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

and his dog.
    Even though good manners seemed far less
important than running for her life, she said ‘sorry’ to everyone
she bumped into or mowed over, or who jumped out of the way.
Unfortunately, she was creating a long line of pissed-off people
for him to follow.
    A couple drops of blood and he goes fucking
ballistic. Why did he tell her to run? So murdering her would be
more fun?
    The past couple days flashed through her
mind. At the end of each, a big ‘you’re so fucking stupid’ sticker
was slapped across the image.
    You can’t trust a vamp. You can’t think a
vamp wants to be friends or will take pity on you or feel obligated
to you when you help them. They are killers and the only thing that
stops them from killing whoever they want to is the Treaty and the
threat of execution.
    But he was the Prime. So rules were nonsense
everybody else had to follow.
    Wood. Look for wood. Or a church.
    She didn’t even hear him. But she sure as
hell felt his hand on the back of her neck. She stumbled and heard
him curse as she fell out of his grasp. She scrambled to her feet
and turned.
    “I told you to run,” he growled, taunting.
Why was he being so cruel?
    She was going to die. Here in the street. Shit . She couldn’t die in the street. All these humans would
witness him tearing her apart, and they’d have to get wiped. If she
was going to die anyway, she couldn’t ruin their lives on her way
out.
    She yanked open a glass door and ran into…a
high-end kitchenware shop. Look for a weapon. While she
pawed through the display to grab a large silver kitchen platter,
she heard the ding of the doorbell. She turned around, holding the
platter in front of her like a shield. A shitty shield.
    His eyes burned red. Some breeds of demon’s
eyes were red, not vamps. But it wasn’t the color that meant
death—it was the darkness behind them.
    “Did you know?” he asked as he walked
forward.
    Two women stood behind the counter, one with
a phone in her hand. “I’m calling the police if you don’t get out
right now.”
    “Call them!” Addison yelled. Even the Prime
couldn’t avoid trouble if the human police were involved.
Probably.
    “I’ll do it,” the woman said.
    He looked in their direction and closed his
eyes.
    “Don’t!” Addison screamed, lunging
forward.
    Can’t move faster than a vamp. The
women looked stunned, blinking as if they’d just woken up. And then
they crumbled, falling behind the counter as if they’d gone back to
sleep. When they woke up for real, they wouldn’t remember anything.
Unless they’d been wiped a few times prior to this. Then instead of
waking up, they’d live in a permanent nightmare filled with
monsters and shadows.
    His steps faltered as if he was running out
of steam, but he kept moving. Addison bumped into a display table
and scooted to the side so she could go around. She bolted for the
counter the women had fallen behind, hoping to…shit…to get the
phone and dial 9-1-1 before he drained her completely. Good luck
with that.
    She didn’t make it. He grabbed her from
behind and she spun, holding that stupid silver platter in front of
her until he yanked it from her and tossed it over his
shoulder.
    “Stainless steel,” he said. “You should know
the difference.”
    She stumbled back until her ass hit the
counter. It was over. It had been over ever since those chains came
off. Ever since she brought him into her apartment. Into her
life.
    “I saved you. I could’ve left you outside
until the sun came up.”
    “I imagine you wish you had.”
    “Can you…can you not kill me? Just take some,
but not all?”
    He brushed her hair behind her shoulder and
curled his fingers around the nape of her neck, whispering, “Do you
trust me that much?”
    “I don’t even trust you a little.” She felt
the sting of tears. “I don’t want to be turned. If you drain me,
let me die.”
    He ran his other hand up her shoulder, to her
throat and slowly closed his fingers