IM01 - Carpe Noctem Read Online Free PDF

grin. “Mortals like to think they can hurt us. It helps them sleep at night.”
    “So, you’re not afraid of crosses, then?”
    Lysander shook his head. “Crosses and other holy relics are nothing more than symbols and decorations. I hardly see why an ornamental cross would stop me from doing anything. Furthermore, I think it’s time for the Christians to come up with a better symbol. One that is a little less… gloomy.”
    I chuckled. “Okay, what about garlic?”
    He shrugged his shoulders. “What about it?”
    “Isn’t garlic bad for vampires?”
    “No.” He shook his head. “Why would it be? We don’t eat, so how would it harm us?”
    I nodded. “Okay… umm… stakes?”
    His head tilted to the side as the corner of his lip rose up into a teasing grin. “You can try to stab me with a piece of wood, but I doubt it will do much more than aggravate me. We heal quite fast. Perhaps a blade would work better.”
    I shuddered, seeing his teeth again as he spoke. Is that how I look now?
    “So, knives and swords are bad?”
    “Yes. It is much harder to regenerate a severed limb. And if we are separated from our heads, it would be safe to say we would cease to exist.”
    I smiled, noting the sarcasm in Lysander’s voice. I could tell he’d had this conversation before. He seemed to be enjoying my round of silly questions.
    “Holy water?” I blurted out.
    Lysander let out a hearty laugh. “No, you won’t melt into a pile of goo. You can throw most of that nonsense out of the window, Alyssa.”
    I giggled, realizing how silly it sounded: melting into a pile of goo after being splashed with water. Maybe this won’t be so bad.
    “You see, we immortals are not as ridiculous as Hollywood likes to portray us. Though one thing is true... we do survive off the blood of the living.”
    The smile faded from my face. Blood; of course . That was the one true thing in all the myths.
    Lysander sat quietly as if waiting for me to do or say something. After a moment of silence, the casual smile disappeared from his lips.
    He had to know this revelation would be a shock to me, but I couldn’t read his now expressionless face. The silence in the room quickly turned awkward. I guessed that he was waiting for me to respond or acknowledge my understanding or acceptance of what he’d just told me.
    But how do you respond to someone who tells you that you will now survive on blood? For that matter, how the hell was I going to survive on blood?
    Am I going to have to bite someone? No! There’s just no way I can do that.
    I sat there half dazed. As the thought of blood entered my mind, my stomach ached. Pangs of hunger nagged at me. I tried my best to ignore them. According to Lysander, hunger now meant blood; and if that was the case, I didn’t want any.
     “How, why... ” I didn’t have the ability at that moment to articulate all the thoughts swimming through my head. Words spilled out of their own accord, faster than I could form sentences. “I just… blood… no.”
    “It’s a lot to take in, especially since you were thrown into this,” Lysander said in his soothing, velvety voice. “It is not a common practice to turn someone who is completely oblivious to our kind. Please understand, I had to do this. You would have died if I hadn’t turned you.”
    How am I going to drink someone’s blood? I can’t do it. No! I won’t do it. That’s disgusting .
    Shock from this revelation tied my tongue.
    “We can go into more detail about all of this after you have had a little time to accept it. There is more to know.”
    More? There’s more? What else, do I have to eat brains, too? I don’t think I can handle any more.
    I sat, wringing my hands as I tried to ignore the ache building in my stomach. Was it hunger? Thirst, perhaps?
    Lysander’s brow furrowed as he watched me. I wondered if he understood what I was thinking or how I was feeling.
    “Immortality, you might be happy to know,” he said softly, “does