Luther pulled one side of his lip up in a show of derision. “Don’t count on it.” Without waiting for Dobbs’s command, he pivoted and continued walking in the direction they’d been heading.

He heard the guard’s footsteps behind him, but they were suddenly obscured by a noise up ahead. Angry shouts and grunts echoed down the corridor. The moment Luther turned a corner, he saw the reason for the commotion.

A massive, clearly pissed-off prisoner was fighting tooth and nail against his two guards. The guards, Norris and McKay, were both armed to the teeth, but the convict didn’t give them a chance to employ their weapons.

Fangs bared and eyes glaring red, underscoring his aggression, the V-CON struck out with such ferocity and skill that the two well-trained guards had to use all their strength just to stay on their feet.

“Ah, shit!” Dobbs cursed. He pressed down the button on his radio. “Corridor seven. Hostile V-CON, two guards in distress. Employ UV lights. Repeat…”

“Fuck!” Luther cursed, whirling his head back to Dobbs. “Are you fucking shitting me?”

On his release day he would get a last dose of UV rays? What the fuck was that supposed to be? A goodbye present?

But Dobbs merely shrugged and pulled his protective shield over his face. The rest of his body was already adequately protected by his gear, right down to the specially designed gloves.

“Fucking asshole!” Luther charged toward the melee. If he could diffuse the situation quickly enough, Dobbs would have enough time to cancel his command. No fucking idiot prisoner would get him burned on his release day!

“Over my fucking charred body!”

Livid, Luther barreled into the aggressive convict, taking him by surprise. The idiot hadn’t expected to be attacked by a fellow prisoner. Big mistake.

Slamming his fist into the jerk’s face, Luther yelled: “You’re not going to screw up my release day, you bastard!”

A fist flew straight at him, but the V-CON had no idea who he was dealing with. Luther might have been imprisoned for twenty years, and rightly so, but he’d lost not a bit of his lethal fighting skills. At best he was a little rusty, but his muscle memory returned with every second he pounded into the guy.

With stoic calmness Luther accepted the blows the other vampire managed to land.

Another punch, and his opponent finally landed on his back. Now that the hardest part was done, Norris and McKay jumped back into the fray and restrained the V-CON’s arms.

But subduing the prisoner had taken too long.

Luther heard the tell-tale clicks of the light tubes on the ceiling.

“Fuck!” he cursed just as the lights flickered for a moment.

Then he felt the burn.

UV lights blasted him as if he were standing under the midday sun.

“Call it off, Dobbs! Fuck!” Luther screamed, whirling his head toward the guard.

He saw Dobbs fumble for his radio and drop it to the floor.

“Fucking imbecile!”

Pain searing through his body, Luther lunged for the communication device and grabbed it. He pressed down the button. Behind him he heard Norris and McKay dealing with the V-CON who was now screaming with pain.

“Disengage UV lights in corridor seven,” Luther yelled into the radio. He’d heard the guards often enough to be familiar with their commands, their way of speaking.

“Who is this?” came the crackling reply.

The stench of burnt hair and skin—his as well as the other prisoner’s—rose into his nostrils, making him nauseous.

The radio was suddenly ripped from his hand.

“It’s Dobbs. Disengage UV lights in corridor seven immediately. V-CON subdued.”

Seconds later, the lights flickered again. Luther collapsed to the floor, this time not from pain, but from relief.

“Everything under control,” Norris now confirmed.

Luther slanted him a look, scoffing. Yeah, everything was under control now—no thanks to the guards. This was Luther’s doing. But before he could tell the guard what he thought of his comment, a shiny boot kicked him in the side, knocking him against the wall. Automatically, his fangs descended and his lips peeled away from his teeth, showing his attacker his pearly whites.

“Summerland!” Luther hissed under his breath. Figured!

He’d saved the guards from severe injury and possibly death, and this was his thanks for it?

The boot came his way a second time. Luther reached for it, but Summerland was jerked back.

“Let him be!” Norris ordered.

Luther glanced past the stunned guard, witnessing how Norris still held on to Summerland’s shoulder.