Silent Bite-A Scanguards Wedding (1001 Dark Nights) Read Online Free PDF Page B

He was a lean, mean fighting machine, even though Oliver had seen glimpses of a softer side inside him when he’d first met his mate, Portia, a young hybrid. But at the moment, none of that softness was apparent. Zane looked as if he wanted to kill somebody.
    “I think it was too early to let them go,” Zane now bit out, looking at Gabriel for reinforcement.
    Gabriel stroked his chin with his hand, contemplating his answer, then pushed a strand of dark hair, which had come loose from his ponytail, behind his ear. Oliver couldn’t help but stare at the large scar that ran from his ear to his chin, a souvenir from the time when he’d been human. While the scar was ugly, there was something intriguing about Gabriel that made him an imposing figure who could drive fear into anybody.
    “Dr. Drake gave everybody the all clear,” Gabriel replied.
    “What’s going on?” Oliver asked, tossing a questioning look at his colleagues.
    Dr. Drake sat up straighter. “As I was starting to elaborate, we terminated the rehab program. Scanguards did a fabulous job at rounding up all former clients of the blood brothel and bringing them in.”
    Zane snorted, his boots scratching loudly against the wooden floor. “I don’t need you to tell me that we’ve done a good job.”
    Samson gave Zane a reprimanding look. “Let him talk.”
    The bald vampire leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. Oh yeah, Oliver could tell Zane was pissed. And he wasn’t one to sugarcoat his opinions. If he didn’t like something, he’d let you know. He and Zane had butted heads more than once. Nevertheless, he liked the guy. Zane’s gut feeling was better than anybody else’s. And in a fight, he was lethal.
    Drake cleared his throat. “Well. Some of the patients were doing better than others. I believe it was a matter of willpower and motivation. Some responded to positive reinforcement better, and those were the ones we released a few weeks ago. I understand that Scanguards is still keeping an eye on them?”
    Samson nodded and motioned to Gabriel.
    “That’s right,” Gabriel answered. “But there has been no erratic behavior. All of them seemed to have integrated well again.”
    Drake nodded. “Good, good. And with the drug, so to speak, out of their reach, it’s certainly made things easier.”
    The drug. Yes, the blood of all the Chinese women who’d been held at the blood brothel was indeed a drug to vampires. Highly addictive, utterly delicious, and producing a high. Oliver could only imagine it. He’d never gotten high from Ursula’s blood, because they were taking precautions. He only bit her after she’d climaxed, because an orgasm diluted the potency of the blood for a short time.
    “Yes, they’re all back at home. All but Ursula,” Oliver said almost to himself.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” the doctor said. “Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!”
    “Thank you!”
    “Can we get on with business?” Zane interrupted.
    Drake looked as if he wanted to roll his eyes but refrained from doing so. “Last night we released the remaining vampires in our care. They’ve proven to us that they are strong enough to fight the temptation and have conquered their addiction. They’re all clean now. I don’t believe we’ll have any more problems with regards to this issue.”
    “Proven how?” Zane shot back. “By sitting in some stupid group sessions, babbling about how they felt?”
    Drake narrowed his eyes. “Yes, by talking about their feelings, which is a proven psychological tool.”
    “I’ll give you a tool. A stake is a tool,” Zane muttered under his breath.
    Samson rose. “You know as well as I do that we couldn’t simply kill those men because of their addiction. We had to help them.” His gaze drifted to Oliver, and Oliver instinctively knew what his boss was thinking of. Samson had helped him when he’d been in the gutter, when he’d been an addict and running with a bad crowd. He’d given him a