Crimson Red - XXL - Preview by Jeanette Peters (top 10 books of all time .txt) 📕

Cirrus could hear the laughter of his brother and gave him a toxic look. »Yes, I am«, he replied.

She nodded and frowned as if she were trying to understand the meaning of it. »You too?«, she finally asked Nikolas, who nodded and raised an eyebrow. The girl smiled and then looked at Fayn. »Are girls sirs, too?«, Joleen asked.

»No, girls, or women, are Ladys«, Fayn explained with a gentle smile.

Again the girl nodded and finally looked at Agenta, whose deep red hair lit up in the light of the chandelier. »You have great hair«, the girl shouted and made huge eyes. »Can I touch it?«

Cirrus noticed Zacharias giving the child a little nudge and she looked at him. He looked at Joleen as if he expected something from her and the girl nodded in understanding. Cirrus had no idea what was going on, but he understood when the girl finally turned back to Agenta and added »Lady?«.

Obviously his brother had taken some time to explain some basic rules to the girl. Seeing them implemented that quickly really was impressive. Cirrus nodded satisfied. Signs were good. It seemed to be the right decision.

Martina

Stunned, Martina stared at her daughter. What had that vampire done at the time he was supposed to have treated her wound? Was she hypnotized by him? Vampires could do that. At least there were stories about it. Perhaps he had drunk from her blood? She wouldn’t be upset about it. It's the reason she dropped Joleen here. Nevertheless, the change in her daughter’s behaviour surprised her.

»Sit down«, the red haired vampire say with a smile which caught a glimpse of her fangs. Martina shuddered and her abdomen contracted as she remembered the last time such teeth pierced her skin.

She headed for the last free chair to sit in. Lasciviously she crossed her legs. It was an unconscious process which had become flesh and blood to her after many years in her profession.

The vampire, who had approached her and Joleen on the way up to the house, pushed a stack of papers across the table. Her fingers itched to grab them immediately, but Martina managed to hold herself in place.

»You’ll notice that we have listed all the points in the contract that we had discussed before«, he explained, putting one hand on Joleen’s head. »By signing this you assign all rights on your daughter and hand her over to us. Give her to us. What we do with her is up to us, you will not have any part in the decisions we made.« Martina nodded to signal her understanding, and he continued immediately. »In exchange, you will receive a onetime payment of twenty thousand and a monthly payment of two thousand as long as Joleen is not of full age.«

These words warmed Martina’s heart. She’ll be fine with that. She needn’t worry about care for that annoying child anymore. With the money of the bloodsuckers she was able to make herself a beautiful life. To her it was a win-win situation.

»Where to sign?«, Martina asked ecstatically.

The faces of the vampires seemed to be completely meaningless. As she arrived at the woman with the black hair, she couldn’t help but take a look into those grey eyes. And she saw something flashing up that she didn’t like. The vampire’s gaze may mean trouble.

She wasn’t wrong. The woman leaned forward with her eyes wandering between Martina and Joleen.

»You are aware of the meaning of this? From the moment you signed, you no longer have a daughter«, the vampire explained and looked at Martina with a glance that made her uneasy. »You will have no right to visit or reclaim her. From the moment you sign, it will be like you never gave birth.«

»I’m aware of that«, Martina explained and looked at her daughter with a frosty glance.

Fear had stepped into Joleen’s eyes. »Mommy, what are you talking about?«, the girl asked and slipped forward a bit.

»About yo...«, Martina set.

The vampire sitting next to her daughter raised his hand and Martina stopped immediately. It wasn’t wise to disagree with a vampire. There were stories in which such thoughtless actions had caused death.

»We’d like you to stay here with us. We talked to your mother about that«, the vampire explained and Martina was surprised about how gentle the sound of his voice was.

The black haired female also got up and went over to Joleen. »There are not many children in our home and we would like you to stay with us for a while«, she explained.

Joleen looked at Martina, who had already signed the contract. She don’t needed to stare to her daughter ... No, don’t stare at the child who now belonged to the vampires to know how dumb Joleen looked now. The brat always got that look when she didn’t get the point. Which has happened quite often.

»And my mom?«, the girl asked, and Martina had a hard time suppressing a smile. That girl no longer had a mother.

»She won’t live with us«, the vampire who was sitting on the other side of Joleen explained.

The girl frowned again and the third male vampire stood up and took out an envelope which he put on the table in front of Martina. Her heart started to race, surely this was her payment.

»This is your compensation and the first monthly installment. Feel free to check it«, the vampire declared and sat down again. She was itchy to grab the envelope by her fingers and let every single note slide through them, but she controlled herself. She was smart and so she had gone to friends to find out how to behave facing the vampires.

»I trust in your sense of honor«, she explained and gave the vampire her most beautiful smile. Her eyes were still on the envelope. »And now, if you don’t mind, I’ll say goodbye.«

The vampires all exchanged a brief look and then nodded unanimously. Martina grabbed the envelope and her copy of the contract. With calm footsteps and a frantic heart she left the salon.

Zacharias

The terror Joleen went through when her mother announced that she wanted to leave was violent. Zacharias, who had adjusted to the feelings of the little ones, hardly was able to avoid shuddering.

Without having a second look at her daughter, the woman got up and left the room. When the door fell into the lock behind her, the girl came to life.

»I don’t want my mommy to go«, Joleen sobbed and suddenly jumped off the couch. Her unexpected agility caught them all by surprise, and neither he nor Cirrus were able to stop her. »Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, wait!«, the little girl shouted and ran towards the door.

Zacharias was about to jump up to stop her, but Fayn held him back. »Allow her to say goodbye«, his cousin whispered. Zacharias nodded, although a dark hunch sneaked up on him. Much slower and calmer they all followed the girl. She had managed to open the heavy door and burst into the entrance hall.

»Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Please wait! Mommy!« Cries echoed through the house. Zacharias tried to understand the connection Joleen had to her mother, even though she treated her so badly. When he and his family entered the entrance hall, the crack whore was already standing at the front door and the child reached her just in time to put her small arms around her mother’s waist. She held tightly against the woman.

»Mommy, please take me home«, she begged. Martina did not even bother to look down to her, but instead tried to remove the arms from her body. »Please, mommy. Or we both can stay here«, the girl whispered fervently and Zacharias wondered if they were really doing the right thing.

»Let go of me«, the woman hissed. »I don’t want you!«

»But you’re my mom«, the girl muttered in complete incomprehension.

»No, not anymore«, the woman replied. »Now let go of me, brat!« She powerful hit the girl. The child’s grip actually released from the mother, and Joleen crashed hard on the floor. The woman walked up to the lying child and kicked her.

Zacharias reacted instinctively as he rushed forward. Before he consciously decided to do so, his hand closed around the woman’s throat pushing her up against the wall. Everything he saw lay behind a fine red veil. His anger made his instincts determine his actions. And he was aware that his eyes were now glowing in a deep red.

»You are no longer entitled to her«, he hissed. The woman put her hands around his hand in an effort to release his grip. Her eyes widened in terror as her feets left the floor. »If you raise your hand against our property again, we will kill you!«

The woman nodded. She understood. He threw her away in an angry tug. Her body slid above the ground until her head hit the wall. Zachariah stopped looking after her. Instead, he closed his eyes to calm down. Slowly he felt his inner rage diminish.

»Mommy? Mom, please wake up!« When the soft crying reached his ear, he opened his eyes again and searched the room to find Joleen. The girl squatted next to her mother’s body with her small hands on her shoulder. She shook the woman over and over again. A small pool of blood was already forming under her head. His push had probably been stronger than he intended. »Mommy, please wake up«, Joleen whispered again looking at the blood in terror. Then she looked up to Zacharias. Unlike what he expected, he saw no anger in her look, but a flea. »Can you fix her?«, Joleen asked and sobbed heavily. »You healed my knee, too.«

»I don’t think that’s possible, Joleen«, Zacharias explained quietly.

She just cried even harder and shook her mother again. »Yes, you can. I know that«, she whispered and the big eyes looked at his whole family one by one. »Please«, she begged.

It took Zacharias great effort to shake his head again.

»She’s still alive«, Fayn whispered. They all knew what she was suggesting. Everything in Zacharias resisted it.

»Can you help her? Please«, the little one begged again, and even Nikolas' eyes slipped a little bit in compassion. Again, the child looked at her mother and cried more and more. »Mommy, you have to get up«, she begged. »You’ll certainly get better, the Sirs and the Ladies will help you, but now