Betrayed Read Online Free PDF Page B

vampire in midair and knocking him down to the ground. Before he could get up, Samantha backhanded him hard, knocking him out cold.
    She jumped to her feet and tore at Sam’s chains. As she set him free, he looked all around in utter disbelief, as if he were watching a fantastical nightmare come to life.
    “Samantha,” he said, “what the hell is going on — ”
    “Not now,” Samantha said, as she tore the last of his chains, grabbed his arm, and jerked him, leading him through the mayhem. She was heading for the exit.
    As they ran, another rogue vampire leapt right for them, teeth extended.
    Samantha grabbed Sam and threw him to the ground, ducked herself, and the vampire leapt right over their heads.
    She quickly regained her feet, dragging him up, and they sprinted through the room. They managed to duck and weave, she all the while leading them. She knew that if she could just make that door, there was a back corridor, a rear staircase that could take them to the street. Once outside, she could take them far, far from here.
    In all the mayhem, no one noticed them sprinting. She was almost out the door, only feet away.
    And then, just as she was about to make it, she felt the pressure on her back, felt herself tumbling, hitting the floor. She had been jumped from behind.
    She spun around and looked up to see who it was. Sergei. That despicable little Russian sidekick to Kyle. The one who had stolen the Sword from her hand.
    He grinned down at her, an evil, cruel grin, and she hated him more than she’d ever had.
    Sam, to his credit, showed no fear. Still shackled, he jumped onto Sergei’s back, using his chains, wrapping them around Sergei’s throat. The boy was strong. He actually squeezed hard enough to get Sergei to loosen his grip on Samantha, and she used the opportunity to roll out from under him.
    But Sam was no match for a vampire, nonetheless. Sergei stood, snarling, and threw Sam off of him like a ragdoll. Sam landed ten feet away, crashing into the wall.
    As Samantha tried to scramble to her feet, she was pounced on by a dozen more vampires. She saw that Sam was surrounded, too. They were trapped.
    The last thing she saw was Sergei’s cruel smile, as he wound up and punched her in the face.
    *
    As Kyle ripped through the huge chamber of the Blacktide Coven, wielding the Sword wildly, destroying vampire after vampire, he had never felt more alive. Blood splattered in every direction, covering him, and his hands felt wet with blood as he swung with more and more intensity. It was vengeance. Vengeance for his thousands of years of loyal service, for the way they’d treated him. How dare they. Now they would know the meaning of the word revenge. They would all apologize, every last one of them, bow down to him, down to the ground, and admit that they had been profoundly wrong.
    It was all going perfectly. After his little detour at the Brooklyn Bridge, he had led his loyal throng right through the doors of City Hall, killing the few vampires who dared stand in the way. They had then filed through the secret passageway, lower and lower, into the bowels of City Hall, right into his coven’s nest. No vampires dared stand in his way as his army stormed the chamber. Many other vampires, upon seeing Kyle, and especially the Sword, immediately fell in with him. He was happy to see that so many of his old coven were still loyal. He knew that the day had arrived for him to claim rightful leadership.
    Rexius was a weak leader. If he had been stronger, he would have found the Sword himself, years ago. He never would have sent others to do it. He liked to punish others for his own faults, when he was the one that needed to be punished. He had grown drunk with power. Banishing Kyle had been a last, desperate attempt to remove all those close to him. But it had backfired.
    As Kyle tore through the room, he headed right for Rexius’ throne. Rexius spotted him coming, and his eyes opened wide with panic.
    Rexius jumped