CHAPTER 1
Vicky made her way unerringly through the crowd filling the Boston Garden. The rank scent of stale beer and the sweeter aromas of whiskey and rum caused her nose to wrinkle as they mingled with human sweat and cologne. Being around so many people usually never bothered her, she’d always enjoyed the company of humans, but not tonight.
Tonight, she wanted them to get out of her way as she had one thing on her mind: murder.
The thumping music of the ongoing concert vibrated the floor as she passed the drink stands to one of the stairwells leading into the arena. Walking through the tunnel, she emerged at the top of a set of stairs dividing two sections of the massive crowd. The arena lights were off, but flashing strobes and the glow of cell phones lit the dark as the concertgoers sang along with the band.
The fast pace of the rock music hummed through Vicky’s veins, and for a minute she longed for the time when she was one of the revelers chugging drinks, singing at the top of her lungs, and texting her sister, Abby, to let her know she was missing one hell of a show.
Then, the minute passed, and she was left with the reality of her life. The fun went out of it the second she’d been taken and imprisoned by other vampires. Absently, she rubbed the scar on her inner right wrist as she surveyed the crowd for the man she hunted.
Her life had a single mission now: learn how to fight well enough and remain stable enough to hunt and kill her ex-boyfriend, Duke.
Her fangs tingled as waves of anticipation pulsed through her. She’d smelled Duke; she was so close to him.
It had been months since she’d been chained like an animal in a warehouse and fed on by vampires who were willing to pay to feast on a purebred. Months since she’d been abused, cold, battered, and certain she would die.
A chill racked her as she recalled the coldness of the warehouse floor seeping into her bones and the weight of the chains keeping her hostage. The whimpers and sobs of the other purebreds imprisoned with her echoed in her mind. She could easily recall the scents of sex, drugs, blood, and rot tickling her nostrils.
The aroma of decay had come from the Savage vampires imprisoning her, and there were times when she believed the scent of that place had permeated her skin and become a part of her being.
No matter how much time passed, she recalled the agony of having her blood drained from her against her will by those vampires.
The elapsing months of her freedom hadn’t eased her rage at Duke, the man who sold her into captivity; it had honed it. She’d been sure she would die in that warehouse before being tossed aside with the respect given a rat. But she’d survived; Duke would not.
The banners hanging from the rafters of the arena drew her attention. She frowned as she studied them before realizing they were for the Celtics and Bruins, two sports teams she knew little about. Among the catwalks running through the beams, people operated the cameras and lights.
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd when the music ended. Then, the band said thank you and left the stage. The concertgoers all began stomping their feet and shaking the floor as they shouted for an encore.
Sniffing the air, Vicky realized the scent that drew her here was fading. She’d caught the faint whiff of Duke’s cologne outside the Garden, and though many men wore the fragrance, the scent of it was different on him as it reacted to his body chemistry. On the hunt, she’d found a guard and compelled him into letting her enter so she could track Duke through the building.
Vicky slipped back into the tunnel and returned to the public area of the Garden as the music started again. Despite the return of the band, people looking to beat the exodus of concertgoers poured out of the arena to flow into the hallway around her.
Standing on her tiptoes, Vicky strained to see over the sea of heads, and then she spotted a familiar face with brown hair. Vicky’s fangs slid free before she could stop them. It was the first time she’d seen Duke since her captivity, and she barely kept herself from closing the fifty feet separating them to take Duke down.
Images of sinking her fangs into his throat and ripping the traitorous heart from his chest assaulted her until she could barely tell reality from the bloodlust coursing through her.
No! Stay in control! Taking a shuddery breath, she dug her nails into her palms to keep herself focused on the now. If she attacked him, she’d kill him in front of everyone.
There would be no concealing a vampire attack in front of so many and no guarantee the crowd wouldn’t take her down after. Since being freed from the warehouse, vengeance against Duke was the only thing driving her, but she’d never do anything to harm her family. Her antics over the years concerned them, but she’d never knowingly done anything to put them in jeopardy.
If she killed Duke now, she risked the lives of her nine siblings, their mates, their children, her parents, and her adopted uncles, the Stooges. Her family was large and loving, and even if she hadn’t been able to return home to face them since her imprisonment, they were also her lifeline.
But if she attacked, she risked people learning about the existence of vampires, and the consequences of that could be disastrous. Vampires were stronger and immortal, but humans vastly outnumbered them and had far more weapons. If humanity decided vampires were a threat, they would be hunted and destroyed. With the number of cameras and cell phones in this place, there was no way her attack on Duke wouldn’t be recorded.
Gritting her teeth, Vicky kept herself restrained from tearing out Duke’s throat as she bobbed and weaved through the crowd and into a stairwell. Packed in like a sardine with the rest of the mob, she found herself locked in with a group of girls about her age.
Feet thudded on the concrete stairwell, and sneakers squeaked as laughter and excited chatter filled the air. Humans swarmed her, their heartbeats pulsing in her ears, but she remained fixated on her target.
So preoccupied with Duke, Vicky didn’t realize he had his arm draped around a brunette woman until the woman leaned against his side. The woman searched the crowd as if she were on the hunt.
I’ll give you something to hunt.
Vicky almost laughed, but nothing was amusing about this. Through the various scents filling the air, Vicky detected the stench of rot drifting from Duke and the woman. They were both Savages, and that meant they were willing to kill anyone who got in their way.
While she’d been with Duke, he’d been reckless, but he hadn’t been a killer. Apparently, that changed in the seven months since Duke sold her and made her the equivalent of a living blood bag for vampires.
Despite their Savage status, Vicky could handle these two. Duke was now a killer of innocents, so he’d grown stronger in seven months, but she’d been training with Ronan and his men, and she was a pureblooded vampire. Duke wasn’t. She would destroy him tonight.
She reminded herself to ask how much money he’d received for her as her hand slid into her coat pocket, and she rested her fingers against the stake there.
Turning a curve in the stairwell, she trailed the couple as they flung open the metal door at the bottom and exited the building. They briefly vanished, but Vicky spotted them again when she stepped into the brisk, late April air. Her breath plumed before her as she shoved her hands into her pockets and followed at a discreet distance from them.
More exit doors opened from different areas of the building, and people spilled out of the Garden. The crowd blended and swirled together, but she never lost sight of Duke as he and his friend turned onto the main street.