Dark Studies (Arcaneology) Read Free

cloud her senses with pleasure, the way vampires usually did. It was one of their gifts, similar to entrancement, but one that did not override the victim’s free will or erase memories. Giving her this would not have violated their agreement, yet he chose not to. The agony shocked her system and turned excitement into panic. Thrashing, she flung herself this way and that, and if he had not let go of her wrist, she would have broken it. Her hand fell on something, gripped it, and she lashed out. The spike heel of a shoe stabbed his temple hard enough to leave a dent, though it didn’t break the skin. In a blur, he ripped the shoe from her hand and flung it hundreds of feet away, and this time his snarl raised the hairs all along her arms and on the back of her neck.
    He had her off the ground from one breath to the next, her chest crushed against his. Long arms trapped her own at her sides. The vampire shoved his face at hers, smearing her own blood across her cheek and growling with the excitement of securing his victim. Something thick and red filled her peripheral vision, and for a confused moment she thought someone had poured blood over his head, but then she realized it was his hair. It had come loose from whatever he’d used to tie it back. He opened his mouth, hunched down with his head to one side, and struck again, this time finding the fat pulse that hammered with the beating of her heart.
    Her cry sent a thrill down the length of his body. The urge to tear her open and drink her dry must have been maddening, especially since she continued to squirm within the tight confines of his hold. He held back, just barely, and stopped when her struggles weakened. Once she hung limp, he carried her off the street and into one of the warehouses.
    The vampire dropped her onto a gritty concrete floor. Bright lights came on, momentarily blinding her and adding to the dizziness she already felt from blood loss. Tina fumbled to scoot as far away from her attacker as she could, only to run into a pile of rotting lumber, plastic, and rags that reeked of dust and filth. Trembling, she forced herself to look up until she found his eyes, pale blue and inhuman, staring at her. Maybe it was the angle, but he seemed like a giant. Not just tall, but broad with muscle. The lower half of his face was a wet, red mask. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe it clean.
    “Giving up so easily?” His mouth twitched to one side.
    She cringed and tried to make herself small, to hide in the jumble of refuse like a rabbit disappearing down a hole.
    The giant crouched, elbows balanced on his knees, and cocked his head. “Where do you think you’re going?”
    A whimper caught in her throat when he reached out to touch her leg. His fingers stroked down the calf and closed around her ankle. One tug dragged her away from the hill of junk. She floundered for something to hold on to, but there was nothing within reach, no wall or outcropping solid enough to help. The vampire dumped her on her back, caught her flailing arms, and pinned her wrists above her head.
    “Do you want to live?” he asked.
    She strained in his hold, but couldn’t budge him. Her answer came out in a quivering whisper. “Yes. Please.”
    He eased his body onto hers, pressing her into the floor, and studied her with that little smile still curling his lips to one side. “What would you offer me in exchange for your life?”
    Deep within, arousal washed through Angie like a warm tide, and she allowed a hint of it to seep into the role she played for him, so Scott would sense it in his victim. He fell still for a moment. Then he bent his head and licked the wounds he had made in her throat. The holes were already closing. Unless kept open by the suction of a drinking vampire, the bites healed almost immediately. Against her skin, he growled, “Well?”
    Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she protested. “I don’t understand.”
    “Don’t be obtuse.”
    “But you