Angel Souls and Devil Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

here in the apartment.
    “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Meaghan said. “I never start something I don’t intend to finish.”
    Then there were no more words. Alex went to Meaghan, their kiss deep and full of truth and love, pushed her back into the tub and joined her there. They made love with purpose and without
hurry.
    Before the Jihad, before the world changed, their love would have seemed incredible. In the new world order, it was merely extraordinary. Meaghan: auburn hair and truly green eyes, her body
subconsciously made near perfect by the shape-shifting ability all shadows shared. She had only become a shadow five years before, and yet she was one of the most powerful, both physically and
politically. Before the Jihad, she had been a young, attractive professional woman, orphaned as a child and bored with her life.
    Peter Octavian had taken her away from all that, made her a shadow and brought her into a war that changed everything, for her, for the world. And he died for it.
    Alexandra: black hair and brown eyes, skin as dark and soft as sable. Tall and elegant, her heart made hard as diamonds by life in Karl Von Reinman’s coven, she had also been a lover of
Peter Octavian’s. Later, she wanted to kill him. But the war had changed her as well; the loss of her lover, Shi-er Zhi Sheng, had threatened to shatter that diamond heart. Instead, Meaghan
was there, and Alex felt alive again for the first time since Von Reinman had discovered her, a runaway slave not long off the trading ships, and brought her to the life of the vampire.
    They were open about their relationship. They were lovers, plain and simple. They claimed neither homosexual nor heterosexual origin. Such terminology was useless to shadows, because of course
if one of them had wanted a penis, they most assuredly could have managed such a minor change in form. Still, gay and lesbian groups around the world, still fighting against discrimination and
injustice, claimed Meaghan and Alex as their own. While the discrimination went on, very few dared to be critical of the two vampire women. And if their status could help the plight of those
fighting prejudice, the lovers would not deny them that. When Will Cody cast the film version of Allison Vigeant’s book, Jihad , every woman in Hollywood vied for the roles of Meaghan
Gallagher and Alexandra Nueva.
    They were running late, but after their bath, Alex and Meaghan dried each other off, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking and the sensations of the soft cotton. The
conference had been planned to discuss the hottest topic of the day: whether world government could, or should, put some controls on the passing of vampirism from one being to another. Within the
boundaries of this subject fell many other, seemingly smaller topics such as marriage, integration, adoption, hiring practices . . . but what it boiled down to was, how much could the world really
trust them?
    Alex herded Meaghan into the bedroom, and they dressed hurriedly. If they were going to do this thing from home, the least they could do was look presentable. Meaghan was buttoning her shirt
while Alex stepped into a floral-print summer dress.
    “Button me up,” she said, and turned her back to Meaghan.
    As Meaghan reached out to do so, Alexandra went rigid, fell to her knees, then backward into Meaghan’s arms. Her eyes were wide, dilated, and she twitched, a single tear rolling down her
cheek.
    “Alex!” Meaghan knelt by her. “What is it, honey? What’s wrong?”
    Alex’s head was in her lap. Meaghan looked into her lover’s eyes and saw no recognition there. Wherever Alex had gone, she was far away. Meaghan slapped her face, trying to bring her
back. She knew what was happening. Alexandra’s mind was linked to those of each of Karl Von Reinman’s vampiric children. But as far as Meaghan knew, only two of Von Reinman’s
brood still lived: Rolf Sechs and . . .
    “Cody!” Alex yelled from within her catatonia,