Wake of Darkness by Meg Winkler Read Free Book Online Page A

exercise
self-control—she didn't think it would do anyone any good to attack the
matriarch in her own home. So, Alexander took Catherina’s vacated place with a
quick glance at Zoey, who still sat silently on the floor, playing with the
golden cross that hung from a thin gold chain around her neck.
     
    “I shall be brief,” he began,
looking Sophie directly in the eye. “Catherina tends to be a little…”
     
    Zoey raised her eyebrow at him. He
shook his head, mumbled something under his breath and started again.
     
     “You must know what you are—what
we are: We are the product of a human mother and a vampire creator.”
     
    Sophie shook her head in disbelief.
“That’s impossible,” she protested.
     
    “Nothing is impossible,” he
countered. “We are not the biological child of our vampire parent. My mother
was changed into a vampire while I was still in the womb. At the time of her
death and transformation, I was aborted from her body, but not before I
inherited traits from my vampire father. It's the same with you.”
     
    "And with me," Zoey
added.
     
    “How does that work?”
     
    “Basic biology,” Alexander said. “We
are not entirely sure of all the mechanics, but a mother’s blood mingles with
her baby’s. When a pregnant woman is changed into a vampire, three blood types
are exchanged within the mother’s body.”
     
    Sophie nodded. “Okay. So, let me
get this straight. A vampire bites a pregnant woman, but what do you mean three
blood types are exchanged?”
     
    Alexander exchanged a glance with
Jim over her shoulder before answering.
     
    “The transformation requires an
exchange of blood,” Alexander replied.
     
    “An exchange of blood?” Sophie
asked incredulously. Her eyes brightened with recognition as her mouth twisted
into a grimace. “You mean she drinks the vampire's.”
     
    “Yes,” Zoey answered.
     
    “Oh, alright then,” Sophie replied.
She suspected she could be going crazy.
     
    “The physical traits we inherit
from our vampire parents vary,” Alexander continued, “but we do know that the
powers we possess are as varied as our vampire parents.”
     
     “Catherina met her father—her
vampire father—not long after the start of her thirty-third year. After a few
years together, he took her hunting with him; he taught her to kill. She found
that the new life she embraced gave her incredible strength. The local coven of
vampires warned her father against such things, but neither heeded the
warnings. Her father tried to kill Jacques, their leader, but when he was
unsuccessful, he fled New Orleans, leaving Catherina to fend for herself. And
then Gabriel—one who is like us and made a play for her in the past—came back
for her. He hired members of Jacques's coven to help kidnap her—they had it out
for her already, so they were easy to pay off. Gabriel held her captive and
raped her repeatedly, trying to create an offspring of our kind through a more
natural course."
     
    Sophie stared at him in horror—the
horror of Catherina's actions and the horror of her capture combined into one.
Zoey nodded sympathetically at her as Alexander continued.
     
    "Catherina soon learned what
happens to one of our kind who begins to live like a vampire. Without blood to
sustain her, her natural strength and ability over the vampires disappeared.
She became weaker even than a human being against their kind. Luckily for her,
there were several such humans on board the ship on which she was being kept
prisoner. She lured him to his death and through his blood gained her strength.
Fueled by the blood that newly coursed in her veins, Catherina was able to
escape the bonds that held her.
     
    "She leapt from the ship and
swam to shore. She found that she had been moored in the Mediterranean, and she
very soon thereafter found Dante. Once together, Dante and Catherina traveled
the world. They enjoyed many years with one another and she slowly regained some
of her strength,