She slammed the visual walls down in her mind, knowing he would lose his crap, which meant he’d attempt to destroy the room he was in, which only resulted in himself getting hurt.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” the woman said. “My name is Alice.”

  Lizzy rolled back onto her backside. She took in the woman, who was dressed in black slacks, a blue silk shirt, and a white lab coat. Lizzy narrowed her eyes, hopefully to see past the lie the woman spewed. “Alice, huh? Does that make Cain the mad hatter and that other goofy scientist the Cheshire cat?”

  Alice’s lips twitched. “I’m sure it must feel as if you’ve fallen down a rabbit hole.”

  Lizzy shook her head. “No. I’ve tripped on acid before.” She held up her hand. “Mind you, not by choice. So I know what it feels like to fall down a rabbit hole. This is a whole new level of wonderland. Like instead of the queen of hearts being all ‘off with their heads,’ she’s like ‘chomp, chomp on their necks.’”

  Alice smirked and slipped her hands into her lab coat pockets. “It’s not quite that dramatic.”

  Lizzy’s brow rose. “Really? So Cain doesn’t want to stick a straw in me and slurp on me like I’m the best frozen smoothie he’s ever tasted?”

  Something flashed in the woman’s eyes. Did Lizzy see guilt there?

  Alice shook her head. “No, Cain doesn’t want to drink you like a smoothie. He wants to put vampire blood into your system, along with my blood.”

  “One of the first things you learn on the streets, Alice, is that you don’t exchange bodily fluids unless you want to end up with a killer STD. I don’t think vampire blood is an exception. Hard pass.”

  Alice coughed, seemingly unsure as to what to do with the prisoner’s frankness. Lizzy shrugged. Why should she be polite to her captors?

  After a few moments, the woman said. “I genuinely don’t want this to be difficult, Lizzy. The process will not hurt. And believe it or not, the transfusion will be very beneficial to you. Consider it a step up in the evolution cycle, but on a much quicker schedule.”

  Lizzy shifted into a cross-legged position. “Well, I’m not entirely sure I believe in evolution, Little Alice. In fact, I don’t know what I believe, exactly. But I’ve been finding out some really interesting things lately. Things sound a whole lot more like the truth than the BS Cain has been trying to sell me. So, no, I think I’m perfectly fine with the blood God gave me. Thank you very much. Find some other sucker to inject your blood into. Ha, see what I did there? Sucker? That pun was not intended.”

  The woman grunted. “So you want to go back to the streets?” Alice’s voice was incredulous. “You want to go back to trying to hide from pimps, drug dealers, and the other street people who were constantly trying to steal your cardboard sleeping box?”

  Lizzy rolled her eyes. “I didn’t sleep in a box. I’m not a freaking animal. It was a large Rubbermaid bin I found in a dumpster. That’s like comparing a trailer to a mansion. Believe it or not, sometimes, I had furniture. That’s more than I can say for this place.”

  The scientist didn’t look impressed. “Seriously, Lizzy. Think about this carefully before you make up your mind. You’re being given the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life—”

  “Oh,” Lizzy interrupted, “so I get many more years to live on the street and fight off the other street people for my Rubbermaid bin. Jackpot!” She lifted her hands in mock excitement. “How could I turn down such an offer?”

  “I assure you,” Alice said, “you will no longer have to live on the street. I know Cain has already explained that to you. You will be set for life.”

  “But there’s a catch,” she said, dropping her hands to the floor and tilting her head back with a dramatic sigh. “There’s always a catch. I’m going to be in debt to Cain in some way, shape, or form. You might as well give it to me straight, Alice, or you better believe I’m going to be more than a little difficult to deal with. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not quite as easily subdued as I was before.”

  “Hmm.” Alice nodded. “Yes, the mate bond. Cain told me about that. It’s fascinating.”

  “No.” Lizzy shook her head. “You’re not studying me and Finn like we’re a couple of mated rats. You can just forget that right now.”

  “I’m a scientist. You can’t blame me for being curious.”

  Lizzy laughed. “Chick, I can blame you for all sorts of things because you’re a scientist. And at the top of that list? I blame you mostly for working with vampires. I mean, seriously, in what movie, book, or TV show have they ever been the good guys?”

  Alice opened her mouth, but Lizzy held up a finger. “I know they’re portrayed as sexy, elegant, rich yumminess. But even those kinds killed people.”

  “Angel in that Buffy show. He only tried to kill bad people,” Alice pointed out.

  “Lame,” Lizzy said boredly. “And how often did the ‘tortured hero, anti-hero’ thing work out? He succumbed to his true nature more than once. Next?”

  “Stef—”

  “Became the Ripper more than once in his long life,” she said dryly. “I can at least respect Damon because he didn’t pretend to be good. He admitted he was a crap kind of creature who liked to suck the life out of people. He didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. Any more?”

  Alice sighed. “Okay, so they don’t have the best track record.”

  “And yet, you want me to willingly become one of these things?”

  “Those are just stories,” Alice said. “This is real life. And when it comes right down to it, what other option do you have?”

  “Uh, go back to the streets and get myself murdered at a young age, just like the rest of the young, female homeless population. It’s the natural order of things. Circle of life, blah blah, blah. That makes for a much shorter term of torture. Not to mention, I won’t be sucking the life force out of innocent people. I like my meat to be a little less bloody. Oh, and a little less human.” Lizzy folded her arms across her chest and waited to see what the chick would do. Finally, Alice sighed and stepped aside.

  “The hard way it is.” Lizzy thought the woman sounded genuinely upset, which was odd since Alice clearly had no problems working with the freaking vampire king who was willing to hurt innocent people.

  Four men walked in, two large and two average. Lizzy jumped to her feet and made sure again that the walls in her mind were locked down. Finn would lose his ever loving wolfy brain if he saw men attacking her. She crouched and gritted her teeth, determined not to be taken without one hell of a fight. If nothing else, she would take a chunk out of one of them before they got her.

  Unfortunately, Lizzy’s glorious last stand was nothing more than a fantasy. The men moved so quickly she barely saw them coming. In the blink of an eye, she was laying face down with a knee in her back. She heard a zipping sound and felt her wrists lock together. Dammit! Lizzy resolved that if she ever made it out of this place, she was going to take some sort of defense training. Fighting off pimps and drug dealers had made her tough, or so she thought. Now she realized how wrong she’d been. These guys were legitimate badasses, the kind you saw loudmouths in movies smart off to just before the punks realized what a terrible mistake they had just made. Lizzy hated she was so helpless against them.

  Two of the men yanked her to her feet and began pulling her out the door. She dragged her feet, determined to make them bear her full body weight, which was apparently like carrying a doll to them. Neither of her escorts so much as breathed hard. Their grips around her arms were like manacles, only more painful.

  She tried to pay attention to her surroundings. For what purpose? Lizzy wasn’t sure. Perhaps she thought if she could memorize the layout of the place, she might find a way to escape it one day. But eventually, the turns became too many to keep straight. The place was a freaking labyrinth. She’d never figure out how to find an exit, even if she somehow managed to break out of her room. Lizzy was starting to resign herself to the fact that she was going to be transformed into some sort of wolf-vamp hybrid—a monster. What would it feel like? Would she keep her faculties? Or would she simply become a killing machine?

  And what if something went wrong? Lizzy was far from convinced these fools even knew what they were doing. What if the transformation killed her?

  She gulped. “You’re a good scientist, right?” Lizzy asked Alice as the men carried her along, her toes occasionally bumping the tile floor. “I mean, you didn’t graduate at the bottom of your class and skate by simply because your professors wanted to get you out of their program?”

  Alice laughed. “I’m one of the top geneticists in the country, if not the world. You’re in good hands.”

  “Hmm, and humble too.”

  “You asked.” Alice shrugged. “I’ve worked hard to make it where I am.”

  “You worked hard to get here?” Lizzy scoffed. “Is this what you dreamed about when you were a little girl? Growing up to become the woman who could turn humans into something… unnatural?”

  “To be fair.” Alice glanced over her shoulder at Lizzy. “You were already something unnatural, and I had nothing to do with that.” She sighed. “And no, I never imagined myself doing something like this.” Alice spoke so softly, Lizzy barely heard her next words. “I honestly don’t want to have anything to do with this shit.”

  “LIZZY!” Finn’s voice broke through her mind, causing her to wince.

  “You’ve got to tone that macho stuff down,” Lizzy told him and wished her hands weren’t tied behind her back so she could rub her temples.

  “Have they hurt you?”

  “Not really,” she said. “They’re just taking me to some lab to pump me full of vamp blood and this chick scientist’s blood. No biggie. I totally got this.”

  Click the link to your copy now!

  https://www.quinnloftisbooks.com/

  Acknowledgments

  As with every book I write, I have to give glory to God first and foremost. He has loved me with an everlasting love. He forgives me even though I am not worthy of that forgiveness. And he has blessed me beyond measure, not just with all that I have, but because of the gift he gave me when Christ died on the cross for my sin. He is the ultimate Creator, the author and perfecter of my faith.

  Thank you to my soul mate, and best friend. We’ve been on this journey for 22 years and you have supported me through all of my crazy endeavors. You never once said you didn’t think I could do it. You never once discouraged me. Thank you, Bo, for choosing this life with me.

  Thank you to my boys. They give me grace when I am snappy because of stress. They hug me when I need it. They tell me I’m a great mom even though I feel like I’m screwing it up all of the time. I love you all so very much.

  Thank you to Jessica. I’ve said it many times over the past 7 years of our friendship, and I’ll say it again. You’re an invaluable part of my writing process. Thank you for being a sounding board. Thank you for taking your time to read through my books and help me see things that the readers will that I cannot. I am blessed to have you in my life.

  Thank you to Lindsey. God knew that we would one day be friends and he knew that we would be kindred spirits. You are such an encouragement to me and I know you don’t realize it. Thank you for all the funny texts that get me through tough days. And all the amazing food you feed me.

  Thank you to Amy. You’re an amazing beta reader, and I am so thankful that you care so much about these characters that you’re willing to read through each book multiple times to help me find errors, continuity issues, and character descriptions…that are in fact not anywhere to be found because I forget to describe characters all the time. Thank you for your patience with me.

  And thank you to the readers. Thank you to the wolf pack. Thank you to the ladies who constantly encourage me, pray for me and my family, send me cards, letters and gifts. It never ceases to amaze me that you all care so much about my books and about my family. You are the reason Bo and I are able to do what we do. There aren’t enough ‘thank you’s’ to say for all you guys have done for me.

  About the Author

  Quinn Loftis is a multi-award-winning author of over Forty novels, including the USA Today Bestseller, Fate and Fury. When she isn’t creating exciting worlds filled with romantic werewolves, she exercises, reads, and crafts like there’s no tomorrow. She is blessed to be married to her best friend for over twenty years and they have three sons, a crazy French bulldog, and a cat that wants to take over the world.

  Quinn’s Bookshelf

  The Grey Wolves Series

  The Gypsy Healer Series

  The Elfin Series

  The Dream Maker Series

  The Clan Hakon Series

  Nature Hunters Academy

  Sign up for Quinn’s newsletter here:

  https://www.quinnloftisbooks.com/newslettersignup

  You can also find Quinn writing contemporary romances as her alter ego, Alyson Drake.

  https://www.quinnloftisbooks.com/alysondrake

 

 

  Quinn Loftis, Reign of Blood

 

 

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