Taste of Torment by Suzanne Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

fight! Sam was right; tiny Ava could take care of herself. Apparently that didn’t matter to Salem, because the big guy suddenly turned, looped an arm around her, pulled her back against his chest, and sent a lethal psychic punch hurling at her attacker.
    Sam, Evan, and I leaped into action immediately. Sam took Stuart’s attacker out of the equation with an energy ball before joining Evan and me at the front of the group. Sam’s hands were suddenly like flamethrowers as she set the vampires alight, wincing at their high-pitched screams. My bolts of electricity took care of some of the other vampires that followed while the squad dealt with the rest. Still, there were just too many of the fuckers.
    When Harvey telekinetically sent them flying down the tunnels, giving us plenty of space, I hollered, “Everyone hold hands!”
    Just then, Sam’s wall crumbled behind us. Starving vampires were then charging at us from two directions. Thank fucking God that everyone had immediately done as I’d ordered, because I then managed to teleport us all outside of the caves before the vampires could reach us. Reuben and Damien instantly crowded around Evan, Stuart, Max, and Cristiano, who were all bleeding pretty badly. Fuck .
    “We need to make sure they’re all destroyed.” I lifted my hand, and projected an extremely powerful lightning bolt at the entrance. Everything shook and rumbled as the tunnels caved in, crushing and burying alive anything that managed to withstand the impact of the lightning bolt. Breathing a sigh of relief, I grabbed Sam and ran my gaze and hands all over her, taking a full inventory.
    “I’m okay.”
    Her reassurance didn’t matter, and nor did the fact that I could sense through our bond that she wasn’t in pain. I had to see for myself that she was fine. Apparently I was annoying her because she cuffed me over the head, her mercury irises glinting.
    “I said I’m okay. But some of these people aren’t, so let’s get them back to The Hollow now.”

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    (Sam)
     
    Finding Antonio and Luther on a bench in the botanical gardens, Jared and I relayed to them everything that had happened on Quentin’s territory. Their expressions turned grimmer and grimmer as the story went on. The guards were casting each other uneasy glances, and even the dogs looked anxious as if the negativity in the air was affecting them.
    “I’m thinking someone trapped all the vampires in the tunnels, and left them there to starve to death,” said Jared. “But why? And who would do that? It can’t have been an attempt at usurping Quentin or we all would have heard about his replacement by now. The guy would be bragging and claiming his position as the new High Master of Quentin’s territory.”
    Jared made a good point, but there was something else that was bugging me. I cocked my head. “This is what I don’t understand. Why, if the vampires were so hungry, hadn’t they all turned on each other? If they were thirsty enough to attack all of us like that, so senselessly, why hadn’t they fed from each other?”
    Antonio leaned forward in his seat; there was a sense of urgency in his manner that hadn’t been there before, and apprehension slid through me. “I need to ask you something. And this is very important. In the tunnels, was there an awful smell?”
    “Yeah.” Jared’s elbow brushed against mine as he folded his arms across his chest. “Like rotten fish.”
    Both Jared and I tensed when Antonio and Luther exchanged a frantic look. They actually paled, which was hard for two extremely pale-skinned vampires to do.
    “What, what does that mean?” demanded Jared.
    “It means that this was not a case of them starving due to having been trapped there,” said Antonio, worry etched into every line of his face. “And it perfectly answers Sam’s question.”
    Jared sighed with impatience. “Antonio, you’re losing me here.”
    “Have you ever heard of ‘The Reaper’s Call’? It is