Marked: City of the Damned Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

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have the ability to make him into a day walker.”
    “Do you?” Sara poured herself another glass
of wine and leaned back casually in the chair, as if this
conversation was nothing more than first date banter.
    “Yes and no. I have an ancient recipe for an
elixir, that if brewed right, will allow my kind to walk in the
sun, but it is flawed. The effects are not permanent and could wear
off at any time. If a vampire gets caught in direct sunlight when
the effects wear off, the light from the sun will turn him to
ash.”
    “So why not just….” Sara began, but froze as
a burst of fear shot through her body. With trembling hands, she
placed the glass of wine on the table.
    “What is it? What’s wrong?” Gedeon sprung
from his seat.
    “It’s Pryse. He’s here.” Sara’s body began to
shake uncontrollably and she jumped as Gedeon grabbed her by the
shoulders.
    “Sara, listen to me. We have to go NOW .” Gedeon shook her, desperately trying to get her
attention as the sound of running footsteps echoed in the hall
outside the apartment. “Go out the window to the fire escape. It’s
the only way out.”
    Sara sprang from her seat and ran in the
direction of the open window. She glanced behind her just in time
to see Gedeon pick up a small burlap bag and fling it over his
shoulder.
    “Go,” he yelled. “I’ll be right behind
you.”
    Sara squeezed through the open window and
shivered as the cold night air assaulted her skin, but there was no
time to go back into the apartment and get her jacket. She looked
over the edge of the fire escape and took a deep, calming breath.
The third storey wasn’t really that high up, unless of course you
had a fear of heights. The metal ladder that led to the ground
looked impossibly unsecure, and Sara wondered briefly if it would
support her weight.
    “Hurry up. What are you waiting for?” Gedeon
shouted as he came through the window.
    “Gedeon, I don’t think I can climb down.”
Sara looked down at the ground and shook her head.
    “Please,” he begged. The tone of his voice
was urgent and desperate “You have to. Pryse is going to break
through the door any second now.”
    Sara nodded, and in a monumental act of
bravery, she reached over and clung tightly to the metal rungs of
the ladder. One by one, she lowered herself down towards the
pavement below, each rung painfully cutting into the palms her
hands. She breathed a sigh of relief as her feet touched solid
ground. Gedeon was only two feet above her when one of Pryse’s
cronies emerged at the end of the laneway.
    “Shit,” he cursed, and landed with a thud on
the pavement. “Follow me.” Gedeon grabbed Sara by the arm and
dragged her towards the back of the apartment building.
    “Where are we going?”
    “I’m not sure yet.” Gedeon expertly
maneuvered through the parking lot and to a path that led out to
the street behind the building. The air around them vibrated, and
the sound of dance music could be heard in the distance. “Hurry up,
let’s go this way,” he instructed, and grabbed Sara by the arm,
pulling her behind him as he ran.
    “What is this place?” Sara asked as they
stopped in front of the entrance to an abandoned warehouse. The
loud pounding of the music reverberated through the heavy metal
door.
    “It’s a rave. It’ll be hard for Pryse to
track your scent in here.” Gedeon opened the door and the sound was
almost deafening. They skirted the outer perimeter of the dance
floor where boys with blue and green hair, and girls with rainbow
colored tutus, danced in a trance like state. Gedeon spotted an
empty table in a darkened corner of the room and led Sara towards
it.
    “What wrong with them?” Sara asked as she
intently watched the dancers move to the beat of music. It was
unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
    “Most of these kids are on ecstasy. Such a
damn shame too, it makes them easy targets for us.” Gedeon looked
repulsed by the idea. “If these kids weren’t strung