Demon Blood (Vampire in the City Book 5) by Donna Ansari Read Free Book Online Page A

doing it for a guy.”
    “Maybe, but if you were happier, it’s always an option, right? I mean, I was under the impression that you guys were fairly serious. Am I wrong?”
    “I don’t know. I mean, it’s complicated.”
    “Why is it complicated?”
    “The whole nature of vampires being in relationships is weird, I guess.” I tried to take a sip of coffee, only to find an empty cup.
    “It’s like, with humans, you might get married and hope to live together for thirty or forty years. You go through various life changes together. You may buy a house, have children, watch them grow up, retire, and grow old together. With vampires, none of that is going to happen, expect maybe the purchasing of property. And it’s hard enough to stay with someone that long as a human, but vampires can stay alive indefinitely, so imagine trying to be together for hundreds of years. It must get, well, old. Plus there is the whole blood doll thing, so that complicates everything even more.”
    Tammy looked concerned. “I’ve never heard you talk this much about being a vampire. So what’s the deal with the blood dolls? How do they make it worse?”
    “The sucking of blood is very addictive for humans, and they are completely obsessed with the vampire, and even imagine they are in love with them. I think I might have mentioned that before. Anyway, it’s hard to be in a relationship with someone when they have a bunch of other women always hanging around them acting like they are with the person.”
    She frowned at me. “And this is what Ethan was to you?”
    I nodded, miserably.
    “And this was all he was to you?”
    I was silent for a few moments, trying to come up with something, but in the end I had to admit the truth. “Yes, he was just a blood doll.”
    Tammy covered her eyes with her hand. “That’s disgusting. But he got away, right? He’s no longer under your thrall or whatever anymore, right?”
    “No, he’s not under my thrall anymore,” I said carefully.
    “What, you mean he’s under someone else’s then?”
    “Yeah, I think. I just found out about it the other day.”
    “But that’s horrible. At least you didn’t treat him like total crap. We have to find out who this hussy is and help him.”
    “There’s not too much I can do about it now. Plus, it’s not a woman.”
    “It’s a guy vampire?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t think it means anything besides the fact that the mind control is strong enough to overcome any personal preferences.”
    “Poor Ethan,” Tammy said. “So the only way for vampires to survive is to have a bunch of people who think they are in love with them and want their blood sucked?”
    “Well, it’s not the only way. But to find someone new to feed off of every night is tiring and hard to sustain long-term.”
    “Our stop is next, so let’s put this convo at least on a temporary hiatus, especially since it’s not of immediate concern to you anymore.”
    I stood up and followed her to the door, happy to put both our discussion, if not my own thoughts, on temporary to permanent hiatus.
    We emerged from the subway station at the same stop I had been at the previous night. By then, the sun had set, and I looked down at my phone, which was buzzing with a new text message.
    Can I come over? It was from Alex.
    Tammy noticed my look of distress and said, “Don’t answer him.”
    “If I don’t he’ll just show up uninvited anyway.”
    I wrote back with the truth. Not tonight—I’m out with Tammy.
    The Magickal Well was close to the subway station. In fact, I realized that I had passed it the night before on my way to the club. It was the first floor in what looked like an apartment building, and you had to go down three steps to get to the front door. 
    We walked down to find a “Closed” sign hanging in the window, which was somewhat tastefully decorated for a pagan shop. Only one pentagram, albeit a rather large one, hung in the