Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel, #1)

by Linsey Hall

force back that strange combination of attra...

He tilted his head, the shadows slashing across his face and making him look even more dangerous.

His gaze flicked to my neck as if he could see my violent heartbeat. Vampire. I kept my gaze averted.

There was a good two meters between us, but it felt like a handbreadth. I could detect the barest hint of his magic—the scent of a fire and the sound of thunder—but it was well under control.

“No.” “That’s it? Just…no?” “Just no.” He strode toward me, his movement impossibly smooth.

heartbeat thundered as he approached, and my skin chilled. It took everything I had to hold my ground, but I refused to run. There was too much on the line here, and he was an apex predator. I couldn’t show fear, or he would attack.

Instead of coming straight for me, he moved past, so close that I could smell the fire of his scent. Every bit of me tightened as I turned to follow his back with my gaze, and my shoulders relaxed when he went to the sideboard on the other side of the room.

I wasn’t going to drink a possible murderer’s coffee.

But where were his fangs? My gaze flicked to his mouth, but I saw none. When I looked at his eyes, I realized that he was smiling at me. Not a big smile, but he was definitely amused.

She stood still as a hare spotted by a fox, her gaze carefully averted from mine. My body screamed with an awareness I hadn’t felt in years. Hell, that I had never felt.

seemed to see right through me,

neck prickled as if I were being watched from all angles. Like she could see right to the heart of me and all the terrible things I’d done. Was that what so intrigued me?

And I wanted to sink my fangs into her pale neck and feel every bit of it. I wanted to touch her. It was something I hadn’t felt in hundreds of years, and she ignited

make contact in a way that would compel her to do my bidding. I wouldn’t use it in an unscrupulous way—I never did that with women—but I wanted to feel that connection. I wanted to make her look at me. She didn’t comply.

Did my power not wor...

Everyone here knew how to keep their magic under tight lock and key—the Council of Guilds demanded it. Their strict control of magic in the city was half of what made it possible for me to run my business. Smuggling boomed under strict law and governments. It was perfect for my particular talents.

“Does that happen normally?” If my power didn’t work on her, then she was special to me. I wanted to know if I was special to her.

“Tell me about the body in the alley.” I grinned, liking that she evaded my question. She wasn’t an easy woman, and I found that it appealed to me. “If you were worried that I was the murderer, why come here?” “Because I can take care of myself.”

She could handle herself around others, yes. Still, I could have her underneath me in seconds if I wanted. But no, that monster was dead inside me now. Killed by my own h...

“No.” I tilted my head to better study her. “You came because you are backed into a corner.”

“Tell me about the man in the alley.” “Persistent, aren’t you?” “You have no idea.”

“I’m not sure I believe you.” “You’re not dead yet, are you?” She scoffed. “Just because you killed him doesn’t mean you’ll kill me. Not right away, at least. You might want me for something.” Want me for something. An unfamiliar heat blossomed inside me. Yes. I very much did. But not for killing.

Her lips tightened, and I could see the thoughts behind her eyes. She was debating how much to tell me. Clever. I trafficked in information as much as anything,

it was dangerous to tell me things. Except… I couldn’t hurt her.

At the mere thought of it, the strangest sensation of protectiveness roared inside of me, a beast bigger than my ne...

“Why?” I demanded, suddenly more interested than I had been. “The police think I killed him, and I need to clear my name.” Surprise flashed over her face, almost a...

“But…why?” Why would any supernatural ever do that? I couldn’t imagine hiding what I was.

“Oh, but I’d like to.” And I meant it. I wanted to know everything about her, even as I marveled at this new interest. I hadn’t been interested in much of anything in years. But her… She ignited it. I tried again to compel her to look at me, but she didn’t. I still couldn’t control her.

frustration seemed to bubble inside her, and I didn’t want to drive her

killed the man. I was there just after it happened.” Her arrival on the scene had driven me off, in fact.

If I’d seen her, I would have stuck around longer. Instead, her vision had snared me once I was several streets over, dragging me back to the scene of the crime—or at least dragging my consciousness back. Such interest in another was uncharacteristic of me.

“Check his organs. See if anything is missing.” I hadn’t had time to do it myself.

“No. He’d be missing an organ that he needs. If he’s missing one at all.” I shrugged. “It’s a hunch, but it could be inaccurate.”

She shifted back from me slightly, igniting my instinct to pursue. The desire to stalk her surged to life, and I forced it back, hating it just a little.

“And if it was, then one of his organs might be missing?” Her breathing quickened, as if discussing the murder—with the possible murderer, as far as she was concerned—was scaring her. Her fear made my heart thud faster, and I stepped toward her, unable to stop. A vision of pressing her against the desk, of feeling her softness against me, flashed into my mind. In my head, I could hear her cry out, feel the warmth of her skin under my lips, her flesh under my fangs.

hated the instinct that surged to arousal—to catch, to subdue, to take.

No longer. Yet she ignited it in me, and I had no idea what to do about that.

eyes glinted with an icy heat that mimicked the hot and cold streaking through me. I jerked my gaze from his, my

Fear tightened everything inside me, but… I liked it, too. And that scared me as much as anything. It was insane. He stepped forward, so slow and sure. He’d become a cobra, and me the mouse. Nope!

Unable to help myself, I shot one last look into the room behind me. The Devil was frozen mid-step, looking perfect and terrifying at the same time. It made my heart thunder all the harder, and I spun.

I ran down the hall, pursued by the demon of fear. Visions of him catching me flashed in my mind. Once, I heard people coming from an adjacent hallway, and I slowed.

Right now, the only thing I had on my side was stealth.

Both looked hot as hell and sharp as knives, their red lips matching their upswept hairdos that mimicked styles of the past. As they passed, they looked at me, heads tilted in confusion. I gave them a tight nod, pretending that I knew what I was doing. Somehow, I managed to keep my heart from smashing out of my chest and smacking them in the face.

I stepped into the room, and she blinked at me, clearly confused.

“But the Devil—” I didn’t hear the rest of her words because I was sprinting outside. The two guards looked at me, their sharp eyes seeing too keenly.

He was calling the Devil. The other reached for my arm, and I flinched away. He was too fast. His hand closed around my bicep.

A woman with short blonde hair appeared, and then came a flash of light and faint blue dust. It enveloped me, nearly blinding me. The guards froze solid, totally unmoving.

“I think he wanted to…bite me.” “Bite you?”

“Yeah, but I’ve never heard of him biting anyone.

“Blood bars?” “Not as creepy as you’d imagine. Mostly.” “Do vampires, um…drink you to death?”