Vampires Rule Read Online Free PDF Page A

expected to feel was the gentle touch of her hand on his
chest.
    His heart beat tripled in tempo as a new
sensation rippled through his body.
    “You are going to survive this, Jack. I can’t
tell you how I know. You’re too out of it to understand anyway.
Just trust me. You’re going to be fine.”
    Confidence ruled her voice, and he instantly
believed. He wasn’t going to die, at least not now. He looked into
her eyes. An odd sense of déjà vu hit him as if they’d done this a
million times before.
    “Do I know you?” he asked. While he waited
for an answer, his mind went through a long list of pictures from
the past. There had been a lot of girls, most of them passing
through his life quickly because they’d been afraid of Summer. The
few who’d thought he might be worth the risk had vanished, probably
killed by Summer.
    “You know me,” she said. “And you don’t know
me. It’s complicated.”
    “Usually is.” He closed his eyes again,
beyond tired.
    She lay next to him. Her leg touched his and
her arm bumped into his arm as she squirmed around, trying to get
comfortable. He tensed. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow. She
was too close, and she smelled more incredible than she had at the
cemetery. What was she doing to him? Maybe she had power like her
ancestor.
    “Don’t even think about trying anything,” she
said. “You touch me, and I’ll rip your soul out through your
nostrils.”
    He turned his head to look at her, startled.
Was she serious? He didn’t know if it was possible to take his soul
out through his nose, but he didn’t want to find out. She sounded
like she knew what she was talking about. For a petite girl she was
pretty scary.
    Despite the vivid images her threat conjured,
he began to drift. He tried to fight it, tried to stay awake, but
in mere seconds he was in a different world, a world of tall trees
and fresh air. Silver was with him. Having her there felt right,
like it was meant to be. And the forest felt like home.
     
    ****
     
    The next time he opened his eyes, darkness
greeted him. Silver had turned off the lamp after he’d fallen
asleep. She lay on her side next to him, snoring softly. He came up
on one elbow and stared down at her, studying her with superhuman
vision. She looked like a pretty doll with her eyes closed. Her
features were soft and delicate, and a place deep in his heart
began to ache for what he’d missed in life.
    He had a peculiar feeling he had been
dreaming about her, but he couldn’t remember the details. She
turned her head, snuggled deeper into the quilt and moaned his
name. “Jack.”
    Was she dreaming about him?
    “Where are you?” she asked, talking in her
sleep.
    “I’m right here,” he said, answering
automatically.
    “Don’t go.”
    “I’m not going anywhere.” His gaze drifted to
the window. He’d lost track of time, but he knew the sun was
getting ready to appear. He could smell it, the burning heat of a
new day. Sunlight was even worse for a vampire than werewolf claws.
He wasn’t walking out the door until it was dark again.
    Silver continued to sleep and he remained
frozen in a holding pattern, hovering over her. This was the first
time he’d spoken to a sleeping person. It was a bit creepy but kind
of cool. He wondered if she would answer him if he asked her a
question now.
    “Why did you help me tonight?” he asked.
    “Because you’re Jack.” A smile touched her
lips.
    Okay. He tried again. “Where do I know you
from? How do you know me?”
    “We met in a dream.”
    A flash of the two of them standing in the
middle of a forest haunted the recesses of his mind. As hard as he
tried, he couldn’t grasp it firmly. Every time he got close, it
faded like smoke.
    Giving up, he collapsed onto the pillow she’d
provided and stared at the ceiling. He went over everything that
had happened to him in the last few hours. Earlier he had thought
he knew everything about the world and about his place in it. Now
he