The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash Read Free Page A

meant to do. Suck me dry. Feed the darkness growing inside you.”
    “Don’t listen to her,” Raul growls. He stands up. “I can shut her up if you need me to. Just say the word.”
    “No,” I motion him down. “She can taunt me all she wants. It won’t make a difference.”
    If anything, resisting will show Raul my resolve.
    “It’s too bad you’re unwilling,” Victoria continues. “I would make the most scrumptious feast. I’m sure of it.”
    James’s eyes pop open. “You’re disturbing my rest,” he tells her. “Shut it.”
    Victoria gasps in indignation. I’ve only been a vampire for a little while, but even I can tell how the reprimand goes against the hierarchy of power on the plane.
    Victoria is stronger than James, who is stronger—slightly—than Raul.
    But I am the most powerful vampire here. That terrifies me.
    I pull the blanket tighter around me and try to become as small as possible.
    “If either of you bug her while I’m gone,” Raul says as he walks to the cockpit, “the silver sacks are going right back over your heads.”
    Victoria gives him a nasty glare but doesn’t say a word. James simply offers a resigned shrug.
    I’m left alone with my own thoughts. Time slows to a standstill. Only the constant hum of the plane’s engines keeps me company.
    In short order, I find myself drifting off. I didn’t know vampires needed to sleep. In fact, I’m not actually sleepy, but my mind seems to be slowing down. The worries running through it no longer seem so prevalent.
    Victoria’s voice makes me perk up.
    “You’re not falling asleep. You’re going hypo.”
    I look at her. “Excuse me?”
    “Hypo. Like a diabetic. Low blood sugar? Ever heard of it?”
    “Of course I’ve heard of it—” I start to say—and then stop short.
    Victoria hasn’t actually opened her mouth.
    I stare at the blonde vampire.
    She gives a very satisfied grin.
    “My blood was the first you tasted.” Her voice sounds in my head, but she’s not actually speaking! “ You and I have a unique connection now.”
    My eyes grow wide.
    “Can you read my thoughts?” I wonder.
    She gives the most miniscule smile. Then, in contradiction, she shakes her head.
    “Not quite,” she tells me, again without speaking. “But you and I can communicate through a telepathic link.” She glances at James beside her. “Don’t tell this one. He won’t take it too well.”
    I stare at her. “Do all vampires have this trait?”
    Victoria laughs out loud. “Of course not,” she says, this time using her actual voice. “We are special. But… most vampires also kill the one they first feed on.”
    “But I didn’t kill you,” I whisper.
    “No,” she say. “You did not.”
    James looks at us, considering... but doesn’t say a word.
    “That’s why you want to now , ” she adds.
    I struggle against the impulse she’s trying to goad out of me.
    “Safer to speak this way.”
    “Who says I want to speak with you?” I counter.
    “You have questions only I can answer . ”
    I can’t deny that.
    “We are not so different, Eleira.” She takes a breath. “I did not want to be a vampire when I was turned, either.”
    I can’t help my shock.
    She continues: “I was also part of a line of witches. That is why our connection exists. Vampires killed my twin. She was the one they wanted. Not me.”
    “You have The Spark?”
    She doesn’t answer.
    “Why do you want me to kill you?” I ask. “Why do you taunt me when you know what I can do?”
    She shakes her head. I feel a snap, and suddenly the link between us is no more.
    “Hello?” I venture.
    There’s no reply.
    I try to catch the strand in my mind that alerted me to her presence... and find it entirely missing.
    Victoria flashes the thinnest grin before closing her eyes.
    I make an annoyed sound with my throat and turn away. If she can cut off the connection then so can I.
    … I hope. I truly hate the idea of her having unfettered access to my