A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(72)

"You have to use something . . . or someone . . . as bait," Quinn murmured. Is that what had happened here? She watched as the vampire was thrown to the floor and chained on his back, spread-eagled.

The woman, Delilah, ran to him, falling at his side. "You idiot! Why did you come after me?"

"I thought . . . you were in trouble."

She slammed her fist against his chest. "I hate you!"

"No," he said quietly. "You don't."

Delilah made a sound like a sob. "Damn you." When she looked up, tears gleamed on her cheeks. "Richard, please. Don't hurt him."

"Don't be a fool, Delilah." Richard turned to one of the other males. "Get her out of here."

"No!" the woman cried.

As one man grabbed her arm and pulled her away, another pulled out a knife and stabbed the vampire in the side, sinking the blade all the way to the hilt.

The vampire threw his head back in pain. The metallic scent of blood, an oddly-spicy-smelling blood, began to fill the room.

A second human stabbed the vampire through the throat as the first human pulled out his knife and stabbed the vamp in the stomach.

Quinn looked away, breathing through her mouth. She neither wanted nor needed to see this. "I thought he had to be stabbed through the heart."

"He does. And only a wooden stake will kill him."

"So they're just torturing him."

"Yes. Taking out their hatred on him."

If it were Cristoff they were stabbing, she'd have watched. She might have even enjoyed it. Arturo? God, no.

Delilah sobbed, begging them to stop. "He's done nothing! Hurt no one."

By the time the blood-coated men and women backed away from the prone vamp, Quinn was sick to her stomach. And angry as hell.

"Enough." Richard turned to one of the attackers. "Jose, you get the killing blow. You've lost the most at their hands."

Quinn rose. Marcus grabbed her arm, but she shook him off and stepped into the circle of bloody attackers. "What is this vampire accused of?"

Richard threw her a sharp look of warning. "Proceed, Jose."

A broad-faced, broad-shouldered Mexican stepped forward and positioned himself over the vamp's chest.

"No, Jose!" Delilah cried. "He's not evil!"

"Have we become the monsters, now?" Quinn asked. "Do we kill the innocent because we don't like their eating habits?"

She didn't see the fist coming until it was too late. The male beside her punched her in the mouth, splitting her lip and knocking her back in a minor explosion of pain.

Cara! Arturo's voice.

Careful hands gripped her, pulling her back. Through tearing eyes, she saw Jose lift a wooden stake. "For my wife and my children," he snarled. And drove the stake down into the vampire's heart.

Delilah screamed, the sound cut off suddenly as Richard clipped her beneath the chin with a swift uppercut, knocking her out. Quinn allowed Marcus to turn her away, to lead her back to the wall. Jesus.

Tell them you're the sorceress, Quinn. Tell them you're their only chance of survival. Don't let them hurt you!

He thought she was the one being tortured.

Jeff moved beside her, his face a mask of fury. "Are you trying to get us thrown out?"

"Oh, go f**k yourself." She sank to the ground, angry, frustrated, hurting.

Vampire, if you can hear me, don't follow me here. Please. They've just killed a vampire who I don't think deserved to die. I don't want that to happen to you.

He didn't deserve that kind of death. She wasn't sure anyone did.

These people had suffered too long at the hands of the vampires. They'd had too much taken from them - lives, freedom, loved ones. They'd been tortured repeatedly, whether they remembered each instance or not. And had been made to suffer in God only knew how many ways. They couldn't strike out at the ones they hated, so they struck out at the ones they could. It was wrong. Horribly unfair. And sadly inevitable.

The vampires, through their own cruelty, had created another breed of monster.

Richard stalked over to them, turning a vivid glare on her. "Out. You're not welcome here."

She rose, meeting his gaze. "A little truth presents that much of a threat to you?"

Jeff leaped up beside her and grabbed her arm. "Shut it, Blondie." He turned to Richard, his demeanor changing in an instant. "Richard, I'm sorry. If I'd known what a bitch she was, I would never have agreed to bring her along, but I made a promise, and I'm stuck with her. Let her stay until morning, please? Then we'll all go."

Richard snorted. "To find a sunbeam. You're an idiot." His rancor spewed over the lot of them. "You're all idiots! And I want you all out of here at first light." He turned and walked away.

Marcus pulled her back down beside him and put his arm around her shoulders. "You've got a soft heart, Quinn, but soft hearts have a way of getting torn to pieces in this place. I've crossed paths with that vampire before, the one who just died. He had a streak of compassion a lot of vamps lack, but he was far from the paragon Delilah seemed to think he was. More than once, I saw him torture Slavas in front of new slaves just to scare the new ones. Yes, he cleared the minds of the Slavas when he was through, but torture is torture. Even the 'good' ones are monsters, Quinn. The sooner you understand that, the better off you'll be. There's no such thing as a good vampire."