Free Seduced by the Night by Robin T. Popp

and drove it through the dead man's heart, ensuring he wouldn't rise again. He felt no remorse at killing a drug dealer. In fact, in his own way, he considered it a service to the community. He'd spotted this one trying to sell drugs to a group of teenagers. It hadn't taken much to scare the kids away and he knew they'd think twice before buying drugs again. The thought caused him to smile as he rolled the body behind a Dumpster where, eventually, someone would find it.
    Then he slipped back down the alley, moving faster than any human could, and made his way along the back streets of the city until he reached the entrance to the lair. With a last look around, he descended into the lower levels, winding his way through oversized pipes that reeked of human waste. The smell was offensive, but an effective deterrent to curious humans.
    Reaching the old abandoned underground workstation, he let himself into the room, his eyes going immediately to the humans chained to the wall. They were young, healthy males, in their early twenties if he had to guess.
    They cowered in fear when they saw him, but he ignored them and continued down the short hallway to the back room and without knocking walked in.
    The first thing he noticed was the man chained to the wall. This was not a food source, as the others were. This was a vampire, or had been several nights ago. Now it was nothing more than a depraved creature straining at its chains, trying to break free.
    "Another remission?" he asked Patterson, who lounged in a nearby chair. "This one only lasted a week."
    The other Prime gave him an irritated look. "I know how long he lasted." Rising from his seat, a stake clutched in one hand, Patterson attacked the creature before it could react, driving the stake into its heart. "We'll have to rely on the vampires we convert ourselves for now. Third generation and below are too unstable."
    Harris swore under his breath. "We're never going to get anywhere like this. We need a biochemist."
    "Look," Patterson snapped. "If you think you can do better, then feel free to try."
    Harris's sight bled red as he glared at Patterson. He'd never particularly liked the man when they'd been alive. How ironic that they would be thrown together in death. He tried to remember skills learned in life and tamped down his anger and frustration. "What happened tonight?"
    " Adams was there. As we thought, putting the three in the alley distracted him, but not long enough. The woman got away and we lost our team, such as it was, except for that newest one. Another inch and we would've lost him, too." He rubbed his jaw. "Maybe we should try converting some of our former SEAL teammates , like Burton did?"
    Harris shook his head. "No. Once they start to regress, these civilians are hard enough to control. I'd hate to try  and control a SEAL in that state." He paused. "Maybe we should go after a different biochemist—one that's not so well protected." Harris was growing desperate. He'd lived as a vampire for over six months now and hated every minute of it.
    If Lance Burton wasn't already dead, Harris would kill him. He hadn't asked for this. His life had finally started looking up. He'd met a girl, Cynthia. They'd started dating and he'd thought she might be the one. Six months ago, when he'd looked to his future, it had included marriage, kids—the whole "happily-ever-after" story. Now all he saw was an endless road of death and destruction, mostly by his own hand if he hoped to survive. And he did, but not like this.
    "You want to risk letting a second-rate biochemist use our last vial of chupacabra venom?" Patterson snarled at him.
    Harris shot him a look. "As opposed to the assistant you currently have working on it? Yeah."
    "That assistant worked with the Stavinoski woman. He can't exactly be an idiot."
    Harris studied Patterson's face and knew his former teammate wasn't any more convinced than he was, but decided not to press the issue. "I'm going to rest." The sun