Free Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) by Lauren Stewart Page A

I’ll probably be on my knees
anyway.” And she wouldn’t be feeling amorous. Could she trust him?
Did it matter? She’d never get a better offer, that was for
sure.
    “Give me what I need so that I can make sure
you receive it.”
    As soon as she pulled up her sleeve, his
fangs elongated, like she was a pig on a spit and just seeing her
vein made his mouth water. Speaking of spit…she needed to open a
vein she wouldn’t bleed out from. A vampire’s saliva could heal a
wound, but Addison wasn’t stupid enough to get that close. Nor did
she ever intend to be licked by a vampire. Gross.
    “Remember: I’m helping you. There are plenty
of other people who’ll give you more later. But I am helping you
now.” She scored her forearm and cursed loudly. When her blood was
released, he inhaled and sighed. “I hope you appreciate this,
because that really hurts. Like the lion and the mouse. You owe
me.”
    “You have not given me anything yet. Unless
you consider the silver burns gifts.” Both of them stared at her
arm, mesmerized by the growing trail of red, held together by
surface tension. “Addison, give it to me.”
    Ugh . “Okay.” She ran her hand down her
arm, milking the blood out, and held it over his mouth from about a
foot above. The first few drops landed on his chest, then his
cheek. His tongue slid out to reach them. Kind of hot in an awful
sort of way. The next drop hit his bottom lip and he groaned, the
sound from deep in his throat, almost like the growl of a lion. If
a lion’s growl was incredibly sexy and put wicked, inappropriate
ideas in your head. But she could handle this. He would get what he
needed, and she wouldn’t be out much.
    Her blood fell in steady drops directly into
his mouth.
    And then everything changed.

Eleven
    Hissing, Rhyse spat out her blood, his eyes
violent, glowing with rage. She stumbled back, not knowing if this
was a normal part of a feeding because she’d never actually
witnessed one. But regardless, he was totally lying about
the enjoyment factor. His body shook, convulsed, and one of the
thickest silver chains broke in half.
    Oh, shit! This isn’t normal. “Don’t
kill me! You promised!” A lot of good that would do.
    “You are poison.” His body arched off the bed
and he threw his head from side to side. Then he went completely
still and turned to her, showing off pupils that were neither human
nor super. They were like a snake’s, and they were red.
    “Run,” he growled, fighting to get the words
out. “Find sunlight. Now.”
    “What’s happening?” Besides me being a
goddamn deer! Move, you useless pile of—
    “I may not be able to control what I do when
I catch you. Now, Addison!”
    His shout knocked her into something
productive—fleeing. She wasn’t even out of the room when she heard
the second silver chain break.
    ‘ When’ he catches me?
    He’d either been faking his weakness the
whole time, or all he needed was a couple drops of blood to go from
zero to sixty in five seconds. Those chains weren’t enough to hold
him down. He was too strong. Too old. You idiot! He’d just
needed time to repair himself, and she was his amusement while he
did it.
    She threw the door open and took the stairs
two at a time. But the sun had already dropped behind the buildings
across the street.
    No, no, no! She ran, knowing it was
pointless. He’d catch up if he didn’t get distracted by someone
else first. Her pathetic human legs were no match for him. The
farther she ran, the more humans he would encounter, so by running
and being an idiot, she might get them killed, too. But she
couldn’t get her survival instinct to listen.
    She glanced back and saw him…ignoring every
other human on the street. He chased only her, his easy strides
overtaking her panicky, lame ones. Fumbling along the sidewalk in
search of a shred of sunlight, she headed for the closest
intersection, pushing people out of the way and hurdling over a
leash stretched between a man