started
hunting more deliberately and the others of my kind have been picked
off. If he kills me, he’ll take all my power. He’s a far greater
evil than you’ve ever thought about being. I have to break the
cycle, and I won’t contribute to the things he wants to do by dying
at his hands.”
“You little… ” Who the hell did this girl think she was? She didn’t
know how evil Angeline was or wasn’t.
The girl tilted her head again, trailing her index finger up and down the
column of her throat. “Eat up. From the looks of things, this will
be your last meal. At least it’ll be a good one.”
Well, if the girl wanted to die so very badly, Angeline would oblige her.
All the riddles as well as the creepiness of an adult woman dying and
then coming back a child all in the same night was enough incentive.
Who needed a formal invitation to shut up that nonsense?
“Untie me,” Angeline said, locking eyes with the girl.
The blonde giggled. “Oh, nice try. Remember you’re only two hundred
and twenty.”
Angeline growled, but leaned forward, sinking her fangs into the girl’s
neck. The angle was awkward. This was no way to enjoy a meal. It was
humiliating in the extreme, but she intended to suck every drop out
of her, far past the point of death, so the obnoxious brat didn’t
rise again. She still didn’t know how that worked, nor did she
care.
Tam’s blood was a fine wine, aged to perfection. But it was also the youth
and excitement of childhood. It was the best of both worlds, the
rarest thing the vampire had ever tasted. If by some miracle, Hadrian
let her go, she could see keeping this girl as a blood doll—if she
couldn’t permanently kill her, that is. Because she really wanted
to kill her.
The girl’s pulse grew thready and then slowed and stopped. Angeline
continued to drink, squeezing every last drop of blood out. Tam
became a corpse for the second time that night, still draped across
her killer.
Angeline snarled in frustration, unable to move her. But then a slow smile
formed on her face.
She’d just fed from the strongest blood she’d ever tasted. Probably not
more than Hadrian had consumed, since the smaller, younger body held
less blood than her former size, but she’d had at least as much as
he’d had. If she focused all her energy and will, she might
convince her arms to obey her will instead of his and escape.
A long time passed before her arm twitched against her restraints. This
might not be her final night on Earth.
***
Hadrian thought taking control of Angeline had been easy enough, but being
barely risen, one human, no matter how powerful, just hadn’t been
enough. He’d need a few more pints before he was ready to deal with
his sire fully.
The city was noisier than he remembered. With his
new senses, voices, thoughts, traffic, heartbeats, the buzzing of the
neon signs, everything combined to create a din that stuffed his head and threatened to
squeeze his sanity out through his eye sockets.
The ability to shield one’s mind from a vampire varied from person to
person, because some people seemed to throw their thoughts out at
him, almost begging him to hear them, while others faded into the
background in quiet whispers. Still others required him to focus
intently and specifically on them to get direct thoughts. A few were
blank slates that he couldn’t read at all.
The few he wasn’t able to read looked up at him sharply, suspicion in
their eyes like they knew he’d tried to penetrate the privacy of
their mind. He smiled at one such man apologetically and moved on.
There was no telling what he was.
It wasn’t hard to find sinners in a place like Las Vegas. Hadrian
couldn’t move two steps without tripping over one. But he was
looking for dinner, too. He didn’t just want to find guilty
souls—he wanted pretty ones who smelled nice. He wasn’t about to
sink his fangs into a man.
Perhaps other vampires felt differently, but Hadrian’s previous chastity
caused
hunting more deliberately and the others of my kind have been picked
off. If he kills me, he’ll take all my power. He’s a far greater
evil than you’ve ever thought about being. I have to break the
cycle, and I won’t contribute to the things he wants to do by dying
at his hands.”
“You little… ” Who the hell did this girl think she was? She didn’t
know how evil Angeline was or wasn’t.
The girl tilted her head again, trailing her index finger up and down the
column of her throat. “Eat up. From the looks of things, this will
be your last meal. At least it’ll be a good one.”
Well, if the girl wanted to die so very badly, Angeline would oblige her.
All the riddles as well as the creepiness of an adult woman dying and
then coming back a child all in the same night was enough incentive.
Who needed a formal invitation to shut up that nonsense?
“Untie me,” Angeline said, locking eyes with the girl.
The blonde giggled. “Oh, nice try. Remember you’re only two hundred
and twenty.”
Angeline growled, but leaned forward, sinking her fangs into the girl’s
neck. The angle was awkward. This was no way to enjoy a meal. It was
humiliating in the extreme, but she intended to suck every drop out
of her, far past the point of death, so the obnoxious brat didn’t
rise again. She still didn’t know how that worked, nor did she
care.
Tam’s blood was a fine wine, aged to perfection. But it was also the youth
and excitement of childhood. It was the best of both worlds, the
rarest thing the vampire had ever tasted. If by some miracle, Hadrian
let her go, she could see keeping this girl as a blood doll—if she
couldn’t permanently kill her, that is. Because she really wanted
to kill her.
The girl’s pulse grew thready and then slowed and stopped. Angeline
continued to drink, squeezing every last drop of blood out. Tam
became a corpse for the second time that night, still draped across
her killer.
Angeline snarled in frustration, unable to move her. But then a slow smile
formed on her face.
She’d just fed from the strongest blood she’d ever tasted. Probably not
more than Hadrian had consumed, since the smaller, younger body held
less blood than her former size, but she’d had at least as much as
he’d had. If she focused all her energy and will, she might
convince her arms to obey her will instead of his and escape.
A long time passed before her arm twitched against her restraints. This
might not be her final night on Earth.
***
Hadrian thought taking control of Angeline had been easy enough, but being
barely risen, one human, no matter how powerful, just hadn’t been
enough. He’d need a few more pints before he was ready to deal with
his sire fully.
The city was noisier than he remembered. With his
new senses, voices, thoughts, traffic, heartbeats, the buzzing of the
neon signs, everything combined to create a din that stuffed his head and threatened to
squeeze his sanity out through his eye sockets.
The ability to shield one’s mind from a vampire varied from person to
person, because some people seemed to throw their thoughts out at
him, almost begging him to hear them, while others faded into the
background in quiet whispers. Still others required him to focus
intently and specifically on them to get direct thoughts. A few were
blank slates that he couldn’t read at all.
The few he wasn’t able to read looked up at him sharply, suspicion in
their eyes like they knew he’d tried to penetrate the privacy of
their mind. He smiled at one such man apologetically and moved on.
There was no telling what he was.
It wasn’t hard to find sinners in a place like Las Vegas. Hadrian
couldn’t move two steps without tripping over one. But he was
looking for dinner, too. He didn’t just want to find guilty
souls—he wanted pretty ones who smelled nice. He wasn’t about to
sink his fangs into a man.
Perhaps other vampires felt differently, but Hadrian’s previous chastity
caused
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