Page 72 of Bite of Sin

“A raid,” he hissed. “PARA. Some are already in the city.”

I whirled around, anger rushing through me as I faced Kali. “Youdidget word out when you went into the woods,” I accused.

“Wait,” she shrieked when I advanced toward her. “I didn’t give PARA anything.”

“Liar,” Viggo muttered darkly. “It’s a coincidence it’s happening now?”

“It’s happened before,” I reminded him. “They never get far into the city.”

“It’s an entire fucking unit, Zan,” he snapped, the worry in his voice putting me on edge. “We’re calling everyone out. The only person still at the bar is Gia.”

“Shit.” I met her gaze. “What did you do, Kali?”

“It wasn’t me,” she screamed, backing away from me. “Pax told you I was running that night. PARA wants me dead. Why would I tell them where I’m trapped?”

I swiped a hand over my chin, glancing at Viggo. “Get clothes from Gia for her. She’s going downstairs. I want eyes on her.”

Kali shouted at me when I left the room with Viggo, locking the door behind me. My chest tightened as Viggo started explaining how many humans were trying to enter our city. It was a fucking lot. A planned attack. We’d known they were gearing up for something for a while, but we weren’t expecting it so soon. This city was large, and we needed to keep them out of the city center where most of us lived.

“Your girl did this,” Viggo said in a low voice. “If we find out that’s true, she can’t stay. You understand, Zan?”

“I know,” I clipped out. “Gia will watch her while we deal with this.”

“Why are they coming at night?” Viggo voiced his thoughts out loud. “All the other times, it was during the day.”

“I don’t know.”

I followed him out of our place, heading downstairs. There had been a handful of times humans had come into the city, and we’d pushed them out. They knew we were here but didn’t know our numbers. We made it look like just another run-down city where random vampires lived. I had a bad feeling tonight was going to change all of that.

Chapter28

Kali

Zan gripped my arm, keeping me beside him as we entered Impulse from the stairwell. My stomach was in knots, and it only got worse when we stepped into the empty room. Zan was tense. On edge more than I’d ever seen him.

“I didn’t do this,” I muttered as he tugged me toward the bar. “I’m running from the government.”

“Do not try to leave,” he ordered gruffly, acting like I hadn’t said a word. “Gia is watching you. I don’t want you upstairs when no one can be up there to listen for you.”

“Go, Zan,” Gia said, appearing from one of the back rooms. “She won’t leave my sight.”

She gave me a small smile, which confused the hell out of me as Zan dropped his hand from me. I turned my head, catching sight of Warner in the same cage as last time. I jerked when Zan suddenly lowered his head, bringing his lips much too close to my cheek.

“Just because it’s only Gia doesn’t mean you can try anything,” he breathed in my ear. “She is old, which means she’s strong. You don’t stand a chance against her.”

“Kali is smart enough to know that,” Gia said with a wave of her hand. “Go help your brothers.”

Zan cursed under his breath and spun away. I watched as he slammed open the door before disappearing into the darkness. Turning my attention to Gia, I slowly backed up, going closer to Warner’s cage.

“Go talk to him.” Gia reached under the bar. “It’s not like we have anything else to do right now.”

Her voice was cheery as usual, but her smile was cracked, and her eyes kept darting to the door. She was nervous too. My lips parted when she set two guns on the counter. One was a small pistol and the other was a long shotgun.

“Vampires use guns?” I muttered.

“Our teeth and strength usually do a good job,” Gia replied. “But they bring big weapons. We need our own too. How do you think the war lasted so long?”

“I’m surprised you’re talking to me.” I cleared my throat. “Zan and his brothers hate me after finding out I’m not one of you.”

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