Stephen Read Online Free PDF Page B

you keep your promises?”
    The Vampire Committee had been a long time ago, back when, as vampires, they were more in the shadows and darkness than they were now. Now, he was a productive part of society; back then he was simply a monster. Now the council was more forward thinking, a more human friendly group that not only consisted of vampires but a few other species as well. Before—a long time before—they had thought to change the bad and make them a better vampire. Stephen still didn’t agree with most of what they did these days, but he did like their way of thinking on some things.
    “ And what of yours, Velvet? Did you ever think how your antics would fall to me? How your killing sprees would look to the council?” He snorted and sat down. “You told them that I was a part of your group, the leader of you all so that you’d only get a slap on the wrists while I was beheaded. What of your love then?”
    “ You were such a pussy back then. And I’m betting that you’re no different now than you were back then. A fucking pussy that always keeps to the rules so that you’re the all mighty Stephen when it comes to vampires.” Her anger blasted through her; what she would consider her carefully laid out plan to get him to come back to her was quickly falling apart. “You never did play. What the fuck are you doing now? Playing the concerned and wealthy human? How lazy you’ve become.”
    “ Lazy?” Stephen pretended to consider her words. “I suppose you could call me that. I work hard to make myself blend in, something you never wanted to do. And as for my wealth? Yes, I do have a great deal of it. More than I could ever spend. But I like that too. I give much more than most humans make in their entire lifetime to causes that mean something to me. So I suppose you could call me lazy. But I’d call me…happy.”
    “ Happy? Happy?” She was shrieking now, and he didn’t even try to hide his smile. “What the fuck do you have to be happy about? You don’t do anything, not as a vampire. Why aren’t you out there showing the fucking humans what we are? Kill some of them. Christ, you’re not even drinking from them, are you?”
    “ I do. When it suits me.” Wherever she was, he knew that things were being destroyed. He could see her lifting things and throwing them, but not exactly what they were. Back when they’d been together, her anger had scared him a little. Not for him, but what she’d do to the ones around them when she unleased it. Nothing, nor anyone, was safe from her wrath.
    When she seemed to calm, he looked around his lair. There was nothing here to give her any clue as to where he might be other than a dark room. And he was reasonably sure that she hadn’t found him physically either. But she would. Stephen had kept his name over the centuries simply because he’d move rather than change his name. It was simpler.
    “ I came to see if you and I could take up where we left off, but I can see that’s never going to happen. Even if you did want me back, I’d—”
    “ I don’t want you.” She growled, and he smiled. “And I want you to stop looking for me as well. We’re through. And as soon as I’m finished talking to you, I’m contacting the council to let them know that you’ve been released.” Velvet moved toward him, but he simply let her. She couldn’t touch him, and even if she could, he was a good deal stronger than her on her best day. “You’ll heed what I say. If you do not, your maker will hear about it.”
    “ You mean the one I killed this evening?” She tossed back her head and laughed. “After today I will make it my life’s work to find you and destroy you. Everything you love, everything you care about, I will kill and tear apart. You’ll regret what you’ve done to me. And if the council thinks they can control me, or even catch me, they’ll die as well. I’m coming for you, Stephen. And when I find you, you’re going to pay.”
    Her image