Traitors' Gate Read Online Free PDF Page A

next note of this bard’s love
story. Instead he looks serious and lets me up.
    “What’s wrong?” I ask.
    “I’ve lived a long time, Lucinda. I
thought I’d never find you, so it has never bothered me before now.”
    “What hasn’t bothered you? That I’m
human and you’re a vampire? Does that really make a difference?”
    “Not that you’re human. I’m old
enough to turn you, if that is what you want of course.” He looks hopeful.
    I hadn’t even really thought about
it, but being a vampire would probably be amazing. Yes I would have a limited
diet, but I’d get to live forever, see everything. I could travel to every
country in the world and learn to cook like a native. I could officially tell
my father to stuff his rules up his own crevice and get away from here, far
away before he makes another deal for my hand with another slimy Lord Appleby.
    “Yes,” I say, “I’d love to be a
vampire, as long as I’m with you.”
    “That is wonderful to hear,” he
whispers and moves forward to hold my hands, “but the Elders have a rule about
female vampires. I’d have to appeal to them first.”
    “The Elders?”
    “They rule all vampires. We abide
by their laws to ensure our safety.”
    Would I be swapping one overbearing
father for a group of eternal overbearing fathers?
    “But, I have served them well. I’m
sure they will agree,” Nicholas continues.
    “Will I be strong?” I ask.
    “Very strong.” He pulls me closer,
looping my arms around his neck.
    “Will I be fast?” I whisper.
    “Incredibly fast.” His lips are
almost touching mine.
    “Will I be deadly?” I breathe.
    “Beyond deadly.” His mouth covers
mine and my mind stops working properly.

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    I don’t go back to father’s house.
I’m far too afraid that, if he gets another grip on me, he might never let me
go. I feel bad not saying goodbye to Mistress Leighton and Gordons but I can’t
take the risk. I don’t go back for belongings either. All I have are the
clothes on my back and Nicholas, and it is all I need. We leave Ravenglass
within the hour. We travel on foot, running through the dark countryside like I
did on the first night we met. We move together, fingers entwined like merry
schoolchildren.   We reach the town and
Nicholas books us a room at the local pub, then passage on a coach heading for
London. I am to meet Christian and Tolliver and another of Nicholas’s blood
drinking brethren, a Frenchman called Philippe.
    I’m sure we are receiving a score
of disapproving looks, but I don’t notice them. Wrapped in my vampire’s arms I
am safe and oddly warm. There are many kisses, but nothing else. Nicholas
proposes to me that night and we decide to wait until we are married before we
truly share a bed. Once the Elders agree to my turning, I am to be a vampire
bride; living out the plot of a bard’s best song is fast turning out to be the
best decision I’ve ever made.
    I had always thought London was a
big city, but with so many people squashed into its streets, it seems
positively tiny. We arrive early in the morning and make our way to a tavern
called the Dead Hare.
    “It’s a vampire haven,” explains
Nicholas, “we’re meeting them there.”
    The Dead Hare is surprisingly
luxurious, not your average rowdy tavern that smells of overcooked vegetables and
cheap ale It is populated by men who all lay protecting arms about their female
companions; there are even a few children playing in a corner. Nicholas catches
me staring at them. “We don’t drink from children, it’s forbidden. But most
still want a family. They’ll have been adopted by a vampire here.”
    The children are laughing and
dressed in expensive outfits. They look chubby and happy.
    “Where do they adopt them from?” I
ask.
    “I’m afraid it’s from the less
fortunate people who have too many babies to feed. They sell their youngest to
anyone with a coin.”
    “I can believe that. But they’re
the lucky ones,