The Compelled Read Free Page B

you want!” the cab driver called across the square. Samuel nodded once, then hopped into the cab.
    “Let’s go,” I hissed to Cora, grabbing her arm and breaking into a run. Together we sprinted behind the coach as it clopped its way through the stalls surrounding the seedy market, heading deeper into Whitechapel. I was ten feet away, then five, and was about to catch up when I realized Cora was no longer on my arm.
    I turned around and saw her doubled over, her hands on her knees, in front of the Lamb and Sickle public house. She had attracted the attention of a few patrons lurking in the doorway, who’d stopped their round of singing to gape at her.
    “I’m sorry. I just can’t run anymore,” Cora panted, her face red and slicked with sweat. “You go on ahead.”
    “No need to run, girl,” one man said as he lecherously stumbled toward her. “You can relax in my arms.”
    I turned to him and bared my fangs menacingly. He let go of Cora and backed away, his face white with fright.
    “All right, no need to get nasty. Just having a bit of fun,” he said slowly, holding up his hands and walking away.
    “Go on! I’ll meet you later. I know the barman here. He’ll take care of me. I’ll be fine,” Cora urged with the same fierceness I’d seen last night.
    “Are you sure?” I didn’t want to leave Cora, but I couldn’t lose Samuel. I glanced around. The Ten Bells was nearby. Cora did know the area, and she had a stake hidden in the folds of her skirt. I knew as well as she did that a stake would also do a perfectly fine job incapacitating a human threat. Still…
    “Yes!” Cora hissed. “I’ll meet you back at the tunnel.”
    I nodded and surged ahead at vampire speed, but the busy street beyond the market was crowded with coaches, and I no longer knew which one held Samuel.
    I was about to cut my losses and head back to the pub to collect Cora when I spotted a figure stealing down a dark alley. I narrowed my eyes. The form was moving far more quickly than any human. Samuel. And worse, he was carrying a girl in his arms. The girl was clawing at Samuel’sshoulder, forcing him to stop and adjust his hold every few feet. I couldn’t believe she was still conscious. Many of Samuel’s victims fainted from fright, or were killed immediately. But now, he seemed to be taking care not to jostle the girl, holding her as carefully as a wolf would bring its prey back to the pack.
    My heart clenched and I broke into a run when I realized he was headed for the warehouses near the Thames. I hadn’t been there since the terrible night when Samuel had turned Violet into a vampire. Why was he taking a human girl there now? He had Damon; he didn’t need to frame him for any more Jack the Ripper murders. He had a steady supply of blood from the girls in the Asylum. So what could he possibly want with this girl?
    I followed the streak of Samuel’s shadow along the brick buildings that led to the pier, but soon lost his trail. Farther down the pier, I could hear the sound of bottles breaking, but I knew that wasn’t Samuel. The piers were lawless after dark, filled with lost souls—syphilitic soldiers, pickpockets, and gamblers desperate to make money by any means necessary—people who couldn’t even scrape together the few coins required to live in a lodging house.
    I cocked my head, trying to catch the scent of blood or the sounds of terrified, uneven breathing when I sensed someone close by. I turned. It was a toothless drunk, hisbreath sour with the stench of whiskey. A knife shone in his hand.
    “New boy,” he leered, pulling back the knife as though ready to plunge it into my abdomen.
    I lunged toward him, pushing him onto his back. His knife clattered on the dock next to him. I set my boot down on his chest and leaned in close.
    “Don’t,” I hissed, as I felt my fangs growing from behind my gums. This was blood for the taking. I could drink, and be ready to face Samuel as a true vampire.
    I was about