One Bite With A Vampire (Hidden Species #2) - Louisa Masters Page 0,3

the vampires and demons probably were too. Which made the tests they were constantly doing even scarier.

And then came a day when one of the lab assistants and two guards came into our dorm and started injecting us with some shit. It wasn’t the first time—usually after the injection we’d have to do something physical, and then they’d take blood. But it was the first time my roommates dropped unconscious to the floor after they’d been injected. Major creep out, right? So when there was a distraction and nobody was looking at me, I just dropped and pretended to be unconscious too. Whatever was in that syringe, I did not want it—and I can’t emphasize enough how damn lucky I was that day, because I found out about twenty seconds later that my roommates weren’t unconscious, they were dead. The testing was done, and we weren’t needed anymore.

Ever been dragged through hallways to an incinerator? Also not on my must-repeat list.

My amazing luck kicked in again, because the guards decided to bring all the test subjects down before loading us in, and as soon as they left, I was out of there. I never considered myself a lucky person before then, but I can’t argue with the fact that something was on my side that day.

And for almost a year after. Because while I managed to escape being incinerated, I couldn’t find a way past the guards at the entrance to the complex. The place was huge, though, and as long as I slept in short snatches and kept moving around, nobody knew I was there. I had a few close calls, and every time I heard a guard or scientist muttering about the “human stink trapped in the HVAC system,” or one of the kitchen staff complaining that supplies were short, I’d break out in a sweat, but they were so damn arrogant that it never occurred to them that one of their test subjects might have survived.

The elevator doors open, and I stride out, leaving Andrew behind. He knows where he’s going, and I don’t need to hang around so he can finish talking about the time he made cookies and “accidentally” used salt instead of sugar, then brought them to work and gave them to the hellhounds in one of the investigative teams. Although after having to deal with those hellhounds, I would have paid money to actually see it.

I head down the hallway, peering into each meeting room as I pass until I find the one I need. I knock on the open door.

“Hi. Uh, you wanted to see me?”

Percy smiles at me from across the table. “Yes. Thanks for coming, Noah.”

I enter the room and make for an empty seat at the table—coincidentally, beside Sam, who’s taken me under his wing whether I want to be there or not. And I can’t tell him to back off, because his boyfriend is fucking terrifying, even for a demon. The only time Gideon smiles is at Sam—the rest of the time, his face makes my balls shrivel back into my body. So yeah, not going to hurt his boyfriend’s feelings and risk his wrath.

David, one of the other members of the senior team, looks toward the door. “Where’s Andrew?”

“Talking about cookies.” I can’t quite keep the disdain from my voice, and I bite my lip. These people all like Andrew.

Alistair growls. “He better not be telling the story about the time he tried to poison us! That low-down son of a bitch.”

Well, Alistair might not like Andrew. Come to think of it, they do bicker a lot.

Suddenly I like Alistair a whole lot more.

“I’ll go get him,” David mutters, but he’s grinning as he leaves the room.

Sam leans in. “Everything okay? You seem tense.”

That makes me tense up even more. There’s no real privacy amongst the community—half the time they can smell what you’ve been doing or your feelings. Or sense them in some weird way. I didn’t even know that tension had a smell until I met these people.

I force a smile, because even if Sam is overbearing sometimes, he’s the reason I’m here and not still trapped in the lab complex—plus, his heart’s in the right place.

And Gideon is sitting on his other side, listening.

“I’m good,” I murmur. “Just, ah, some office politics downstairs.”

He frowns, but I’m saved from having to say anything else when David comes back, followed by Andrew. They close the door and take their seats, and suddenly all eyes are on