Free A Taste for Blood by Erin Lark Page A

the other covens haven’t heard about it by then. Corvis turning Tyler and knowingly allowing him to feed within the three territories is inexcusable. He will be dealt with, if not for turning a new vampire when we had no need of one, then for allowing that vampire to feed on those outside the blood den.”
    “But you turned me when you didn’t need a new vampire.”
    I nodded. “And I only turned you now because Corvis forced my hand. I couldn’t allow him or anyone else to compel you. Zee has a good life and enjoys what she does, but that wasn’t a choice I wanted you to have to make. Was I wrong?”
    Kassy glanced over her shoulder in the direction of where we’d left Corvis. “I don’t think so. Getting bitten by one vampire is more than enough for me.” She averted her gaze before looking back at me. “So, if you aren’t going to report to the other coven leaders, what are you going to do?”
    I smiled as I thought back to Zee’s phone in my pocket. I now had no doubt she’d be expecting us. Now that we know for sure that Corvis lied about the whole damn thing .
    “Feel like giving Zee a visit? I mean, she did invite us, after all.” I held up the phone as proof. “Besides, we have room left on our tab for the evening.”
    “Will she still be in the den?”
    I guided her into the street and we slowly made our way back towards the hotel. “Nope, but that isn’t to say we can’t visit her.”
    “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
    “Absolutely.”
    She licked her lips, and at first I thought she was going to say no just to spite me. When she finally spoke, her voice was almost desperate. “When can we leave?”
    I selected Zee’s number on the cell and held it to my ear. “Right…now.”
     
     
     
     
     
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    Rippled
    Erin Lark
     
    Excerpt
     
    Chapter One
     
     
    The first time I saw Krista should’ve been my last. She didn’t belong in a cage like the rest of us. Like some kind of animal. She was too smart. Too beautiful. And when she finally shifted…the fur all along her body wasn’t right. It didn’t fit her. It didn’t suit her at all.
    I still remember when the bus rolled into our sad excuse of a community. I wanted to turn her around and send her home. I didn’t. Instead, I stood there, gawking at her—just like everyone else. At her smooth skin. Her perfect body with all its hills and valleys. And that hair! Dark brown with a touch of honey when she walked under the sunlight. So. Fucking. Beautiful.
    He’s not going to turn her, I thought. There was no way Malcom had brought her here to inject her with the virus. There had to be some other reason. Something he hadn’t explained. But those hopes were shot down when he asked me to join him in the lab where new bloods were injected and forced to shift for their very first time.
    As we stood behind a wall of glass, I watched a collection of nurses guide Krista into the chair. They strapped her in. Restrained her. Connected her to machines along with copious amounts of sedative. My eyes went wide as I looked from Krista’s questioning expression to Malcom, who stood beside me.
    “You can’t be serious,” I said, gesturing at the image in front of us. “You don’t honestly mean to turn her, do you?”
    It had to be a prank. He’d done them all the time when we had been in college. Hell, he’d only got me to take the virus because he’d drugged my drink one night. There was no way he’d turn something—someone—so stunning into one of us. Into someone like me.
    I licked my lips and watched his face for any outward signs of the impending prank. His stormy grey eyes were focused on a panel of data in front of us, his hands inside his pockets. He rolled his shoulders back. I bit at the inside of my cheek. If this was a prank, he was hiding it extremely well. He’s had practice, I assured myself. Don’t let him get to you. He’d never let me hear the