A Vampire To Watch Over Me [Vampire Coven Book II] Read Online Free PDF Page B

valuable assets were kept safe.
    Laken sighed; the world had changed so much in the last sixteen thousand years of his existence. Over time, Tavish had been adding to his valuable, powerful vampire dynasty. Tavish’s coven was growing, but not nearly fast enough for Tavish’s liking. Humans were rare and few and far between—they were gifts to the vampire kind. All of the vampires were given a human to protect and call their own, but in the end, when their usefulness was done, the humans were put out of their misery in a gentle way then fed to the animals over the solid twenty-foot-high fence surrounding the compound.
    Today it had been one of Laken’s humans. He had been fond of Ginger. In her youth, she was a real firecracker. Age had matured and tempered her and Laken had no less enjoyed her golden years. Laken had watched over her since birth. At sixty, Ginger had developed a disease Caine couldn’t cure. The doctor had tried, but when Tavish had come to Laken that morning he knew what Tavish was going to do.
    Laken could only control so much of Ginger’s pain with hypnotism. Caine had stronger meds that made her lethargic and weepy—she hated them. At times, her pain was unbearable; it was more Laken who needed to come to terms with what must happen. Ginger’s time had come. When Laken had gone to her, he told her he loved her too much to see her suffer; it nearly broke his heart. Ginger had touched his cheeks with gnarled hands. She simply smiled at him the way she always did when she understood and agreed, and had then taken Tavish by the arm. Laken watched as they strolled together around the compound a last time, saying her goodbyes. As she moved away Laken listened for any distress, but Ginger’s heart hadn’t pounded, she wasn’t afraid.
    When children were born into the coven, the first person they saw was Tavish. He would stare deeply into their eyes, demand loyalty and in return he swore to them they would be watched over and welcome, cared for—loved. They would be fed, housed, clothed, their medical needs met. Any necessity was granted and then some. In short—everything was provided. The demands Tavish made were strict, and he expected to give no less to the ones he cared for. He felt it a fair compromise. When their time was over, Tavish would take their human lives in the most humane way possible.
    Ginger hadn’t been troubled; she loved Laken and trusted Tavish. Her death was as promised—painless. A new baby had been born three days prior to Ginger’s demise and Tavish promised the child to Laken. It was bittersweet to get to know a human from birth to death. Immortality had its drawbacks. Laken had seen a great deal of loss in his long life. The child’s mother belonged to Tavish, but with the new birth of Tavish’s hybrid human-vampire son and Tavish’s new vampire wife, he was a bit busy. Tavish was responsible for everyone in his coven, and his humans were shared with his wife—who was somewhat hesitant to feed from humans. It was why Tavish didn’t mind parting with the human babe.
    The baby promised to Laken, a boy, was cute. Laken hadn’t decided if he wanted him or not. The child would, of course, stay with his mother; she would care for him. If Laken agreed to have the boy under his protection, the child would only ever need to say his name and Laken would hear him from anywhere on the compound. All humans needed a vampire to watch over them and call their own to make them feel safe and secure.
    The boy would not be bled until at least his eighteenth birthday. It was a rule of Tavish’s—no bleeding a child. It was a simple rule and none of the forty-two and a half vampires who lived at the coven ever broke any of Tavish’s rules. Neither did the humans. Tavish had reminders who roamed the coven. Anivamps. A white wolf, a white tiger, a wild boar and a silver back gorilla. For the most part the humans had stopped fearing the creatures, but they were still there as