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

Zacharias heard his cousin growl. The child’s plea was successful. It touched his cousin. Nikolas went to her and knelt beside the woman. »Stand up and let them take you away«, he demanded. »I’ll make her well again.« Joleen looked at Nikolas hesitantly and then she immediately jumped up and gave him a big hug. Zacharias could see his cousin’s body tense. He didn’t like any surprising physical touches. Nevertheless, he took it for a few seconds, which was really surprising. This child seemed to have a strange effect to all of them.

»Thank you, Sir«, the girl whispered and then quickly jumped aside.

»Take her away, we don’t know how the mother reacts when she awakes. Maybe she’s thirsty«, he said and turned the mother’s body.

»Come with me«, Zacharias heard his cousin say. »We’ll find you a nice room to unpack your things. And later we’ll visit your mother.« Zacharias nodded contentedly and knew Fayn would take good care of the child.

Nikolas brought his wrist up to his mouth and bit into it. Two fine rivulets of blood appeared. Then he put his hand to the mother’s mouth.

A very uneasy feeling crept up on Zacharias as he watched his cousin make the little girl’s mother to one of them and heard Joleen sobbing all the time in the hallways of the house.

Fayn

She took the child to the bloodwhore’s wing. Christin and Tony, the women whose task it was now to take care of the child, were there.

They were expecting them. As they watched the child’s crying face, sorrow became visible in the faces of the women. Confirmation for Fayn that they chose the right one.

She was looking at the two bloodwhores. Christin was as light as Tony was dark. Her long, blond hair, the pale skin, which was actually the standard for blood companions, caused by blood deficiency, and the white clothes she always wears. Tony, on the other hand, had dark skin, her eyes were deep brown, they seemed nearly black, and her long dark hair also reached her waist. They had both arrived at the same time, but instead of indulging in the usual hostilities that were common among the bloodwhores, they became friends. They were also willing to visit a vampire in pairs, if that was his wish.

Their friendship had prevented them from slipping into the dull catatonia that possessed many bloodwhores and could only be broken by having sex with a vampire. Through their connection they had succeeded to preserve their personality.

When Fayn finally stopped in front of them, they both kneeled down. »You may rise«, the vampire explained. The child next to her pulled up her nose. Fayn avoided a sniffing and wondered how disgusting humans were in many ways. She looked at the child with a friendly smile. »Joleen, meet Christin and Tony. They will take care of you for a while now and show you your room«, Fayn explained. Joleen nodded. The small body still shaken by silent sobs. Fayn looked back at those two bloodwhores. »If she doesn’t calm down, send for one of us. We’ll take care of it.«

Christin and Tony nodded. Fayn noticed the uneasiness in the women’s eyes. They heard the words Fayn didn’t say. They would mentally manipulate the child. That would calm her down, even if she didn’t want to.

»Aren’t you coming?«, Joleen asked and pressed Fayn’s hand.

»No, I have to take care of your mother«, Fayn explained.

Joleen’s mouth formed into an understanding »Oh«, and the girl let go off the hand she had been grabbing for a few minutes in search of help.

After a moment of reflection, Fayn said: »You stay here and be a good girl!« She wasn’t sure if these were words spoken to human children when they were left alone. But Joleen nodded, which Fayn found reassuring as she returned to the entrance hall.

As soon as she entered the lobby, she noticed the change. The mother’s body was no longer on the floor. Apparently the blood had already been removed by one of her servants. However, she felt the presence of her family in the salon and they all seemed thrilled.

Curious about what was going on there, she approached the closed door.

»... not a good feeling about it«, Zacharias explained urgently as Fayn entered.

»What are we supposed to do? Letting the girl watch her mother bleed to death«, Nikolas countered angrily. »Excellent start for our experiment. The child would blame us for her mother’s death.«

»So what do you want to do with her? You changed her. That means you are responsible for her«, Zacharias said to his cousin. »You saw the way she treats that kid. Do you really believe it would be safe to keep her here?«

»As you said, I changed her, and so she is subject to my instructions«, Nikolas replied. He looked over to the couch, and when Fayn followed his eyes, she saw the girl’s mother who had been laid up there.

»We all should keep an eye on her«, Cirrus now explained. Nikolas drove around to him and looked at him angrily. Cirrus raised his hands. »I agree with your opinion. Right now, you’re doing the right thing. However, this woman has an amazing potential for aggression against her daughter.«

Fayn finally stepped into the room and thurred quietly. All eyes turned to her and she smiled at her family. »I think it could be predestined«, she said quietly. »We’ll take care of both and see how it goes. And maybe this is the rupture she used to finally get closer to her daughter.«

»What do you mean?«, Zacharias asked confusedly. His voice sounded defensive.

»Perhaps she will now succeed in shedding the hatred she has for her daughter. She’s going to start a new life. Maybe it is also a new start for mother and daughter«, Fayn continued. »This child is yearning for her mother’s love because she never kept it. If we can get the two of them to come closer, it might be conducive to our attempt.«

The faces of her family had become thoughtful. They would come to the same realization that Fayn was sure of.

»All right«, Zacharias finally said. »Nikolas, it’s up to you what happens to Martina. You’re in charge for her in all matters.«

»In exchange, I should stay away from the child?«, Nikolas asked.

»No. But she has for a while. As long as we can’t be sure about how to avoid something like that in the entrance area earlier. She's much more stronger now, which means it could be lethal for the child the next time«, Zacharias explained.

There was tension in the air as Zacharias and Nikolas stared at each other. Finally Fayn saw her brother nodding and she relaxed. He was temperamental and stubborn, but he also knew what was right and what wasn’t.

Nikolas

After the meeting with his family was over, Nikolas arranged to take the child’s mother to another room. He chose one of the rooms that were actually intended for his bloodslaves. There was no use for them anyway. It also seemed more reasonable to him to keep the child’s mother close to him.

Nikolas still didn’t know what led him to submit to the girl’s plea. Now he wondered if his sister wasn’t right. Maybe it was destined for all of them.

It knocked softly. Before he could express his consent, the door opened. Fayn entered.

»She’s still asleep?«, his sister asked.

Nikolas nodded. The transformation took various hours. This was known to all of them. There were too many factors involved in the transformation to give an accurate timeframe. All that remained was to listen to the small signs announcing the end of the transformation. Fayn smiled at him. »Do you need anything?«

»I do«, Nikolas muttered. »I need two bloodwhores. One male, one female. Someone we can skip because I don’t know how well she could control herself once she’s changed.«

Fayn took a look at the blonde woman lying asleep on the bed. »Yes, she doesn’t seem to be one of those people who can control themselves well«, she agreed with Nikolas. »I’ll make arrangements and send the bloodwhores up to your room. What about the female, do you have any special requests?«

Nikolas shook his head. He had no interest in a particular type of bloodwhore. As long as they were able to satisfy his needs, each of them was fine. His sister left the room.

He looked at the sleeping woman. In death she owned a beauty that never had been granted to her when she was alive. Sure, by human standards there may have been a time she might have been pretty. But now as her blood transformed her, she reached a new level of elegance and grace.

Again there was a soft knock. By a mental command, he forced the door to open. Two bloodwhores entered with lowered eyes and then immediately kneeled down in front of him.

His sister’s choice pleased him, but that didn’t was a suprise. She had an unerring instinct to choose bloodwhores.

»You«, he pointed to the boy cowering pale and limp in front of him on the floor. »Go there!« The male blood whore nodded and followed the command. As he looked at the sleeping new vampire, the bloodwhore’s body trembled.

Nicolas suppressed a disgusted smile. Bloodwhores were so predictable. All they wanted was to get fucked as much as possible by a vampire, to indulge in bloodlust. They masterfully ignored the possibility that they could die at any time.

He eyes wander to the female bloodwhore which had been selected for him. She was young, even for a bloodwhore. Most of the bloodcompanions chose to live as bloodwhores between their late twenties and early forties. In other words, in the period in which most people became aware of their mortality. Sex with a vampire made them feel alive.

»Look at me!«, he demanded. Now that she received a direct order from him, she raised her eyes. She wasn’t pretty, even by human standards. Her brown eyes were dull, as was her light brown hair, which lay dreary around her face. The body was a to thin for him to like. But she would serve the purpose for which she was here.

»Get up!«, he ordered. The bloodwhore responded immediately. With his right hand he embraced her neck and an expectant trembling went through her body. Shine stepped into her eyes.

The fire of bloodlust also gripped humans and pulled them into the abyss. So how long this one' s probably been hooked?

»Put your head to