Bitten Surrender by Rebecca Royce Page A

away. There was no room for empathy, no time for fear. Jerome would find Adrienne. He’d let him know soon she was safe because there was no other outcome Hanzi would accept.
    Feri grabbed Ambrus, whose eyes had gone completely red. His fangs were visible in his mouth. His old friend had lost all control of his monster inside, and Hanzi couldn’t blame him. Still, it was his job to look at the victim.
    Much the same as Feri’s woman, Ambrus’ mate lay with her eyes open, unseeing, yet unlike Feri’s, she was not on the couch, rather she’d been thrown on the bed. Any doubt Hanzi held about Feri playing a role in his woman’s death fled. They wouldn’t have both lost their minds.
    Hanzi touched the side of the woman’s throat. It had been torn into, not the gentle bite of a lover who would never do her harm. Her death was a big problem. It meant they were dealing with a crazed vampire who would dare to put his mouth on the throat of a claimed woman. Hanzi had hunted vampires who lived in nothing except darkness before. He was good at it. Although he would have preferred not to have to undertake a hunt while he figured out his relationship with Adrienne.
    He turned to look at Ambrus whose eyes were huge.
    “Do you think four feedings were enough? To change her? Will she come back?”
    Out of the three of them, Ambrus stood the shortest. At barely six feet tall, he had broad shoulders and a scar that ran the length of his cheek from his eyes to his mouth. The man had the mark before he’d been changed, from some encounter in a dark street he’d barely survived.
    Hanzi hadn’t crossed paths with him in over a thousand years. Unlike Feri, Hanzi didn’t have much to do with Ambrus. Their lack of contact, however, didn’t mean Hanzi wouldn’t move heaven and earth to help him. They were all bound to each other’s destinies.
    “I don’t know how many feedings are required. I will admit to not having turned a human in a very long time. If I recall, it sort of depended on the human. Some turned very quickly, some took longer, and some of them died altogether no matter how much blood exchange they made.” He turned to stare out the window at the dark night he knew he would soon be visiting. His prey always ran, and he would chase. It was the way of things. “Let us presume fate did not give us women who will not survive the change. The answer has to remain the same. I don’t know if it’s enough. We were supposed to be here with them for weeks. Many more blood takings would likely have occurred before she became a member of our kind. Is four enough? Three in Feri’s case? I have no earthly idea.”
    “You always speak the truth, Hanzi.” Ambrus’ gruff voice resounded through the room. “I’ve never wanted to kill you for it before.”
    “You’re welcome to try.” Hanzi turned back to face the other two vampires. “I must tell you the time you spend ineffectually trying to take my life is minutes I could be looking for the creature who harmed the woman who belonged to you. Stay here with her. If she is not awake in twenty-four hours, she is not coming back. Feri, go back to your woman. You have the same instructions. I will go check on mine.” Jerome was taking way too long and he wanted to rip out his throat for not reporting back to him sooner. “When I know she is fine I will go find the one who hurt yours.”
    Feri nodded. “If you need any help, do let us know.”
    “I never have. Not since you all decided hunting those who break the rules was a job that should belong to me. I’m not sure what you would contribute except be in my way.”
    He turned from them and stormed from the room. Adrienne had been fine when he left her. She would still be well. No way another vampire had gotten past all three of them while they investigated. A crazed vampire would still know better than to attack a woman who belonged to a hunter.
    If three or four blood changes might not be enough to save their women, what