Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2) by HK Savage Read Free Book Online Page A

He didn’t know any other humans who had consumed enough blood to feed three starving vampires as she had. But from what he knew of the transference of power through blood, she should be virtually inexhaustible. Still, all signs pointed to a body in decline. Michael frowned.
     
    “So, what is this thing?” Becca sat down on the edge of the bed, not bothering to take off her coat. “Are we going out to hunt for it?”
     
    Michael did some fast figuring. The wolves were already searching the area. Becca wasn’t up for an all nighter. “No, I think we should leave Ryan and Gab to track it. If we go running around out there we might confuse the trail.”
     
    “How could they confuse us with whatever this thing is?” Becca squinted up at him.
     
    “Because it’s a vampire.” He leaned against the wall and regarded her steadily, hands securely jammed in his pockets. “Like me, and you smell like me right now.”
     
    Becca grimaced, not commenting on the fact that she smelled like a vampire because the blood of one was a part of her. “Who eats hearts and doesn’t drink blood?” She grunted. “I read the reports. None of the police reports say anything about puncture wounds or blood loss.” She tipped her head to the side. “Well, other than what they lost when their chest cavities were ripped open.” Her lip curled.

    He bobbed his head slowly. “This is a different sort of vampire. It’s an ancient subspecies.”
     
    “There are different kinds of vampires?” Becca’s eyes fixed on him. “Did you evolve or something?”
     
    “More like de volve in this case.” Michael bounced himself off of the wall using only his shoulder blades. “If I’m right, this is a windigo. It bears almost no resemblance to what you think of as vampire.” He watched the wheels in her head working on this new information.
     
    “I guess that depends.” She met his gaze evenly. “I’ve met a few of you now and already I can see differences.”
     
    His brows rose and she went on.
     
    “Look at the admiral. He’s crazy tall and I’ve never seen his skin color change like yours does when you feed.” She shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t have to eat as much as you because of how old he is.” Her observations received a minor chin dip of approval from him. “And he’s got those eyes.”
     
    Michael could see the discomfort she tried to hide and gave her a half smile. He understood. Black’s most frightening feature was his flat, expressionless gaze. They bored into one’s soul, while at the same time making one wonder if he was paying attention at all. That and the fact that he never blinked were unnerving to say the least.
     
    “And then Vanessa, she was more like you but,” she paused, considering, “but a little like the admiral too.”
     
    Once again, Becca’s ability to wrap her head around the nuances of this world’s bizarreness without judgment fascinated him. Her place in his heart was cemented. It would hurt him deeply to lose her. “You’re right, she was much older than me. Not as old as Black.”
     
    “So this thing is different than that? It’s not an age thing?”
     
    He ran a knuckles across his jaw, a habit he’d never lost from when he was human even if his stubble was frozen under his skin. “A windigo is barely classified as a vampire. I’ve heard others call them zombies, sometimes demons. The body is skeletal, the fangs longer and the thirst for blood has been twisted.” In his mind’s eye he pictured the one such creature he’d faced decades before in Germany’s Black Forest. Describing only a few details, he left out the most disturbing. “It doesn’t go for blood in the conventional sense, it gravitates to the organs. This one seems to have zeroed in on the heart.”
     
    “So how do we kill it? Does it have the same weaknesses?”
     
    “Yes, it’s more sensitive to light though. Like a freshly turned vampire.” His mind was working through the possibilities as