Til Death (Jane #5) by Samantha Warren Read Free Book Online Page A

your home, and if
Raymond finds out that you're helping me and giving me advice
behind his back, he'll turn on you. Why risk it?"
    Anson sat back on his heels and cleared his
throat. "Well, I guess it's time to come clean with you. I, um,
well, I was kind of hoping that if I helped you, if I helped Felipe
get you out, that you would put in a good word for me and maybe I
could get back in with a sanctuary. I mean, if they would take me.
I'm hoping they would. I've done some pretty awful things, but I
regret every day that has gone by. If I could take it all back, I
would. But I can't. All I can do is move forward."
    He looked up at me, his eyes wide with tears.
"Please help me, Jane. This is not the life I wanted when I signed
on to be a vampire. This isn't what I was meant to do. I'm better
than this."
    His voice cracked and he bowed his head,
placing his forehead on my knee. I tried to reach out to comfort
him, but with my wrists being cuffed, I could only go so far. I
frowned, knowing I would have to come up with something encouraging
and witty to say.
    "It's not all that bad. If you help us out of
this, I would back you, and I know Felipe would, too. And if Father
Bellini comes out of it, I'm sure he'd help."
    Anson cleared his throat and wiped his eyes
before looking at me. "I meant to update you about the priest. The
doctor came. He said there was some internal bleeding and had to
cut him open, but he got it stopped. He claims the priest will pull
through, but, honestly, I'm not sure. He's said that before to
appease Raymond and the guy didn't make it."
    I blinked away the tears, determined not to
cry until the tears were needed, and coughed until I could speak
again. "Thank you. I'm sure the doctor will do everything in his
power to keep him alive."
    Anson gave me a wry smile. "If he wants to
keep his head, he will. You heard Raymond's not-so-veiled threat.
And I can tell you that when he makes a threat, he keeps it. If it
is possible, the priest will survive. And I will make sure he
remembers the threat whenever I see him."
    I returned the smile, though deep inside I
felt my heart constricting painfully.
    Anson squeezed my knee encouragingly as he
stood up. "Just hang in there a little longer, Jane. Soon." Then he
was gone and I was alone.
    I expected him back shortly, as with the last
time, but the minutes passed without a footstep in the hall. I
began to grow nervous. Had he been found out? Did Raymond discover
his treachery and punish him for trying to help me? Had Felipe
arrived? Crazy thoughts started spinning through my head, bashing
into each other and making me dizzy and nauseated.
    Then there were footsteps, moving at a normal
pace, and I breathed a strange sigh of relief. Why, I don't know.
It just meant I was going to be tortured again, but it also meant
nothing crazy had happened and my friends weren't in danger. When
the door opened, Anson proceeded through first, taking up his
position in the corner. Raymond followed him, a dark and wickedly
twisted look on his face. His eyes met mine and the corner of his
mouth twitched up into a cruel smile.
    He leaned outside, gripping something in his
hand, and swung around. A lump of black cloth landed in front of
me, banging into my shins. It was Father Bellini.
    "No," I breathed as my heart sped up. Its
incessant thumping nearly drowned out everything else as I stared
at the motionless man at my feet.
    Raymond cackled. "He's alive. Barely. You'll
give me what I want, Jane, one way or another."
    As the wooden mallet came down on my hand,
all I could think was that he still hadn't told me what he
wanted.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Raymond alternated between beating me with
the mallet and laying the random kick into Father Bellini's side.
The priest would groan, giving me assurance that he was till alive,
but moved little aside from attempting to curl around his wounded
innards. The vampire would get a sick smile on his face as he
watched the injured man on the floor and I