The Corollaria by Courtney Lyn Batten Read Free Book Online

erase the memory of Elaine. Of her innocent blue eyes before they ’d learned to hate him. Almost.
    The heavy wooden door behind him creaked.
    “Allison,” he said, almost cheerily.
    The girl entered and her face twisted in disgust.  Not for the blood. She could feel its power, and she herself grew hungry from the fresh scent of it lingering in the air. But for Emily. She hated her.
    “Samuel,” Allison answered softly.  “What is the plan?”
    She felt nervous about her earlier blunder when she’d first broken into the Lyall’s house, waiting patiently for Emily and Luke to return home. But she had redeemed herself.  After they had fallen asleep, she had snuck back in and managed to kidnap Emily easily enough.
    Samuel turned to face her, slowly, methodically, tapping a finger to his chin.
    “We wait.  The wolves will come for her or Queen Aine wi ll send her precious Hunters,” he sneered. His thin lips turned into a wicked grin.  “And then, my dear, we shall have our war.”
    He placed a hand on Allison’s shoulder and squeezed gently, almost paternally, before striding past her to the door.  Allison’s gaze flickered to Emily’s unconscious body on the bed.  Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth as her mouth filled with saliva.
    “ Allison,” Samuel warned.  His tone was hard, not to be argued with. “Come along.”
    She stole once more glance a t the girl, her nostrils flared and her muscles tensed before she left the room.
    ~000~
    The room was completely dark and silent when Emily came to. She felt dizzy and the ache inside her had only grown while she’d slept. She found herself again on the large four-poster bed, this time beneath the heavy red and gold duvet.  Emily swallowed. Dry and scratchy, her throat burned. She tried to sit up, managing to at least prop herself up on her elbow.
    A shadowy figure’s movement next to the bed caught her attention. She opened her mouth to scream.
    “It’s just me,” the deep familiar voice said, flicking on the soft yellow light of a small bedside lamp.  Emily squinted, adjusting her vision to the sudden brightness.
    “Curtis?” she whispered. She suddenly wasn’t sure how to feel. He had attacked her and she felt a flash a rage and anger, along with a panicked and barely veiled fear. But another part of her could only remembered his pained eyes when he’d ran off, and his whispered confession before he had bit her.
    Curtis’s cropped black hair look disheveled, he pushed a few loose strands back as he sat down across from her. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, and the silent minutes seemed to stretch on and on.
    “I’m so sorry, Em,” he finally said, raising his dark eyes to meet hers. Emily frowned, her brows knitted together and her eyes darkened to a deep midnight blue. Curtis swallowed nervously and took an unnecessary breath. His fingers twitched.
    E mily thought for a long minute as she studied him. Something wasn’t right. She couldn’t understand what was going on.
    Finally, she sighed heavily and asked, “What’s going on? Why did you attack me?”
    Curtis flinched. He hadn’t wanted to do that. He hadn’t wanted any of this. He reached out his hand, sliding it underneath hers and squeezed her fingers. Part of her wanted to pull her hand away, but something else stirred inside her and she resisted the urge.
    “A few days ago, I was attacked in the park when I went to meet—at least I thought I was meeting—Sara,” he began.
    Sara was his older sister. She had been in and out of rehab the last couple of years and sometimes Curtis, his dad and his younger sister Ramona would not know where she was for weeks at a time. But usually she would call Curtis and show up asking for money or a favor of some sort.
    “A couple of days later, I woke up with this awful, gut wrenching pang and the man you met earlier, Samuel, was there. He told me what I had become, he—”
    Curtis visibly shuddered, and Emily could see something like