Cortigiana (A Vamp Life Prequel) by Jez Strider Read Free Book Online Page A

there was a large landmass, but
it was minimally charted. That was the first time I saw the
Americas. Amazed, I left the map alone and walked around the room,
lightly touching the books with my fingertips.
A large, leather bound tome caught my
attention. The cover was dark and adorned with strange lettering I
didn’t recognize. I brought it over to one of the couches and
placed it on the soft material. At first, I couldn’t read anything,
then about halfway through the words were written in my own
language. The story spoke of undying gods.
No one knows who ascended to become the
first earthbound god. Legends tell of a nameless prophet wandering
the lands and drinking blood from his dedicated followers. The more
he consumed, the more uncontrollable his lust became. It is said
after draining the last of his people, he realized his error. In a
panic, the regretful god slit his wrist to feed the only remaining,
but dying woman. Thus, our first queen ascended to stand beside her
maker and king.
Years passed and together they discovered
the limits of their existence. They created followers with undying
devotion. The queen longed for something more. Years turned to
decades and decades faded into centuries. During all this time, the
queen never conceived. The awful truth was that the vampire women
lacked the ability to breed.
Disgusted, I slammed the book shut.
“Blasphemy.” I stared at the book, longing to toss it into a fire.
My curiosity urged me to read further, though. There was more to
learn about the beings that lived on the blood of humans. Besides,
I thought it was only a story. It had to be a fictional tale like
the ones about the ancient gods of Greece and Rome.
For hours, I read about the travels, wars,
and oppression the gods wrought on humans. There were mentions of
weapons the people had raised against the vampires in resistance.
Crucifixes and garlic were useless, but held onto by the
superstitious. Another legend caught my attention. It told of the
rare occasion of a vampire birth.
    “ A vampire being born?
Horrible.”
In the time of ancient Rome, a beautiful
human wife birthed a vampire for the first time in recorded
history. His father, a great vampire in his own right, became
leader of all his people when the news spread. The child did not
need blood to live until he began his transition into manhood. This
son of gods spilled more blood in his ravenous first year as a man
than most other vampires had in a lifetime.
A second time, I shut the book and pushed it
away. I lay down on my back, looking up at the ceiling as I thought
about the stories. The fictional world of vampires wasn’t one I
would have chosen to escape into, but it fascinated me.
Abruptly, the door to the library slammed
open. I slinked down on the couch and closed my eyes. If it was
Dante, I didn’t want to be in trouble for hiding away in the
library if he’d been looking for me. It wasn’t him. I could hear
two voices.
    “ Stop it. Look, someone is
in here.” A feminine voice whispered.
They were looking at me. I knew it. With
effort, I maintained the appearance of being asleep.
    “ I paid you to entertain me
because you are my favorite and that is what you are going to do.
The mistress sleeps. We can be quiet. I cannot wait any
longer.”
    “ Nicolo, why are you so
aggressive? You have never behaved like this before?” The woman
said.
That’s when I recognized her voice. Her name
was Laura and she was another courtesan. I’d seen her at a few of
the parties I’d worked. The woman captivated men and she was almost
as requested as I was.
    “ You have no idea what it is
like when a man gets hungry.” He growled at her.
A scuffling of feet and the sound of a body
being pushed up against a table told me they had moved past me.
They were no doubt charting a new course on that map. Cautiously, I
cracked open one eye and peeked over the arm of the sofa to catch a
glimpse of the action. Nicolo began to use poor Laura