Breach (The Blood Bargain) by Macaela Reeves Read Free Book Online

system was throwing out, arms went up to try to catch my balance.
    “Whoa!”  A thin arm wrapped around me and scooped me up like a doll.  “See I knew you were just being obstinate.”
    “I’m fine put me down...”
    “Nah check this out.”  In a blur we were no longer at the edge of town, we were on 2nd street, right in front of my house.  He set me down gently, not holding onto me a second longer than was absolutely needed. Even injured, he let me keep my dignity.
    “See how easy that was?”
    “You’re a good friend Adam.”  That moment reassured me about he had become, he was to me as he had always been.  I smiled at him, hoping he knew how sincere I was.  The shine in his brown eyes declared that he did.
    Then Adam was gone, off to do whatever it was he did these days.  Feed, yes he did say he had to drink.  Many would be terrified to have a vampire in the throes of hunger carry them home, I however knew that Adam would never hurt me.  Not because he was my friend before he turned, that would be a very stupid assumption on my part, but because of his core.
    The way he explained it to me, when a vampire was freshly turned their elder had an opportunity to instill them with their principals, initial programming as it were.  Dimitri, in an act I will never get a reason for, commanded Adam to never harm nor allow harm to come to me.
    So whatever blood was on his mind, it wasn’t mine.
    I briefly wondered who he was using for sustenance.   I wouldn’t ask and I knew I would never find out. Those that offered themselves for blood rotation were kept confidential, there were those within our walls who still had a severe degree of animosity toward the vamps and the last thing anyone needed was to give them a target.  Angry mobs made battered bodies. Far as I knew no incident had ever occurred, not that I wanted to break that record.  Whomever it was he was seeing, I wished her or him well.  Who knows, she or he might actually enjoy it.  If the donor remembered it at all.
    Looking up at the house in front of me, I admit, I was filled with pride.  The moonlight danced on the peaks of the Victorian house, the covered porch was inviting even in the dark night.  It was both beautiful and timeless. Standing here on the sidewalk, you’d never have known the world had changed.  Inside there was a happy family with peace of mind, children that giggled and laughed, a mother that looked to the future.
    I limped around to the back yard rather than go through the house.  I didn't want to track all the sick blood that stuck to my skin and my clothes inside my home.  I just couldn’t bare it.
    Despite the fact that it was just a little above freezing outside, I stepped into our outdoor shower stall, stripped and flipped the lever.  The frigid water was likely to make me sick, but it didn’t matter . I wanted that blood off of me.  I wanted the memories of today washed away along with it.  My skin barely visible in the cool night I couldn’t guess at how clean I was and wasn’t so I just kept scrubbing.
    I thought of the man who had died, he had started his day like any other.  Blissfully unaware he would never go home, would never see whatever family or friends he had.  That his fellow citizens, would be grateful for the few moments of time his chewed intestines bought them to reload and aim anew.
    My gut wretched, my ears ringing with his horrific screams.  I was not a monster, I did not delight in death.  I tried to close my eyes to calm down, but every time my lids shut I saw rancid hands and hollowed eyes.  Chest tightening, each breath I took becoming quicker and more desperate.
    I stayed under the faucet until I began to lose feeling in my fingertips.
    My teeth shattered and my arms shook, the thin towel did little to improve my temperature.
    I had brought no clothes outside, which left me stumbling like a drunkard up the back steps practically naked.  Praying I didn’t have to run into