The Dark Arts of Blood Read Free

lines and brutal facade, that Charlotte could not decide whether it was ugly or beautiful.
    “I didn’t know this place was here.”
    “Isn’t it grand?” Amy said tiredly. “You can leave me at the door.”
    “No, I want to be sure there’s someone to take care of you.”
    A few vehicles were parked on either side: a mixture of sleek expensive models, old boxy cars and vans, motorcycles. Light fell down the broad shallow steps. Charlotte saw figures moving behind textured glass panels that flanked the front door. She helped Amy to stand, taking almost her whole weight, and rang the doorbell.
    The woman who peered out through a narrow gap was a matronly type dressed in dark brown, greying hair plaited around her head. Seeing Amy, her round, stern face furrowed with concern. She spoke German with the local accent. “Miss Temple? What happened to you?”
    “Nothing, Gudrun. I felt faint,” Amy said, smiling weakly. “This is Charlotte. She’s been awfully good… I’d be lying on the street if she hadn’t picked me up.”
    The woman paused. Her nostrils flared; the blood-smell was strong even to a human. Perhaps she already knew the nature of the problem.
    “Bring her in. Miss Temple, you should not have gone alone. What were you thinking?”
    As Charlotte helped her over the threshold, a few drops of blood splashed on the pristine marble floor.
God, the gorgeous red blood
… She could scent it on the older woman too, a subtler smell overlaid by sweat and perfume, and wafting from dozens of other people elsewhere in the house… The temptation was unbearable.
    “Nothing,” said Amy. “I just need to rest. Don’t fuss.”
    Charlotte gave her into the care of Gudrun. There could be any cause for her bleeding. Mere nature: heavy menstruation, perhaps a miscarriage, or – God forbid – an injury of some kind. Also, she knew that unmarried English girls sometimes took a quiet trip to the continent to end an unwanted pregnancy, although they generally went to France… Such matters were never discussed in public, but that was life’s reality. It wasn’t her place to speculate or judge.
    “She should lie down,” said Charlotte, “and perhaps a doctor—”
    “We thank you for your aid, Fräulein,” she said brusquely, “but everything is in hand.”
    In the background, Charlotte glimpsed a handful of young-looking men and women, but the sight was brief. Guiding Amy, Gudrun turned at an angle to block Charlotte from going any further into the vast hall. She was being dismissed. Even as she stepped outside, the high black door swung towards her face.
    Although startled, she was grateful to be severed from temptation.
    “Thank you, Charlotte,” Amy called as the door slammed between them. “Thank you so much for your kindness.”
    * * *
    Well, that was bizarre
, thought Charlotte.
    Walking downhill towards the town, she breathed deeply of the fresh, wet Alpine air. From this height she could see the ruined city wall with its ancient watchtowers, the twin spires of the church, and rows of handsome houses clustering down the slopes.
    How easy it would have been to take both women! To stupefy the matronly Gudrun with the mesmeric gleam of her eyes, then to lap blood from between the girl’s thighs as if licking clean a wound… finally cleansing her palate with a few sips from both their veins.
    If other humans had come running to stop her… the grand marble hallway might have become a bloodbath.
    But she hadn’t.
    “Oh, dear God,” she groaned, leaning on the wall of the first house she reached.
What am I, that I could even think it? Well… I know what I am. So, I’ll keep walking. Fast.
    She carried on towards the heart of town. The strip of cloud above continued to unleash a steady downpour. She turned her face to the sky, letting the rain wash her clean. One thing she’d learned from Karl was self-control. He hunted by striking fast out of the dark, never looking at his victim’s face if he