Brevity (A Vampires of Vegas Story)

By Alexia Purdy

“Not everyone gets ill. I don’t know why, but people react differently to the virus. Some die. Some live. Some... change.”

“Will, what’s the matter? You all right, buddy?”

As the last word of Rye’s question left his mouth, Will’s eyes refocused on him. His lips curled back, showing off gore-encrusted canines stretching at least three quarters of an inch farther than the rest of his teeth. The following snarl, and his red irises, gave no indication that he knew who they were. The moment he lunged, both men pointed their guns in his direction, screaming for him to stop.

He didn’t.

Books in The Vampires of Vegas series:
Resonant
Reign of Blood
Disarming
Elijah
Amplified

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melancholy Muse Press
• Release date: Jul 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463955499

Alexia Purdy

Alexia is a USA Today Bestselling author who currently lives in Las Vegas and loves spending every free moment writing or hanging out with her four rambunctious kids. Writing is the ultimate getaway for her since she's always lost in her head. She is best known for her award-winning Reign of Blood series, and A Dark Faerie Tale Series.Sign up for email updates and exclusive giveaways: http://smarturl.it/AlexiaPurdyNewsAlexia's websites:www.alexiapurdybooks.comhttp://alexiaepurdy.blogspot.comTwitter: @AlexiaPurdyAlexia Purdy Fan page:https://www.facebook.com/AlexiaPurdyAuthorA Dark Faerie Tale Series by Alexia Purdy FB page:https://www.facebook.com/ADarkFaerieTaleSeriesReign of Blood Series FB page:https://www.facebook.com/RoBbooks

Book preview

"Not everyone gets ill. I don’t know why, but people react differently to the virus. Some die. Some live. Some… change."

Will, what’s the matter? You all right, buddy?

As the last word of Rye’s question left his mouth, Will’s eyes refocused on him. His lips curled back, showing off gore-encrusted canines stretching at least three quarters of an inch farther than the rest of his teeth. The following snarl, and his red irises, gave no indication that he knew who they were. The moment he lunged, both men pointed their guns in his direction, screaming for him to stop.

He didn’t.

Brevity

(A Vampires of Vegas Story)

©November 2017 & 2021 by Alexia Purdy

Previously published in

The Aching Darkness Anthology

All Rights Reserved

www.alexiapurdybooks.com

All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious and any similarity to a real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

More Books by Alexia Purdy

For all Veterans. Thank you for your service.

Chapter One

Lianna leaned forward and yanked back the crazed creature’s hair hard enough to feel some of the roots rip beneath her grip. Growling, the wilding struggled against her, snapping her jaws with a feral glare in her eyes while blood seeped out from between her teeth and dripped down her chin. It was gruesome yet fascinating all at the same time, Lianna thought.

I can’t let you live even if I wanted to. Not when you had to go and do a thing like that. Too dangerous to keep you alive. Lianna groaned, pain radiating up her left arm and into her shoulder. Pressing her teeth together, she frowned at the monster before her. It was a miracle she could hold her down. It was easier now that she had Brian’s help. Before, as he’d struggled to don his splash-protection coveralls, she’d thought it was all over for her. Now the creature could do nothing but squirm and buck beneath their grips.

The savage woman paused while glaring back, her breath coming in quick, hissing gasps. Long, pointed canines gleamed beneath the artificial lights of the gore-covered glass prison. It was a horrifying sight to behold. She’d awoken from a centuries-long frozen slumber to find herself in a modern facility with scientists hovering above, poking at her arms with syringes. All this creature had felt was an insatiable hunger stabbing at her insides and an unfathomable urge to reach out, grab the woman scientist, and bite into the thick, pulsating carotid artery, its pumping like a beacon to the creature’s senses.

So much hunger, need, and thirst. Sustenance was needed. Even just a bit.

Her eyes flicked around, burning with lust for the liquid running through the other woman’s veins. There was no denying the animalistic, preternatural need to drain the living. If only she could finesse her way out of the vise-like grip holding her down. She’d gotten a taste already, and it had felt heavenly running down her throat. All she knew was that the sweet, red liquid she’d stolen from the other woman was life. Sustenance. Ambrosia.

All she knew was that she wanted more of it.

So many secrets you hold, yet you’ve stolen all the time I had to discover it all. Damn you! Lianna yanked the creature back once more and hefted the ice pick she’d found in the freezer area of the underground facility. She slammed it through an eye socket and directly into the skull. The moment the pick entered the brain, the creature fell slack, and Lianna held her up by one arm as her head cradled against her chest.

Blast, she muttered. Brian, help me hoist her onto the table.

Okay. Brian awkwardly reached out toward the body. Is it dead? He appeared to shiver in his britches, a sight that made her roll her eyes.

Yes, it’s dead. Help me out; she’s heavy. They managed to move the body onto the steel examination table. Once it was there, she’d cut the creature open and take more samples than she’d been able to do before.

You should clean that wound, Brian commented.

Lianna peered down at her arm where the sleeve hung torn and bloodied. Beneath the mess of material,