Blood Born Read Free Page A

getting madder with each passing second. “That’s ridiculous. You dig me up and tell me I’m a vampire but suddenly it’s not your place to say any more?”
    “I never said you were a vampire. I said you were bitten by one.”
    “There’s a difference?”
    “Yes, there is.”
    “So I’m not a vampire then?” I watched Chance’s body rise and fall as he took a deep breath before turning to face me.
    “Not technically,” he finally said, worry littering his words.
    “Can you stop being so cryptic?” Trying to ignore the smell of his blood and pry information from him at the same time was starting to unnerve me.
    “Sorry.” He lowered his eyes then quickly brought them up to meet mine. I felt my face burn.
    “Just say what you mean.” I fought to ignore my flushed cheeks.
    “I mean you’re not a vampire. Not exactly .” Chance had a sorry-I-don’t-know-how-else-to-explain-it look on his face, the dimples in each of his cheeks prominent. The sight of him made my heart beat faster.
    “Okay,” I said, breaking free from our moment by looking away. “I don’t claim to be an expert, and my memory is unreliable right now to say the least,” Chance half-smiled at me. “But if a vampire bites a human, doesn’t the human become a vampire?”
    “Not if the vampire doesn’t want you to,” he finally responded. “He has all the control.”
    “ He ?” I asked, happy to finally be getting even the tiniest of information from him. “So it was a he who did this to me?” This time, no matter how much his eyes and scent and muscles were drawing me in, I refused to look away from his face. “Who was it?”
    “I’ve already told you, it’s not my place to say.” My level of frustration was rising with each breath I took. Why wouldn’t he just answer the question? What was he hiding?
    “Fine,” I replied through gritted teeth. “I get it. Not your place to tell. Whatever.” I took a deep breath to calm down, then added “Then who’s place is it?”
    “Mine.”
    The voice rose from the weighty fog like a monster, startling me, and I spun around to find the source. There, standing on the opposite side of the open grave, tall and dark and looming, was who I could only presume to be the vampire that killed me.
    “Sorry for the mess,” Chance spoke softly, practically falling over each word. “I was going to clean it up but I—”
    “Became distracted,” the vampire interrupted, staring me down as he spoke. Chance winced like a scolded dog. “It’s fine,” the vampire continued. “You accomplished the most important part.” His eyes never left mine, and I realized that he looked much closer to my age than the ancient, Dracula-type corpse I had been expecting. I suddenly found the moment funny. I couldn’t remember my name or where I came from, but a fictional character from an ancient book and movie popped right into my head. Talk about stress. I glared at the vampire, the glow of the moonlight casting shadows across his face, making his appearance more model-like than walking-dead-like.
    “How are you, Avaline?” So he knew my name, too. The night just kept getting stranger and stranger. The vampire’s voice was like warm liquid, flowing into my ears and instantly soothing me. I suddenly felt as if none of this horrible night had ever happened.
    “Fine,” I said, my eyes fixated on his. Even if I had wanted to—and I didn’t—I couldn’t have looked away. His eyes were hypnotic. I stared into them, the bright amber gold clear as day even from across the foggy cemetery.
    “He’s compelling you.” Chance’s deep, sexy voice whispered over my shoulder, and like a faucet being turned off, my mind rose from its trance-like state.
    “Very impressive,” the vampire said, his smile as brilliant as Chance’s. “Very well done, Avaline. A perfect jumping-off-point, as they say. Looks as though you’ll be a fast learner.” His voice stood out to me with its old world sound, a sharp