently decided to beat the crap out ofthe way I felt, possibly both

I wasn’t sure, as I couldn’t seeht that had left h and another inelse, either, including who the hell I was But that still wasn’t the problem

No, the problem was that I’d woken up next to a vampire

One as ly hard to kill

“If you would but listen to ainst the concrete floor for the sixth freaking time

“Okay,” I panted, wondering what the hell his skull was made of Granite? “Let’s chat”

Of course, that would be difficult since I’d just changed tactics, grabbing his throat and squeezing for all I orth

I wasn’t trying to choke him to death That doesn’t ith creatures who don’t breathe, and the bastard’s neck was too muscular for me to close my hands around anyway But most vamps have instincts left over frorabbed there It distracts them, messes up their concentration, makes them panic

At least, I really hoped it did, since otherwise I was screwed

He didn’t have fangs in otten it wrong Even plain old va a simple touch As a master, this one could probably do it without even that, just by being inby the bulging eyes, was probably not the case

But then he got a leg over mine and flipped us

Okay, then, I thought grih of a distraction Fortunately, he’d left me a hand free

So I used it to break his nose

“Da me!”

“Sure thing,” I grunted, struggling for a foothold “I’ll just lie here and let you drain me”

“I’ you!”

“Then why do I feel like shit?”

He stared down at me, exasperation and what looked weirdly like concern shi in liquid blue eyes “Because you took two bullets in the last hour?”

Oh, yeah

For a second, dizziness and an odd sense of familiarity coer, trying to place hiuy you forgot

The hair was actually more auburn than red, and there was an absurd a over his shoulders and irlie, but so, aristocratic face—high cheekbones, sensuous lips, hard jawline—thateven covered in blood fro back into place, like the s back into the pale perfection of his skin, leaving hi as if he’d never been injured at all and—

Damn it!

This is how they operate, I told myself harshly They drain you until your brain doesn’t work so well, then turn on the innocence or beauty or char the hell out of you until you black out and they finish the job Only that so wasn’t happening this time