Hot Blooded

most of the way and I’d driven fast.

But it was more than time to exit off the main road.

Clearly, I hadn’t considered the implications of bringing an angry American cop across the border.

Ray wasn’t going to play nice and it was unlikely the Canadian Border Service officers would be amused if they found an unconscious body in the backseat. Taking a few human guards down wouldn’t be an issue, but the surveillance would put a damper on the events. The border was heavily monitored.

I slapped my hands on the steering wheel in frustration, but not hard enough to break anything. I was learning how to deal with my new strength. Not popping holes or breaking things every five minutes was becoming an art form.

Upon waking an hour ago, Ray had immediately started ranting and raving. He’d kicked the back of my seat repeatedly until Danny had threatened to saw off his legs with a hunting knife. When Ray hadn’t acquiesced, Danny had brandished said knife in front of him and started picking his nails with it. Ray had stopped thrashing, but he hadn’t stopped yelling. He was gagged, but it didn’t matter. It was driving us all insane, and nothing short of knocking him out again was going to stop it.

My regret for bringing him along with us pounded behind my temples, throbbing in a dull ache. I’d clearly been out of my frigging mind thinking I could kidnap someone like Ray, even if it was only to save his sorry life.

The Humvee had a state-of-the-art GPS hardwired into the front console. I glanced at it and took a turn, following a small logging road off the main highway.

“One wrong move once we get out of this car and he dies, Jess,” my brother murmured from the seat next to me. “I have no idea why he’s here, but there’s no way his life is worth more than ours. If he compromises this mission, he’s out. Are we clear?”

Ray raged from the backseat. “Goow dan mo fut ba—”

“Clear.” I was driving fast and hit the brakes, cranking the wheel hard to the right. We shot through a small break in the trees. The back end of the monster swerved in what seemed like a slow arc, the tires finally finding purchase in the dirt. I straightened it out and gunned it through the brush,

careening over an old, weed-covered road like we were on a motocross circuit. All the crap in the back crashed around, making it sound like the truck was rending apart at the seams.

Tyler grabbed on to the side handhold above his head. “What the fuck are you doing? Did I miss something?” he shouted. “Where are we going?”

There were no streetlights and it was pitch dark. The truck bobbed over a small knoll and we skidded into a clearing, just missing a group of pine trees. I punctuated my mood by stomping on the brakes at the last second, sending us all flying forward in our seats. Then I jammed it into park.

“Nope, you didn’t miss anything,” I said, turning toward my brother. “Just fixing the issue before it gets out of hand.”

“I should’ve driven,” Tyler muttered. “Girls are emotional drivers.”

“Emotional, huh?” I chuckled. “Guess who finally shut up in the backseat? I did that.” I tapped a finger against my chest. Before Tyler could comment, there was a whooshing sound outside and two shapes struck ground directly in front of the truck. The high beams of the headlights bounced off their faces, making them look like a couple of ghostly specters.

“They don’t waste any time, do they?” Danny angled his body toward the front seat. “Were they just hanging in the sky, then? Waiting around for us to stop and ask for directions?”

I had no idea how the vamps were traveling with us, but zooming above our truck on the highway hadn’t really crossed my mind. I figured they’d fly to the mysterious “end of the road” destination and be irritated we were taking so long. If we had an issue, like now, they would figure it out eventually. I hadn’t expected them so soon.

But now that they were here, a plan began to formulate. I could use them.

A slow smile spread across my lips as I slid around in my seat.

Ray was finally blessedly quiet, but the look on his face as he absorbed the shapes standing before us in the headlights was priceless. I’d never seen Ray stymied over anything, but getting his first glimpse of vampires in all their glory had achieved it. I could almost see the wheels of disbelief turning. “Guess what, Ray?”

His eyes narrowed as they shot to mine.

“I just found you a ride.”

7

“You brought a human with you?” Eamon’s voice was part superiority, part curiosity. We were definitely coming off like a bunch of hillbillies in front of the uberrefined vampires.

I had a gagged Ray, still tied with a dish towel, by the scruff of the neck. We stood just outside the Humvee. Even though the high beams were illuminating the darkness, I swear the yellow paint on the car doors would’ve sufficed as a lantern. I shook my head sadly.

Danny and Tyler had taken up behind us, looking as tough and bold in their jeans as the vamps did.

They were at least a foot taller than the twins, with more muscle and fiercer snarls. “That’s what I just said.” My patience with Eamon waned with every single word out of his mouth. “What I want to know is if you can fly him over the border without snacking on him or dropping him for sport?” Ray tensed at my words, but stayed silent. Ray’s utter shock made me certain that vamps could glamour themselves when they felt like it; otherwise they could never leave the confines of their home and go out in public, and I knew they had to go out. There was no way all those vampires stayed inside all night. But it was obvious they weren’t cloaking themselves now because Ray was just short of babbling like a baby. In this state the vamps screamed otherworldly. “He’s traveling with us and he goes unmolested unless I say so.”

Eamon curled his top lip, like munching on humans wasn’t what he did for a living. “We have already sipped tonight. We have no need of more.”

Sipped? From what I gathered of the Queen’s decorative chamber ceiling and walls during my last visit, when vamps ate, they ripped, tore, feasted, gulped, and sucked. I saw no evidence of sipping depicted anywhere.

“Great.” I yanked Ray around to face me, hillbilly style. “Listen, Ray. This is your last chance to get this right. You absolutely lucked out tonight. Do you hear me? These nice vampires are going to fly you over the border. We’ll meet you on the other side. Seeing that my original plan when I veered off the road involved a shovel and some digging, consider yourself spared. Vamp transportation is a much better alternative than a shallow grave.” He stared at me unblinking like I was speaking in gibberish. “And when we pick you up on the other side, you will come with us willingly.” That was the key word. “If you don’t get yourself figured out by then and finally buy into what we’re selling you,

they get to eat you, or sip you to death, or whatever it is they do. Understand? This is it, Ray. End of the road. I’ve had enough.”

Honestly, if flying through the air with vamps wasn’t enough to convince Ray everything we’d said so far was true, nothing was going to do the trick and he was a lost cause. Introducing him to demons was not an option and anything else would take too long.

I hoped a little shock therapy would go a long way.

I ripped Ray’s gag off and tossed it to the ground. Then I spun him around to undo his ties, which turned out to be an artfully tied three-foot extension cord. Jesus. “Hannon, this won’t work,” Ray

sputtered as soon as he could find the words. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to scare me, but it won’t—”

Naomi shot toward us in a blur, stopping a few feet in front of Ray, effectively cutting his tirade short. Her striking visage was even more startling this close. I could smell the fear instantly pool along Ray’s skin.

“Of course it will work,” I replied, acting like nothing unusual had just happened and a spooky vampire wasn’t invading his personal space. “After you’ve flown with vamps, there won’t be anything left to explain. You’ll