Frailty: The Darkshine Read Online Free PDF

believe you just asked me that.” He chuckled softly and she knitted her eyebrows in confusion.
    “Why was that funny?”
    “I’m sorry. The question itself is not funny, but the fact that you actually asked me was. No one has ever spoken to me the way you have just done. It’s quite refreshing actually.”
    “I should be frightened of you.”
    “Why do you say that, Helina?”
    She picked up a dead leaf and started crushing it up in her fingers. “Well, I know how fast you are, and I’m sure you’re just as strong. It’s clear those sharp teeth of yours aren’t just for looks, and well, you just seem scary is all.”
    “I would never hurt you.”
    “I know that. How I know that I’m not quite sure, but I feel in my heart that you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me.”
    “I wouldn’t unintentionally hurt you either.”
    She crushed the rest of the leaf in her hand, the sound like the Rice Krispies that used to sit in her cereal bowl and crackle in the milk.
    “Tell me about yourself, Helina.”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean, why?”
    “Why do you want to know about me?”
    He chuckled again and the sound speared through her in an intimate way. “You are stubborn, aren’t you?”
    It was her turn to laugh. The sound escaped her and she glanced up at him, seeing a strange look cross his face. Helina instantly sobered and looked down at the ground.
    “No, please, I enjoyed the sound. It was very beautiful.”
    Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.
    “I’m sorry. I’ve embarrassed you, haven’t I?”
    “No. Well, yes, but that’s all right. I laughed because my sister used to say the same thing. About me being stubborn and all.”
    “Well, I’m glad I could make you smile. It makes you more beautiful.”
    Helina blushed again, her face feeling like it had been set on fire. Clearing her throat, she glanced at the creek. “So, um, what about you?”
    “You want to know about me?”
    She nodded and looked back at him, smiling when she saw his big grin.
    “Well, you know my name and my title. Let’s see.” He tapped his chin with his finger, as if he were thinking really hard about her question.
    Helina couldn’t help the smile that seemed to stay on her face, or the small laugh that came out when he gave her a devilish grin, fangs showing and all. Her face sobered at the sight and he didn’t miss the fact.
    “I’m sorry. Do they bother you?”
    “A little.” She wasn’t going to lie, and she wasn’t going to tell him that she had already seen a set before, a pair that dripped with her sister’s blood.
    “I’d take them away if I could, but you see, they’re kind of attached to me.”
    It took her a minute to realize he was making a joke, and when she finally did, her mouth broke into a smile.
    “Let’s see, where to start. Well, I am fairly old, but still young at heart. My kind comes from a country that humans have no knowledge of. In regards to my fangs, well I am sure you know why I have those.”
    “You drink blood then?”
    “It is a necessity, I’m afraid. Although my kind does enjoy ‘normal’ food, we don’t need it to survive.”
    “How old are you?”
    “Don’t you know you’re never supposed to ask a person’s age?”
    She smiled at his sense of humor, but his joking nature didn’t deter her from her questions. “Then again, you really aren’t a person, are you?”
    He was quiet for some time as he stared at her.
    “I guess I’m not, at least not in the sense that you are. In regards to your earlier question, I am over three thousand years old.”
    Her mouth fell open in surprise and she felt her eyes grow wide. She couldn’t speak for several minutes, shock resonating within her. “Huh.” She really couldn’t say any more than that, her mind not grasping the idea that she was speaking with a creature that old. “You must have seen a lot.”
    “Oh, most definitely. Some things were good, other horrendous. Maybe one of these days you would like to hear