Blood Wyne by Yasmine Galenorn Read Free Book Online Page A

Tim and Camille and Delilah. They all care about you, and Tim’s your best friend. We are family. Don’t ever forget it.”
    “Tim’s married now. He . . . he belongs in the world of the living, not in our world.” She bit her lip, and I realized just how disconnected she was feeling from everything that had ever meant anything to her.
    “Tim and you were best friends,” I said slowly. “Unfortunately, things do change once you cross over the veil and become a vampire, but that doesn’t mean that every relationship you had has to vanish or die with your old life. Tim may have married Jason, but he still cares about you. He misses you. In fact, he’s waiting for you to adapt enough so that you can be friends again, no matter how the friendship has to evolve.”
    She considered my words. “I suppose you’re right. I guess I expected everything to go on the same, just with me being a vampire. I didn’t have time to think it through.”
    “Are you sorry you asked me to turn you?” I touched her arm, lightly, praying she wouldn’t say yes. I’d sworn I’d never sire another vampire and had broken my rule only because Grandmother Coyote had warned me that I needed to break through my own fears for the sake of destiny. Whatever the future held for Erin, I had a feeling it was far more than she dreamed of.
    Erin mulled over my words. I liked that she was no longer so eager to please that she’d blurt out anything she thought might make me happy. She was growing into her fangs.
    “No, I’m not sorry. I wasn’t ready to die, and this was the only choice. I think, to be honest, that living with Sassy has been good for me, but I’m ready to move on. She’s making me nervous and I can’t do anything without her approval or she throws a fit.”
    It was my turn to bite my lip. Sassy had lost a daughter, many years ago. Had she pinned all her love—both maternal and romantic—onto Erin’s shoulders? She was still protecting Erin from the monster she was becoming, or she wouldn’t have sent her out of the room before attacking her victim. But had she also kept her from growing independent?
    I decided to lighten the mood and held up a deck of cards. “Want to play a game of gin rummy?” I knew that Sassy and Erin played like fiends, and though the game bored me stiff, I wanted Erin to feel comfortable.
    She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I hate that game. I play because Sassy loves it.”
    Laughing, I pitched the cards into the corner. “Fair enough. It’s not one of my favorites, either. What do you want to do? We have a couple hours till sunrise.”
    Erin let out a long sigh. “I’d like to go for a walk with you. Get outside, walk through the woods. Sassy doesn’t take me out very often, and I miss the sound of the wind in the trees.”
    I hunted through my closet and pulled on a pair of Doc Martens. “Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s go.” And leading her up the stairs, I decided right there and then that I’d keep a tight watch over the next home I found for my daughter.
     
    We returned to the house a half hour before sunrise to find my phone ringing. I snatched it up, afraid it might be Sassy again, as Erin contentedly sprawled in the armchair. We’d walked for about a half hour, then did a mad-dash all-out sprint through the woods, skimming the trunks and undergrowth through the freshly fallen snow. I taught Erin how to scale a tree—Sassy had ignored a good share of Erin’s physical training, much to my dismay—and by the time we got back, she was looking forward to sunrise and sleep. I never liked the drowsy pull, but for Erin, it seemed to hold no dread.
    I picked up the receiver to hear a low voice, almost a growl, on the other end. “Please summon Menolly to the phone.”
    The accent gave him away. As did the power behind the accent. It didn’t matter whether my Caller ID was blocked. I knew who was on the other end.
    “Hello, Roman. This is Menolly.”
    “Ah, the girl