Free Guilty by Association (Judah Black Novels) by E.A. Copen

eyes, the room was empty but for the thousands upon thousands of red eyes peering back at me through the darkness. One by one, the eyes darkened until only one pair remained. A big, white smile appeared beneath the eyes and a throaty voice purred, “Why are you awake, little one? Go back to sleep.”
    Something stung the inside bend of my arm. I looked down and saw a big, black scorpion lash its tail forward and sting me another time. I shook it away and fell back in a panic while the voice laughed at me. I hit the floor and pain shot up through my spine, pain that should have shaken me from the vision and back into reality. The darkness, though, didn't slide away. The glowing eyes and teeth didn't vanish and the laundromat remained hidden from my view. My entire reality remained shrouded in darkness and pain.
    In shaky, unreal movements the glowing eyes and teeth cut through the darkness to stand next to me. I turned and tried to crawl away but I wasn't fast enough. Something or someone grabbed my head from behind and slammed it hard into a wall of shadow in front of me. It shattered and suddenly my scalp was on fire. I wanted to fight, to run, to run and fight but I couldn't do anything. The pain shooting through my body was all I could think about. It consumed my entire existence, to the point that the death I knew was coming was a welcome reprieve.
    Soft, palmy hands picked me up from where I was lying in a pile of broken darkness and dragged me away to lean me against something cool. “You know that it was never supposed to be like this. I loved you like a son, even when no one else did.” The same hand brushed against my cheek. I tried to make a sound but the pain wouldn't let me. “Shh,” the voice urged. “I'm still going to save you, little one, the only way that I can now.” Hot, sharp metal pressed against the side of my neck and went in surprisingly easy. It didn't hurt, not compared to everything else. “Don't be scared,” said the voice, fading back into the shadows. The darkness shifted forward as the cut went deeper and I felt the cool of night seeping into me. “Sleep,” whispered a voice next to my ear.
    Then, the darkness poured out of me and I fell as if that had been all that had ever held me up. A voice somewhere called my name but I was too tired to answer. Sleep beckoned and I went to her.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
     
    It's a universally acknowledged truth that vampires prey on the weak and injured. Unlike werewolves, they aren't super strong and, during the day, their enhanced speed is diminished. That makes it almost impossible for them to feed during the daylight hours. The studies published by BSI say that it isn't harmful for vampires to go up to seventy-two hours without feeding in most cases, though most vampires would have you believe otherwise. Their hunger never goes away. Any self-respecting vampire would never turn away a free meal, especially when it was bleeding from the head while lying unconscious on the floor of a laundromat.
    So, when I opened my eyes and saw Patsy kneeling next to me, drawing a pale tongue over her lips, I damn near gave myself a heart attack trying to get the hell away from her. “Whoa, easy there,” came Quincy's voice from behind me when I scooted into his shin. I tried to turn and look at him but instantly felt nauseated and just wound up groaning and touching a hand to the back of my head. “Quite a bump you got there. Should we call Doc Ramis down here?”
    Patsy stood and rested one hand against her wide waist. “I already had a dead werewolf in here. Last thing I need is for you to sue me over a bump on your head.”
    “I'm not suing anybody,” I promised and scratched at the bump. I must've fallen and busted my head on some of the exposed piping from where we'd moved the washer. I'd bled just enough to make a small clump of my hair stick to my head but I didn't think it would be anything serious. “I don't even need stitches.”
    “Well,