Dark Secrets by Madeline Pryce Read Free Book Online Page B

away and shook my head. “Get over it.”
    I walked into the open dining room where Hannah, Dante and
Roy sat at a long banquet-style table. Even though I’d thrown out the gold
damask table runner and replaced the chairs, the room still reeked of blood and
sex, as if this had been a room of nonstop orgies.
    My stomach churned and I looked at Hannah as she announced, “I’m
moving in with Dante.”
    Well, okay then. My gaze bounced from my sister, whose heart
was racing loud enough to catch my attention, to my uncle. The little girl in
me wanted to rush up and throw my arms around him, to bury my face in his neck.
    But I wasn’t a child anymore. No, I was a vampire. A queen
and a complete failure.
    As usual, Roy’s too-long hair, part gray and part brown,
stuck up as if he’d spent the entire flight home running his hands through it.
His glasses sat skewed on his nose. The lenses magnified the lines of tension
bracketing his eyes.
    He spoke in a brisk, unfriendly tone, one I’d never heard
him use with Hannah before. “I wasn’t even aware you were dating.”
    Hannah lifted her chin, giving her an air of stubborn
defiance. “He saved my life. Twice.”
    “He’s also fifteen years older than you.” Roy’s glare
transferred to Dante. “Hero worship isn’t a healthy way to start a relationship.”
    My sister narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need your permission.
I’m twenty years old.”
    Dante, who’d been silent, cleared his throat and leaned back
in his chair. He slung an arm around Hannah’s shoulders to pull her close. “Sir,
I care about your niece a great deal.”
    “You care about her.” On the walls, the hand-painted
portraits of people none of us knew vibrated from Roy’s growing agitation. When
you pissed off a wizard, the best idea was to run. My uncle rubbed the center
of his chest and continued. “If you cared, you wouldn’t be rushing a
relationship with a girl who’s gone through a severe mental and physical
trauma.”
    God, this talk sounded so familiar.
    “This should be good. Just like old times, eh?” Julian
whispered into my ear, obviously remembering when we were at the receiving end
of this parental talk.
    At the sound of Julian’s voice, Roy whipped his head in our
direction. He speared me with a sharp look and I snapped my mouth shut. He
allotted one second to scowl at Julian before returning hot eyes to me.
    “Did you know about this?” He stopped rubbing his chest and
kneaded his fingers into his left arm as if it hurt.
    Had he been injured? My uncle’s heartbeat thundered—the
familiar lubb-dupp sound of his heart murmur unmistakable. The beat seemed…off.
Too fast, kind of irregular, even for him.
    When I didn’t respond, Julian elbowed me in the side.
    “Ouch.” I rubbed my ribs and faced my uncle’s wrath. “That
they were moving in together? No, but I figured as much. She’s been spending
every night with him. Roy, are you okay?”
    Beads of sweat gathered at his temples. He coughed, didn’t
answer my question and transferred his ire back to Hannah. “So you’re engaged
in a sexual relationship with a man who is practically old enough to be your
father.”
    My sister’s cheeks flamed bright red, a shade remarkably
similar to her dress.
    Roy made a pained sound in the back of his throat and I took
a step forward. “Roy?”
    “Wh-at?” he gurgled. “Hannah—Hannah, she…grr…” His jumbled
sentence trailed off and he clutched his chest, his fingers whitening where he
fisted fabric.
    His face, shiny with moisture, paled. His once-racing heart
stopped. Before I could cross the room, Roy pitched to the side and fell to the
gleaming hardwood floor with a thud.
    “Roy!” Hannah screamed and shoved away from the table, her
chair skittering back hard enough to crash into the layered stone hearth behind
her.
    “Call 9-1-1,” I instructed, my raised voice bringing the
thundering din of pounding feet. The Fenrir.
    I collapsed at Roy’s side, just as