Vampire Mine Read Online Free PDF Page A

flesh.

    “My lady?” he called to her. “Lass?”

    She moaned.

    She was alive. The rain continued to wash away soot and dirt. She seemed remarkably unharmed, even beautiful. His gaze drifted over her bare white arms, folded over her chest. Her legs were bent, drawn close to her core, but they appeared long and smooth, the skin beautifully luminescent.

    And yet, he could still smell burnt flesh and spilled blood. The blood‟s aroma was strong, heady, so much richer than the synthetic blood he was used to drinking. Against his will, his body reacted. His gums tingled as his fangs sought release.

    He clenched his jaw. The poor woman had just been attacked, and he was tempted to bite her? What a coldhearted bastard he was. He ventured closer, circling around to examine her from the back.

    He gasped. Holy Christ Almighty. Burn marks crossed her lower back, red and ugly welts.
    Higher up, across her shoulder blades, blood oozed from gaping wounds. She must have run, and the bastard had attacked her from behind.

    “My lady.” He leaned over her. “I‟ll take you to a healer.” Roman could help her.

    No response. He couldn‟t see her face. Her long hair was a tangled mass, covering her face and shoulders. The ends were singed and dark with blood, but he detected a glint of gold in the curls that tumbled over her face.

    “Lass?” he whispered, and brushed the hair back from her face. The locks felt silken against his hand. As fine as the hair on a newborn babe.

    His chest tightened at the sight of her face. In five hundred years, he‟d never seen such loveliness. Such fragile elegance. There was a pearlescent luster to her skin as if she was glowing with beauty from the inside out.

    Raindrops fell on her face, and she flinched.

    “Doona fret,” he said softly. “I‟ll take you somewhere safe.”

    She moaned and shook her head.

    He unpinned the length of tartan that he wore over a shoulder, then draped it over her hips.

    Her eyes flickered open, then widened with horror. “No!”

    He straightened. “Lass, I willna harm you.”

    She shook with a sudden tremor. “Don‟t touch me!” She kicked her legs, attempting to scramble away from him. When she rolled onto her back, she cried out in pain.

    She collapsed, her eyes falling shut. “Don‟t touch me,” she whispered, then lost consciousness.

Chapter Three
    C onnor approached the side entrance of Roma-tech with the woman wrapped in his tartan and cradled against his chest. Teleporting straight into the facility would have caused an alarm to go off and incited panic, so he‟d arrived in the side parking lot. Whoever was in the security office should have noticed him on the monitors, so hopefully they would let him in. With his arms full, he couldn‟t reach his ID card.

    He paused outside the glass door and spotted Angus‟s wife, Emma MacKay, zooming down the hallway at vampire speed.

    She opened the door, and her gaze shifted to the woman in his arms. “You found a survivor.”

    “Aye.” Connor stepped into the hall. “I‟m taking her to the clinic. Can ye alert Roman?”

    “Of course.” Emma touched the unconscious woman‟s shoulder. “Poor thing. She smells of blood and burnt flesh. They must have tortured her like Robby. Did you find her in the caves?”

    “Nay. She was attacked a few miles south of there.”

    Emma gave him a confused look. “Did you see Angus? He teleported to the campground about five minutes ago.”

    “Must have missed him.” Connor hurried down the hallway. “Tell Roman I‟ll be in the clinic.”

    Behind him, Emma let out an exasperated sigh. “You didn‟t follow Angus‟s orders, did you?”

    He kept walking. No time to explain his decisions when the woman was bleeding in his arms. Not that he usually bothered to explain himself.

    “Is Angus right, then?” Emma called after him. “Do you have a death wish?”

    “Nay.” He reached the foyer and turned left. Why would he want to die when