Vampyre | Book I of Bloodlines | Free on Inkitt & Kindle Unlimited

Viola

Before his words even have time to sink in, I’m on my feet and running like the wind. My legs carry me back the way I came, almost as if something is propelling me forward—urging me out of the tunnel and back to the safety of the library.

I close the bookcase behind me and quickly climb up to push the green book into place, securely locking it behind me. Standing there, I try to catch my breath, but the sight of the pale man’s skeletal, deathly appearance consumes my mind—his emaciated, malnourished frame with wrinkled, pallid skin is too ghastly to wipe clean. His incredible, hypnotizing red eyes were actually glowing—I could barely tear myself away from his gaze, but it felt his essence urging me to leave. He told me to run, and I ran.

The library door swings open, and William strides in, holding a lamp. His gaze fixes on me, and instantly, I feel like a trapped animal, backed into a corner with nowhere to run.

“What are you doing in here?” His tone is unnervingly calm, setting off warning bells in my mind.

“I came to find a book,” I say as calmly and flippantly as possible, clutching my robe tightly and crossing my arms over my chest. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought reading might help.”

William stands there, staring at me. Does he know I was in there?

“Is there anything you can recommend? I’m sure you must have some amazing books in your collection,” I say, turning around to face the bookshelf and pretending to examine the titles.

If he finds out I was in there, I’m done for. What if he locks me in there and feeds me to the Daemon he’s captured as his prisoner?

“Maybe something fantastical?” I run my finger along the spines of the books, moving along the row. “Then again, you probably think it’s a silly women’s topic.”

I feel William move in the space behind me. My body seems to stiffen as he stands right behind me. Something’s different, something has changed. As William reaches up high to pull a book off the shelf, I feel a cold air radiating from him that I can’t understand. It doesn’t feel like William is here anymore—he’s gone, and someone else is here in his stead. William holds a book in his hand and turns it over.

“This one,” says a voice from William’s body, but it is not his own.

When I turn around to face him, my suspicions are confirmed—this is not William. Instead of his dark blue eyes, I gaze upon the glowing red eyes of the Daemon staring back at me. Has the Daemon possessed him? But if he could do such a thing, why not set himself free?

I stare at him for what seems like an eternity, frozen in awe, scanning his red eyes.

“Who are you?” I hear myself asking him.

The Daemon doesn’t answer. William’s face is riddled with confusion as he leans in closer, examining me carefully, allowing his otherworldly eyes to roam my face freely.

The air becomes charged with electricity, and tension hangs heavy as he hovers so close to my face that I feel his icy breath on my skin.

“I know your face,” he rasps.

William’s hand lifts, slowly approaching my face. The instant his icy cold hand makes contact with my cheek, my body betrays me, responding viscerally to his touch. Despite the chill, his hand ignites a fire within me, causing warmth to surge through my chest and radiate outward. My face flushes with heat, my eyes flutter closed, and I involuntarily lean into his touch.

As the Daemon leans closer, I sense his nose brushing down my neck, tracing a soft path across my skin as he breathes me in. My heart pounds like a drum in my ribcage, and my lungs momentarily forget how to function. Inexplicably, an overwhelming surge of lust and courage washes over me.

I don’t know who he is or how he’s inside William’s body, but I want him. My fingers trace up his arms, tangling in his hair, urging his face toward my neck.Do it. Destroy me.

“I want you,” I hear myself whisper.

The Daemon pulls back, and the sudden distance startles me, snapping my eyes open as if a spell were broken. He looks at me with a smirk of amusement playing on his lips.

“Not in this body,” he says harshly before his demeanor softens. “I wanted to ensure you got out safely.”

The Daemon’s eyes focus on my lips—slowly, he drifts close to me, almost as if considering kissing me, and I want him to. Something about him draws me in. I want him buried inside me, I want his tongue doing questionable things to my mouth, and I want his teeth breaking into my skin, devouring my soul.

He runs his thumb across my bottom lip, causing my mouth to part, inviting him in. But as he’s about to finally bless my lips with his, he suddenly pulls away from me, growling with pain as he desperately clutches to his head.

William howls as he drops to his knees, his voice slowly returning to normal. William is back?

I step forward and place my hand on his shoulder. “William? William, are you all right?”

William’s gaze locks on me, his blue eyes blazing with fury and rage. My breath hitches, and I instinctively begin to edge away from him. He notices the book in his hand and studies its cover intently as he gets to his feet.

“What is this?” he demands, his voice low and menacing.

“I... I don’t know,” I manage to stammer.

“What the hell did you just do to me?!” His voice erupts in anger, reverberating through the room.

“I don’t understand—”

Out of nowhere, William’s hand swings, striking me across the face with the hard book. My hands instinctively stretch out to catch myself before my head hits the floor.

“Fucking witch!” William spits before tossing the book on the floor and storming out of the library.

I watch his feet disappear through the blurry door as he slams it behind him. I let my head rest on the carpet and lie there, trying to make sense of what just happened. With the limited information I have, it’s impossible to comprehend just what I’ve gotten myself into.

I prepare for the pain to come, and it doesn’t disappoint. When the shock finally wears off, it floods into my head, reminding me in the worst possible way that I’m still alive. Warm tears stream down my face, or maybe it’s blood—I can’t tell. I notice the book the Daemon pulled off the shelf, now lying on the floor. What is it about that book that angered William so?

I reach out to take it, but my fingertips barely make contact at first. With another attempt, I manage to slide the book closer into my palm. It looks like an ordinary book.

The last thing I recall seeing before passing out was the simple gold lettering of a word I’d never encountered before.

“Vampyre.”