In Memories We Fear Read Online Free PDF Page B

young vampire he’d created to serve him.
    “No, not yet. Just go back to Portland and keep listening. Come to me as soon as they purchase tickets.”
    “Okay.”
    She sounded disappointed about something. He wasn’t sure what, but he didn’t give it any thought.
    “Go,” he ordered.
    The air shimmered again, and she vanished. Julian began digging through the newspapers, looking for the most recent issue of the Evening Standard . He wanted to see the article Wade had found.
     
    Eleisha sat in her nightgown before the mirror at her dressing table. She picked up a silver brush and absently ran it through her hair—with several things on her mind.
    First, she was hungry and now wondered about her wisdom in not feeding when she’d had the chance. Since Julian had proven himself a danger to any of the lost vampires they found, Philip had strictly forbidden Wade, Eleisha, or Rose from going out alone at night, and they had all agreed to this.
    Eleisha had reason to believe that for now Julian was no threat to her, but Philip hadn’t changed his mind.
    If she told him she needed to go hunting again, he’d want to know why, and then she’d have to tell him what happened tonight, and it would spoil any enjoyment he’d taken from the game they’d played. If she tried slipping out alone, his reaction would be worse.
    She didn’t know what to do.
    But also, for months now she’d been dwelling on a specific memory she’d seen in the mind of another vampire, Robert Brighton. He had existed for hundreds of years in the company of a woman named Jessenia whom he loved—no, more than loved. He’d been in love with her. Due to Eleisha’s youth spent as a servant, followed by nearly two centuries as a caretaker, she’d never experienced any of the things Robert had, and seeing his memories with Jessenia had been a revelation. Eleisha sometimes closed her eyes and relived what he felt as he touched Jessenia, kissed her . . . while joining his mind to hers.
    Apparently, the love of vampires was different from the love of mortals, but just as physically intense.
    Such acts were foreign to Eleisha.
    They were foreign to Philip.
    She knew he’d had lovers when he was a mortal, but something happened to him when he was turned, and as a result he couldn’t remember anything—anything at all—of his mortal life. It was as if he’d been born the night he was turned. After two hundred years, any remnants of humanity that might once have remained with him were long gone.
    She ran the brush through her hair again.
    The bedroom door opened, and Philip walked in. He glanced at her nightgown in surprise. “Dawn’s still an hour away.”
    He wore jeans and a black T-shirt. Philip was quite possibly the most handsome man she’d ever seen—or anyone had ever seen for that matter. But she didn’t care what he looked like. His appearance was just part of his gift, something to fool mortals. He could have been disfigured, and she’d have loved him the same. When she was with him, she didn’t feel alone.
    “I know,” she answered. “I just felt like getting ready for bed early.”
    Looking at his reflection in the mirror, she could see he was unhappy about something—probably the impending trip to London and everything that went along with such a search.
    “I’m sorry about the Hitchcock film,” she said, not sure what else to say. “We’ll watch it tomorrow if Seamus hasn’t come back yet.”
    He shrugged. Philip had never been skilled at speaking. No matter what he was feeling, he often didn’t know how to put his thoughts into words, and he’d shared enough of his memories with her that she understood how much this disability frustrated him. He wished he could master verbal communication.
    Eleisha turned in her chair, looking around. This room pleased her in a way no other bedroom had before. She liked that it was halfway underground. She liked the antique sloped ceiling and the cream-colored walls and the white trim.