A Taste for Blood Read Online Free PDF Page B

breathed, running a hand through my hair before glancing up and down the halls. “What are you doing here? And at such an ungodly hour, too.”
    Garbed in a dark suit that was almost as ancient as he was, the man who’d offered me a new life when I’d had none to spare showed his age well. Thin hair. Thick eyebrows. Hell, even his fingers would’ve been gnarled by now if he wasn’t immortal, but with each passing day, he seemed to grow a little younger.
    Being turned didn’t just mean we lived forever—it also undid any damage to our bodies. Illness, age, injury or even being on the brink of death—it didn’t matter.
    Granted, when compared to Corvis, I wasn’t much younger. But we’re talking aeons ago, back when thirty was the prime age for any man. And, for Corvis, being that old was the best he could’ve ever asked for.
    “There’s a situation.” He groaned, seeming just as annoyed about being awake in the middle of the day as I was. In fact, it seemed as though he hadn’t slept at all.
    When’s the last time you ate, Corvis?
    He looked like hell had taken him in then spat him back out again. Sunken eyes. Hollowed cheeks. Paler than normal. This wasn’t just any problem he’d come to talk to me about. Something big had happened.
    “Well?” He raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
    In the time it took his words to register, I’d positioned myself in the doorway, slowly shuffling out into the hall. With my manners thrown to the wayside, I peered over my shoulder just long enough to make sure we hadn’t disturbed Kassy.
    Corvis’ eyes darkened, and he placed a hand on the door before I could close it the entire way. “Hiding something from me?”
    “Company,” I explained with a partial shrug, trying to hurry him out of the way. “Mind if we talk outside?”
    Corvis craned his neck to see through what was left between the door and its frame. He removed his hand, but his expression didn’t change.
    As soon as the door had closed, he spoke. “What is she doing here?”
    I winced at his tone but tried not to show it. “Lying in my bed, which I’d really like to return to, if you don’t mind.” My hand was still on the knob, and with every passing breath, my heart dared me to open the door a little more.
    “She’s supposed to be downstairs.”
    “What, in the den?” I scoffed. “I thought we had a law against drinking from one of our own.”
    His eyes widened. “You turned her? After you agreed—?”
    “I didn’t agree to a damned thing.”
    “Then maybe you two can explain the recent deaths happening around the city.”
    “Wait. What?” I swallowed. “How recent?”
    “At least three of those deaths happened just before daylight.”
    I frowned and looked back on the night before. We might have stumbled around a bit, but we hadn’t drunk live—not to the point of death, anyway. “I assure you, after the night we had, we were out of it most of the day.”
    “Yes, I can see that.” He gestured to my partially naked form. “But tell me, if you were in my position, where would you go after washing the blood from your hands?”
    I sighed. He might have seen Kassy, he might have even blamed her, but that wasn’t why he was here. “I’d check in with the stronger vampires in the coven first. Those who can turn humans into one of us.”
    He nodded, clearly pleased with my response.
    “Where did they die?”
    “One in each of the three territories.”
    I breathed a sigh of relief. “After leaving Horizons, we came straight here. We haven’t left since.”
    “So you’ve been asleep then?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then how do you know she’s been here the entire time?”
    “Because she’s here.” I lowered my voice. “And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a light sleeper. You were able to wake me from a blood-induced coma, yet she still sleeps. I swear, we’ve been here since right after I turned her.”
    “Make sure it stays that way. If she wasn’t