Cognata: A Vampire Romance Read Free

treasured flowers. Listening to him speak was odd. His accent was poor. Clearly a foreigner, but the way he twisted his tongue and formed his words spoke tales of lusting for the things he'd do to me, which I found painful to resist.
    "Who are you?" I stopped him as I glanced back to the direction from where I came, "What do you want?"
    His tracks stopped in front of my gaze and I was cornered by his snow-white, almost pupil-less eyes - "You." His tone suddenly became stern, far from the introductory playfulness and excitement. He had to have been at least twice my age with a few years added on, yet he was so... infatuating and undeniably attractive. The way he spoke to me, as if I were some precious stone and not the next Emperor's bride to be, was different and different was what stimulated my imagination at the time. I was a young girl and I wanted more than all the tedium around me. He made me feel like it was possible.
    "I want... you, my dear Alexia." His hand trailed on my face and I thought to myself initially how smooth his fingers were before the thought melted into a deep despair over how ice cold his touch was. I shuddered on contact while all he did, was simply smile.
    "How do you know my name?" I demanded, keeping my outer armor fastened, away from my inner desires.
    "I know a great deal of things about you Alexia." He began moving around me again, this time leading the way to look out to the boats in the horizon, "I know that you grow tired of all these petty things you're burdened with. I know that you dream of not just seeing the sea, but crossing it and walking into places of old, places of far... " He turned around, smiling as his head tilted to the side seductively. "and places to call your home."
    I remember just staring at him, speechless. My eyes were so locked into this statue of a man that I wasn't sure I'd even heard his words properly. My heart was racing but I was not afraid. I was... excited. Renewed. A sense of adventure, tugging on my heart's strings.
    "Are you afraid of me?" He smirked.
    "No." I stood my ground mirroring his piercing eyes fearlessly.
    "Oh, my child. You really are special... "
    "Is that your charm for whisking young maidens away? I will not buy into such stale bread. You must try harder than that, I'm afraid."
    "No." He dragged on the 'oooo' of the word, "I can only be honest with such a beautiful creature like you. I can only be true. Naked in your light."
    His fingers parted my long hair and part of me was wondering why I shouldn't knee him in his groin, and then the other part, the curious part that gets the cat killed - wanted to be frozen.
    "Come with me. Tonight. We can go wherever we want, whenever we want, however we want. This is the chance of a lifetime, my angel. I will make all your dreams a reality and no one will stop you from being free."
    I looked away, back to the ballroom. The traditional, monotonous living-dead fashions of life were clawing their way into the very fringes of my heart, beckoning me to leave it all behind. Then I looked back to him to give my answer, but he was gone, along with the coldness in the atmosphere abruptly departing with him. My heart still raced as I heard his whispers calling from the shadows in the graves of my hindered mind.
    "Midnight. Come to the waters and the sand... "
    How could I return to the party as if nothing happened? The subtle gestures on everyone's warm-blooded, wine-soaked faces may have well been allegorized to the walking dead, blindly following old customs without asking why. I still felt the cold of his hands, trailing on my face. It should have felt like death, but to me, it was life. I would only spend another hour or two before the calling would get the better of me. No part of me wanted to stay. Seeing the world was a fantasy I'd only read in books. Experiencing it in person? How could I resist?
    I quietly slipped away into the shadows, leaving the ball the moment the temptation got to the last edge of my