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

without the consumption of human blood. However, she
has never been the same since.
     
    “Having failed in his efforts to
create a super-monster if you will, Gabriel turned his sights on capturing
Catherina for himself. Whether his actions were out of spite or out of
something less sinister, we have never known. Living for so long, members of
our kind occasionally fixate on something or someone for lack of anything
better to do. It usually results in someone’s death,” he paused,
remembering something else, but his mind was still closed to Sophie, so she didn’t
notice much of a pause. He continued.
     
    “Gabriel surprised Dante and
Catherina one day while they were traveling through Paris. Having tracked them
throughout Europe, when he knew that he had them cornered there, he informed
Catherina that he held her father, Lisandro, captive. Gabriel knew that nothing,
not even Dante, could have kept her from trying to rescue her father.
     
    “His bargain was simple: Lisandro’s
freedom for Catherina’s captivity. He wanted to possess her for himself, and he
understood that his scheme was the only way he possibly could attain her.”
     
    Alexander watched Sophie shiver at his
words and he smirked. “You are not going to faint again; are you?” he asked,
bitingly disdainful.
     
    She froze and looked at him like he
had physically slapped her in the face before she quickly recovered herself. What
the hell did I do to you? She reflexively thought, feeling the heat of
embarrassment move through her body.
     
    Despite his better judgment, Alexander
was instantly sorry for his words. He felt himself becoming emotionally concerned
for Sophie, for her well-being and feelings; he was quickly approaching dangerous
territory. Zoey sighed heavily at his feet.
     
    Sophie looked at him coolly. “No,
I’m not going to faint again.”
     
    Laney scrutinized Alexander for a
half-second before saying, “You should be nicer to her, you know,” with a
knowing smile.
     
    Alexander grimaced as he glanced
sideways at the younger girl; he was decidedly not in the mood. Shaking his
head, he continued: “Catherina was able to trick Gabriel into his death.”
     
    “How?” asked Sophie, and her
serious tone disturbed him in ways it shouldn’t.
     
    “Quite simply, she seduced him. When
the fool believed her, she killed him,” he quickly explained.
     
    “But…how? I mean, she’s lived for
so long. I assumed…”
     
    “…That we cannot be killed?” He
shook his head. “I am afraid that we can be. Our beating hearts drive blood
through our veins just like the hearts of human beings. It is nearly impossible to kill one of us, but there is one way to successfully do so.”
     
    Sophie nodded. The answer was so
simple; she knew it instinctively. “She bit him.” It was not a question.
     
    “Yes, but that act alone was not
enough of a cause to lead to her problems, which are now our problems. No
matter what vampires are paid or promised, no amount of money, no gain
whatsoever, will lead to absolute loyalty with one of our kind,” he
explained. “Ultimately, Gabriel meant little to Jacques and his company; they
were simply trying to make a profit out of the necessary situation they had
found themselves in.
     
    “Dante spoke of a coming war, and
as melodramatic as it seems to you, we undeniably shall face certain danger soon.
It is important that you understand what has transpired to lead us to this
point.
     
    “Gabriel’s blood gave Catherina new
life; so much so that she believed she was transformed. Somehow, she knew
immediately where Lisandro was, as if she had absorbed some of Gabriel’s
knowledge along with his blood. When she arrived at the designated location, though,
she found that Gabriel’s vampire cohorts had killed her father of their own
accord—it did not matter that they were on Gabriel's payroll.
     
    “Her new strength raged in her as
deeply as the anger that coursed through her veins. They had