Blood Lust by T. Lynne Tolles Read Free Book Online

she removed some of her layers. She also took off her now soaked shoes and socks. Grabbing all this, she ran upstairs to her room to put on some warm, dry socks, maybe two pairs , and her slippers.
    Her feet now defrosting, she shuffled back down the stairs and into the library with her book. There was a fire crackling in the fireplace and she ran her finger along the old leather book spines, reading their titles as she went by. She could smell the old leather of the books and the musty smell of their old pages. This was a smell she knew well and loved. She owned her own bookstore back in Oljone called the Cauldron, Book and Candle. It was something she’d always wanted to do, and she had opened the store soon after her parents had died in a car accident. From the day she and Rowan had found the old, leather-bound family Book of Shadows in Grandma Lorelei’s trunk, she had been fascinated with old books and knew then that she wanted to surround herself with them.
    There was another smell she recognized . Tobacco, the sweet scent of pipe tobacco. Her father used to smoke a pipe sometimes and she had always loved the smell of the tobacco before it was burned. Not so much the smell of pipe smoke, but definitely the tobacco. It must be nearby, she thought. She looked for the pouch of tobacco and there it was. She opened it and took a deep whiff of its contents. Mmm. She sat in the big, leather-covered chair in front of the fireplace and put the small lap blanket that was resting on its arm over her. Her bunny slippers now pointed at the fireplace, and with feet warming, she set her book on her lap. She looked up at gorgeous Abigail Bloomington smiling down at her. She wished she could talk to her about her son. As she looked at Abby’s sapphire blue eyes, she missed her own mother. She wondered what advice Abby might give her, what funny childhood stories she might tell about Devon and Blake as boys.
    She thought too of the awful man, Terrence Paine, who had killed Abby and her husband Nathaniel for not helping him in his scheme to save his sickly son. Mr. Paine had come to know that Nathaniel and his family were vampires. He wanted Nathaniel to turn his son into a vampire so that his son could bypass his looming death. When Nathaniel refused, Mr. Paine swore he would kill Nathaniel and all his family. Soon after he buried his son, he came to Nathaniel and killed him, but not before he killed Abby in her sleep. How horrifying it must have been for two young boys to hear that their parents had been killed and that the crazy man who had done the deed would be hunting them too.
    In an attempt to get the sad thought of Abby and Nathaniel’s deaths out of her mind, she tried to imagine what Devon must have looked like as a young boy. No doubt he was handsome and sweet. She laughed thinking of Blake as a gangly young boy, too tall for his age, following Devon around like little brothers always do. With that happy thought she closed her eyes, listening to the crackle of the wood.
    When she woke, Mr. Chow had made himself a little nest beside her on the blanket. She noticed the fire had died down and the sun was low in the sky. She must have been more tired than she thought. She got up trying not to disturb Mr. Chow and went up to her room. On the bed were a couple of beautiful sweaters, some thick flannel jammies, and a box of lovely black leather boots. She figured they were from Devon. He probably had been going shopping when she’d seen the red car leave. No note. Perfect . She picked up the pile of items and tossed them on top of her luggage. She grabbed her cell phone and texted Blake and Rowan.
    Hey, either one of u there?
    Blake answered. I’m here, Rowan’s at the bookstore.
    Blake, Please tell me what’s going on here.
    I can’t Darby, I already told u, I can’t.
    U have no idea how bad things R here.
    How so?
    Devon actually scolded me in front of Dominic this morning.
    You’re overreacting. Devon wouldn’t do