Dominion of the Damned by Jean Marie Bauhaus Read Free Book Online

catwalk, and the two of them appeared to be having a heated argument. Phyllis turned back to Hannah and said, “Nobody really knows for sure. He comes here a couple times a month, supposedly to run a clinic and make sure we’re all well. But he always picks some people to take back with him, usually people Esme’s ready to get rid of. And kids. He prefers orphans.” She leaned in closer. “They say he’s trying to create synthetic blood. Then they won’t need us anymore. And what do you think happens then?” She sat back, shaking her head and casting him an evil eye. “That guy’s bad news.”
    Hannah looked back up at the doctor. Was Noah’s name on that clipboard? Did Konstantin plan to take him away to become a lab rat? This morning, he had looked her in the eye and assured her that Noah was safe, and that he would stay that way. Something about him, and the sincerity in his voice and in his gaze, had reassured Hannah, in spite of everything. But weren’t vampires supposed to be able to hypnotize people, to cast a spell over their victims to make them willing? Had he done that to her?
    She realized she was staring up at him. The argument with Esme ended as she stormed away, and he turned to look out over the crowd. His gaze met hers, startling her. She quickly looked away, fixing her attention back on Phyllis. “Where does he take them?”
    “Rumor has it he has his own camp set up at a converted Army base. But nobody really knows anything. It’s not like the people he takes are ever heard from again.” She reached across the table and touched Hannah’s hand. “Just try to stay off his list, okay?”
    Hannah nodded, but she chanced another glance up at the doctor. He was walking away, his attention back on his clipboard. Hannah wondered again what it held. Was that his list of people to take? All she knew for certain was that if Noah was on it, then she had to make sure she was on it, too.

FIVE

    As the humans fed below, the collective scent of humanity assaulted Esme’s nostrils and made her mouth water. It reminded her of a time long past, of a girl barely out of childhood, denied the pleasure of sweets because the clients wanted her for her slender figure. That girl would go into the chocolatier to simply stand and inhale. It had been exquisite torture then. It was more so now, with her heightened senses and the inescapable hunger.
    She normally avoided the human gathering places for this reason; but her darling Alexandr had requested a meeting, and he was loathe to be alone with her in her office. So she humored him in this as with most other things. She sensed him coming even before his steps vibrated on the catwalk, as she knew he could sense her. They were tied together, eternally, whether he liked it or not.
    Esme smiled as he approached, carrying his clipboard and wearing his white coat, playing dress up in a doctor’s clothes, always denying what he truly was. His hair was mussed, no doubt from raking his hands through it as he pondered the solution to some scientific problem. The power emanating from him, and the look of determination on his face, were in stark contrast to the first time she’d seen him, lying in a gutter in Prague, drinking his life away. Then, he had welcomed her embrace as she offered him an escape from his pain, and vengeance. Now he shunned it, always keeping her at arm’s length.
    “You’ve kept the infant in quarantine, as I asked?” he said as he approached.
    “But of course.”
    He nodded. “Good. I’ll be leaving tonight with the children. And the new girl.”
    Esme laughed. “My dear Doctor, you’re so predictable.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Please. I saw how you looked at her in the infirmary. The hunger in your eyes had nothing to do with blood.” She looked down and spotted the girl in question, sitting at a table with another young woman, casting furtive glances up at them. “She is a pretty little thing, isn’t she? With that long, dark hair