Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) Read Online Free PDF

be
ashamed of herself. “Because vampires were human, we can only
ingest human blood.”
    “They don’t exactly offer ‘How to Feed and
Nurture Your Vamp’ classes to disposal techs, you know.”
    “You are a disposal technician.”
    “Yeah.” She waited for him to make a flippant
comment, something derogatory about what she did for a living.
    “Why are you not a diversion?”
    Diversion: The official yet completely
inaccurate name for a toy. Supers used prettier words, but the seer
descriptions were always more honest—toy instead of diversion, the
Heights instead of the Highworld. ‘Highworld,’ my ass. An
entire movie and gaming franchise was built on the Underworld name.
Because that’s what the supernatural world was—dark and
hellish.
    Seers weren’t ‘guided’ into the Heights—when
you don’t have a choice, you’re ‘drafted.’ ‘Bag boy’ was a much
clearer name for seers who delivered blood, either in bags or in
necks, along with the occasional cadaver for rituals and
ceremonies. ‘Grocers’ were in charge of population
control—overseeing how many supers were created and monitoring the
free-range kill each super was allowed in every human
generation.
    The supers were blind to the reality of their
own world, and the facts would ruin the perfection they saw while
looking down their noses. Nobody likes ugly things—especially not
supers.
    “You have the right qualities for a
diversion,” he said.
    “I have other qualities, too,” she said, her
cheeks and chest heating as he took her all in. The truth was, she
didn’t know why she hadn’t been put in a toy box. But she thanked
the powers every day for whoever was in charge of job assignments
the day her file went through.
    “It is regrettable you were not trained in a
procurement role.”
    “Yeah, that’s just too bad. I’m so sorry I’m
not more useful to you.”
    “As am I,” he said. “If you truly wish me to
heal, I must have blood I can utilize. For optimum utilization, a
cow needs cow milk just as a human child needs human breast
milk.”
    “I’m not a cow,” she said, crossing her arms
over her chest as his gaze fell there. Then she realized he wasn’t
talking about milk, and he wasn’t looking at her breasts. Her hands
moved to her neck.
    “A vampire needs human blood to survive. Any
other kind causes a reaction much the same as a human who is
allergic to cow’s milk.”
    “You mean you’re lactose intolerant?”
    “Not what I meant, but if it helps to think
of it in those terms…”
    “So animal blood gives you a tummy ache?” she
said, stifling a laugh that was half about her comment and half
about the absurdity of this situation. So, you know, a terrified
laugh.
    “No.”
    “Why can’t you just drink it and use it less
than optimally?”
    “Because it is vile,” he snapped. “Because,
contrary to what you seem to think, I am not an animal, and there
are a few things my magic cannot supply. I need human blood. Or
seer blood.”
    “Seers are human, but you’re not
getting any of my blood.”
    He gritted his teeth and looked away. “Then I
suppose I will just have to wait until you kill me, or you will
have to wait until I starve to death.” That would only take
forever. Literally.
    “I guess so.” She sat down, put her hands
behind her head, and leaned back in the chair. “Good thing I don’t
have anything better to do.”
    About fifteen minutes later, Addison came to
a decision, not knowing if it was a bad decision or a really bad one. It was the largest commitment she’d ever made, because
there was no coming back from it. Since she worked at night and
slept during the day, her drapes were lightproof, designed either
for people on the night shift or vampires. Right about now, she
truly regretted not getting the lacy kind and wearing a sleep mask,
because what she was about to do was deliberate and would kill him.
Those two things defined murder, didn’t they?
    She wasn’t a murderer.
    But