Blake, Abby - Vampires' Witness [PUP Squad Alpha 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that?”
    “It’s a skill all vampires have. We can compel humans, but it’s something we try to avoid. It can be very frightening for the human.” She nodded in agreement. It had been beyond terrifying to not have any control over her own actions. Samuel rubbed a thumb over her stomach where his hand rested, the gentle touch quite comforting.
    “Are you hungry?” Benjamin asked. She gave him a watery smile. It was obvious he didn’t want to frighten her by dredging up too many memories. Unfortunately, the entire experience was replaying in her brain. She hoped that maybe if she told them everything, it would help lessen the memory’s impact.
    By the time she was finished talking, her voice was hoarse, her eyes felt swollen and raw, and her chest ached with grief, but a very small part of her knew it was the first step to reclaiming her life.
    “Thank you, Skye,” Benjamin said as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re an amazing young woman.” He glanced at the interconnecting door, and she finally noticed two more men standing just outside the room. The new faces probably should have frightened her, but she was too exhausted to feel much of anything.
    One of the men stepped into the room, reached into the small fridge, and lifted out what seemed to be a bag of blood. She shuddered in revulsion as he poured some into a coffee mug and brought it over to her.
    Her mouth watered at the appealing smell, but her brain clung to fears she’d learned while working in the medical industry. Samuel reached over and took the cup when Skye refused to reach for it. She wanted to back away from the mug full of biohazard waste, but with Samuel behind her she had nowhere to go.
    The man who’d stayed in the doorway smiled kindly at her reaction. “You’ll get used to it. I don’t know all that much about newly made vampires but I do know you need blood to survive.”
    Skye nodded even though the thought of drinking blood made her stomach twist in an anxious knot. “Are you…”
    She didn’t manage to get the whole sentence out, but it was obvious by the man’s next words that he’d known what she was going to ask. “Nope, Alex and I—I’m Thomas, by the way—aren’t vampires. I’m a werewolf.” He glanced at the man he’d identified as Alex, gave a mischievous sort of grin, and added, “Alex is something else.”
    “Oh,” she said, not really ready for any more surprises. She’d gone from blissful ignorance to suddenly learning that vampires and werewolves really did exist. She didn’t even want to know what “something else” meant.
    Again Thomas seemed to understand, because he glanced at Benjamin and Samuel, nodded to Alex, and then the two men left the room.
    “You need to drink this, sweetheart,” Samuel said as he held the cup closer to her face.
    “I don’t think I can. You know—AIDS, hepatitis, deadly diseases that kill innocent people…”
    Benjamin seemed to smile at that. “Skye, you’re no longer ‘people.’ You’re a vampire now. Blood-borne diseases like that only taint the taste of the blood. They can’t hurt you. Not anymore.”
    “Oh.” It was turning out to be a rather weird conversation. Even though inside her head she knew they were telling her the truth, she couldn’t quite extend her belief to the fact that she would now need to drink blood to survive. “Um…maybe later.”
    Benjamin gave her a look that told her he knew she was stalling, but he stepped closer, took the mug from Samuel, and placed it on the bedside table where she could reach it.
    “Can I call my sister now? What time is it? She must beside herself with worry.”
    “Sure,” Samuel said as his arm tightened around her middle for a moment, “as soon as we figure out what you should tell her. The whole vampire part is something best left out.” Benjamin nodded in agreement and then helped her to her feet. This time she managed to take the sheet with her.
    “So what should I