Passion Bites: Biting Love, Book 9 by Mary Hughes Read Free Book Online

through the door.
    Luke slashed a glance back into the foyer, hoping for reinforcements or that at least the humans had gotten away safely.
    Instead, two humans hunkered on the foyer floor, tending the third, who’d collapsed.
    Memory swamped Luke, humans cowering in a corner, easy prey for the bloody vampire…
    “Damn.” Acid hit Luke’s stomach. Where were the other males? Julian and Thor, hell, even Logan was older than him. They should have misted in by now.
    He’d decided to risk closing his eyes to access his vampire blood-sense for his brother when a rogue darted past him, reaching for the woman.
    Luke snared the rogue’s shirt with one hand, with the other drawing one of his silver-lined switchblades from its hidden inner pants sheath, knife handle at beltline for easy access. A flick and chop and the rogue was more worried about his spurting neck than the woman. A second and third chop severed skin and meat. The knife wasn’t as efficient as a sword or axe but a fourth chop broke vertebrae and a fifth finally took the vampire’s head off.
    While he was hacking like a bad horror film, a half-dozen more rogues streamed in. Worse, Baldy and company were finally rousing. Chopping heads and hearts would keep them from rejoining the fight, but that would take time Luke didn’t have.
    So knock ’em all down fast and do a more thorough accounting later.
    He winged back both arms and lunged, stabbing and punching into the surging pack.
    But even as Luke took out two more rogues, another half-dozen burrowed through, and Baldy, already inside the foyer, staggered to his feet.
    In moments the foyer would be overrun—and the humans in the corner would be sitting ducks.
    Luke’s blood iced. Just like Adelaide…
    He fell back to guard the humans. “Get that man out of here.” The humans didn’t respond fast enough so he punched his voice with compulsion. “ Get to safety! ”
    They helped the man to stand and started hobbling away. Luke knew he wouldn’t last long, but if he could keep the vampires from the humans until they could escape…
    The thud of running feet came from behind.
    Luke’s muscles tensed like a cranked violin string. Who the hell was that? Owun, armed and running to the rescue?
    Or more rogues, breaking in through the back door?

Chapter Four
    Memory knifed Luke—his first household, with Logan. Their humans huddled, helpless, a horrific vampire plucking his victim from them like ripe fruit. Luke’s wife. Her blonde head limp, her thin body lying helpless in the vampire’s grip. Bloody mouth opening, fangs descending…
    Never again. Luke would die first.
    With the mass of rogues surrounding him, he probably would.
    So be it. A fight to the final death.
    Determined to take as many rogues with him into the afterlife as he could, Luke jabbed his fangs into the plump of his lip, releasing a burst of salty blood into his mouth. Rage rose hot in his veins and coiled fury into his muscles, ready to erupt into deadly violence. He shouted the warrior’s cry. “Protect!”
    “Protect!” A baritone cry joined his.
    Julian Emerson burst around the corner carrying his mate, running rather than misting to stay with her.
    Luke drew a lungful of relief. He might die, but not tonight, not with the millennium-old male at his side.
    The master vampire settled his wife on her feet. She grabbed his belt as he swung open a silver-edged switchblade and waded into the foyer slashing necks, decapitating vampires with three fierce strokes, a vicious waltz of one-two-three, hack-hack-hack, heads dropping like autumn apples. His punk mate, tethered by the hand on his belt, trotted in his wake, kicking aside heads as fast as he separated them from bodies.
    Seemingly gruesome, but that was a smart move. Heads that fell near their bodies would quickly rejoin, and the vamps continue to fight. This way the rogues would be out of the action longer.
    Thor misted in at that moment. “Logan’s with the humans in one of