Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) Read Free Page A

chocolate or fine wine, how could she remember that choice? She wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into him, to devour him whole.
     
    She looked intently at the floor. “I wanted to heal you,” she said glumly.
     
    “It’s okay,” said Stuart. “I’ve been there. I’ve felt that hunger before. Whatever happened to you – you’re not a vampire. You’re fine in sunlight, for starters. It’s probably just some weird Life’s Blood effect – you can still eat human food, right?”
     
    Kalina nodded. Cheeseburgers weren’t quite as tasty as they had been a year ago, but she could certainly force them down.
     
    “Then it’s probably not a full-force craving. Just a weird holdover from the vampire part of you. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard…” Stuart patted her hand.
     
    “Stuart, you came just in time to say goodbye.” Kalina took a deep breath. She hated to hurt him more than she had to. “I’m going back. To Europe, I mean. Or Asia. Wherever Octavius and Max are. This…thing that’s happening to me – with the hunger and all. I need to deal with it, and I need to deal with what’s going on.”
     
    “I see.” She could see the flicker of disappointment in Stuart’s eyes. Had he been hoping that she’d take him back. “Then that’s what you have to do.”
     
    He took a step back, and Kalina’s blush spread across her face.
     
    How could she bear causing him so much pain?
     

 
    Chapter 2
     
     
    K alina had managed to regain her self-control. While she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Stuart’s pulsing, gaping wound, she had at least managed to keep her fangs firmly within her mouth. She looked down at the ground as intently as she could, not wanting either Stuart or Justin to see the slight protrusion of her lips where the fangs now poked out.
     
    “You’re not going to eat me , are you?” Justin was asking in a small voice. “I mean, this hunger you have…”
     
    “I think it’s only for turned vampires,” Kalina lied. “Definitely not for you.” This was mostly true – to her relief, Justin’s blood smelled far less delicious to her than Stuart’s. If she was going to want to eat somebody, she reasoned, at least that somebody wasn’t her brother. “But Stuart, your wound...” She made a concerted effort not to let herself look at it directly. “How did you get it? Are you injured?”
     
    Stuart said nothing at first, but only coughed and colored slightly.
     
    “Stuart, what is it?” Kalina pressed.
     
    Stuart sighed. “It looks like being a human again after so many years has a couple of disadvantages. One of them being that I can’t fight off vampires as easily as I used to.”
     
    “You were attacked?” Kalina raised an eyebrow. She’d heard of resentful vampires seeking out the ones turned human by Life’s Blood. Back when the Consortium was fully operational, Octavius had been able to sort out former Carriers and their vampire loves with new lives, new identities, hidden from the possibility of vampire attack. But she and Stuart had no such luxury.
     
    “It was…strange,” said Stuart slowly. “Feeling like that. Like prey. I was so used to feeling powerful, feeling strong. Preying on others. Now, for the first time, I know what it feels like to be hunted like an animal.”
     
    Kalina slipped her hand in his. “Now we both know what it feels like,” she said. “To be in the other one’s shoes.”
     
    “I fought them off as well as I could,” said Stuart. “I may not have vampire skills, but I have six hundred years of experience. And that counted for something – although I didn’t quite get away unscathed.”
     
    “I’m sorry,” Kalina said. “I shouldn’t have left you behind. I should have made sure you were safe.”
     
    “You couldn’t have known,” said Stuart softly. “Even I didn’t expect it. I suppose I thought once you and I…well…” he flushed pink, “Once your blood lost its power to