Bound by Night

Frantically, she writhed, seeking relief that was only two thin barriers of clothing away. He groaned as she ground on top of him, and then, suddenly, she was on her back, and he was gone.

“Riker?” Her voice sounded like it had been dragged behind a car on a gravel road. Sitting up, she inhaled, but alongside Riker’s earthy scent was the distinct tang of meadow grass and warm, musky skin.

“M-Myne?”

“Yeah.” He was panting, and she could smell both lust and anguish coming off him in alternating waves.

“Riker isn’t here.”

Confused, she sat there, trying to put the pieces of this bizarre puzzle together. Why would she be in a dark bedroom—Riker’s bedroom, she was sure—with

Myne? And . . . was she in her underwear? She touched herself, confirmed the bra and granny panties, and was flooded with mortification.

“What’s going on?” she finally managed.

She heard the distinct sound of boots scuffing the wooden floor. “You passed out in the lab. You’ve been out of it for four days.”

She frowned. “But . . . Riker?”

“ShadowSpawn, remember?”

Everything came back in a dizzying, nauseating rush. Riker was in trouble, and she needed to help him. That was why she’d been in the lab. And shit, four days had passed? So much time . . . he could be dead by now.

She flailed around on the mattress in an unco— ordinated scramble, feeling for her clothes. Where were they? She needed to find them, needed to help Riker—

“Hey.” Myne’s arms came around her. “Settle down. You can’t move too fast until you’ve gotten used to your new body.”

New body. She froze up as her new reality sank in.

She really was a vampire, and this was the beginning of a new life. A new set of rules.

Overwhelmed by everything closing in on her, she forced herself to relax but only a little. She needed to find her bearings if she was going to both recover quickly and save Riker.

“How did this happen?” she croaked. “I was symptom-free for days.”

Myne eased away from her, and a moment later, he settled a wool blanket over her shoulders. “Grant thinks Chuck’s immunization delayed the symptoms but accelerated the turn. Either that, or whatever made you react so badly to the original vaccine you received as a child also reacted to the recent one.” His voice lowered, almost to a whisper. “There were a couple of times we thought we were going to lose you.”

She swallowed dryly, still tasting him on her tongue. “You were with me the entire time?”

“Yeah.” His breathing was still labored, and now she understood why.

She’d practically attacked him. Groaning, she flopped back on the mattress and covered her eyes with her arm. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“S’okay.” She heard him shuffle around the room.

“Can you see yet?”

“It’s not dark in here?” Propping herself up on one elbow, she peered into the blackness. A tinge of gray teased the edges of her vision, and gradually, she could make out his shadowy form standing near the dresser.

“I can see shapes now.”

“Good. Your vision will come fully online soon, within half an hour or so.” He moved to the doorway.

“I had food brought for you. It’s in the kitchen. I’ll go if you want me to. I’ll leave my cell number on the counter. You’re going to need someone to help you through these next weeks. If you need a female for . . . female things, katina will help you out.” She knew he was desperate to get away from her, and she didn’t blame him. “Thank you, Myne. Right now, I just want a shower.”

Dead silence. Then a raspy “Do you want help?

You’re going to be as clumsy as a newborn foal for a while.”

Heat blasted her face at the thought of Myne helping her into the shower. “I’ll manage. But, Myne?

Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“I did it for Riker,” he said roughly. “It should have been him.”

She agreed. But she wondered if Riker would feel the same way.

Chapter 29

Being a vampire was taking a lot of getting used to. Mainly because, as far as Nicole could tell, there weren’t a lot of downsides, and that bothered her.

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected.

Fangs were awesome. So was the extra energy, speed, and strength that came with turning into a vampire. Nicole still wasn’t used to the silver eyes or having to drink human blood, but she supposed that would come in time.

She hoped. She was having a hard time accepting the fact that the mere sight of blood made her mouth water. It was one thing not to be bothered by it; it was quite another to attack a packet of food blood like a starving wolverine.

She was now the very thing she’d despised for so long, and what did it say about her that she didn’t care?

For the most part, the clan members had accepted her, but she realized it would take time to earn their complete trust. No one was outwardly malicious, but a few weren’t letting her off the hook for her role as Daedalus’s CEO. Their questions and comments were blunt but not unfair. She answered with straightforward honesty no matter how difficult it was.

How many vampires did you kill?

None .

How many did you dissect?

Dozens .

How many slaves did you own?

None .

Did you sleep well at night, knowing what your company was doing?

Except for a few nightmares, yes.

What will you do if we take your brother? Will you speak up for him?

I won’t watch him die, but I won’t stand in anyone’s way.

Do you have any regrets?

Yes .

Are you proud of yourself?

Actually, yes. I cured cancer. I developed treatments that saved a lot of human lives. And now I plan to use what I learned at Daedalus to help vampires. So bite me.

Bite you? Now or on the next full moon?

Okay, so she’d have to learn that vampires took things like “bite me” very literally, and she’d have to watch what she said. But otherwise, no one could say she was shrinking away from either the good or the bad that she’d done. Everyone in the clan was welcome to grill her about her past, and the sooner the better.

She wanted the air cleared so everyone, including her, could move on.

But moving on might not be so easy with Myne.

She hadn’t been able to face him since he’d left her alone at Riker’s place two days ago. He hadn’t made an effort to see her, either. At least, katina had been an invaluable help with navigating the new world Nicole had just joined.

Tomorrow, katina planned to teach Nicole how to hunt humans.

With any luck, Nicole wouldn’t be around to learn.

At least, not anytime soon.

She stood before Hunter in his chamber, wondering how the guy was going to react to her announcement. He hadn’t really liked her when she was human, and she still couldn’t get a read off of him. Especially because at the moment, he was sprawled on his fat leather couch, video-game controller in hand, cursing at the purple dragon flying around the TV screen.

Strangely, even though he was immersed in a cartoon game, the vibrant aura of power and leadership that always surrounded him wasn’t diminished in the least.

“Spyro is flying like he’s drunk,” he muttered.

“What the f**k, dude. Through the rings, not over them.”

She eyed the screen. “Is that a children’s game?”

“It’s rated All Ages,” he said defensively. “Why are you here?”

Right to it, then. “I want to go to ShadowSpawn.”

Hunter’s head came up, making his black hair drape like silk over his broad shoulders. “You what? You can’t just move from one clan to another like humans move from city to city. And if this is to be with

Riker, trust me, you won’t be with him.”

No, it wasn’t to be with him. He’d made it crystal clear that he didn’t want to be with her. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to help him. God help her, she loved him. “It’s to save them both. Riker and Lucy.”

She couldn’t believe ShadowSpawn had refused to give up the girl. What could they possibly want with her?

“Fuck. Now I’m dead.” He dropped the game controller. “I’m working on a way to get them out of there.”

“Really? Because it looks like you’re playing video games while Riker and Lucy could be hurt, suffering, or dying.”

A vein in Hunter’s temple pulsed, and when he spoke, his tone was glacial. “I’m going to let that pass, since you’re a baby in our world. But you should know that I think best when I’m playing video games.” He stood, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him.

“Now, what makes you think you can help Riker?”

The way he said it, as if he was humoring a child who wanted to heal the world with a tea party, pissed her off. A lot. “What’s the one thing troubling your race?” she asked, a little too impatiently, if his withering stare was any indication. “Besides humans killing and enslaving you, anyway.”

“It’s your race, too, now,” he pointed out.

How long would it take to get that through her head? She had to start thinking like a vampire if she wanted to survive. And if she wanted to prove herself

to everyone who would have a hard time seeing beyond her Daedalus roots.

“Okay, our race. What problem plagues it?”

“Low birthrate,” he said.

“Exactly. What do you think babies would be worth to ShadowSpawn?”

Hunter narrowed his ebony eyes at her. “What are you getting at?”

“Grant and I have been poring over the files I took from the lab . . . there’s so much more, but I believe

Daedalus has discovered why vampires have difficulty conceiving and giving birth. That’s what the breeding experiments have been about.”

“They want vampires to conceive?” His skepticism rang clear as a bell.

“No. Well, yes, because the goal is to fully domesticate vampires. Engineer them into docile, harmless creatures and then breed them like cattle.” She watched his hands open and close into fists over and over, and she wondered if he was imagining squeezing any particular human—or recently turned-vampire— between them. “It’s too much work and too expensive to catch wild vampires and enslave them. Too much risk when things go bad. And only the wealthy can afford vampire slaves.”

“But if they bred their own mindless, spineless drones, they could mass-produce them and make a fortune selling to the average citizen.”

“Exactly.”

Hunter snarled. “I hate humans.”

Not long ago, she’d have been insulted. Now she was right there with him.

“So what’s your plan?” Hunter asked, all business and impatience.

“I’ll promise ShadowSpawn as many pregnancies as they want in exchange for Riker and Lucy. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure Grant has all of the information he needs to help MoonBound make babies, too, just in case anything goes wrong with ShadowSpawn and I’m, well . . . not able to come back.”

“No.”

She uttered an exasperated curse. “How can you say no? This is the best shot we have of getting Riker out of there alive, and you know it.”

“He wouldn’t want this, Nicole.”

“I don’t care what he wants. He’s not here to make the decision, is he?” She wheeled around, paced a few steps, and came back, more determined than ever. “This is my choice. If you don’t agree, I’ll find a way to do it. I’m nothing if not resourceful, Hunter. I got out of here before, and I can do it again. So either I do this with your backing, or I go alone. Which is it?”

Hunter thought about that for a long time, his shrewd gaze never leaving her. Finally, he said quietly,

“When do you want to go?”

“I need a day to get everything together.”

There was a knock at the door, and Hunter barked, “Enter.”

Myne appeared in the doorway. He didn’t meet her gaze. “Nicole left me a message to meet you both here.”

Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and shot her an accusatory look. “Did she?”

She nodded. “I want Myne to take me.” For some reason, Myne jerked like he’d been stuck with a cattle prod.

“Take you?” Myne’s voice sounded strangled.

“To ShadowSpawn,” Hunter said, and Myne blew out a relieved breath before he squared his stance, as if preparing for danger. “But you’re not going alone. I’m going with you.”

“Is this about Riker and Lucy?” Myne asked.

Nicole closed her eyes, relieved and happy to be able to help. “I think I can save them.” She opened her eyes to find that Myne was finally looking at her, but his cheeks were flushed pink. “I also have something

I think you can use.” She gave herself five seconds to change her mind, and then she said very deliberately,

“Chuck is always at the Daedalus Ridge Golf Course on Thursdays.”

• • • • • •

Cold. Pain. Hunger. Riker was close personal friends with all of them. Most people would have called them enemies, but Riker knew what an enemy was, and in comparison with ShadowSpawn vampires, even starvation seemed friendly enough.

Shackles bit into his raw wrists as he shifted from his knees to sitting against the rock wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. Those were the only two positions available to him, and neither was comfortable, given that his arms had been bound behind his