Free Siren Nights (Series Part 1) (The Lure) by Jennifer Lewis Page A

flourish. Inside was a wide, well
furnished room with a four poster bed and a wide window against a north-facing
balcony.
    As the door clicked shut and locked, a
brief moment of clarity mixed with unease descended on me. But it vanished in
an instant as the man seized me by the arms, his expression shifting into a
predator’s triumphant leer.
    “At last!” he said, in a low, menacing
growl.
    I gasped and struggled, trying to break his
iron grip in vain. My heart raced in terror. He contemptuously tossed me on the
bed like a sack of flour and then climbed on. He straddled me effortlessly and
pinned my shoulders with his arms.
    “Don’t worry, my dear,” Darian said with a
hint of civility creeping back into his words as if to taunt me. “Your pain
will be brief and then your blood shall join mine in eternity.”
    He leaned closer, gleaming fangs extended.
Trembling, I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable.
    The window exploded in a rain of glass
shards.
    "What? Who dares?" The vampire
cried as he leapt off me, bleeding from several cuts on his face. As he rose,
he grunted once and staggered as three wooden bolts embedded themselves in his
chest. I opened my eyes and pulled myself into a defensive crouch, but his
attention was clearly not on me.
    I had just enough time to register Darian’s
open-mouthed expression of surprise and fear before a figure in black Kevlar
flew through the window with a fierce war cry, bearing him to the ground in a
flurry of tangled limbs and tearing cloth.
    My hunter and my savior wrestled on the
floor, and at first I could not tell who had the upper hand. I watched, heart
pounding.
    Then, for a brief second, the chaotic match
froze, with the figure in black pinning Darian by the throat against the ground
with one hand. The vampire screamed a shrill and inhuman cry cut short by a
weighty sound of “thunk” as the newcomer drove something deep into his chest.
    Darian’s body thrashed and shook, while the
other man rode his chest holding the stake in with both hands. One deathblow
shattered the night table; another snapped the leg off the bed and nearly sent
me to the ground.
    Finally, the scene stilled. On his back,
lay Darian’s eyes wide and vacant. Blood oozed from his chest around the wooden
stake driven into it. The armored man panted above the stiffening body.
    Starting with the fingertips and working
up, the corpse eroded, dissolving into dust. Sighing quietly in relief, I
rearranged my face into a scowl, "Took you long enough this time,
Tony."
    He only laughed, pulling off the helmet to
reveal a dusty-haired young man with dancing blue eyes. “Not our fault he
strayed from the plan, Siren. He was supposed to use the room above the
restaurant.”
    “Oh, okay,” I shot back, annoyed. “So it’s
okay that I almost got bitten this time.  It’s the vampire’s fault for not
going where he was supposed to.”
    “Well, you’re lucky you didn’t leave your
purse behind this time. If we had no way to track you, you’d be drained dry
now.”
    A sudden flashback to the vampire’s
paralyzing gaze sent shivers up my spine.
    He chuckled again at my sudden silence.
“Aww, don’t worry babe. You know I’d never let anything happen to you.” He put
one arm around me in a gesture that he must have imagined was comforting. His
hand touched my ass briefly.
    “Hey, don’t get too close you two. I think
Siren’s still under the Charm.” An assertive female voice declared from the
balcony. Tara moved from behind the curtain holding a large wooden crossbow in
both hands. Looking to be in her late twenties, she wore combat fatigues and a
contemptuous smile. Her black hair was cropped ruthlessly short.
    I scowled and used the opportunity to step
away from the wandering hand. “I’m not. I’m fine.”
    “Oh really? I guess you must be as you’re
not calling everything ‘lovely’ anymore.” Tara snickered.
    My face flushed with embarrassment. “Well
excuse me for