Crimson Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page A

three elevators with escalators on either side that led to the second floor that housed the public businesses.
     
    I waved to the receptionist and boarded an elevator. The Sentinel offices were located three levels down from the mainstream, but the boardrooms were on the fourth floor.
     
    Just as the doors were about to slide closed a smoking, blackened, and blistered hand slid in and pried them back open.
     
    "I see being Pureblood means you lack manners, Valeria," Jacob Priest stepped into the elevator fanning the singed collar on his hooded jacket.
     
    Damn. That was the second time in one day that someone had accused me of being rude. "Fly my kite, Priest. OK, my head was somewhere else. Besides, my rudeness should be the least of your worries. Someone's out a tad early, huh? How'd you shake the day sleep anyway? Oh yeah, your little 'roid cocktail."
     
    I looked down at his hands and bit my bottom lip. "Pureblood has its advantages.” I tapped the back of his hand and blackened flakes of skin peeled off, crumbling to ash as they floated towards the floor. "That's gotta hurt, and I'm pretty sure your jacket is ruined.”
     
    Priest pulled his long blonde hair back and gave me a smile that was all fangs as he shrugged out of the jacket and draped it across his arm. "Have I told you lately that I think you're a spoiled little bitch that got her job only because of who her daddy is?"
     
    I grinned and gave him the finger. "Not since we got off duty yesterday."
     
    Priest nodded and leaned against the wall. "Just checking.”
     
    I watched him out of the corner of my eye as the elevator lurched upwards. He was a good Sentinel and a decent guy, just a total asshole to me. I know it's because of the difference in our blood-status, but he'd never admit it.
     
    Priest was a Deadborn vamp, meaning someone drained him to the point of death, and he came back as a Vampire. Deadborns are ten times stronger than Humans are, but even still, they're the weakest of our kind.
     
    The trauma of a quick turning doesn't give their bodies time to adjust to the Vampire genes properly. Deadborns adapt quickly and absorb only the traits most needed for survival - heightened senses, enhanced strength, speed, and fangs of course. They lost out on the mental abilities.
     
    I tried not to pay attention to the way his navy shirt stretched across his wide chest, but it was no use. A bead of pink sweat made its way down his neck, and I followed its path letting my imagination take me somewhere I had no business going.
     
    Priest may be an asshole, but he was a damn fine example of the opposite sex. The man is six-foot four, has royal blue eyes that are so dark that they are almost black, just a hint of mustache, and looks that could put could put Michelangelo's David to shame. Regrettably, for me, he caught me looking and gave me an all-knowing leer.
     
    He closed the space between us and pressed up against my back, throwing his aura against my own. Charged with sexual prowess, it danced along my own in an attempt to excite me. He was impressive, and it might have worked if I didn't think he was a total tool.
     
    I pushed back with my own aura and put a few inches between us. "Sorry, Priest. I'm taken, and therefore, not interested."
     
    He pulled his energy back only to reach out, turn my head to the side, and run a thumb over two small, almost unnoticeable spots on my neck that had healed long ago. "You can't fool me, Trumaine. You aren't marked. These bites are dead ends. I don't even smell a male on you."
     
    I jerked out of Priest’s grip and shoved him into the elevator wall. "I never said I was with another Vampire or a man, did I?” I could tell by the look on his face that he thought I was full of shit. Maybe I was, but my tussle with Irulan would help me make sure he didn't know that. I stood straighter and turned my head to the side, "Take another whiff, her scent is all over me."
     
    Priest leaned into my body and ran his