Immortal Obsession Read Online Free PDF Page A

for her mind to wrap around what was happening. Ryan was flailing, pinned up against the wall, held up by his throat by a tall figure in dark clothes. It took her another second to realize that he was dangling about two feet off the ground.
    “Amanda, run!” Her brother screamed, flailing his arms and legs at the man who held him.
    She heard a snarl and then the dark figure pulled out what looked like a hunting knife. Ryan tried to pummel the looming figure while she watched in horror as in one sweeping motion, he slit Ryan’s throat from ear to ear. Ryan gurgled as blood poured down the front of his gray T-shirt, spreading out like a dark fan covering his chest. Amanda tried to scream as her brother was dropped to the ground in a heap, his blood gushing onto the sidewalk as the dark figure knelt over him. She felt something warm running down her leg and realized she had just wet herself. The murderer turned toward her, snarling through what looked like exposed fangs.
    Sweat trickled down her face as he came toward her, catlike and graceful. Amanda tried to see his face in the shadows. She glanced at Ryan, not moving on the ground. He’s dead, oh my God, he’s dead.
    Her legs would not move; they felt like concrete. I am going to die here with him.
    “Antoine, get away from her.” A man’s voice rang out. The figure turned toward the voice in the darkness.
    Amanda heard a swooshing sound and froze, as Antoine’s head separated from his neck, momentarily suspended in the air before dropping and rolling toward her brother. His body crumbled, falling on the pavement going up in flames. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
    Another figure emerged from the shadows. He seemed shorter, with shoulder-length brown hair. Like the other man, he too was dressed in black. He hovered over her brother’s body, dabbed Ryan’s blood onto his finger, and licked it, like a cat lapping a bowl of milk.
    Oh my God. She heard the words echo in her head, but had she said them aloud? Is he going to kill me, too?
    He hovered over her brother’s body for what seemed like forever. Amanda watched him, wondering what he was doing, then he looked up at her and snarled, slowly getting up off the ground, his face covered in Ryan’s blood. He had something in his hand, a jar perhaps, that he shoved into the inside pocket of his coat.
    “There you are my beauty. Come to me, child.” He called to her in a voice that caressed her, and it seemed as if he recognized her. She could not hear his footsteps as he came toward her. It was as if he floated above the concrete. He reached out his hand, and she saw his eyes, dark and bottomless. Something caught her eye as another figure came out of the shadows. He was tall and thin, and wore a flowing black coat. She noticed that his golden hair hung down his back in flowing waves. He was beautiful, and she sensed he would not harm her.
    “Get away from her, Lucien, unless you want your head to roll,” the blond man hissed vehemently, his deep voice strangely comforting. He gracefully stepped toward her. Sweat trickled down her face as he studied her. It seemed as though he were making sure she was okay.
    The other one hissed at the tall blond figure. Then he was gone, melting into the evening shadows. She stood alone with the mysterious man. She wanted to thank him, but then she noticed the bloody machete in his right hand. Is he going to take my head, too? She felt weak as darkness descended.

Chapter Four

    G AÉTAN STOOD AT the salon window of the apartment he had once shared with Gabrielle and stared down at the Saturday night traffic on the Rue de Rivoli. The lights illuminating the Louvre reflected back into the room. This had been his residence since the turn of the nineteenth century, when La Révolution Française had finally ended and the arrogant Napoleon had come to power. Gaétan folded his arms across his muscular chest and debated whether summoning Gabrielle had been a good idea. They