Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger Read Online Free PDF Page B

but unlike them, I was not brave enough to endure
an hour standing in line to pay for the products I wanted. Lydia
and I continued on past the food court.
    All of the food venders were closing for the
night, but the mall was busy with their after the holiday sales.
Walking down the corridors like herded cattle, we came across a
group of teenage humans. All dressed like a bunch of Marilyn Manson
followers. Black hair, black boots, black clothes, and black lips
were the standard dress code for these freaks. Lydia and I laughed
as we walked by them. Marilyn Manson groupie number one was the
first to speak.
    “Hey! Ladies! Looking for some fresh blood?”
The pimple faced jerk laughed and stretched out a pale looking
wrist the size of a twig.
    “Fresh supply right over here,” dork number
two spouted while stretching his neck toward us.
    I grabbed Lydia’s forearm and pulled her
along. Her temper usually kept company with a short fuse. She
immediately growled and I tightened my grip on her arm. Oh well,
she was older and therefore, stronger, so I did not stand a
chance.
    Lydia pulled free and in record time was in
the first punks face, fangs bared and a feral snarl bubbled out of
her chest. The white in her eyes veined up with blood, proving her
temper was pretty high. Before I could react, one of the other
punks carefully pulled his black leather trench coat to the side
and flashed a wooden stake. I gasped and my first reaction was to
grab Lydia and make a run for it.
    “Careful bloodsucker!” he yelled. Lydia
reigned in her temper and started to back away. Who do you think I
learned the ‘duck and run’ maneuver from? Maybe running away was
the right thing to do, but her fear lit my protective side on
fire.
    I, like a fool, stepped up to provoke death
in the face. “This place is filled with my kind. You stake us and
you will get what’s coming to you!” I growled.
    Stake boy grabbed my wrist and with it, he
drew a line from the inside of my elbow to my wrist. I pretty much
freaked out; first, because the little punk squeezed my wrist and
second, because the bastard cut me with a wooden stake. I felt the
blood rush to my eyes as my anger flared, but before I could lunge
at the kid, the pain spiked in my arm.
    Just as I fell on my ass screaming in pain, I
saw another huge black leather trench coat jump between me and the
guy with the stake. Instinctively, I flung my bleeding arm over my
heart and the other over my eyes. I rolled to my side and gasped in
pain. All I could hear over my screams was Lydia’s voice trying to
calm me.
    “Shh. It’s okay,” she begged. I nodded and
tried to calm my breathing as best I could, but the burning in my
arm did not fade.
    Having wood rake your skin is about as
comfortable as taking a hot branding iron and holding it in place
on your body. It hurts! I risked looking at my forearm, bad idea.
Man he got me good. Blood was oozing from the wound, spilling out
onto the floor and my wrist was bruised. I flinched at the familiar
sight. I don’t like anyone touching my fucking wrist! Lydia unwound
her scarf from her neck and used it to wrap up my bleeding arm. I
tried to protest, but she silenced me with a hard glare.
    Strong arms lifted me off the floor and I
just about fainted when I looked up at my savior. Damn! Dragus was
carrying me. Those brilliant blue eyes looked down at me like he
was trying to figure out whether to kiss me or kill me. I think he
wanted to kill me.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” I
demanded. I tried to wiggle free of his grasp, but it was
pointless. I was stuck in his arms.
    “What the hell are you doing fighting with
human teenagers?” he demanded back. Yup, I think he wanted to kill
me.
    “Instinctual response to being threatened, so
sue me,” I paused. “Wait a minute! Are you following me?”
    “No, my lady,” he said. His chin immediately
jerked up like he was hiding something. “I’m just patrolling the
local shopping facility, trying to