Page 3 of Rescued By the Vampire Assassin

Keri remained silent, mind whirling. She couldn't afford to reveal how little she actually knew. Information was power, and right now, it might be the only advantage she had. But then she remembered that snippet of conversation she had overheard in the warehouse before she was ambushed. Maybe it would make sense to another vampire.

"Not feeling talkative?" Joshua tsked. "We have all the time in the world down here. And I can be very persuasive."

The threat in his words was unmistakable. And yet, there was something off about it. A hollowness behind the bravado. Keri's keen investigator instincts kicked in, studying Joshua more closely.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, giving him a haunted look. And there was a tremor in his hands that spoke of more than just hunger. He was injured. Weakened.

"Why are you being punished? Did you not kill your target?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Joshua's face before he schooled his features back into a mask of sardonic amusement. "So you recognize me," he murmured. "Perhaps there's more to you than meets the eye." He leaned back against the wall, regarding her with newfound interest. "Let's just say the Vasiles and my clan had a disagreement. And now, well..." He gestured to their dismal surroundings. "...here we are."

“Clan? There are vampire clans?” Despite her situation, Keri was intrigued and excited by that. “We should work together. Get out of here. Then you can have your revenge.” And I could have my story.

Joshua's lips curled into a predatory grin. "What could you possibly offer me, except blood?"

Yeah, that was a good point. She needed him to stop thinking of her like she was a snack. “You don’t want to drink my blood.”

“I assure you that I do.”

“I don’t think you should.”

“That’s understandable.” It was galling that he could sound sensible and condescending at the same time.

“No, listen. I overheard something before I was knocked out. Chrissy led me to a warehouse where the Vasiles were working on packing something up. I didn’t hear much before they got me. But they did say something about a batch being ready with a high concentration of something given to humans.”

“Hmmm,” Jonathan said. “And you think you have been given this batch?”

“I don’t know. But why would they give you blood?” she said, quickly thinking about all the vampire legends she’d ever heard of. “Wouldn’t you be weakened if I had a drug in my system and you bit me?”

He tilted his head. “Possibly.”

"I have to be a trap. You can’t afford to bite me.” She was actually proud of how she came up with that on the fly. Hopefully, he bought it.

“Devious,” he conceded. “Just like the Vasiles. They can’t kill me — not without causing a war. But if I died by drinking tainted blood, then their hands are clean. Bravo. You’ve stopped me from exsanguinating you.”

“Well, thank heavens for small favors.”

A surprised laugh huffed out of him.

“How do we use that information?”

“We let them think their plan has worked.”

Keri didn’t quite like the look in his eye when he said it. And when he rushed her, she couldn’t help but let out a terrified scream.

Chapter 2

"KEEP SCREAMING." JOSHUA’S voice was barely audible. "Then slowly stop."

Keri's heart thundered in her chest, but she complied. She let out a series of blood-curdling shrieks that gradually faded to whimpers, then silence. The sound echoed off the dank stone walls, amplifying her very real terror. As her voice died away, Joshua pressed a finger to his lips, mouthing the words "Play dead."

She sank to the disgusting floor and watched Joshua do the same. For several agonizing minutes, they remained motionless. Keri's muscles screamed in protest as she lay awkwardly against her restraints, but she willed herself to stay still. She was acutely aware of Joshua's presence mere feet away. His stillness was unnatural, predatory. Even weakened, he radiated danger. He was fascinating, and it took every bit of her self-control not to pepper him with questions. If she survived this, it would make a great story — assuming she didn’t get thrown into the looney bin for reporting that vampires were real.

Finally, the sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence. Keri's breath caught in her throat, and she closed her eyes and forced herself to appear limp and lifeless.

"I’m tired of all these experiments. You’d think we’d have perfected the serum by now," a gruff voice said.

"Don’t let Anatole hear you say that,” a second voice warned. “Besides, it’s a good way to get rid of our enemies, like Nicolau here. I can’t wait to see him turned inside out.”

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