Bound in Death (Bound #5)(10)

He smiled. He’d be hearing that sound again.

He took a step forward, but then—then he was tackled. Something—someone—slammed right into him. Normally, he wouldn’t have gone down, but the bastard had hit him with a silver-coated bat, one that burned like a bitch on impact, and then the guy had tackled him.

The man yelled, “Run, Jane!”

No, Jane wasn’t running.

He grabbed that bat before the man could take another swing. Yanked it from the guy’s hands and tossed it against the wall. Sure, his fingers blistered. Smoke rose from his palm. But he was long used to pain.

“Oh, damn,” the man muttered, then he scrambled back.

Back to Jane? No, you don’t.

Alerac was on his feet again. He rolled his shoulders back and lifted his head. His sunglasses had fallen. He didn’t bother picking them back up.

He didn’t have to hide here. They could see him for exactly what he was.

“What the hell is up with his eyes?” That was the man’s shaking voice. The man—some blond fool who stood between Alerac and Jane.

“They glow,” Alerac muttered because he knew the guy was talking about the shine that turned his eyes even brighter, “so that it will be the f*ckin’ better for me to see you.” And kill you.

The guy leapt back, pulling Jane with him. Poor little Jane. So lost. She had a wall behind her. The fool in front of her.

And me, just waiting.

Then he realized that the blond fool wasn’t bleeding. The blood wasn’t his. Instead, the scent was coming from the discarded bag on the floor. A blood bag?

For Jane?

He’d thought the man was feeding Jane straight from his veins. Instead, he’d given her some kind of vampire take-out.

Alerac had heard talk that some vamps no longer took their sustenance directly from a live source. He just hadn’t expected that to be the case with Jane. Her clan had always been particularly blood-thirsty. And they loved the rush of taking straight from prey.

“I thought you weren’t a vampire,” Alerac said as he advanced, crushing chunks of broken wood beneath his feet. His eyes were on Jane. In the darkness, he could see her perfectly.

Thanks to the eyes of the beast. The only eyes that he had.

Still staring straight at Jane, he asked, “So want to tell me why you need that blood?”

The male lunged for him.

Sighing, Alerac tossed the guy back against the nearest wall.

Humans. So weak. So easy to break.

He’d better not be her lover.

Because, if he was, the male might not get to live much longer.

He expected Jane to cower against that wall. Instead, her chin lifted. Her eyes—they seemed to grow brighter. Ah, so she was letting her vamp side out.

He could even see the faint edge of her white fangs, peeking out behind her plump, red lips.

“I don’t know how you found out about me,” she said, lifting her spine and squaring her shoulders. Like that made her look more intimidating. “But you won’t hurt my friend, and you won’t hurt me.”

Her words had him pausing. “I’m not here to hurt you.” Truth. Her friend? Debatable. Alerac thought he might enjoy hurting the male.

Her brows rose even as her gaze slowly slid over him. “Who are you?”

He didn’t let his expression alter. “Alerac,” he gritted out. “Alerac O’Neill.”

The name seemed to mean nothing to her. A frown still pulling her brows low, she demanded, “What are you?”

His head tilted as he heard the roar of an engine. Several engines. Big vehicles. SUVs. Coming fast toward their location. His gaze shifted to the human on the floor. Then back to Jane. “I’m the man who is going to keep you alive.”

Her laughter was sharp and disbelieving. “You’re the only threat I see here!”

“I hear them coming for you.” There wasn’t a lot of time to waste. But he’d try to get her to leave willingly with him. If that didn’t work…

She will still leave with me.

“The enemies coming didn’t follow me. I didn’t lead them to you.” He wanted her to understand that. “And no one else followed you when you left that bar. I made sure of that.”

She licked her lower lip. A nervous gesture.

One that made him ache. It has been too long since I’ve been with her.

A growl rose in his throat. “So if they didn’t follow me…or you…someone else must have told them where you were.” The someone who was now trying to crawl his way toward the door.

He wasn’t escaping.

Alerac leapt over and grabbed the human. Alerac lifted him up and shoved the man against the wall. “She called you, didn’t she?” Ah, yes, now he recognized the fellow. Dr. Heath Myers. Alerac had seen a grainy photo of the doctor before. Alerac’s human informant had briefed Alerac about the man.

The man who’d found a lost woman walking on the edge of a swamp. A woman with no memory. No past. A woman who had a thirst for blood and who weakened in sunlight.

Not a lost woman, but a lost vampire.

“Jane told you I was at the bar, that I knew what she was,” Alerac said.

The doctor didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. Alerac realized exactly what had happened.

Rage building, Alerac charged, “You realized you had to act fast, or you were about to lose your payday.”