Vampire Cadet by Nikki Hoff Read Free Book Online Page A

Shannon rolled off of him, and lay down on the grass.
    She panted. Sanity returned in small doses. She licked her lips, savoring the taste of blood that still lingered in her mouth. “I could have killed you,” she said. “A few minutes more…and maybe, I wouldn’t have stopped until I drained you dry.”
    “But you did stop.” He turned over and put his hand on her taut belly.
    “Barely in time, Bryce. Each time I drink from you, it gets harder to stop. It’s like a drug and I can’t have enough of it.” She glanced at his wound, the edges of it raw and flushed, the skin puckered where she’d sunk her teeth in. She shuddered to think what could have happened if she hadn’t managed to pull back before it was too late.
    What if she killed him one day?
    Shannon would never be able to forgive herself if something like that happened. His life was too precious for her to waste it in such a callous manner.
    “Let me worry about that,” he told her.
    “You don’t understand.” She stood, grabbed her clothes, and wore them. “I can’t do this anymore. If I keep it up, I will kill you one day and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
    “And if you don’t do it, I will once again lose my powers. I don’t want that.”
    “Is your life more important than your powers?”
    He sat and the muscles on his back rippled in the dim light of the moon that was filtering in through the canopy. “If I can’t be powerful, my life is not worth living.”
    “You don’t mean that.” She couldn’t believe that were having this discussion. How could he take this threat to his life so causally?
    “I do mean it. And if you don’t like this, you know the solution to this problem, don’t you?”
    She knew what was coming but Shannon couldn’t help but ask. “What do you mean?”
    “You can turn me into a vampire and we could be mates forever.” He stood, walked over, and took her hands in his grasp. “It would be perfect, Shannon. Imagine an eternity together. We would have a wonderful time.”
    “I never had this choice to make. Someone turned me without my permission. If I had my way, I would never have chosen this path. Eternity means nothing. I would give it all away to live again. Please don’t ask me to do it. I won’t.”
    Shannon moved out of the tree’s canopy. It was time to put some distance between them. Why couldn’t he understand that she didn’t want to turn him into a vampire? Her life, undead as it was, wasn’t worth much. Alone, without permanent companionship, without love, she moved from town to town, country to country, creating new identities every ten years or so. It was impossible to stay in one place. Not only did it get boring but also she had to keep moving to avoid arousing suspicion.
    She loved her current role in the army. But for how long could she continue? Another three or four years and then she would have to go away, find something else to do. She didn’t sleep and didn’t eat. As she had told him before, eternity was tedious after a while – and no matter what he said, she wouldn’t help him in his desire to achieve it.
     
    Chapter Six
     
    The rest of the night passed without any excitement. While Bryce slept, Shannon patrolled the area. As she was returning to the willow trees while the first rays of dawn dappled through the thick canopy of the trees, she stopped. Far away, she heard the sound of running feet. Someone was running away through the thick jungle's underbrush, coming in this direction.
    Maybe their patience had paid off. Could Ra’ad be returning to collect the things he or his underling had forgotten? If it was Ra’ad, and if he was a vampire as they suspected, any little movement could alert him to their presence. She stood still as a rock against the broad trunk of a tree as her ears detected the pounding of feet against the forest floor. As the enemy neared the ruins, she gnashed her teeth. The thumping of a human heart betrayed the fact that it