The Vampire's Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

House, was not cared for, it could cause a cosmic shift in the supernatural world.
    “Why tell us now?” While Alaric knew everything happened for a reason, he liked to know what the reason was.”
    “Maybe, you’re ready to hear it now.”
    “Possibly.” Alaric was the first to admit that vampires didn’t take a lot seriously until reality was forced on them.
    “So you two have to get your acts together. You know this house and the land it stands on is sensitive to the moods of your kin. It has stood here for centuries. You two have only been allowed access to it recently, and you’ve created nothing but havoc with your bickering.”
    “We’re grown men. We don’t bicker.”
    Polly rolled her eyes. “Okay, so you whine a lot. Just get your acts together, or neither of you will have a peaceful future.”
    Alaric didn’t doubt for a second that Polly was right. She always was. The housekeeper was one of the few people Alaric stood in awe of. Why? He wasn’t sure. He was eighty percent certain Polly was mortal, and yet there was something indefinable about her that made him wary. But she was one of the few people who knew the ins and outs of Maverick House. Before he and Richard had arrived, the house had remained silent and watchful but for Polly. Each successive housekeeper, like Polly, had maintained it without question. It was their job, and they never queried it.
    Although he had been aware Maverick House existed, neither he nor Richard had been permitted to visit. They had to be summoned.
    That had annoyed them, but they knew that when they were summoned, in this case by Polly, there would be good reason. What it was, they still hadn’t been sure, and Polly’s vague allusion to “your futures” hadn’t helped.
    Alaric shook his head and tried to focus on the present. The future was unfathomable.

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    Amarinda Jones
    “Josephine hasn’t changed.” Polly’s eyes were on the woman who walked through the garden.
    “No. She is still beautiful and stubborn.”
    Polly turned her eyes to Alaric. “When are you going to tell her?”
    “I’m not.” He didn’t want to. Alaric could imagine the fury from Josephine when he explained he needed to marry her to keep the house. Yes, he could share the premises with Richard, but vampires weren’t good at that. Their home was their castle and no one else’s.
    He knew Richard felt the same way. Although they were immortals and had spent years spinning around the world doing what they pleased, every vampire, at heart, had the deep-seated need for a home, and Maverick House was it. Problem was, they both wanted it, and only one could have it. That pleasure-loving Richard was off pursuing a woman in itself was alarming. I will not let him beat me. This house is mine .
    “Josephine’s not stupid.”
    “No, and I don’t want her thinking I need her just because of Maverick House.” Alaric loved Josephine. He had since the moment they met.
    “Well, that’s why you went and got her.”
    Unlike other mortals, Polly was unafraid to stare him down. “No, she was going to marry some suburban dimwit.”
    Polly looked surprised. “Really?”
    “Yes. Someone called Jimmy. How could she want a Jimmy when she could have me?” What did a Jimmy even look like? I may have to pay him a visit . Alaric linked his hands together and cracked his knuckles.
    “Clearly she’s out of her mind,” murmured Polly with deep sarcasm.
    “You know, the house was the least of my concerns. Josephine’s supposed to love me. Not someone called Jimmy.” Alaric knew he was guilty of neglecting her, but he always believed in his heart neither could marry another. They were meant for each other. Once The Vampire’s Bride
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    married, his immortality diminished. Alaric wanted that and Josephine. I want to be normal with the woman I love.
    “She loves you too much. You’re her weakness.”
    “As she is mine.”
    Polly nodded. “You need to tell her.”
    “I will.”
    “Before