Night Prey (Blueblood Vampires #6)

Chapter 1

One

VAUGHN

SALEM - THE NIGHT I BECAME A VAMPIRE

My head is fuzzy as hell when I finally come to. It feels like I’m waking up from a bad trip. My mouth tastes funny too. When my vision clears, I realize it’s already dark outside. How is that possible? When the van broke down, it was midday.

“Vaughn, get the engine running. We need to go back to Bloodstone at once,” Aurora commands from the back seat. She sounds nervous, so I’d better do as she says.

“Why? Let’s just go home,” Rikkon argues.

I turn the key, but nothing happens. My stomach coils tightly. “Shit! I think the battery is kaput.”

“Can’t we call someone?” Vivi asks, and a moment later adds, “My phone is dead.”

“Mine too,” Cheryl says.

I pull my phone from my pocket and curse in my head. “And mine.”

This doesn’t bode well. I was born and raised in Salem, and dealing with the supernatural is part of life to me. But this is the first time I’ve been truly terrified. I can sense in my bones that something horrible is about to happen.

“Okay, guys, it’s clear we’re not getting any help. Let’s think fast,” Aurora pipes up.

“Why would anyone want to strand us here?” Rikkon asks.

“I’ve made some powerful enemies, Rik. Nasty Bluebloods, and they’re coming for me,” Vivi replies with a noticeable choke in her voice.

Bluebloods. Those are supposed to be the most powerful vampires that exist. I learned from a young age to give them a wide berth. No wonder Vivi is freaking out.

“Do you have any weapons in your purse that I can borrow?” Rikkon asks Aurora.

She hands him a small dagger. “Here. Do you know how to use this?”

“Stick them with the pointy end?” he jokes.

“Shh!” Cheryl chimes in. “Something is coming.”

Chills lick the back of my neck. She said something, not someone. I squint, trying to see what Cheryl saw, but the road is pitch-black. How can she see in the dark like that? Unless… no. It can’t be. Is Cheryl a supernatural creature too?

“Jacques?” Vivi asks.

“Or Boone. Either one, we’re in a bad spot,” Aurora replies. “I don’t have another blade for you, but here, take this.” She gives Vivi a glass vial. “It’s vampire’s bane. If a bloodsucker gets close enough to you, shove it down their throat.”

“I count at least five vampires approaching, but some might be staying out of my reach,” Cheryl says.

Shit, shit, shit. Vampires. And I don’t have anything on me to fight the bloodsuckers.

“We’re not far from Bloodstone,” Cheryl continues. “Aurora and I can hold them off while Vivi, Vaughn, and Rikkon make a break for the institute.”

“I’m not going to run away,” Rikkon protests. “I can help you hold them off while Vivi and Vaughn escape.”

Hell, I should offer to stay and fight, but what can I do against vampires? I’d ask Cheryl what exactly she is, but there’s no time.

She arches her eyebrows. “I think—”

“No!” Vivi cuts her off. “Rikkon has to come with me.”

“I agree with Vivi. You need to stay with your sister and protect her,” Aurora tells Rikkon.

“Okay. Better if I don’t have to babysit anyone,” Cheryl adds. “You need to go now before they surround us. Ready?”

Aurora turns to Vivi. “You can do this. Run as fast as you can and don’t look back.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Vivi’s voice trembles.

“Yes. I’m a witch, remember? I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Thanks for worrying about me too,” Cheryl complains.

“Shut up. I am worried.”

“Fuck! I have visual. Go! Go!” Cheryl gets out of the car, and a second later, I hear a distinct wolf’s snarl.

Holy fuck! Cheryl is a wolf shifter? Does that mean that Karl is a shifter too?

Come on, Vaughn. Now is not the time to be thinking about that. Get out of the car.

I meet Rikkon and Vivi outside, but like a fool, I glance at the forest hugging the road. Several pairs of glowing red eyes stand out in the gloom. I swallow the huge lump in my throat. Son of a bitch. There are so many of them.

“Come on!” Rikkon grabs Vivi’s hand and pulls her in the opposite direction.

I follow them, running as fast as I can.

But we’re not far enough from the van when the noise of battle starts.

My heart constricts painfully in my chest. I can’t believe we left Cheryl and Aurora alone to fight those vampires.

What kind of coward does that? Fuck. That’s not who I am.

I have to help them. I slow down, ready to turn around.

“We need to stay on the main road,” Rikkon warns me.

It’s the expression of utter fear I see on his face that guts me. We just rescued Rikkon from the dragon kingpin, and he looks worse for wear. He won’t be able to protect Vivi if push comes to shove. I can’t abandon them either. This is hell.

I’m still stuck in my head, drowning in guilt, when the sudden glare of headlights illuminates the road. The car is coming around the curve too fast.

“Vaughn! Watch out,” Vivi yells.

Tires screech, and the sound of burned rubber fills my nose. Then comes the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. The impact sends me flying, and when I land, blood fills my mouth. I bit my tongue. But that pain is nothing compared to the burning in my leg.

“Fuck!” Rikkon screams.

The driver gets out of the car. “I didn’t see him. He came out of nowhere.”

Vivi and Rikkon ignore the man and run to check on me. I try to get up, but there’s a huge gash on my leg, oozing blood. Man, that will lead the vampires straight to us.

“Come on. We have to go,” Rikkon urges.

“He needs medical attention,” the man says. “I’m not going to jail—”

A vampire leaps on him, biting his neck.

The attack is vicious, and in an instant, the vampire rips the guy’s throat open.

Horror grips my insides, paralyzing me. Unable to move, I’ll soon become bloodsucker chow.

Another vampire is running toward us with unnatural speed.

He has white-blond hair and seriously demented red eyes.

Rikkon jumps in front of Vivi, pushing her toward the forest. “Go, Vivi. Go!”

I manage to snap out of my paralysis and get back on my feet—well, one foot. I can’t put any weight on my wounded leg. But if I’m going to die tonight, it won’t be without a fight. “Get help,” I tell Vivi.

She has tears in her eyes when she turns around and disappears into the dark forest. I’ll probably never see her again. I have no hopes that I’ll survive the night.

Goodbye, Vivi.

Rikkon tries to stop the blond vampire from following her, but the bloodsucker sends him flying backward with a swipe of his arm. Rikkon hits a tree before collapsing to the ground in a heap. He’s knocked out cold. But the blond vampire doesn’t linger to finish Rikkon off. He runs after Vivi.

Fuck. I’m too slow to stop him.

The vampire who attacked the driver lifts his bloodied face from the dead man’s neck and stares at me. Hell. I’m next.

“Stay away from me, motherfucker!”

Desperately, I search for a rock I can use as a weapon. But there’s nothing near me besides dirt.

The vampire smiles, showing me his long-ass fangs right before he pounces on me.

I close my eyes, bracing for the vicious attack, but it never comes.

Instead, the vampire howls as if in pain.

My eyes fly open again and see that Rikkon has stabbed the bloodsucker in his back.

Unfortunately, all the small dagger did was annoy the vampire.

He goes after Rikkon with bared fangs and clawed hands.

I don’t think. I jump on his back, my arms snaking around his neck as I lock my forearm against his throat, squeezing with desperate strength while my legs wrap around his torso, clinging as he bucks and twists beneath me.

Adrenaline makes me forget my wound. It does not give me superstrength, though.

The vampire grabs my arms, digging his razor-sharp nails into my skin, cutting deep.

A ragged scream rips out of my throat right before he tosses me over his head. I hit the ground hard, and for a second, my vision becomes blurry. I don’t even see the vampire before he’s on top of me and tearing my body with his claws. Pure agony runs through me, and tears roll down my face.

“No!” Rikkon yells.

He must have done something to the vampire, because the slashing stops. Too late, though. I know my body is broken beyond repair. I can feel myself getting weaker with each breath I take.

This is how I’m going to die, then. I close my eyes and pray death comes fast.

The pain has stopped. It feels like I’m floating on air. Am I dead? Voices sound around me, but they’re muffled, as if I’m hearing them from underwater. I open my eyes, and at first, all I see is the starry sky. Then Vivi’s face appears above me like an angel.

“Vaughn, how are you holding up?” she asks.

“He’s not in pain anymore,” Aurora replies before I can. “At least that much I could do for him.”

I smile, relieved that she’s unharmed. “Vivi. You’re all right.”

“I’m fine, hon. And you will be too. The ambulance will be here any minute.”

Karl and Cheryl appear in my line of vision, and they both halt suddenly when they see me. Karl pushes his hair back, anguish twisting his features.

“Oh my God.” Cheryl covers her mouth with her hands and starts to cry. Vivi is crying too.

Boy, I must be in bad shape.

“Hey, why are you all crying? I’m gonna be fi—” I cough, tasting blood in my mouth.

“One of you bloodsuckers, do something!” Cheryl yells.

“What do you want us to do, Cheryl?” Ronan asks, frustration lacing his words.

“Turn him.”

Vivi looks at Lucca, and I’m not sure what he sees in her face, but he looks hella guilty now.

“You have to try!” Cheryl insists.

“You don’t even know if Vaughn wants to be turned,” Rikkon interjects, openly glowering at her.

“Am I dying?” I ask, even though I know I am.

“Yes,” Aurora replies. “I’m sorry.”

A deep sense of regret takes hold of me. Now that the moment is near, I’m afraid. I close my eyes for a second, letting out a shaky exhale. “I’m not ready to go. I can’t leave my mom and my sisters behind. They need me.”

“I’ll do it.” Lucca steps closer.

“Luc…,” Manu speaks up. “You know that’s not possible anymore.”

“If anyone here has a chance of succeeding, it’s me,” he retorts.

Aurora moves out of the way, and Lucca takes her place. My weak pulse accelerates. If whatever Lucca is planning to do doesn’t work, I’ll die faster. He bites his own wrist, slashing a vein open. Dark blood quickly pours out of the gash, dripping onto my shirt.

“You need to drink this.” He places his wrist over my lips. “Take as much as you can.”

I can barely drink anything at first, but as Lucca’s blood enters my system, I sense my strength return.

I clamp my teeth into his skin and swallow his blood in harder pulls to the point that Lucca twists his face into a grimace.

I must be hurting him, but I can’t stop.

My stomach tingles, then itches like crazy.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe this.” Manu’s jaw drops.

I feel strong… invincible. I’m also hungry like I’ve never been before. But it isn’t food I crave.

Lucca pulls away, pressing his arm against his chest. No one says a word, and all I can hear is the sound of my pulse pounding away in my ears.

Everyone is staring at me. I sit up slowly, checking my abs and arms in complete awe.

In the blink of an eye, all my muscles tense, and my gums ache.

The hunger I felt before multiplies tenfold, taking over my thoughts and my will.

I glance at Vivi, and all I see is the blood pumping in her veins. I need it like the air I breathe.

Lucca moves in a blur, pulling her away from me. I switch my attention to Aurora and prepare to pounce. But Ronan, Saxon, and Manu jump on me just before I can get near her.

“What’s going on?” I hear someone ask.

“Bloodlust. All new vampires suffer through it.”

I hiss and thrash on the ground, trying to break free. Why won’t they let me? Can’t they see I need to feed or I’ll die? This is a new agony, but it’s one that I can easily put a stop to if they let me.

Aurora jumps to her feet, clutching a stone in her hand now, and her eyes are doing a strange glowing thing.

“On the count of three, stay clear of Vaughn,” she warns.

“Are you crazy? We can’t let him go. He’ll attack you,” Saxon retorts.

“Let him go. I know what I’m doing. Ready? One, two, three. Now!”

At once, Saxon, Manu, and Ronan jump off me. Finally!

I don’t waste the opportunity. I jump to my feet, but Aurora hits me in the chest with a shining energy ball, and that’s the last thing I see.