Seduced by Crimson Read Free Page A

exclaimed.
    "She's in her twenties now and lives in Chinatown."
    "But—"
    "But nothing," interrupted Hank. "Demons are here on Earth. If the Draig-Uisge can stop—"
    "It's in her blood." Patrick used his words to clarify his purpose. Somehow stating his meaning out loud made it that much clearer exactly what he had to do. "She bleeds and creates power."
    Stunned silence. Then Hank cleared his throat. "How much power?"
    "How much blood?" asked Slick.
    Patrick shrugged. "Enough power to un-turn vamps and werewolves, according to that monk's journal."
    "Whoa…" Hank murmured. Patrick didn't stay to respond. Instead, he pushed past them out the door. He knew without looking that the two would fall into flanking positions behind him. They did, but Slick could not keep silent.
    "Patrick! How much blood?"
    He growled, annoyed with her for the question, annoyed with himself for having to answer. "All of it," he finally spit out. "Unless I can find a different way."
    Slick's voice came from just behind his right shoulder, her words a little breathless as she tried to keep up with his rapid pace. "
Is
there a different way?"
    "Maybe." He'd studied the texts. Hell, he'd been the one to find the texts. He'd cross-referenced, re-translated, even sent it to other druids around the globe in the hope that he was wrong. But he and his father were the foremost experts in arcane druid spells. They hadn't gotten it wrong.
    Closing the demon gate required three things. First, an energy source—Xiao Fei's blood. Second, a shaper of energy. That was the Draig-Uisge's special talent, beyond killing people. And lastly, a way for the Draig-Uisge and the power source to sync up. They had to merge their energies such that he could shape her power. How to do that? They had to have sex.
    Which meant he had to copulate with a complete stranger, bleed her during the act, and then use her energy to close the demon gate. AH before the demons found and killed them both. And if he failed, then Earth would fall to the beasts who had just massacred his dearest friends and family.
    Crimson
City had better watch out. The Draig-Uisge was off to spill some blood.
     
    They were almost ready for her by the time she made it inside Wang's Health Emporium. The acupuncture tables were not even remotely intended to restrain a vampire, but she worked here and the space was available—her companions had improvised with leather belts and rope. Assuming the two creatures remained unconscious, everything should be fine.
    "How this gonna work?" Old Mr. Chen hovered nervously at the edge of the room where Donny lay.
Good question
, Xiao Fei thought with a grimace. Unfortunately, she couldn't say so out loud. This was the man's son after all.
    She dredged up a reassuring smile that didn't fool the old man for one second. Then she abandoned it in favor of a shrug and honesty. "I've never done this before. I don't know if it will work at all. There was a monk in Cambodia who thought we could do it—change a vamp back. But we never got a chance to try. We Phoenix Tears never got a chance to try a lot of things."
    Mr. Chen nodded. He already knew this. They'd gone over it a million times. "Your blood," he said.
    She nodded and crossed to the unconscious boy. And he was a boy, she thought, as she stared at the slack-jawed vampire. His skin was unfed-pasty, and in sleep it sagged a bit and gave him a more childish look. Sad.
    Because it was suffocatingly hot in the tiny room, Xiao Fei rolled up the sleeves of her black turtleneck. She rarely revealed her arms to anyone, and certainly not when she was out monster hunting. Still, there was little choice. She stared at Donny's face, moving slowly into position. Mr. Chen craned his neck to watch, his wrinkled eyes wide as he tried to see.
    Xiao Fei looked up. "This may not be pretty, Mr. Chen. And it may not—"
    "I stay." He was adamant.
    Xiao Fei nodded. At least Mrs. Chen wasn't here. Apparently the woman was at home, crying herself