Shiver by Yolanda Sfetsos Page A

around? Moe’s now MIA because he attacked him, I don’t think we should expose anyone else—”
    “Hogan, calm down.” Meiling was already standing, never taking her attention from Knox. She glared at him for a few silent moments. “As much fun as this little chat has been, I have other business to attend to. But before I go, what can you tell me about Jenks Maine?”
    His teeth had almost returned to normal. “I can’t tell you anything. I wasn’t exactly chatty with him.”
    “I suppose that’s the first truth you’ve told me. How long were you at the arena?”
    “Almost three years,” he answered.
    “And how did you become one of his gladiators?” Meiling’s eyes shimmered, as if his answer would weigh on something she already knew.
    “I didn’t become anything.” Knox looked away. “I was forced into that fucking arena.”  
    “Reports claim that Jenks died in the blast. Do you know for sure?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I hope he did.”
    “Fair enough. I’m sure many feel the same way.” Meiling turned her back on him and left the room, with three guards trailing after her.  
    One guard remained, his weapon drawn.
    Knox glanced at the bloody mess on his chest, and found it was already healing into a nasty scar. His head throbbed, and his stomach felt hollow. So much for being sated! Getting used to this new metabolism would be a struggle.
    Knox tested the chains. They slid along vertical tracks on the stone wall, but there was no give. At least he’d learned that vampires were also affected by silver, because these cuffs were burning his skin.
    Laughter filled the cell. “You’re never going to break them, monster. So stop trying.”
    He glared at the man. How trigger-happy was this guard? Could Knox use that against him? Maybe. Maybe not. For now, he decided to stay quiet and conserve his energy before the bloodlust drove him insane.  
    After almost attacking that Meiling woman because of his deep-rooted hunger, he wasn’t willing to tempt fate. He didn’t want the loss of any more lives at his hands. He’d done enough of that to survive while locked away in the arena.
    “I saw the footage. A vampire bit you inside the arena and now you’re one too,” the guard said. “You’ve already done the same to Moe, but you won’t get the chance to do it to anyone else. Not on my watch.”
    Knox focused on the exposed roof. If silver cuffs burned his skin this much, he hated to think what would happen when the sun rose.
     
     
    As soon as Lian stepped inside the prisoner’s cell, she found he wasn’t alone.
    Hogan stiffened and peered over his shoulder. “Li, what the hell are you doing here?” He lowered his rifle and moved toward her.
    “I… I…” She tried to look past him, but Hogan stood in the way, blocking her view with his broad frame. “I just wanted to see…you.”
    A small flare of hope brightened the guard’s face, making his brown eyes and skin sparkle in the moonlight.
    Her heart pounded so fast she felt as if it were knocking against her ribs. She didn’t know what else to say. Lian had initially been angry with Hogan for abandoning her, but her mother would have made it hard for them to see each other. She’d probably punished him in other ways as well. He refused to talk about it whenever she’d broached the subject.
    “You know we can’t be together.” Hogan’s face fell. “Not if I want to live.”
    “What?” So Meiling had actually threatened his life? Lian wasn’t surprised because there was no decency left inside that cold shell of hers.
    He lowered his voice and touched her cheek with the back of his gloved hand. “Your mother will have me killed if she catches us together. You should get back to your room. Don’t look at me like that—she told all of us to make sure you stayed there.”
    Yet there’d been no one but Vera on her floor.
    “Who let you out?”
    “No one—”
    “It was Vera, wasn’t it?” He shook his