Immortals After Dark 05 - Dark Needs at Nights Edge

sending them flying. Thank God his hand had regenerated—
    A fist struck him in the face with crushing force. His sunglasses went flying, but he didn’t even pause in his pursuit.
    Fierce immortal, with his jet black hair whipping over his cheek. She felt an untimely surge of pride that a male like him was coming for her.
    He wants me. Those burning, blood-filled irises were locked on her. He was looking at her as if she was his, only his. He’d talked of having new vampire instincts, animal-like instincts. There was no mistaking what his eyes said...
    Anyone who kept him from what was his would die.

    Conrad couldn’t risk tracing to her—she was a moving target in the fray. Can’t take my eyes from her for a split second. Sprinting faster, fighting harder—
    He suddenly stumbled, feeling as if a mine had just gone off under his feet. Righting himself, chin down, he charged for her once more.
    Another explosion; he tripped forward, losing sight of her for a moment. What the fuck is happening?
    His lips parted as he comprehended. Thunderous bomb blasts again and again.
    Néomi... it’s her.
    A rhythm to the echoing boom—his... heartbeat. Conrad was hearing his heartbeat for the first time in three hundred years.
    Mine! Even as he ran, Conrad felt a savage triumph. His lungs began to expand, waking. She was bringing him back to life. Just ten feet away from her, one more obstacle—
    His body was tackled to the ground with the force of a freight train. Strong hands gripped him, hauling him to his feet. Two demons had him. Néomi was watching agape. Safe for now.
    Weak... can’t shake them off. Vulnerable for precious seconds while he transitioned. Can’t break free.
    “A red-eyed Fallen in New Orleans,” Cadeon the Kingmaker said as he stalked in front of Conrad. “You’re the one who drained the warlock dry?”
    Conrad’s chest heaved as he sucked in air. With each breath, his strength returned and then some. Power such as he’d never imagined began erupting throughout his body. “Be more specific, Cadeon,” he sneered. “There were several.”
    “We’ve been looking for you, vampire.” The demon’s eyes turned wholly black, and his horns enlarged and straightened with menace. But he wouldn’t completely hit a rage state.
    Conrad heard Néomi murmur, “Mère de Dieu.” And Cadeon wasn’t even close to a full turning. Usually when one beheld this demonic sight, one was about to die. Yet Conrad was finally catching his breath, and his heart was thundering with readiness... .
    He flung his arms out, hurling away the ones holding him. Then he lunged at Cadeon. He fixed his hands around the demon’s throat, clenching with all his newly blooded strength.
    Power roared through Conrad’s veins. Red covered his vision. The need to drink and kill was undeniable. There was no going back from bloodlust—his brothers were wrong. He’d done evil; he always would. He slammed Cadeon to the ground, stunning him.
    Conrad could smell the demon’s blood, could hear his heart. More power, here for the taking. Instinct ruled him. He gripped Cadeon’s forehead, yanking his head back to bare his neck.
    Cadeon’s skin began to darken to a deep red. His upper and lower fangs grew. The demon was finally turning, but it was too late... .
    “Conrad, don’t.”
    He glanced up to meet Néomi’s wide-eyed gaze. Conrad knew exactly what he looked like to her, with his fangs dripping, his eyes glowing and frenzied as he craved blood. “Now you know what I am.” He lowered his mouth to finish this.
    “Now I know what you were. Conrad, please take me home.”
    The need to protect. He hesitated at the demon’s neck. Stronger than the need to kill.

    If you saw me in bloodlust, you’d think me a monster.
    Conrad hadn’t been exaggerating. If Néomi didn’t know him, she would be terrified. But she did know him, and recognized that he’d restrained himself for her.
    Here was Conrad at his most frightening, and all she felt for him was pride and tenderness—
    Suddenly Cade took advantage, bashing his head against Conrad’s so hard his skull had to be singing.
    Then the other two demons were back, attacking him at once... .
    Without her telekinesis, she was powerless to stop them. Others in the crowd had ceased their own sparring to watch this clash. They were abuzz that the fallen vampire wasn’t drinking and that the rage demon hadn’t turned fully.
    As Rydstrom and four more rough-looking males closed in