Crimson Vengeance Read Free Page B

yet Riah’s hands caught her attention. They always did. They were beautiful, and it amazed her how they could be so lovely after centuries.
    Though she knew the truth about her friend’s life, the reality of it still gave her pause. How many years had she and Riah known each other? Fourteen? Fifteen? In that time, Ivy had changed from an energetic college intern with a fresh face and long dark hair, to a mature woman with tiny lines around her eyes and strands of white peppering her now-short hair. The first time she stood next to Riah beside an autopsy table, she was an eager student. Now they stood side-by-side as seasoned contemporaries. Ivy felt every one of those fifteen years and suspected she looked them as well.
    Riah, on the other hand, appeared as vital and attractive as the first day Ivy met her. Her auburn hair was still long and shiny with just a hint of wave. Not a single line distracted from her intelligent hazel eyes. At just a touch over five feet, she was thin, athletic, and very pretty. She didn’t look more than twenty-one, though once she opened her mouth, no one would mistake her for young or inexperienced. Maturity and knowledge radiated from Riah despite her youthful appearance and diminutive size.
    A door opened behind them, the sound little more than a swish.
    Ivy turned in time to see Adriana James step through. Like Riah,

    she was a small woman, though Adriana sported far more curves than Riah. Her black hair was cut short and close to her head, her black eyes full of life. Ivy liked Adriana quite a lot. She was smart, educated, and determined. If anyone could find what they searched for, it was Adriana James.
    She was also in love with Riah, though Ivy didn’t think Riah even noticed. Not that it had happened overnight. The three of them had been working side-by-side for the better part of a decade, and Ivy had seen the change occur slowly, steadily. It wasn’t that Adriana was blatant about her feelings for Riah. No, she was far more subtle.
    A look here. A soft touch there. A sigh when she thought no one was looking.
    It occurred to Ivy as she watched Adriana bring her case to the table, in all the time she’d known Riah, she’d never been involved with anyone, man or woman. At least as far as Ivy knew. Sad if it was true. She didn’t wish that kind of loneliness on anyone.
    Then again, once Riah had shared her secret with Ivy it explained so much. Of course she looked young—she hadn’t aged since she was attacked five centuries earlier. Truthfully, it had taken awhile to fully grasp that her teacher and friend was a vampire.
    Vampires were fiction, not reality, or so she believed until a decade ago. Once she finally got it, she was intrigued. She hit Riah with at least a million questions. Some she answered, some she didn’t. Ivy soon learned certain topics were off-limits, like Riah’s family, her love life, and how she was turned. Definitely how she was turned. It was the only time Ivy ever felt the full force of Riah’s fury. She didn’t want to again.
    “What have we got?” Adriana’s voice broke into her thoughts.
    “Same as the last one,” Ivy explained. “Found him floating in my lake.”
    “Wicked,” Adriana murmured.
    Ivy and Adriana both jumped when the body on the table twitched, legs quivering and fingers splaying. Riah didn’t even blink.”Ladies,” Riah said like a teacher in front of a daydreaming classroom. “We’re running out of time. We need to get to work.”

    She was right. Riah’s words propelled them into action. Ivy pulled four pair of handcuffs from her jacket pocket and attached one each to eyebolts at the corners of the table—not exactly the standard-issue autopsy table. Then she attached a cuff from each to the body’s arms and legs.
    At the same time Ivy was securing lake-man to the table, Adriana opened her case. She pulled vials and a large syringe from inside and proceeded to snap one vial into the syringe. The first blood sample