Free Viper by Patricia A. Rasey Page B

scent. Cara followed suit and sniffed the air but didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. His gaze narrowed and he emitted a low growl.
    "What?" she asked as she bent to retrieve some of the strewn clothing.
    "Son of a bitch." Kane grumbled. "This isn't good."
    Cara stood, shirts, undergarments, and shorts clutched to her chest, and looked at Kane. "What is it?"
    He shook his head, and tried to mask his expression. But he wasn’t fooling her. Something bothered Kane. "It's nothing."
    "You can't just open a can of worms then clam up about it. What is it that has you so bugged?"
    His gaze studied her for a long moment and Cara was sure he wasn't about to open up to her when he said, "One on my kind has been here."
    Kane was talking complete nonsense. "One of your kind? What the hell are you talking about? Who was here?"
    His eyes darkened to deep fathomless slits. Lord, she needed to get her vision checked. Certainly, it was due to the low lighting in the room. "I’m different than you, Cara … and you know it. That message on the mirror is telling you that something exists beyond what you deem as humanity. You need to believe, because this intruder, he will kill you. You need to take this threat seriously."
    She scoffed at the idea something else might exist, but the word vampire began to surface in her thoughts again. "You're talking nonsense."
    Kane turned on his heel and grasped her shoulders, giving her a light shake. "Cara, we aren't playing games. What you saw ten years ago does exist."
    Cara slowly shook her head, refusing to believe what her eyes had seen that night. She had spent too many years running from her nightmares and refused to buy into it now.
    "There have been three dead bodies in this county and you’re nowhere close to solving any of the cases. You won't either."
    She shook off his grip and backed from him. "You underestimate my skills as a detective, Mister Tepes. I'll catch this perp. And if you have anything to do with these deaths, I won’t hesitate to take you down."
     
    * * *
     
    Kane jammed both hands through his hair and blew out a steady stream of air. Damn infuriating woman! Pacing the small confines of her ransacked room, he weighed the option of laying it all out for her. He knew the rules and the consequences. Making her see the truth was foolhardy, if not downright idiotic. She could expose his kind, unwittingly putting targets on their back, risking capture, experimentation, and possibly elimination. For their own survival, they kept their true nature hidden from the masses.
    It’s not like she didn’t already have an inkling that something else existed, following her exit of the restroom some ten years back. But should his brothers get word that he solidified, instead of suppressed, her fears, they could not only strip him of his president patch but of his Sons of Sangue rocker as well.
    He lived for the MC.
    Kane had no family outside of it. But rules were rules and no one could know of their existence outside of the club. To all appearances, they were an outlaw motorcycle group, not a coven of vampires.
    But what choice did he have now?
    This unknown son of a bitch had put a target on Cara Brahnam's back and she wasn't even aware of what she was dealing with. Cara and her entire office of deputies could not match the power this primordial vampire had. He knew this vampire was an original by his scent, centuries older than he and Kaleb. The question was, what the fuck was this primordial doing in the states? All the primordials he knew lived in Italy, where the Sons of Sangue formed many years ago, long before the existence of the motorcycle club.
    Stopping his pace, he stole a glance at Cara. She stood ramrod straight, arms crossed beneath her breasts. Her cleavage spilled over the V of her tee beneath her sweater, making his mouth water for a taste. She presented a very tempting picture, one his gaze was irresistibly drawn to. His canines ached within his gums, wanting to