My Blood To Rise Read Online Free PDF Page B

and primal. I could never walk away now that I’ve fed from you. I wish I could, but something about you won’t let me.”
    Dara frowned. She always thought she was just an average girl.
    Andrei continued. “The companions worship vampires, but you look and smell and taste like something I want to worship. I want to surround you with gold and jewels to show the world how precious you are. I want everyone to know you’re the best humanity has to offer.”
    “I’m just a girl from the suburbs,” she argued. “I’m not all that special.”
    “To me, you are,” he told her. “To me, you’re the crown of humanity. And you’ll be much more than my consort. You’ll be my princess, and one day, my queen.”
    Dara dropped her eyes and turned away. “Tell me more about this Sanctuary of yours. Where is it?”
    Andrei shook his head. “Not so fast. You’ll see it soon enough, but you can never know where it is. Only vampires can know that. Every human being gets blindfolded on the way there to make sure they don’t reveal its location.”
    “Every one of them?” she asked.
    “Every one,” he repeated. “All except the ones who are born there, that is.”
    “Humans are born there?” she asked.
    “Of course,” he exclaimed. “Once we bring a human to Sanctuary, they stay there for the rest of their life. They marry, have children. It’s a good life for them.”
    Dara frowned. She still had doubts.
    Andrei raised himself up and looked down into her face. “It’s a glorious partnership. You should see it for yourself. You would feel differently about coming with me if you saw how the other humans live in Sanctuary. You would realize what an honor and a joy it is.”
    “Is that what the other companions say?” she asked. “Do they say it’s an honor and a joy?”
    “All the time,” he replied. “They wouldn’t have it any other way. Giving themselves, body and soul, to their vampire benefactors is the highest fulfillment they can hope for.”
    “I’ll bet they just say that,” she pointed out. “They have to. Their lives depend on it.”
    He shook his head. “We can tell when a person is lying or saying something they don’t really believe. They worship us, and they get more pleasure out of a vampire feeding from them than they do out of ordinary sex with another human being. That’s for certain. They fall on their knees and swoon just thinking about it.”
    Dara blinked in astonishment. “I can’t believe that. I can’t believe any human being would actually crave being bitten and bled like that.”
    “They grow up with vampires,” he told her. “They hear from their parents and everyone they know how glorious it is to serve the vampires and to experience the ecstasy of our bite. They dream of it all their lives, and when they finally earn the right to serve as a vampire’s companion, they experience all the excitement and rapture of fulfilling their lifetime ambition.”
    The image of the mansion from her dream flashed before her eyes. Had she dreamt of Sanctuary? Were the contented, smiling people roaming the halls of that place really the companions of vampires? Maybe they were vampires, and they kept their slaves locked up in a dungeon. But she knew that wasn’t true. Sanctuary was just that, and its people were happy.
    Dara gazed up at Andrei. She could almost understand how a human being could worship such a perfect being. If only she could rid herself of her terror. How could she really be sure Andrei wouldn’t tear out her throat and leave her a corpse? He assured her he wouldn’t. Why couldn’t she fall under his spell and leave these nightmares behind?
    “You’re sure paint an appealing picture of it,” she remarked.
    “It is appealing,” he told her. “It’s appealing to the people as well as the vampires. It’s a match made in heaven.”
    “A match made in hell, is more like it,” she shot back.
    “Why don’t you try it?” he asked. “You might like