Vampire Elite Read Online Free PDF Page A

female Sekhmi approached Simone’s table, offering the Royal pride the first of the blood samples. Leon, Theores, and Simone each selected a vial. Knowing that all eyes were on her, Simone forced herself not to hesitate and took a small sip—and was immediately flooded with euphoria.  
    “For this magnificent specimen, we open the bidding at ten million U.S. dollars,” announced the auctioneer.  
    “Eleven! Twelve! Fourteen! Fourteen and a half!” The crowd was caught up in the bidding, each pride fighting to possess this stunning beauty.  
    But her physical perfection would be utterly wasted, Simone realized with a pang of grief. The girl would spend her life locked in an underground cell. Except for the human bloodstock handler who brought her food and took her blood, she’d live utterly devoid of any contact. Even the Sekhmi who purchased the right to her blood, who sat in the audience right now, devouring her with their eyes along with everyone else, would never touch her, would probably never even look at her. To do so risked being overcome by lust—or even worse, falling in love—and, in turn, increased the risk of being caught up in the moment and drinking directly from an Amiti’s vein, activating the blood-bond. All vampires were raised hearing horror stories of what happened in the blood-bond: they would lose control and surrender all their powers to the Amiti, who were born to lure and seduce them, and the Sekhmi would end up burned to ashes. These fears ensured that the Elite totally disengaged themselves from their bloodstock.  
    For a second, Simone allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to live as Amiti bloodstock—  
    “Do Amiti ever kill themselves?” The question leapt from her mouth as she glanced at Leon.  
    “Yes. In fact, that used to be one of our biggest problems—and a very expensive one at that. They’d lose their will to live, and we’d lose our investment.”  
    “But we found a very reliable solution,” Theores offered. “In the beginning, Amiti were killing themselves after only a few weeks, regardless of how well we treated them. Once they gave up trying to escape, they’d find some way to commit suicide. Now, we have a system. We keep them in isolation for a while, then give them a roomie. Placed together, they develop an affection for each other. That gives us something to threaten them with. Even if they stop caring about their own lives, they’ll behave for the sake of their loved one. If we think we have an especially stubborn case, we torture them in front of each other, so they can see firsthand that we mean business. Then we separate them again. We allow them to see each other again from time to time to reinforce the motivation. After a certain point, though, it usually stops working; they get depressed anyway and find a way to die.”  
    Simone struggled to suppress the gagging that suddenly clenched at her throat. “Excuse me. I need to go to the bathroom.”  
    She pushed out of her chair and fled from the room. On the way out, she bumped into someone’s bodyguard.  
    “Are you alright, miss?”  
    “Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Simone moved around him and was immediately stopped by Odji.  
    “Sim, what’s the matter?”  
    “Where’s the exit?” she gasped, pulling out of his hold and stumbling blindly up the stairs. “I think I drank too much—I need some fresh air.”  
    “This way; I’ll show you.”  
    Simone followed him to the front door, pushed it open and ran outside. Frantic, she stumbled into the garden, finding a spot where she could throw up in peace, without being seen from the door. Once there, she sucked in deep breaths, struggling to stay upright. She almost fell despite her efforts, but then felt Odji’s firm grip around her waist.  
    “What’s wrong, Simone?” He turned her to face him.  
    “We can’t do this! We can’t! This Amiti, this young girl, she is alive, she feels, she is not an animal, she is