Free Into the Darkness by Delilah Devlin Page B

you feel now?”
    “Nothing,” he lied. “Not a goddamn thing.”
    Another rustling sound came from above, and then a thin
    cry. He pressed against her arm.
    “You need to let me handle this.” Her eyes narrowed and
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    seemed to catalog every twitch he made that gave away his
    concern.
    Rene fought against the overpowering need to surge past
    her and up the stairs. This was Chessa’s business now, but he
    sure as hell hated not knowing what was happening.
    “Did you come inside her?” Chessa asked, her voice dead
    even.
    His gaze slid away from hers. He refused to answer. The
    shame burning his cheeks told her what she wanted to know.
    “Of course, you did.” She reached into a pocket on the top
    of her Kevlar vest and pulled out a syringe.
    He eyed it warily and stepped back. “What the fuck’s that
    for and what are they doin’ up there?”
    “We don’t want her alarmed. Or harmed. So we’re going to
    put her out for transportation.”
    “Are they stickin’ her now?” he asked, anger stiffening his
    spine.
    “Yeah, and this one’s for you.” She shoved her forearms
    into his chest, slamming him against the wall.
    Rene roared and pushed back, but for the first time, he
    experienced the strength in her wiry muscles that could take
    down a linebacker. It happened so fast, he didn’t have time to
    consider another strategy. He tried to pull back, but for the
    second time that night, he wasn’t the one in control.
    Her whole body strained against him, and she used one
    elbow to press into his neck so hard his vision quickly filled
    with prickling lights.
    Her hand shot out, and she jabbed the syringe into his neck.
    He pulled at her arm, but his already sapping strength was
    fleeing. His muscles felt more leaden by the moment.
    into the darkness
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    As he found himself slipping to the floor, he heard Chessa
    mutter, “Dammit Rene, you really fucked up this time.”
    Chessa rode in the back of the panel truck.
    Both Rene and Natalie, wrapped in sheets, lay in the center
    of the floor between the long bench seats flanking either side
    of the vehicle, snuggled close together.
    The sight rankled.
    “You don’t look happy. Everything went according to
    plan.”
    She heard mockery in the voice of the man sitting across
    from her and wished Nicolas had chosen to ride in the vehicle
    with the rest of the security team. These two weren’t waking
    up anytime soon—she didn’t need help.
    Worse, she hated his sharp-eyed perception. He’d read her
    interest as she’d cradled Rene’s body on the floor and tenderly pulled out the needle from his neck after she’d shot him
    up with enough sedative to keep him down for the rest of the
    night.
    “So, we have a baby vamp. That’s cause for celebration, is
    it not?”
    She leveled a glare at him, knowing he was only making
    conversation to annoy her. Her mind was still reeling, and she
    needed time to think. She’d taken a risk leaving Natalie with
    Rene, but she’d hoped he would be strong enough to resist
    her hormonal appeal.
    Chessa’d had plans of her own for the Cajun. Four years
    of sussing out his strengths and weaknesses to determine
    whether he would be the right sort of man to enter her life.
    Four years of yearning for his hard, toned body, patiently
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    learning the secrets that kept him from committing to a
    woman.
    She’d been kidding herself there would ever be a time for

them. He’d never really let her close, never shared the intimate details of his life.
    Sure, they’d spent half their waking lives in each other’s
    company. But she couldn’t claim to really know him.
    However, she did know he didn’t particularly like preternatural creatures. He distrusted what he couldn’t explain.
    Over time, he’d come to tolerate her well, despite the fact she
    had a second strike against her.
    Rene hadn’t wanted a female partner of any kind. Ever.
    It had taken deliberately choreographed incidents to