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In a secret club blaring rockhiskey clinked together like death knells
“Dude, it’s your last night as a singlethat female you just sucked?”
Hunter glared at his blond companion from across the scarred tabletop As a hue hu called a “bachelor party”
“I don’t fk outside my species” Unlike Riker – and most vaene pool with mankind Thank the Great Spirit for that “And it’s notceremony doesn’t take place until next month”
Riker gave Hunter a bullshit look “She arrives at MoonBound tomorrow”
Hunter groaned at the re courtesy of an ancient vampire custom that required a “trial run” before a clan leader could be bound to his mate forever
Forever Sounded like way too da to Hunter
He downed his shot of Jaar?”
Riker’s leather boainst the table where they’d been standing for the last two hours “They’reup for your picky ass” He jerked his thumb in the direction of one of the private rooms down the hall in the back “They took off with that purple-haired chick and her friend”
Hunter cocked an eyebrow at the sea of purple-haired hu around, all victims of the newest hair-color craze
Riker clarified “The one with the dog collar Thecollar”
Why did groupies think va collars? Not to mention the fact that they sort of interfered with the whole bloodsucking process
With a sigh, Hunter shoved away froainst He was done with this cesspool of sex, drugs, and blood He’d never liked the underground vamp-worship scene, and while this was one of the classier Seattle clubs that secretly catered to vampires, it still reeked of desperation
The huive their blood and bodies to vampires were desperate to be turned someday The vampires who frequented this kind of club were also desperate, either for food or to reconnect with the humanity they lost, and Hunter was neither As a born vampire, he’d never been human, and as an experienced warrior and leader of one of the largest vampire clans in the Pacific Northwest, he hadn’t wanted for food in a long time
He strode across the blood- and drink-stained concrete floor, barely registering the way the crowd of humans and va, he was on equal footing with all vampires, but as a clan chief and one of the oldest born vaiven a wide berth and undeniable respect
Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was six and half feet tall and wearing an arsenal of weapons under his leather duster
He broke away froht fro onto a stained sofa and an ancient, sagging bed in the corner The heady scents of blood and sex billowed out into the hall, overpowering the lingering odors of stale cigarette ser joint next door
A spiked dog collar rested on top of a messy pile of clothes on the floor
“Yo,” he called out to the pair on the mattress and the other pair on the sofa “Finish up I’m outta here”
The nad huled on the ainst hers and his fangs buried in her throat, didn’t look up, but Jag did froe his leader with a slow nod
Hunter closed the door and returned to Riker, whose smirk of amusement didn’t quite hide the concern in his silver eyes
“Knock it off,” Hunter growled “I don’t need a pity party”
“Your future lass of whiskey “A clan that has been waging war against us for centuries They have artwork made from MoonBound scalps and bones And I’ve met Rasha Trust me, pity is the least of what you need”
Hunter pressed his spine to the wall and kicked his head back hard enough to hurt It had been two months since he had struck a deal with the enee for the return of Riker’s mate, Nicole
But Hunter had told his own clan about the deal just two days ago
Riker was still pissed that he’d been kept in the dark, but Hunter had kept quiet for the guy’s own good Riker and Nicole would have stewed in guilt or tried to do soement
“I’m sorry, Hunt” Riker looked down at his steel-toed boots, his hair falling forward to conceal his expression “This is my fault What you did for me and Nicole —”
“Don’t” Hunter cut his friend off “I said I don’t need your pity, and I don’t need your apology, either I made a choice, and I have to live with it But I’ll tell you what I do need,” he said, focusing on the tense stirring in his ht”
Riker lifted his head and flashed fangs “Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into some poachers on the way home”
“Or,” Hunter suggested, “we could hunt our ene on the role of a predator, the way it used to be – the way it should be – drew a rumble of anticipation from deep in his chest
Riker’s gaze cut sharply to the front door as two young“No way It’s too risky”
Hunter drained the glass of whiskey “That’s the point And it’s not that risky”
“I said no We can’t let our chief get killed Or worse”
Yes, there orse than getting killed, and Hunter knew it Humans loved their vampire slaves, and if he was captured alive, he could very well end up rah, because he was a born vauished by the fact that his eyes were the same black-brown that they’d been when he was born instead of the silver color that defined a turned vampire – he’d spend the rest of his life in a Daedalus lab
Nicole, former CEO of Daedalus, the company that had revolutionized slavery, had been clear about what happened to born vampires in the human world, and it wasn’t pretty The poor bastards were in for a lifeti poked and prodded, studied, tortured, cut open, and possibly used for breeding Hunter would rather die