“Near Pick. I go out there with some friends to get high.”

“This is fucking great,” Kar cursed. “Some Vamp created a moron he left behind to take out a small town. I want to find this bastard.”

Lavos tried to think. “Shit.”

“What?”

“We missed a Vamp in that raid.”

“You mean when we went after the asshats who took Veso?”

“Yeah. An injured Vamp who wanted a ride to the nearest town? Think about it.”

“Damn.”

Lavos dropped the tall soldier then slammed him hard against the wall, damaging it in the process of knocking him out. He reached into his back pocket and removed a set of reinforced specialty handcuffs. He dropped the bastard on the floor and none too gently flipped him over, securing his wrists behind his back.

“We’re going to need a detailed description to track the Vamp. I wonder if he paid any other towns a visit?”

“Fuck. We could have a shitload of soldiers making other ones. It’s a nightmare. What about this one?” Kar kept the other Vamp secured on the table.

“Kill it outside.”

A slight noise drew Lavos’s attention and he peered down the hallway. The sight of the woman staring back at him—from behind bars—came as a shock. It looked as if the room was somehow caged.

Her brunette hair was long, untamed waves, her light blue eyes wide. He lowered his gaze to take in the black shirt revealing some appealing cleavage. His attention wandered to a narrow waist that flared out at hips wrapped in snug jeans.

The handgun she pointed at him at that height kept his focus, plus the fact that she had two more guns holstered to her body.

“Who are you?”

He recognized her voice. She’d been the one giving the two soldiers verbal hell. He flicked his gaze back to her eyes. “Lavos. I’m law enforcement. Are you okay?”

Her blue eyes narrowed and her luscious lips curved downward. “Try again, handsome. This time keep it real. You tossed that dickhead around like he was a marionette doll after the dozens of bullets I put in him couldn’t keep him down.”

She thought he was attractive. Lavos smiled. That was the first bright spot of his evening. He stepped over the unconscious soldier—but paused fast when she lifted the gun, aiming it at what he estimated would be his heart.

“Stay back.” She turned her gaze on Kar. “That used to be my dad you have on that table. I’m not sure what the hell to call him now, because he’s not the man I knew. I’d appreciate it if you could hold off on dragging him outside to kill him just yet. I’d like to know who you two really are first.”

She’d witnessed too much and had become guarded. Lavos didn’t blame her. Intelligence shone in those pretty eyes of hers and he hated to do it, but he needed to find any remaining soldiers before they attacked other innocents.

He allowed his eyes to glow as he stared at her, waiting for her to look back at him. She did, and he saw her shock when she instantly noticed the change in his eyes.

“It’s going to be fine. You can trust us. We aren’t here to hurt you. Put down the gun and stay where you are. It’s safe. Lay down on that bed in there and take a nap until you hear my voice again. I want you to have peaceful dreams about your favorite childhood memory.”

Chapter Four

Jadee had missed seeing them enter but she’d heard it all. She’d dropped the comforter that had shielded her from flying glass shards cutting her skin when Mitch had begun his rampage of showering her with anything breakable he could fling at the bars.

The biker and his pal wearing the trendy club threads had handled the Vampires as easily as if they were rag dolls. They were both in shape, with those muscles and thick bodies. Both of them looked like contenders for fighting. Often.

The biker wore black leather pants with a matching muscle shirt stretched over a buff body. Dark stains on his chest were probably blood, and he had some on his hands. His blond hair almost hit his shoulders and it had some curl to it. He had gorgeous hair. She doubted they were Vampires, with the deep tans they both boasted. His good looks were model worthy, but he had enough masculinity not to be a poster child for any of the magazines she detested. He had to be about six foot two and probably two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle.

His eyes were stunning, with their bright blue color, but with the way they glowed as he spoke, Jadee was assured he was something not natural. No human could do that.

Those eyes were gorgeous enough to almost make her stop listening to what he said, but the words penetrated.

“I’m not tired, and why don’t you start telling me what you are?”

His lips parted and she studied his mouth. No fangs showed, a good sign in her book. He had nice teeth, white, and it looked as if his parents had sprung for braces. His mouth was the only part of his face that became unattractive when he clamped his lips together into a tight line, showing off a faint dimple in his chin.

Her gaze rose to once again appreciate how odd yet striking his incredible eyes were. She’d bet they’d literally glow in the dark.

“Shit,” his friend whispered.

“Shut up,” the biker snapped, never taking his gaze off her.

She raised her other arm and pushed back her hair from one side of her face where it had fallen forward. His nostrils flared and those eyes of his seemed to grow brighter. They reminded her of a blue neon sign over the bar at her job.

“So, what are you, Bright Eyes?” She was ready to leap back if he came at her. “I’m racking my brain here but coming up blank. Those kickass boots you’re sporting are at least a size fourteen but you aren’t hairy enough to be a Bigfoot, and you’re too tan to be allergic to the sun. That’s a bad joke. Sorry. I’m trying to remain calm.”

“My name is Lavos.” He watched her closely. “You’re bleeding.”

She ignored the blood siding down the side of her face near the ear her hair had been stuck to. “Tell me something I don’t know—like what you and your friend are. Not human, with those sparkler eyes and that super strength. Aliens maybe? Please don’t be that. I laugh at those people who say they’ve spotted little green people. Of course, you’re not little or green, but you see where I’m going with this. No ass probes either. Not my thing.”