Alliances (Guardians of White Light, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Liana because he’d loved her. And that love had transcended instinct, rules and all boundaries.
    “I’m a vampire. It’s in my nature to bite you,” he warned her.
    “I’m a slayer. It’s in my nature to drive a stake through your heart. I guess we’ll both have to repress our instincts,” she shot back.
    She grinned at him. Mathias found himself cracking a smile too.
    She shifted her weight and eyed him seriously. “Look, I’m here to stop Immortalia and prevent this war. I guess the question is; can you get over yourself to do the same?”
    They locked eyes and studied one another for a few moments.
    Mathias conceded and opened the driver’s door. He gestured to the passenger side. “Get in, slayer,” he said with a grin.
    She handed him his bag of blood. “The name’s Jenna.
    “All right, Jenna .”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    Mathias and Jenna climbed the stone steps to the entrance of his once glorious home.
    “Wow. Looks like you've done pretty well for yourself,“ Jenna commented as her eyes wandered over the property.
    A magnificent stone-built Elizabethan mansion towered before her. Including its gardens, it covered more than four acres of land. Unlike many grand homes of the Tudor era, with glass being a luxury and, thus, a statement of wealth and power, there were very few windows. She looked closer and realized that they had been overlaid with brick—a vampire’s necessary modification to such a home. Windows were not friends to the undead.
    “It was another life,“ he said somberly as he reached for the brass handles of the heavy oak doors. He pulled back abruptly, lowering his voice to a whisper. “They’re open.”
    Jenna joined him by the doors. “You haven't lived here for years. Dozens of squatters could have come and gone in that time.“
    “Perhaps,” he said, unsure.
    Jenna registered his uncertainty. “You think Immortalia soldiers are here?“
    Mathias’ brow furrowed. “I’m not sure.” He slowly slid his broadsword from its sheath at his hip. “It’s been a while since…I’ve been out in the world,” he admitted to her. He was a little rusty; something that he needed to overcome as soon as possible or they’d both be in trouble. He cautiously stepped inside.
    Jenna followed him into the massive lobby. It was dark, but she could see just fine. She was used to it. Off to the left was the start of a winding staircase that led up to God knew how many more rooms. She looked down at the floor. Marble . Her new ally’s wealth obviously knew no limits. But then, he’d had centuries to amass such a fortune.
    Instinctively, she withdrew a stake.
    Mathias felt it without needing to see it. An involuntary shiver ran through him. “Put that away.”
    “I don’t think so.” There was no way she was going to disarm when there could be intruders—hostile vampires—in the building.
    “I don’t want you wielding a stake while you’re walking behind me.”
    “I’m holding it low, nowhere near your heart.”
    “Holster it for now.”
    “No.”
    “How much time do you need to draw?”
    “I like to have it handy.”
    A rush of ice-cold air hit her like a hurricane force wind and suddenly he stood before her, his hand gripping the stake she held. He glowered down at her and a low throaty growl spoke a warning.
    “Do you have any idea how much these things hurt?”
    “Strangely, no. I’ve never let a vamp stab me with my own stake,” she shot back, looking up at him and matching his agitated glare.
    “It takes so much power to wound with this thing. It’s wood and it can only take so much pressure before it breaks. That means, when you drive it deep enough to wound, it splinters. You have no idea how agonizing it is to extract every tiny fucking sliver of wood from a wound. And, if you don’t get all of it, the wound won’t heal.”
    “Speaking from experience, are you?” she asked, still not prepared to relinquish her primo