Broken Heart 03 Because Your Vampire Said So Read Online Free PDF

roundness and felt a tiny foot kick against my palm.
    I wanted to weep.
    To my surprise, I did. I closed my eyes and let the tears course down my cheeks.
    Fingertips brushed away the wetness. I opened my eyes and met Gabriel’s sun-fire gaze.
    Lord-a-mercy. He stared at me with such longing, such love, I wanted to give him anything he asked.
    “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
    “Nothing,” I whispered. Happiness welled within me. “Everything is perfect.”
    His ravenous grin reminded me that he was a werewolf. I felt like he might devour me in that moment. As if to confirm my fears (or hopes?), he pressed his hot mouth to mine.
    And then the dream melted away and I fell into the soft darkness of vampire sleep.
    The Story of Ruadan the First
    As Written by Lorcan O’Halloran
    Once there was a great warrior-magician whose name was Ruadan. He was the son of magician-healer Brigid and warrior-prince Bres.
    Brigid was born the daughter of Dagda, all-father to the Tuatha de Danann, and of Morrigu, the crow queen. Bres was born the son of Fomhoire prince Elatha and of Tuatha de Danann princess Eriu. So, the families bound together their children so that they might rule as one.
    Many believed Bres would bring peace to the troubled nations. When he came of age, he married Brigid to solidify his bond with the Tuatha de Danann. In time, he was made King of Eire.
    But Bres was a foolish ruler, ignorant of his people’s suffering and unjust in his judgments. The sons of Tuatha de Danann rose up against him and took his crown, banishing him. In defeat, Bres returned to his father’s kingdom.
    Bres was too prideful to turn away from the dishonor shown to him by the Tuatha de Danann, no matter how deserved. He vowed to take back what had been taken from him and to once again rule Eire.
    Brigid wanted peace between the Fomhoire and the Tuatha de Danann. Without her husband’s knowledge, she sought her mother’s counsel. Morrigu foresaw the future and told her daughter the truth: The Tuatha de Danann would triumph over the Fomhoire, but not before Brigid lost her husband and their sons, Ruadan, Iuchar, and Uar.
    The Tuatha de Danann had a magical well that instantly healed their warriors so long as they had not suffered a mortal blow. Created by a goldsmith named Goibniu, the well was safeguarded by spells and men alike. “Kill the builder of the well,” said Bres to his sons, “and destroy its magic … and the Tuatha de Danann will fall.”
    So it came to pass that Ruadan’s wife, Aine, bore twin boys, Padriag and Lorcan. Satisfied that his family was safe, Ruadan and his brothers sailed to the Isle of Eire to fulfill his father’s plan.
    The brothers used stealth and cunning to break through the defenses of their enemy. While Iuchar and Uar battled those who guarded the well, Ruadan stabbed Goibniu with the fae swords. But Goibniu, though mortally wounded, thrust his spear into Ruadan’s chest and felled the warrior.
    Near death, Ruadan arrived in his homeland and was taken to his mother. She used all her magic and healing arts, but could not save her son. The very same night Ruadan breathed his last, Brigid received word of the deaths of Iuchar and Uar. She fell to her knees and wailed with such sorrow that anyone who heard the sounds knew a mother’s heart had been rent from her.
    Morrigu heard the keening of her daughter, so she turned into a crow and flew to the land of the Fomhoire. Though the dark queen craved chaos over tranquility and war over peace, she felt pity for her daughter and offered one chance for Brigid to regain her son.
    “Give Ruadan a cup of my blood, but be warned! When he awakes, he will not live as a man, but as a deamhan fola. He will never again walk in the light. He will not consume food or drink, but shall siphon the blood of the living. Neither will he have breath nor beat of heart. Never will he sire another child by his own seed.”
    “Is there no good to be wrought then,