We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3)

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What readers are saying about

Strassel’s writing takes off from the first page of this novel and doesn’t stop until the very end. Her approachable and vividly charismatic writing paints this enticing world right before your eyes.

—Pure Jonel

Kristen's books aren't for the faint of heart, but if you enjoy vampires, rock bands, and a dark edge, I recommend grabbing a copy and diving in for a thrill.

—Psychocat Reviews

Books by Kristen Strassel

Night Songs Collection

Seasons in the Sun
(Night Songs Collection #0.5)

Because the Night
(Night Songs Collection #1)

Night Moves
(Night Songs Collection #2)

We Own the Night
(Night Songs Collection #3)

Silent Night
(Night Songs Collection #4)

This one is for you! Yes, you. I want to dedicate this book to my readers. Thank you so much for enjoying this series! It means the world to me.

“W
hat the hell are you talking about?” I knew I didn’t have much room for negotiation. I couldn’t move, and I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet. My captor was a pissed off, wild, newly minted monster who had just taken out the most powerful vampire in Las Vegas.

“Shut up!” Blade roared, kneeing me in the small of my back without loosening his death grip on the hair at the nape of my neck. My torso bowed forward, my eyes widening now as all my muscles protested. He was too strong, even for me. Definitely not human. “You can’t talk your way out of this one.”

“That hurts,” I whispered, ignoring his demands. Probably not my smartest move, but he was about to snap me in half. “My body doesn’t bend like that.”

He pushed his knee further into my back forcing me into a complete backbend. Even though it was pitch black in the room, I could see him, his beautiful face. Just the sight of him made me ache. So many good memories. I wriggled my hands free from his grasp, I groped back, trying to reach his leg, his body.

“Your body will move however I want it to.” He slapped my hands away from him. The cool of his body came close to my face again. “I’m going to treat you like the whore you are. I’m going to show you the respect you show yourself. That you’ve shown me. And then you’re going to learn respect.”

“You left me,” I hissed.

“I told you to shut up! Jesus, you never learn, do you?” He jerked my body forward by my head, and like a rag doll I found myself bent over a desk. The weight of his body crushed mine against the hard surface. I had missed the feeling of Blade against me more than I ever realized. It overwhelmed me, my body responded like we were about to have some really intense makeup sex, almost making me forget to be afraid. But my brain knew I was under attack. “You hardly waited until I was out of the parking lot before you fucked Tristan. I know every slutty move you made. Talis made sure to tell me everything before I destroyed her. Do you want to know how I did it?”

“Is that what you’re going to do to me, Blade? Destroy me?”

Could he? He must have been able to hear my heart battering my ribcage. It didn't need to beat anymore, but everybody had the same response to crisis, alive or undead.

Why couldn’t I fight him? Anyone else I would have sent flying across the office. But it was Blade.

“Oh, hell no. I’m going to let you and your piece of shit junkie boyfriend destroy yourselves. And I’m going to roast marshmallows in the flames.” He pulled the neck of my shirt down, exposing my shoulder. His beard stubble tickled my skin as he spoke. I shivered. “Talis made a mistake, trying to use me to get revenge against you and the golden boy. She likes her slaves strong. She made me too strong. I dominated her, just like I’m going to do to you. I dug her heart out of her chest with my bare hands. Stupid bitch thought I was going to fuck her. Did you know a vampire’s heart will still beat when it’s removed from the body, Callie? It’s like watching a chicken run with its head cut off. Fascinating. But enough with the science lesson. I held her heart in my hand while I set her body on fire. I liked the way it felt when it moved. When it stopped beating, I threw it in the pyre.” He licked my shoulder blade and laughed when I flinched. “You knew I didn’t want this, Callie. I guess I didn’t make myself clear.”

“I did everything I could to get you away from her. I thought you were worth fighting for.”

“Bullshit. I know how Bloodlust works now. You didn’t care about anything else. I thought
you
were worth fighting for, and you tossed me aside like garbage. And look what it got you.”

He scraped his fangs down my back. I screamed. Was he going to rip me apart, right here in this office, while thousands of people enjoyed a concert just down the hall? He slammed my head down on the desk with the hand still tangled in the back of my hair. I tasted my own blood. Blade must have been able to smell it as it welled in my mouth. He flipped me forward and pressed against me, aroused, and put his mouth over mine to drink from me.

I responded to his kiss, my body once again betraying me. My mind tricking me into thinking my ex-boyfriend was somewhere inside this monster. I pulled him in closer to me, my synapses on overdrive. How could he could he make me want him? Like this? I nipped at him, trying to draw his blood.

Did he realize what I was? Just like him.

“Did you know whoever takes out the master becomes the master?” Blade pulled away from me just enough to speak. His lips moved against mine. I could feel them arch upward in a smile. “The time to kiss and make up has passed. This whole city answers to me now. You answer to me now.”

M
AYBE IF
I'd paid more attention, I would have noticed something wasn't quite right. But in my fantasy world, I didn't want to believe that Talis had disappeared for any other reason than she was somehow giving me permission to be with Tristan. That I had won. I was too arrogant, naive, and foolish to believe that the spoils could go to someone else.

I wanted to kick and scream like a child. I wasn't getting my way. In my old life, before Las Vegas, I'd been used to it. Breaking free from my mother and my sheltered life on Martha's Vineyard, made me think that things had changed for good, that I had some control over my universe. Oh, who was I kidding? I was every bit the stupid little girl that I bristled about every time someone accused me of being exactly that. I had no more control than I ever did. Less, even. Now I let Tristan pull the strings as if we existed in a vacuum.

Blade realized it long before I did.

He had plenty of time to think about what he would do, at the helm at last. I punched the wall, alarmed when I easily put my fist through the drywall. I hadn’t gotten used to my vampire strength yet. I shook it as I withdrew, and then smoothed my hand over the fresh pockmark in the wall. It didn't do any good.