The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) Read Free

would happen. But her dreams hadn’t come in a way she could understand.
    She started at a crash above her head. She concentrated hard. Pushing aside the cobwebs of slumber that seemed to keep pulling at her—she was, after all, twelve, and old enough to be able to stay awake through the night—she listened closely.
    Growling and roaring thundered through the house, and Hope once more curled into a ball. This time the fear she had fought washed over her as she squeezed her hands over her ears, trying to keep out the wild sounds from above. Unsuccessfully. Heaven and stars help her if it was another nest coming for her.
    Hope looked wildly around seeking something that she could use as a weapon if they came for her, but nothing except the slippers caught her eye. Slipping over to the small cot they had set up in the corner, she inched forward, her cold, bare feet moving over the concrete floor without a sound. Creeping across the floor, she reached for the soft felt footwear and picked them up, holding a trembling hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t make a sound.
    Two small white slippers stayed clutched in her trembling fingers. It would do. It would have to do, she reminded herself sternly. Hope moved to just beyond the door, as she had seen them do in movies, and waited.
    It seemed like forever until the door burst open and there she was. The Mistress. A different Cressida. One with glowing eyes. Her suit was ripped and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but it was her eyes, now red and so unlike the blue Hope had become accustomed to, that Hope noticed.
    “Come, child. Come with me now.” She held out her hand, and for the first time Hope noticed her fingertips, elongated and white, with flecks of red and the pallor of her skin.
    “Where to?” Hope trembled, but knew Cressida wouldn’t hurt her.
    “Home, child. But we must be quick. Let me lift you and get us out of here.”
      She watched the Mistress…the vampire… Hope knew her eyes telegraphed the disquiet she had never felt around her before.
    Cressida stepped forward and swooped her up into strong arms. “Don’t be afraid, I am taking you home to your parents and David, but we have to be quick.”
    “Cressida?”
    “Yes, child?”
    “Will I be safe with you too?” The words trembled on the air.
    “Yes, you will, Hope. I gave my word to all that I would get you home safely and in one piece. When we are away from here, you may ask questions, but for now, hold on tight. And Hope? Close your eyes, child.”
    With that, Cressida moved forward at a pace Hope knew no human could possibly match. She cracked an eye open and saw blurred bodies on the floor and dark red puddles around them, but while the speed made it impossible to see the damage, she knew they no longer lived. The coppery tang in the air did nothing to refute her thoughts. The scary thing was that these were the scenes from her nightmare.
    Through the hallways they sped and up the stairs, and finally out of the door. Dawn was coming, the zing of heat that heralded the new day was in the air, and she breathed deeply for the first time since being abducted. A vehicle with darkened windows waited outside and Cressida carried her, faster now, towards it. It was the one she usually travelled in during the day. This driver was unfamiliar to her, though, she thought, while he waited by the open door, his black suit lost against the black of the car. They climbed into the dark interior, drawing the door shut as dawn crested. Cressida hissed and the window between herself and the driver rose. Hope knew the sunlight was fatal to a vampire and Thomas was a human. Just like her.
    Cressida reached out to the intercom. “Thomas, take us to the safe house for now and contact Verity and James. Let them know I have Hope.”
    The car moved, and Hope could feel the vibrations as it sped along the road. Cressida turned and with a weariness Hope had never before seen on her face said, “Now ask your