Vampire Apocalypse (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #3) by Jennifer Malone Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

me for
good.”
    Drew rubbed his forehead. “All right.
Tell us about the other lines.”
    “ Yes, of course.” The
solemn yet wistful expression returned to Anthony’s face as he
leaned back and prepared to tell his story.
    “ In the beginning, the
original lines consisted of six vampires. No, we weren’t related.
We were simply in a bad place at a bad time … chosen by the woman
who cursed us. This woman, like the race of Hunters, was also the
daughter of a god a descendant of Hades. With his blood running
through her half human veins she was very, very
powerful.
    “ Now, as most stories go,
love and deceit played a very large part in how it ends. This
woman, who was named Chryssa, was born into a wealthy and prominent
family. Not only was she extraordinarily beautiful, but she wanted
for nothing … and when she fell in love with a commoner it was no
exception.
    “ The man she fell in love
with was called Lavrentios. As a commoner, he was obviously taken
with Chyssa from the very beginning. He may have been from a poor
family, but he was indeed as handsome and strong as the males from
more prominent families. Chryssa, even though descended from the
God of Hell, was human enough not to deny what she thought was true
love.
    Lavrentios would have been a fool to
deny Chryssa; she was everything he could have ever wished for.
Along with the inheritance of her family line she was a rare beauty
with her long, dark mane, eyes just as dark, and flawless golden
skin. So, Chryssa took this man as her husband, and more than
willingly, he came to live with her among all her wealth and
power.
    “ It was only after a few
years of marriage that Lavrentios, who never had any sort of wealth
nor power, eventually let both of these troublesome things go to
his head. Chryssa caught him fornicating with two of her
handmaidens. Now, understand … these women were under Chryssa’s
rule, which meant her husband was able to make them do whatever he
wanted them to. They were slaves, with the title of handmaiden. Just as the
servants were slaves with the titles of servants. All of the slaves
were obligated to do as their master’s ordered. If they refused to
comply, he would have whipped them or perhaps worse, depending on
his mood.”
    Anthony paused and took a deep breath
before he went on. “I was there, I was one of their servants who
bore witness when she discovered her husband’s infidelity, when she
went mad with jealousy and rage. There were two handmaidens and
four servants in attendance of the incident. Two men were standing
watch over him and I, as well as another male servant, were always
with Chryssa.
    “ Insanity followed
Chryssa’s initial shock of finding her husband with two other
women. She screamed and threw things, telling him that she gave him
everything. Lavrentios, a changed man since his commoner days,
merely dismissed her with a wave and instructed the servants to
remove her from his presence. I will never forget the next moments,
for they are seared into my memory, but they happened so quickly
and in such a blur of time.
    “ Lavrentios had absolutely
no idea of the power that his wife was able to wield. It is
entirely possible that even she had no idea until that tragic day. The magic of
the gods swarmed up around her in dark, oily smoke and she ordered
us to bind his hands and feet together. Immediately, we complied.
He fought us and he put up a good fight, but the last few years of
laziness had made him weak. We were slaves, which meant that we
were stronger, plus there were more of us. Even Lavrentios’s own
servants had to heed her word and helped us to subdue him. Once he
was bound, she ordered us to kill him.
    “ We were a gentle people,
the slaves. Everyone has a line they will cross and murder was that
line for all of us, which was the reason we hesitated when she
demanded that we kill her husband. I was not going to kill a man
over adultery, which happened on a day to day basis in those days.
Many