Read Online Unbitten by Valerie du Sange - Free Book Online Page A

The man didn’t seem to particularly mind. They kept
     circling, and circling.
    It was two against one. Pierre considered making a run for
     it. If the second guy joined in, it could get ugly.
    The thought of escape broke his concentration just a
     little, but Maloney felt it and took advantage. He sprang
     at Pierre and threw him to the ground and pressed his body
     on top of him.
    “Got him!” Maloney yelled. “Now
     what?”
    Pierre struggled but Maloney had his knee between his legs
     and was pressing into his balls. His balls were one of the
     only two things Pierre had in the world that meant
     something to him. So he kept still.
    “What do you want?” he said, trying to find the
     right tone of not too weak and also not pissing anybody
     off.
    The second guy walked over holding a greenish loop over his
     shoulder and handed it to Maloney who was sitting on top of
     Pierre. Maloney shook the loop, and the end whipped against
     Pierre’s legs, lashed them, then gripped them tight.
    “Whipster is the best,” the man said, talking
     to Pierre as though expecting him to agree.
    “Whipster rules,” said Maloney.
    “Shut up, Maloney,” said the man.
    Pierre was immobilized now, completely wrapped up in the
     greenish cords. Duct tape went across his mouth. Then,
     slowly, he was lifted up by those giant hands to face his
     attacker.
    “Good evening, Pierre,” said the second man,
     circling around him. Pierre was all wrapped up like a fly
     who’s had attention from a spider. “No need to
     greet me, I understand, sorry about the tape,” he
     said, laughing.
    The man’s eyes were…wait a minute! Those
     pupils–
    Pierre would bet his last euro this smaller dude was a
     vampire.
    Maloney stood behind him, or loomed rather, because he was
     immense, an actual giant. He was grinning his head off,
     chattering excitedly and hopping from one foot to the other
     like a five year old about to get an ice cream cone, his
     lank hair falling into his face.
    They talk funny, thought Pierre. Not French. Not British.
     Even though vampires have incredible language facility and
     can speak the language of wherever they are, they can still
     get hung up on regional accents. He supposed they must be
     American, and not from the South, which was the only
     American accent Pierre was familiar with.
    “We’ve come a long way to find you,” said
     the vampire. “My name’s Dominic,” he
     said, and let out an enormous cackle while grabbing Pierre
     and swinging him up and over his shoulder. “All the
     way from Chicago. Ever been to Chicago, Pierre?” he
     said. “Oh right, never mind,” and cackled
     again.
    Dominic cracked himself up, that was clear. But he was not
     in Mourency to entertain himself.
    “mMMMmmmff,” said Pierre.
    “Is that so?” Dominic said. “I’m
     just taking you to my car. Rented a Mercedes. Love it. Ever
     driven one? CLS -class. I really
     wanted the SL-class roadster, but then we wouldn’t
     have room for you, would we?”
    The car was parked on the sidewalk across from a footbridge
     crossing the river. Dominic waited for Maloney to unlock
     the trunk, and slid Pierre in, leaving the trunk-door open.
     He grabbed Maloney by the arm and walked him out on the
     footbridge. The river slid quietly underneath them, the
     green surface impassive, showing nothing of the life
     underneath. The night-birds were singing, and there was a
     hum of insects down by the water even this far into
     October.
    “I want you to calm yourself down,” Dominic
     said. “We need him alive because we have a long list
     of questions to ask him and we need. those. answers. If we
     don’t get the answers, You-Know-Who is not going to
     be happy.”
    The big man looked like he might cry.
    “Cheer up, Maloney! When we’re done with this,
     we’ll almost be ready to go home. Where our reward
     awaits us.” Dominic looked a little misty-eyed just
     thinking about it. It was important to focus on the