Free Betrayal Bites (Tales of Sydney Sedrick Book 2) by Mandi Casey

during the flash. He leaned in close and nuzzled my neck, rubbing his rough jaw gently against my skin. Even through the pounding pain in my head from whatever had just happened, a streak of desire warmed my entire body. The pain lessened from my having physical contact with Blake.
    How the heck was a girl supposed to fight off that kind of response from her own body to a man? Sometimes, life was just so unfair. I didn’t fight having direct contact with his body. Somehow, Blake’s touch was soothing the aching pain in my head and the soreness traveling along my body. Did I get hurt when I fell? It sure felt like I took a serious tumble. Or was it the after-effects of being near so many rogues, even though they weren’t actually in my presence?
    I turned around to face Blake. I wanted to feel the warmth and comfort only he could provide.
    The hairs on my arms rose.
    Thick tendrils of icy fingers crawled up my spine, colder than anything I’ve ever felt by a presence of a rogue vampire until that moment. Pain began to creep up my legs until it made its way to my torso, then into my chest. Despite the cold feeling, my body broke out into a sweat from the pain. The urge to vomit wrapped its nauseating grip around my throat. I leaned heavier against Blake for support, not wanting to pass out in the middle of the nightclub, again.
    “Blake, I’m pretty sure a rogue vampire just walked into the club. We need to leave.”
    Even before I finished my sentence, his eyes turned into the golden-bronzed color they did when he was angry, or turned on.
    “Sydney, I’ll take care of the rogue. Get Michael and Brianna and leave.”
    “I’m not going without you!” It was hard not to shout in his ear, but I had to make sure he heard me over the music.
    Blake growled in frustration, his inner beast threatening to come out in the middle of the club. His protective instincts were kicking into high gear. Those instincts were telling him to go fight the bad guy because he felt my safety was threatened. I could see it in his face as his mouth tightened.
    Blake didn’t know what to do. He knew we were in danger from the rogue, but he also knew I wasn’t going anywhere unless he went with us.
    Another flash of white light blinded me. I was no longer in the club, again.
    “Yes, Master, it will be as you wish.” A rogue vampire, hunched on his knees, bowed his head in submission to the lightning demon from Hell.
    I shook my head to try and clear my vision. What the heck was happening to me? Without warning, I felt myself somehow being flung from one reality to the next. There was no gradual pull on my body like when I left the vision the last time. This time was more like a quick snap of the fingers, one that made my lungs feel like they were deflated like a popped balloon. I seriously had to get a hold of these Selected powers.
    “I want that vile being out of the way. Someday I will have her under my thumb. If you play your cards right, you will be generously rewarded. If you fail me, I will make sure every single rogue in this place will suffer a long, excruciating death.”
    I could tell Andras was ticked. It wasn’t good to have a lightning demon, infamous for taking pleasure in creating chaos and pain, upset about anything.
    The rogue vampire didn’t budge. Vampires were known for keeping their emotions and thoughts from their facial expression. Despite that fun fact Grandma continued to express through her writing, this one couldn’t completely hide that he was scared for his life. His bottom lip quivered in fear against the bloodstained fangs poking out over his lip.
    Maybe he hadn’t been a vampire for very long. Hopefully Kieran would be willing to tell me the stages of vampiredom the next time I had the chance to ask him about them. Did they go through a vamp puberty of sorts?
    The rogue, with his guilty little fangs hanging over his lip, didn’t appear too confident, compared to the majority of vampires that belonged to