Crimson Heat: 4 (Vampira) Read Online Free PDF Page A

get your hopes up, Zee. Okay? Don’t push her.”
    Zeena’s hopes of having Lisbeth for her hot model plummeted. Her sister was right. They needed to keep protecting Lisbeth and she needed to not pester her about modeling again for her.
    Darn it! She’d let her need for breaking into the competitive human world of fashion cloud her judgment for her friend. Christina was right, of course.
    Zeena refocused her attention to Lisbeth who was now halfway back. She looked so sexy and stunning in that red dress and the crowd was still cheering. They loved her. Just as Zeena and Christina loved her.
    She burst with happiness as Lisbeth flashed Zeena a smile, showing off her huge white fangs, and tossed her a wink.
    A moment later, Lisbeth stepped behind the curtains, her eyes closing as she kicked off her shoes. From the auditorium, the crowd continued to cheer, and then a chant began to an almost deafening roar.
    Sexy vampiress. Sexy vampiress.
    “Okay, I have an idea. Lisbeth, they love you.” Christina laughed. “They want you back out there. Both of you go out right now. And don’t forget to bow.”
    “But I don’t have my shoes,” Lisbeth complained as Zeena grabbed Lisbeth’s hand and led her back out onto the runway. The crowd went wild. Zeena melted into the noise, loving the furious applause. She swore this was the happiest day of her life.
    * * * * *
     
    It was the worst day of Lisbeth’s life. Okay, almost. But tears of joy filled Zeena’s eyes and Lisbeth held tighter to her friend’s hand, lifting it up into the air. The crowd cheered louder.
    “It appears your Zeena vampire line is a hit,” Lisbeth shouted to Zeena. Her young friend laughed.
    It was then Lisbeth sniffed a familiar, rancid scent wafting through the warm, stuffy air. Her body went cold with remembrance of clanging slave cell doors and the quick-paced boots of her guard. No, it couldn’t be him out there.
    She sniffed the air, but the smell was gone. Had it been her imagination? Or was it reality?
    A strong need to flee zipped through her, yet she forced herself to stand here with Zeena and embrace the whistles and hand-clapping of the humans. She scanned the audience, but she couldn’t see anyone she knew.
    The uncomfortable smell from her old life had to be her imagination.
    It had to be.
    * * * * *
     
    Queen Crimson’s hand tightened around her cane and she could barely contain her excitement.
    “You are sure of this?” she asked the vampire who’d once been in charge of her blood slaves. Since her favorite slave had escaped on his watch she’d demoted him to searching for blood slaves for her. Humans, in particular, that wouldn’t be missed. Plenty of humans disappeared without a trace out in their world, and Queen Crimson took full advantage of the statistics.
    Since her most favorite blood slave had escaped, Queen Crimson had had a ferocious appetite for finding Satin or someone who would match Satin’s sweetness. Unfortunately, she had been unsuccessful.
    “She has an altered face, but humans have had plastic surgery for many years now. They can change faces, but she wears your brand beneath the altering. The rose with the chain. And I recognized her scent. Sweet. Perhaps, even sweeter now that she has aged a bit more.”
    The Queen nodded as a familiar rage whipped through her. He should recognize her favorite slave’s scent. He’d been her guard. He should have prevented her from escaping.
    Now he told her he’d found her precious missing slave and Queen Crimson could barely restrain herself from lifting the ban on the dematerializing mind control she held over her people so she could go out into the world and get Satin herself.
    She had a better idea.
    “Summon my three top bounty hunters,” she ordered her nearby guards. “Tell them I wish to see them and to make them an offer they cannot refuse.”
    “Your wish is our command, my Queen.” The closest guard bowed and he and most of the other guards left the