Duella Book 3: The Witch and the Vampire Series by Fawn Lowery Read Free Book Online Page A

windows, allowing for light from the streetlights to filter inside. The illumination was faint, but Duella’s eyesight was keen. He could see the furnishings as though the space was afforded ample lighting.
    “There was a woman hiding behind the bookcase. She grabbed my throat.” Miriam raised one hand to her neck as though relieving the episode. “I fought her off, then decided I’d take her blood just for the hell of it. But she was too strong. She broke free and pushed me back. The next I knew, I was flying through the air.”
    Duella tried to keep his emotions at bay while he listened to Miriam. He fought the idea that Drucella was somewhere near, ready to attack if given the chance. He scanned the room again, searching for anything that might lead him to the witch. He raised one hand and clasped the amulet, silently hoping it would reveal Drucella’s whereabouts to his inquiring eyes.
    Miriam crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. “This might sound odd, since I’m already dead, but I feel a chill.” She searched the library, glancing quickly from side to side. “I think I’ll leave now, Duella . You can stay if you want to.”
    Duella turned his gaze on her as she returned to the window ledge where they had entered the building. In a second, she had materialized and vanished beneath the sill. He raked one hand through his hair. He hadn’t seen the woman Miriam claimed to have seen, or sensed any presence, but every instinct he had told him that Drucella had paid him another visit.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Duella stood beyond the window of the home office and stared at the squat man seated at the large desk. He was intent on his work, bending his head and scribbling frantically with a pen. He studied him, sensed his fatigue. His body was failing. His heart was weak. He owned the largest corporation in the city, Glasco Enterprises, a manufacturing and distributing giant that branched into England and France . His holdings were vast. And he intended to have them.
    Duella transformed, vaporized into a wispy mist and seeped beneath the glass patio doors leading into the room. He materialized into his vampire state in one dark corner of the office, his host none the wiser as he appeared absorbed in pages of figures splayed across his desk. He had taken the liberty of entering his name in the business records of the corporation, making himself
CEO
and assuming ownership upon Fred Glasco’s death. He would inherit the house he presently occupied, and the two homes he owned in England and France , along with the yacht he kept for his cruises along the Rivera. Fred Glasco had no living relatives, aside from a distant nephew that he hadn’t seen in almost twenty years. Duella deemed him no threat should he turn up wanting a share of the old man’s assets.
    Duella stepped up to the desk, drawing Fred’s attention from the scattering of papers. He gasped, blinked his eyes at Duella as though he couldn’t believe he was looking at a vampire with bared fangs and glowing red eyes, and fell over dead, knocking his head against his desk. Duella listened to his heart beat its final thud, quiver a moment as though trying to strike another beat, then cease altogether.
    Well, that’s done. Duella turned on his heel and strolled from the room. Finding himself in a wide foyer, he turned his feet toward the lighted portion of the spacious home. He would be moving in once Fred’s body was moved out of the premises. He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled amid the beautiful rooms. Each seemed more lavish then the last, with expensive paintings decorating the walls and exquisite furnishings.
    I’m going to like it here. He would keep the house staff, of course. He would need people to keep the place clean and the gardening crew. The lawn spanned almost five acres, with plants too numerous to count. He would assume a life as normal as possible, given his vampire state. With his powers of