Shadow Touched: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (A Touch of Vampire Book 1) by Becky Moynihan (great reads TXT) 📕

chandelier. “So it’s just you two in this huge house?” I wandered farther in, catching a breathtaking view of the lake through the living room’s expansive rear windows.

“Yeah. For now.”

“No parents?”

He chuckled. “No. We’re both of legal age and enjoy our independence.”

“Jealous.” Turning in a circle, I surveyed the living room’s stone fireplace, dark leather furniture, and ornate rug, the decor tastefully done in warm earth tones. Something about the place eased the tension in my shoulders. It was so normal-looking, not at all where I expected vampires to live.

“Want something to drink?” Kade said, following in my wake. “A slice of cheesecake, maybe?”

I glanced back at him with narrowed eyes. “You already have cheesecake?”

He shrugged, unsuccessfully hiding a grin. “Not a triple-decker one.”

“Unbelievable,” I muttered, following the open floor plan into the kitchen. More gleaming wood greeted me, along with a copper range and stone tile backsplash. The white quartz countertops sparkled, reminding me of a question I had. “So if your skin isn’t made of diamonds, then how can you walk in sunlight without burning?” I bit my lip, expecting him to laugh at the question.

“Because I’m blood-bonded to a Venturi,” he explained, like that made all the difference in the world. He moved to the stainless steel fridge and opened the door. “Thanks to my drothen bond, I received several perks that a Venturi is naturally born with—like near immunity to the sun and stronger abilities.”

I blankly stared at him. Wow, there was a lot more to this vampire thing than I thought. “So what exactly is a Venturi? And what does that make you?”

“Venturi are born-vampires, the elites of our race. They are the rarest and most powerful vampire. Feltore are your typical made-vampires, the “bitten ones”—which is what I am. Without a drothen bond to a Venturi, we are slaves to the sun. Legend has it that Cain from the Bible, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, birthed the vampire gene. God punished Cain for murdering his brother Abel by making him into a Feltore. The bloodlust and aversion to the sun forced him to leave his family and wander the earth alone in darkness.

“But he soon discovered the gene could be transmitted through his seed and blood. He mated with a human female, siring Enoch, the first Venturi. To build and protect their community, Cain and Enoch then turned many humans into vampires, creating Feltore. They appointed Enoch their ruler, revering him for his powerful abilities.”

I struggled to digest this wildly unbelievable information. Venturi and Feltore? Cain from the Bible? “So . . . what happens to Feltore if they’re exposed to the sun?”

He set a mostly-uneaten cheesecake on the kitchen island and gestured widely with his hands. “Poof! Their skin goes up in flames within seconds. I hear it’s an excruciating way to go.”

I gaped at the casual way he said it, but he was too busy unwrapping the cheesecake to notice. My next question came at the worst possible moment, right when he pulled a knife from the chopping block. “How can you be killed then?”

He paused to look at me, knife poised midair. The hair on my arms stood on end. Freaking fates, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut. I was alone with a vampire. A creature that was much faster and stronger than me. And I’d just asked how to kill him.

He suddenly vanished with a whoosh, and I choked back a scream. Before I could bolt for the exit, a voice whispered in my ear, “Why, do you want to kill me?” Every muscle locked in place, even with a predator at my back. The only thing I could manage was a weak head shake. “What about Loch?” Another head shake. “Good girl.”

Just as suddenly, he reappeared behind the kitchen island and carefully cut into the cheesecake.

“Remember the vampire from the other night?” he said conversationally, as if he hadn’t completely freaked me out seconds ago.

An affirming nod from me this time.

“That’s how you kill us, Feltore and Venturi alike. Head decapitation, followed by burning. You couldn’t find the Feltore’s head because Loch temporarily chucked it into the woods while he burned the body. Strawberries?”

I blinked at him dumbly. “Huh?”

He held up a plastic carton. “I like strawberries on my cheesecake.”

“Sure,” I mumbled and shifted in place, my earlier zeal for answers nowhere to be found.

“You can also rip out our hearts and then burn us,” Kade continued while dumping a small mountain of sliced strawberries on our cheesecakes. “Not really something a human can easily do—the ripping our hearts out part. But there’s another way to incapacitate us.” He smiled, like we were simply discussing the weather. “You’re gonna have to discuss that one with Loch, though.”

“Why?” Feeling my bravery return, I inched toward an island barstool.

“Because he said he’d give you the tools necessary to protect yourself,” he replied, snickering. “Never thought I’d hear him say that. There’s something special about you, McKenna Belmont. Now come here and eat this cheesecake before I do.”

Confused by his words, I focused on the part that made sense. “Hey, back away from my slice.” I made grabby hands for it and he relinquished the plate with a lopsided grin.

“If you want to know the way to my heart,” he said, handing me a fork, “look no further. I practically live on this stuff.”

He dug into his cheesecake and I debated bringing up the elephant in the room. You know, the choice of beverage part. Realizing what a mistake that would be while we were eating, I instead said, “What’s the way to Lochlan’s?”

Wait, why the crap did I just ask that?

Kade paused midchew and hiked his eyebrows.

I quickly focused on my mound of strawberries, jabbing a forkful of them a little too hard. “Forget I said that.”

“Okay,” he immediately replied, surprising me. “But,” he added, pointing his fork at me, “you have to do something in return for my silence.”

I eyed him warily for a moment,