Deep Deliverance: The Deep Series, Book 3 by Z.A. Maxfield Read Free Book Online

grisly thing—barely satisfying. Small animals might stave off hunger, but they never fully satisfied him. Afterward, he waited, unable to face Santos.
    “Hunger is nothing to be ashamed of.” Santos’s voice was as gentle as the hand Santos laid on his shoulder. “Every living thing must eat.”
    Adin swallowed the bile that always rose to his throat as soon as his hunger ebbed. He recalled a lifetime of after-dinner coffee and quiet conversation and gave a brief, bitter laugh. “I know.”
    “Even great men become beasts when their bellies are empty enough.”
    “The food I’m used to eating comes on china plates—on white linen tablecloths. I had choices.”
    Santos’s grim expression returned. “Obviously, you still have choices . You choose rabbits, although they won’t hold back the hunger for long.”
    “I know. But it’s what I want.” Adin stood and faced Santos so he could read the truth of that. “You and Donte— everyone —must accept that.”
    “You have to learn how to thrive, Adin, not to merely survive. The world is waiting for you to be a part of it again.”
    “How can you say that? My world is over. It’s gone if I want to be a decent—”
    “Human being?”
    Adin crossed his arms. “If you must know? Yes.”
    “It’s possible to be a decent vampire.” Santos picked his coat up and shook it out. “It’s easy to lose your way, but it’s possible.”
    “Are you saying that’s what you are?”
    “Heavens no. I’m an excellent vampire, by which I mean I’m rarely decent.” Santos donned his coat, picked up Adin’s umbrella and handed it over, taking the care to dust him off. As they stepped into the sunlight Santos opened his umbrella, flinching until he moved it securely between him and the sun. “You don’t have to be like me. But you don’t have to be like Donte either. I think you must leave the nest and fly on your own for a while.”
    Of course you do. “I told you. I’m not ready for that yet.”
    “I should say not. If you set foot in the city in your condition, your lover’s enemies will fall on you like starving wolves.” Santos drew his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over. He tapped his chin with a small smile. “You have a little something…”
    “So what are you suggesting?” Adin wiped at his mouth. When he pulled the cloth away it was covered in fur and rabbit gore. Christ. He scrubbed his face. “There. Is it all right now?”
    “Yes. You’re fine.” Santos refused the awful thing when Adin tried to give it back. “Er… You can keep that.”
    They continued walking at a sedate pace. Hunger abated for the moment, Adin took in all the sights and scents of the forest. Bright blue feathers caught his eye and he followed the progress of the pinyon jay from tree to tree.
    “Donte should be shepherding you into the world, not shielding you from it. He should be showing you how to get along in the city. How to feed properly, without harming the host. He’s—”
    “I like it here.”
    “But what about your friends? The ones from San Francisco? The boy they adopted? Don’t you miss seeing them?”
    “I—” Adin bit his lip. Edward and Tuan wanted him to come back to San Francisco. He missed talking to Bran desperately. He’d stopped calling because he felt bad disappointing them. He wasn’t ready to face them. He wasn’t ready to face anyone. “I Skype with them.”
    “Your sister also is probably—”
    “What do you know about my sister?” The instinct to fight—to protect his only living family—buzzed inside him like a jar of angry bees. “I mean it,Santos. Leave Deana alone.”
    “Calmati, I want nothing from her,” Santos soothed. “You have my word on this. But listen to an old man. Donte is keeping you locked up here at your expense. He—”
    “Give it a rest, already.” Adin started back toward the cabin. “I can leave anytime I like. Why should I want to? There’s nothing so interesting that