Once Bitten, Twice Burned (Phoenix Fire #2)(56)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Give her . . . to me.” The primal vampire’s words were a growl. Not normal speech. Too rough. Too gritted. As if speaking were hard for him.

Had Ryder’s blood done this? Or had the primals become this way thanks to the first experiments that Genesis had run on them? Were they already screwed to hell and back, and my blood just made things worse for them? Wyatt had said that three primals received Ryder and Sabine’s blood. Three.

“Give her . . .” the primal vamp growled again.

“Not going to happen.” Ryder sucked in a deep breath as he prepared for the next attack. There were three main ways to kill a vampire. First up . . . fire. No fire here. Second . . . a stake to the heart. No wood. Well, he might be able to rip off part of the fence on the west side of the house, but if he did that, he’d have to leave Sabine. The freak might grab her while Ryder rushed for the weapon. Then the guy would drink from her. No. Not happening.

So that just left him with option number three.

Beheading.

Could he take the vamp’s head, before the guy took his?

Time to find out.

The humans were coming closer. Racing toward them.

Ryder flexed his fingers. His claws were out. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken another vampire’s head. Not the first, not the last.

But this guy wasn’t like the others.

The primal vampire stalked toward them. “Taking . . . her.”

No, ass**le, I’m taking your head.

With a growl of his own, Ryder attacked.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Vaughn was choking on his own blood. Sabine stared down at him, terrified. His eyes were wild. So scared and desperate.

And she remembered sitting on the couch with him and Rhett. Watching scary movies. Eating popcorn.

Swimming in the lake.

Laughing while they roasted marshmallows.

How in the hell had things come to be this way?

“You’re going to be okay,” she told him, pressing her fingers against his neck. His blood soaked her hand. The blood wouldn’t stop gushing out. “Hang on, Vaughn, okay? Just hang on.”

They shouldn’t be enemies. They should just be people. Friends.

And her friend was dying right in front of her.

“Four . . . two . . .”

She leaned toward him. “What is it? I can’t understand.”

“One . . . nine . . .”

He was telling her numbers? She shook her head. “Save your strength, okay?” Sabine glanced over her shoulder. Ryder and the other vampire—what was wrong with him? Why did he look that way?—were running toward each other. Both had their claws up. They were yelling and they hit in a thud of bodies. Fists pounded. Claws flew.

The other vampire was going for Ryder’s neck. His claws cut into Ryder’s skin.

“No!” Sabine screamed.

Ryder lunged up, his claws slicing back at his attacker.

Her mouth hung open in shock, and then she had to look away.

Ryder had . . . he’d . . . just taken the vampire’s head off.

Her eyes squeezed shut. That sound, that slush that she’d heard right before the vampire’s head toppled back . . .

Vaughn had stilled beneath her hands. Her eyes opened and she stared back at him. His face had gone slack. “Vaughn?” She shook him.

He felt cold to her. He shouldn’t be that cold, not so soon. His body should still be warm. Not so icy. Not yet. Not ever.

“Vaughn!” Footsteps thudded behind her. She didn’t look over her shoulder. She knew those footsteps had to be Ryder’s.

He’d taken the other vampire’s head. With one slice of his claws. But she couldn’t think about that. Not then.

Vaughn wasn’t moving. The blood was thick on the ground beneath him.

Ryder’s hands wrapped around her. He lifted her against him. “The humans are coming.”

She felt numb. Vaughn was—

Moving?

His mouth was opening wide, and he started to groan. A low, pain-filled sound.

Relief rushed through her. Vaughn was alive!

His hands flew into the air, and—and claws were sprouting from his fingertips. Long, thick, black claws.

His mouth was open so wide because his teeth were growing, elongating into sharp points. Every. Single. Tooth.

Ryder jerked her back, keeping his tight hold on her. “Son of a bitch.”

Vaughn rolled over. Slowly rose to his hands and knees as his back bowed. “Help . . . me!”

Sabine tried to reach for him. Ryder just wrapped his arms tighter around her. Hauled her farther back.

Then, over Vaughn’s growing screams and the desperate pounding of her own heart, Sabine heard footsteps. Her head swung to the left. To the right. Men in black cargo pants and bulletproof vests were surrounding them. And leading those men, she recognized Keith Adams, Vaughn’s father.

“What the hell did you do to my son?” Keith demanded. He had a small gun in his hands. A gun currently aimed at Sabine’s chest.

She couldn’t help but wonder if, like her father’s weapon, that gun was loaded with wooden bullets, too.

“We didn’t do anything.” Ryder wasn’t letting her go. His body vibrated with fury. “You can thank Genesis for this one. They’re the ones who wanted to build bigger, stronger vampires.”

Keith staggered back. His gaze went to the ground. To the fallen vampire and his disconnected head. The vamp’s mouth was wide open, and you could see his mouthful of fangs.

Keith’s horrified gaze flew back to Vaughn. “No, son, no!”

But there was no denying what was happening to Vaughn. He was screaming and crying and his body kept twisting as the brutal change swept over him.

Sabine held herself still in Ryder’s arms.

“I’m going to kill them all,” Ryder whispered the words in her ear, barely seeming to breathe them.

She counted seven men. All with their eyes on Vaughn, not her or Ryder. All appearing frozen with horror.

One of their own was changing right before their eyes.

“I’ll kill them all,” Ryder said again, “and you stay behind me. It’ll be fast, I promise. Just close your eyes, and you don’t even have to see what I do to them.”

She had no doubt that he could kill all of those humans in just moments. She knew how fast he could move. How strong he was. He could take their heads easily or cut their throats.

“No,” Sabine whispered. She didn’t want more blood on her hands. She already had enough coating her fingers.

“I’m not going back into a cage.” Anger now, rage, roughening Ryder’s words. “Not even for you, love.”