The Bite That Binds (Deep In Your Veins 2)

As an idea came to mind, I smiled. “Novo.” The tattoo that had been twined around my waist was now a live, very ticked off snake. Like that time when I’d been up against Magda, Dexter’s scales were dark-red and he was hissing angrily.

Unsurprisingly, the Syphon’s cocky smirk faltered. Ha. He would know that though the snake was clearly preternatural, Dexter didn’t have a gift that he could absorb. As such, if Dexter hurt him, he was f**ked.

I had no idea what his plan had been when he took an angry step toward me, and I didn’t get the chance to find out because that one step forward had been enough to set Dexter off. Abruptly, he struck at the Syphon, biting into his cheek.

The Syphon cried out in both surprise and pain, bringing his hand up to his cheek. “Bitch. You f**king bitch.”

“Why thank you.”

As he began double-blinking and shaking his head, I knew that stage one was starting to take effect. Any other time, I might have sat back and watched the show, but not now while Jared was in danger.

Instead, I cracked my whip at the vampire that was attacking Chico, winding it round his ankle. I then used the vampire as a bat, whacking the Syphon hard enough to send him hurtling in the air and crashing into the broken shack. He landed hard on one of the jagged pieces of wood and it pierced right through his chest. A loud groan escaped him just before he turned into ashes.

That groan had barely ended when my attention was back on Jared – he was still struggling against the tentacles that were pinning him to the ground. Worse, a scowling Pagori was bent over him with his arm pulled back, ready to punch. Not just punch Jared, but punch his fist into Jared’s chest.

I lashed my whip at the Pagori, curling it tight around his throat. Then, practically feral in my anger, I dragged him to me with the whip. He clawed at it wildly, trying to free himself, but he froze when Dexter’s head was suddenly only inches from his face. He actually whimpered, and who could blame him?

Dexter spat venom into his eyes, making him groan through gritted teeth and scrub his eyes madly. When he finally opened them and saw me standing with my elbow reared back, he knew what I was going to do but I was too fast for him to stop me, too strong for him to do anything about it. In under a second, his heart was in my hand, and then both he and his heart were ashes − something I wouldn’t have been able to do if it hadn’t been for the extra strength.

Snarling, I turned to Tentacle Boy, who had the sense to look worried.

There was no trace of that nervousness in his gruff voice, though. “You hurt me with that whip or you sic that snake on me, and I’ll pull his limbs from his body.”

“That would be a shame. He’s good with those hands.” Plan in mind, I went to absorb the energy of the Earth beneath my feet, but it had already come to me, waiting for direction.

Seeming to notice the mercury glow to my irises, Tentacle Boy stared at me studiously. “What are you?”

“Empress of the f**king universe.” And then I caused a spike of earth to sprout from the ground between his legs and smack him hard in the balls. Blokes always did the same thing when that happened; they momentarily tensed and then all energy seemed to leave them as they dropped whatever they were holding and fell to their knees, cupping their balls, and that was exactly what he did.

Before Dexter or I could have any fun with the sod, a pissed-fricking-off Jared jumped to his feet, grabbed the vampire’s head, and snapped it from his body. Swiftly, the Keja was ashes.

“Feel better?” I asked Jared, slightly amused by a move that was more about anger management than vengeance.

He frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah.”

Looking around, I noticed that there appeared to only be a few of Orrin’s vampires still fighting. The man himself was still standing at the rear entrance with Blake, watching the whole thing. The memory meddler was looking pretty nervous but Orrin looked cool as a cucumber, which made me wonder what his gift was.

The weird bugger clapped. “Impressive. Very impressive. Oh, and I do like that pet of yours, Samantha.”

Do you think the squad will be okay taking out the ones who are left? I asked Jared. Because I really want to hurt this silly little twat.

Max is in a coma, Stuart’s in a trance, and Damien – though fully conscious and still fighting – has a hole in his chest that’s so huge, you could put your hand through it. How about the others?

I hadn’t been expecting to hear any of that. Salem’s face has been burned with acid but he’s otherwise okay. David’s arm has been savaged by a tiger but Chico’s watching his back so he can stay in the fight. Who’s watching over Max and Stuart?

Reuben, and Damien – the guy might be injured, but he sure can fight.

It was true: Damien had become great at combat. Please tell me Butch got out with the baby.

Yep, he’s waiting at the campground. There isn’t many of Orrin’s vampires left now, and with Chico, Harvey, Reuben, and Denny still going strong, I think they’ll be fine dealing with them.

Then let’s have a chat with Orrin. Wait, where’s Jude?

I’m not sure, but I have a strong feeling she’s inside that house looking for the other female vampire.

That did sound like Jude. All right, let’s deal with him, but we can’t kill him. He belongs to Jude. With that in mind, I decided it would be better to return Dexter to his tattoo form – I couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t kill the bloke. “Novo.” Instantly Dexter seemed to melt into my body, which appeared to shock the living shit out of Orrin. Good.

I cracked my whip at him, intending to trap him with it so that I could cart him inside the house. To my utter shock, the whip flew through him as if he wasn’t even there, like he was merely a ghost.

“Much like you, Samantha, I have a substantial gift,” Orrin explained, seemingly enjoying my confusion. “It has its advantages in many situations.”

It was Jared who guessed. “Density control. You can manipulate the density of your own body. Rare.”

Shit. Now what do we do?

Fuck if I know.

“That’s right, Jared. You – fortunately for me, but unfortunately for you – cannot harm me. Even with all that power, Samantha, you cannot harm me. Nor can those talented men there.”

A fleeting look allowed me to see that the squad were now the only ones remaining – though many of them were worse for wear – and they were beginning to gather behind us.

A click of Orrin’s fingers was followed by the swift appearance of a stout, cheery looking female. “Moira, be a dear and take care of these people.” He gestured to Jared and the squad.