Bleeding Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

Treaty of Tordesillas, Adie.” His deep voice thrilled through her.
    “What does that
have to do with mom?” She turned to look at her father.
    “I'm getting
there, kiddo,” said Carter, chuckling at his daughter's impatience. “The Treaty
basically divided the known civilized world into two parts, the East and the
West. The lands in the East belonged to Portugal, and those in the West were
owned by Spain. In the vampire realm the East fell under the ownership of the
Kristofferson Dynasty.”
    “Sexy name,” Adrienne
suddenly blurted out, unaware that her mouth was acting faster than her mind. “That
would be a totally hot last name.”
    “I'm glad you
think so,” Xavier interjected, smiling.
    Adrienne frowned
at the tone in his voice, suddenly suspicious, she asked, “So, your name is
Xavier. What is your last name?”
    Xavier's grin spread
across his face. “I'm Xavier Kristofferson.”
    “Hell, no!”
Adrienne gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in embarrassment.
    “Hell, yes,” was the
other's teasing reply.
    “Can I continue
now?” That was Adrienne's father. Even though he was amused with his daughter's
and Xavier's biting and entertaining interaction with each other, Carter Stahl
needed to finish the story as soon as possible. While vampires didn’t need to
sleep, they did get tired, and he was tired. And his daughter had a party to
finish.
    “Did you just say
the Kristofferson Dynasty used to own half of the world?” Adrienne asked.
    Her father nodded
in response. “They ruled half of the  vampire  world and the
other half belonged to our dynasty, the Stahl dynasty. Many believed there was
too much power in the hands of two monarchies, so some nobles and a lot of
lower-class vampires decided to revolt, and a number of them teamed up with
Vampire Hunters.”
    Xavier had heard
this story a million times before, but he enjoyed hearing the elder Stahl recite
their family history. “Before your mother and I knew it, every single person
who was against the two monarchies, had begun searching for you and for Xavier.
The thought was that if they killed the only heirs to both thrones, there would
no longer be a monarchy in place. Xavier’s parents, your mother, and I hid you,
and did everything we could to keep you safe.”
    “What? Wait…wait,
this was 1492 and you said that people were searching for Xavier and I? Dad, I
just turned 18!”
    “This was a
couple hundred years after 1492. The treaty was signed, the divisions in power
made, and it took several centuries for the revolution to grow in strength and
numbers. But the curse or spell that your mother put on you did a couple
things. You were made to appear human, in fact in many ways you are human, not
vampire. But you age much slower than a human, and your memories have been
taken from you, time and time again so that what you know is remember is just
that last few years. Kiddo, you may look and feel 18 in human years, but in
vampire years you are several centuries old.”
    “So in order to
protect me, the curse made me seem human? I’m several centuries old but I can’t
remember anything from before. What about Xavier? Has he had his memories taken
away too?” She was really struggling to understand, but it was so much to take
in all at once.
    Adrienne's father
shook his head. “We made you human, or near human, and over the years I’ve
altered your memories. But Xavier has lived the life of a vampire throughout
this time, and been carefully watched over.”
    “But why were we
treated differently?”
    “Because Xavier
is a male of our species. He must be able to protect himself, and now to help
protect you. He has been trained to fight, and has explored all his powers and
abilities, learning to use them to the fullest. Xavier has spent all the centuries
he has lived, training to be the one of the greatest vampire warriors of all
time. He has also learned almost all there is to know about vampire history