Her teeth snapped together as she fought the blood hunger. He was a persistent one, she'd give him that. And now he was starting to make her curious.
A man willing to exchange his blood. For what? "What is it that you need from me?" She was really almost afraid to find out. Don't get involved.
She had enough problems to deal with and-
"My niece. Vampires took her." His fingers dug into her arm. "I've got to get her back."
Hell. "How long has she been gone?" Another question she shouldn't have asked. Because the more she learned, the harder it would be to turn away.
I'm not a helper. She'd told him the truth when she said those words earlier. Maya had tried that whole helping bit while she was still human. It had gotten her killed in an alley days after her thirty-
first birthday.
"They took her two weeks ago."
Two weeks. She shook her head, and told him the truth, "She's dead."
A muscle flexed along his jaw. "You don't kill your prey."
How did he know that? But she didn't deny it, there'd be no point in lying. "Yeah, well, I'm not your average vampire, either." Most of her kind were sadistic bastards and bitches who liked to play with their food, then kill it, painfully. "If they've had her that long, she's dead. Mourn her, then move on."
The bloodlust in her had cooled at his words. With one last look at him, she spun around and began walking down the street.
She'd taken five steps when his voice stopped her cold.
"She's a child, Maya. Only nine years old."
Hell.
Her eyes squeezed shut. Vampires with a kid. Sick f**ks.
"I have to find her. I will find her. With or without your help."
Doubtful.
A kid. Why'd it have to be a kid? "A Born Master sent his pack after her. Bastard named Nassor."
Her body tensed. Nassor.
"You've helped others. I know you have. You've hunted down demons, shifters."
Yes, she'd gone on the hunt. For a price.
But a kid. With Nassor. He'd rip her apart.
Damn. Her shoulders fell. There wasn't much of a choice for her anymore.
Maya started walking again. Her Harley Sportster motorcycle waited for her just a few feet away.
"So that's it?" He shouted. "You're just going to leave? Going to turn your back on me and-"
She reached the bike. Climbed on. Revved the engine and felt her baby purr beneath her. Her fingers tightened around the handlebars as she glanced over her shoulder and drawled, "You comin' or are you gonna scream all night?" The guy must have some strong lungs on him.
He shook his head and then a full smile split his lips. "You'll help me?"
"Maybe." Because she was the world's biggest idiot. Her gaze held his. "But there's gonna be a price." Nothing came free. Especially not a life.
His smile faded. "Isn't there always?"
Ah, but he'd never had to pay a vampire. She'd bet her undead life on that fact. If Adam Brody wanted her to track a pack of vamps and try to rescue a kid, well, he was going to have to pay a heavy price, indeed.
He'd have to pay it in blood.
The motorcycle's engine growled. "Get on," she ordered. "There's a helmet on the back."
In seconds, he was behind her, climbing onto the bike and sliding those long, strong legs behind hers.
"Hold on."
His hands wrapped around her waist. His chest pressed flush against her back.
Damn, but the guy was warm.
And he felt good.
The cycle shot away from the street corner, flying straight into the night.
Adam's hold tightened. "Where are we going?"
"I've got a stop to make." Until they worked out their exchange, she wasn't letting him out of her sight.
"We need to find Cammie, we have to-"
"Slick, there's no damn way we're finding her tonight." They had barely an hour before dawn.
She raised her voice over the cycle's snarl. "But there is somebody I've got to see."
She felt the sudden tautness of his body. So he wasn't happy with her plans. Tough.
A man had nearly died for her; the least she owed him was a visit.
After she settled that debt, then she'd begin her bargain with Adam Brody.
She wondered how he'd taste.
CHAPTER 2
The nurses and doctors on duty swarmed Maya the minute she shoved open the emergency room doors at Memorial Grove Hospital, and she realized too late that she probably looked like death.
The demon's blood still covered her. It had dried, dark red, on her arms and she could feel a faint stiffness from the blood on her neck. The blood from her own wounds had soaked her shirt and coated her jeans. But at least the gashes weren't hurting so much anymore.
Yeah, it was understandable that the folks thought they had a severe trauma patient on their hands.
If only they'd been there five years ago…
"I'm all right, I'm all right! " She snapped when they tried to force her onto a stretcher. "The blood's not mine." Well, not all of it, anyway.
But her comment made the hospital staff freeze. Then they began looking at each other, faces tense, fear flickering in their eyes.
"And where is the victim?" This came from one of the doctors. A young guy, with intense gray eyes and a stethoscope dangling around his neck.
Knowing the vampires, the "victim" was probably in lots of tiny pieces someplace. Not that she'd tell the pale doctor that.
She shrugged. "An ambulance picked him up." Her eyes widened as she glanced at Adam. He'd followed her inside. Now, she deliberately pitched her voice low and threaded a note of worry in her words as she said, "Honey, I guess we beat them here."
His lips pursed. "I'm sure the ambulance will be along any minute, darling."
Just then, an ambulance lurched to a stop behind the glass entrance doors, sirens blaring, lights flashing. The nurses and doctors seemed to fly to the door.
Maya grabbed Adam's hand and ran down the corridor with him. They took the stairs to the third floor, and by the time they exited the stairwell, Maya's steps had begun to slow.
Damn but she was getting weak. She'd have to get some blood, and fast. She'd fed days before, and normally wouldn't have to drink again for about a month. But a wound, well, that always changed things. The longer she bled, the weaker she became.
Her gaze darted to Adam's throat and she licked her lips. Fresh blood would make her heal faster, but the way she was feeling, well, the hunger was just too strong.
She couldn't risk losing control and taking too much.
She'd have to find another source. Lucky for her, she was in a hospital. Sources all around.