Read Bite Me if You Can for Free Online Page B

hear her all the way up in the cockpit,” Ted growled as Lucian stumbled past him into the sitting area. “We thought you were killing her.”
    “Not yet,” he said dryly as he opened the cooler.
    “Yeah, well Bob says—What are you looking for?” the man interrupted himself to ask as Lucian closed the cooler and turned to search the refrigerator instead.
    “Her drugs and syringes. They were in the cooler.”
    “The only thing in the cooler was the blood,” Ted informed him.
    Lucian stiffened, his head shooting up. “You’re sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure. I emptied it.”
    “They must have put them in the refrigerator at the hotel while they were getting her settled,” he realized, then grabbed a bag of blood and straightened. “In which case, you’d better get used to her screaming, because without the drugs, it isn’t going to stop.”
    “You’re joking,” Ted gasped with horror.
    “Do I look like a man who jokes?” Lucian asked as he headed back to the sleeping section to change her bag again. “How long until we land?”
    “An hour,” Ted admitted, then asked, desperately, “What about mind control?”
    “What about it?” Lucian asked as he removed the empty blood bag from the hook where it hung.
    “I thought you guys could keep us mortals from feeling pain?”
    “Sure,” he agreed, throwing the empty bag in the garbage. “And if this was just a bite, or cut, or maybe even a gunshot wound, I could, but not this.”
    “Why not?”
    Lucian frowned. The truth was because the nanos were scrambling her brain, her body, her everything. It would be impossible to blank her out. Their attack was overwhelming, every nerve on fire. But he didn’t say that, he’d already explained more than usual.
    “Because no one can,” he said simply, and saw the man’s shoulders slump in defeat. “Are there any earplugs on this plane?”
    “Yeah, in the drawer above the refrigerator, but Bob and I can’t use earplugs.”
    “But I can,” Lucian said with a smile full of teeth as he finished with Leigh’s IV.
    The co-pilot’s mouth snapped shut and he whirled away. “Try to keep her quiet. We have to concentrate.”
    Lucian found the earplugs where Ted had said they’d be, slipped them into his ears and let out a pleased little breath as Leigh’s caterwauling was reduced to a low hum. These were the superduper model of earplug, for passengers who wanted to sleep. Lucian had never bothered with them before, but they worked well.
    Feeling his tension begin to slip away, he returned to the sleeping section to watch Leigh. There wasn’t much to watch, however. She was an attractive woman, but thrashing about on the bed with her mouth gaping on screams of pain did nothing to show off that attractiveness. He was relieved when they landed forty-seven minutes later. Lucian didn’t know if they’d just gotten lucky and hit a good tailwind, or if Bob and Ted had put on a little speed in an effort to bring an end to the trip and Leigh’s shrieks. He didn’t care either way, but was just glad to have this half of the journey over with. It meant that in about half an hour he’d be free of Leigh.
    Originally, Lucian had thought arriving at the airport would be the end of their acquaintance, but that was before he’d realized he hadn’t called Marguerite and didn’t have his cell phone to do so. Even he wasn’t rude enough just to send the girl to Marguerite’s with Thomas like a couriered package. He’d ride over, talk to her in person, and then dump Leigh and head back.
    Lucian felt rather than heard when the engines were shut off. His gaze slid to Leigh to see that while she was shifting restlessly about, her mouth was closed. It had been for the past fifteen minutes or so, and he figured she’d worn herself out. Still, he took out his earplugs cautiously, relieved that the only sounds coming from her were quiet moans.
    Slipping the earplugs into his pocket, he stood and unhooked the blood bag. He