Page 27 of Vampires and Violas (A Vampire’s Guide to Gardening #2)

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One of the thugs grabs me from behind, and another goes after Noah. I try to remember what Noah taught me, but adrenaline makes me hazy, and mostly, I flail.

Noah grabs his assailant by the collar of his T-shirt and punches him hard enough the man’s head snaps back. Another thug comes at him as I’m being dragged away, and I scream, “Behind you!”

I jab my elbow into my attacker’s gut. He groans, doubling over, temporarily incapacitated. I jerk around, grab his shoulders for leverage, and kick him in the knee as hard as I can.

And he goes down.

“It worked!” I breathe, so startled I stand here gaping at him.

Which ends up being a mistake.

While I’m reveling in my victory, Sam grabs me. But he doesn’t pull me close so I can head-butt him again, nor does he expose his vulnerable knees. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, carrying me like a sack of potatoes.

I hit his back with my clenched fists and try to twist out of his grip, but Noah didn’t cover this one, and it’s obvious my escape attempts aren’t working this time.

“NOAH!” I yell as Sam takes me into the house, locking the door behind us.

“Stop,” he commands as he carries me up the stairs. “You’ll be glad you’re not out there in a minute. I’m not cruel enough to make you watch them kill your friend.”

The air seizes in my throat. My lungs lock up, and even when my body tries to release a horrified sob, nothing comes out.

Sam takes me into a bathroom and closes the door. Then he pulls me off his shoulder and sits me on the closed toilet seat.

The space is tiny. There’s no way I’ll get past him—which is probably why he chose it. That and there’s very little furniture in the house—only enough to look staged for home showings.

This must be one of Ethan’s properties. Sam doesn’t even live here.

“You okay?” His eyes travel over me, and he has the nerve to look worried. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“What is wrong with you people?” I manage, starting to shake. My vision blurs, and I close my eyes, trying to get a grip on myself.

“When’s the last time you had blood?” Sam asks.

I pry my eyes open and stare at him, refusing to answer. But just the word sends a longing deep in my stomach.

I try to block it out. I asked what was wrong with him, but what’s wrong with me? Noah is out there with seven hardened criminals who are intent on killing him, and I’m having a blood craving ?

Sam swears under his breath and then takes my chin, forcing my head to the side like he’s looking for my twin scars. “Your friend Montgomery—did you let him bite you?”

I jerk out of his grip. I’m dizzy like I was the other day, but I try to focus on him. “No.”

“You sure? Because this doesn’t look like a stage-one blood craving.”

“I already told you—you infected me again. I’m second-stage now,” my voice shakes as I begin to shiver. It’s like I’m violently cold, but I’m burning up.

This room is too hot, and there’s no air.

“Second-stage? Have they confirmed it with a blood test?” he asks, like he’s actually concerned.

“Not yet.”

Why I’m talking to him, I don’t know. Except maybe if I’m nice, they won’t kill Noah. And maybe if I calm down, the blood craving will go away.

I draw in a deep breath, trying. Trying.

“You’re going to hyperventilate.” Sam catches my shoulders. “Slow breath—that’s right. In…and out.”

I glare at him even as I follow his direction.

When I finally stop gasping for air, I swat his hands away.

“I need to check something,” he says. “You’re not going to like it though.”

“Touch me, and I swear I’ll kill you.”

Sam smiles. “Not possible, but I like your spunk.”

He catches the back of my head, and when I try to jerk away from him, he holds me tight and says, “Shh. I’m not going to hurt you.”

And he doesn’t hurt me. He brings my face to his neck.

I fight him, squirming to get away. But I can hear his blood and feel the rhythm of it as it courses through his veins.

The sense is stronger than it’s ever been. It’s a siren’s call, beckoning me to bite him.

“ No. ” I pull against him.

“Run your tongue along the gums behind your upper teeth,” he commands, rubbing my neck like he’s trying to soothe me. It’s only freaking me out more. “Do you feel anything weird?”

I go still when I inadvertently do as he commands, horrified. There are two bumps in my gums, right where two bumps shouldn’t be. And they hurt.

Sam suddenly releases me, and I wrench myself back so hard, I knock into the porcelain toilet lid.

“I think you just made my job a lot easier,” Sam says with a soft sigh. “You all right?”

Ignoring him, I frantically stick my thumb in my mouth, feeling the raised spots. Slowly, they begin to recede, and the throbbing pain eases.

I meet Sam’s eyes, still trembling, beyond terrified.

“Welcome to the club,” Sam says, laughing a little. “It’s freaky, isn’t it?”

“What have you done to me?”

“Your original infection scars are gone, too,” he says. “That scratch on your arm will clear up by tomorrow.”

“No.”

“This doesn’t have to be so difficult,” he says. “Ethan has given me the power to give you anything—anything. You want it, tell me. Money. Land. Vacations. The world is yours, Piper, just because the right man fell in love with you.”

“Anything?”

“ Anything, ” he vows.

“I want you to spare Noah.”

Sam sighs, sitting back on his heels. “Anything but that.”

Before I can answer, the bathroom door busts open, swinging in and breaking the spring that’s supposed to stop it. The handle crashes into the drywall, the sound shockingly loud in the tight, tiled space.

Noah stands on the other side, bleeding and bruised, with a dark red stain blooming on his white T-shirt. He points his gun at Sam. “Release her.”

“Impossible,” Sam breathes. “How?”

Noah stares down at him. “I might not be able to fight eight men at once, but you better believe I can take seven.”

Sam slowly sits back on his heels, putting his hands up in surrender.

“Piper, come into the hall,” Noah says, his voice too calm.

I stagger out of the bathroom, giving Sam as wide a berth as possible, and cower behind Noah.

My immense relief that he’s alive is tempered with fear. Fear that my life is never going to be the same.

Usually three, Cassian said at the police station over a month ago. But sometimes two.

It’s best to abstain altogether.

“Why are you people so freaking loyal to a man who’s in prison?” Noah demands.

“Good benefits,” Sam answers flippantly, even though there’s a gun pointed at him. “And four weeks of vacation.”

“Four?” I peer at him from behind Noah. “I don’t even give myself one.”

“Sucks to be self-employed,” Sam answers.

“When did you start working for him?” Noah asks.

“Does it matter?”

“Who changed you?”

“Why do you care?” Sam asks, getting frustrated with the questions.

“Was it Ethan?”

This time, he stays silent.

“Are you working for one of the other houses?”

“I work for Ethan. ”

“Okay. Does Ethan ever work with the other houses?”

I hear footsteps on the stairs and grasp Noah’s arm.

“It’s okay,” he says to me. “It’s either my men or the sheriff’s.”

“How…?”

I glance behind me just as three men appear at the top of the stairs—a hunter wearing the NIHA logo badge hanging from a lanyard around his neck, an officer, and one dashingly handsome vampire.

Cassian assesses the situation, his face solemn.

“Go to Cassian, Piper,” Noah instructs.

I back away from Noah, walking slowly at first and then sprinting across the empty room.

Cassian catches my shoulders, pulling me closer to the stairs. “Are you all right?”

He no more than says the words, and there’s a commotion behind me. The hunter hollers, raising his pistol, and I whirl around just in time to see Sam lunge out of the bathroom at Noah.

A deafening gunshot rings through the air, and the vampire falls backward, clutching his shoulder.

I rip my eyes away, the blood spreading over Sam’s shirt making me woozy…and hungry. I begin trembling again, freaked out by the thoughts going through my head.

“Hey,” Cassian says as the other men crowd around Noah. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I lie.

“Piper,” he says sternly.

I look up, meeting his eyes, and whisper, “I think I need some blood.”

He studies me for several seconds, concern shadowing his face, and then he nods. “Then let’s get you some blood.”