Bite Me If You Can - Argeneau Series - Book 6 Page 0,3

into his lap so that she leaned back against his right arm as the van’s engine roared to life.

Woo-hoo, she thought dryly. She’d impressed a blood-sucking vampire.

Morgan seemed amused by her thoughts. At least, a smile curved his lips, but his voice was deadly serious as he announced, “And you shall be a blood-sucking vampire, too. Will you like me better then, I wonder? Once I am your sire?”

Leigh was trying to decide if he meant from the bite he’d given her or if he’d have to bite her two more times, like in the books and movies, when he abruptly raised his left wrist to his mouth and sliced open a vein with one of his fangs.

Oh, that is so totally gross, she thought.

“Yes,” Morgan agreed as if she’d spoken aloud. “And it hurts like a bugger, believe me. However, it is necessary, I’m afraid.”

Leigh was still trying to sort out why it would be necessary when her mouth suddenly opened of its own accord and he pressed his bleeding wrist to her lips. The tinny liquid poured over her teeth and across her tongue. She was forced to swallow or choke on it. She swallowed.

Dry grass and dead branches crunched under Lucian Argeneau’s boots as he approached the van parked in the trees at the edge of the property. Two men stood by the open back doors, choosing and checking weapons in the gray predawn light. Like himself, they were dressed all in black and were over six feet tall. Both were also muscular and had short hair, but one was a brunette and the other a blond.

“Are we set?” he asked, running one hand through his own short ice-blond hair.

“Set,” Bricker—the brunet—said calmly as he leaned into the van to grab two cans of gasoline. “How do you want to do this?”

Lucian shrugged, unable to find any real enthusiasm for the task ahead. He’d done this so many times over the years that there was little challenge to it anymore. He found it more interesting to track down the nests than to clear them out, but even that was less challenging than it used to be.

It didn’t help that this was Morgan they were going after. He had been a best friend to Lucian’s twin brother, Jean Claude, right up until the other man’s death a few years earlier. The two men had been thick as thieves for centuries, and because of that, Lucian had counted the man as a friend as well. So much so that when the first whispers and rumors that Morgan had turned rogue started, Lucian ignored them, sure they couldn’t be true. The rumors had persisted, however, and he’d had to look into the matter, though not enthusiastically. Now, here he stood, the rumors confirmed and Morgan marked for death.

“Here comes the sun,” Mortimer murmured, and then repeated Bricker’s question, “How do you want to do this?”

Lucian blinked away his thoughts and took in the first rays of sunlight creeping up to drive away the night. This was the best time to hit. Everyone would be returned to the nest by now and settling in to sleep the day away.

Because—of course—vampires didn’t walk during the day, he thought dryly as his gaze slid over the surrounding trees, then finally to the decrepit house where Morgan had holed up with the pack of rogues he was creating. It looked bad in this light, but was worse—he knew—in daylight, when the sun baked down cruelly on the flaking paint, the boarded-over windows, and the weed-tangled lawn.

How the rogues chose to live never failed to amaze him. It was as if—once their mind snapped and they decided to become the scourge of the earth—they believed normal, civilized homes were beyond them. Or perhaps they were simply living down to what mortals thought they were, hoping to lure and hold their pack members in thrall that way. After all, if mortals knew how little magic immortals truly had, they might find it less attractive to be one, or at least to be their servants.

Shaking off these cynical thoughts, Lucian glanced toward the other two men and finally gave his answer. “The same as always.”

Nodding, Mortimer closed the van doors, took the larger gas can from Bricker, and the three of them moved to the edge of the woods. They paused, their gazes sliding over the windows once again. There was no sign of movement from the house, but half the windows were boarded up so that