Oliver's Hunger (Scanguards Vampires #7) by Tina Folsom

“Yeah, about that. How did you get away, given that there was a guard?”
    Ursula shut her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, she looked away. “The guard wasn’t careful. He was called to another room when there was an altercation with one of the leeches. He forgot to lock the door. I was able to get out through a fire escape.”
    “Was there only one guard?” Cain continued.
    She shook her head. “There were many of them. But they were all busy watching the other girls,” she hastened to add.
    Oliver gave her a wary glance. Her heartbeat had accelerated and he could sense her glands producing more sweat. Not an unpleasant odor by any stretch, but nevertheless, she was sweating, and this meant she was nervous. Nervous because she was lying? Or simply agitated because she was recalling her ordeal?
    If only he knew.
    When her face turned fully to him, their gazes collided. Oliver sucked in a breath of air and with it her scent. Hunger instantly surged through him, even though he’d fed only a few short hours earlier. He shouldn’t feel hungry; he shouldn’t lust for blood again so soon. He’d taken plenty from the juvenile he’d met in the Bayview district. More than enough. It should last him for twenty-four hours. Yet a strange craving came over him, and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to bite or kiss her. Either possibility seemed equally enticing. And equally wrong for the situation.
    “Please, you have to believe me,” she begged.
    He felt Maya approach from behind. “You must admit, it’s a fantastic story.”
    “And it doesn’t make sense,” Cain added.
    “But couldn’t it be possible?” Blake asked. “There are some bad guys out there as we all know.”
    Oliver turned, looking at Maya and Cain. “Blake is right. We can’t just dismiss this. If she’s telling the truth, then we have a problem on our hands.”
    Ursula jumped to her feet, drawing his attention back to her. “You think I’m lying?”
    Oliver got up and instinctively reached for her, but she sidestepped him. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
    Tears brimming at her eyes, she glared at him. “Then what are you saying?”
    Nervously he shifted his weight, glancing at Cain who shrugged. “Want me to tell her?”
    Clearly his colleague had the same suspicion as he did. And he seemed to have no qualms about voicing it. But Oliver was man enough to do his own dirty work. And accusing her of something she might be innocent of wasn’t pretty. But it was a possibility he couldn’t simply dismiss.
    When Ursula nailed him with her questioning look, he sighed. “It’s possible that the vampire who bit you planted these memories in your mind so you’d tell us about it and lead us into a trap. You wouldn’t even know that you’re lying.”
    She jolted, taking another step away from him. “What? You think this isn’t true? You think it’s made up? No! No! I lived through this. For three years, I endured their cruelty, the humiliation, the pain. I know what I saw and what I felt. It’s real.”
    Her chest heaved from the effort it must have taken her to raise her voice to him and make her impassioned plea.
    “For three years my parents have been looking for me.”
    “How do you know that?” Cain asked.
    She whipped her head in his direction. “Because they love me. They would never give up on me.” She withstood Cain’s scrutinizing look until Cain was the one who broke it. When he did, she turned and looked back at Oliver. “I need to tell them I’m alive.”
    He recognized the pain that sat deep in her eyes and felt his heart clench in response. Maybe she was telling the truth, as outrageous as it sounded. But for the sake of Scanguards and their own safety, they had to take precautions before they could proceed.
    “Later, but we’ll have to verify a few facts first.” His years of training with Scanguards kicked in. It was vital that he didn’t make a mistake now: Gabriel was already keeping an