Read Online Chosen by Blood by Virna Depaul - Free Book Online

fall in love with, Knox hadn’t been able to stop wanting Felicia. He needed her. And now that Noella was gone, he was going to have her. Like it or not, he, like his mother, had fallen in love with a human.
    But, he told himself, there the similarity would end.
    Knox would cherish and protect Felicia as long as she lived, but Knox wouldn’t marry her the way his mother had married his father. Nor would he allow his love for her to endanger his clan or take precedence over his duty as its leader. He was a member of an immortal race, one that had never been hampered with conservative notions about sex. To vamps, marriages built on fidelity—even love, for that matter—were a luxury. He couldn’t afford to cater to Felicia’s softer sensibilities. He was no longer married, but he still had a duty to ensure that his clan proliferated, now more than ever. Understandably, it was for those reasons that Felicia continued to deny him. Fair or not, he was willing to do everything short of coercion or force to change her mind. He was counting on his deal with Mahone to up the ante.
    Knox stood. “If you’ll excuse me, Mother, I have an important appointment that starts shortly. I need to—”
    “What will you do when you’re forced to choose between your love and your duty?”
    Refusing to believe such a possibility existed, Knox shook his head. “There’s no reason I’ll have to choose—”
    “What if , Knox?”
    “Felicia isn’t a traitor. She would never betray any of us. But,” he emphasized, “if at any point she poses a threat to this clan, I’ll do what I have to do to protect it.”
    “Does that include killing her?”
    He didn’t flinch. “Yes,” he said, meaning it, although the only reason he even contemplated such an absurd thought was because his faith in Felicia was unwavering.
    Still, as he stared at the first rose his father had given his mother, Knox tried to imagine being put in the position his mother was suggesting.
    Could he kill Felicia if it meant saving his clan? Maybe. But even though he’d spent the last decade with only snatches of time with her, none of them more intimate than a brief dance and one stolen kiss, thoughts of her had kept him going during the worst moments of the War. It was as if the mere knowledge of her existence, coupled with his determination to be with her one day, was as important to him as breathing. If he killed her, he’d be giving himself a death sentence.
    He would die without her.
    “Please tell the children I’d enjoy seeing them today.”
    Knox shook himself from thoughts of betrayal and killing, and kissed his mother’s cheek. “I will, Mother, just as soon as I see them.”

    An hour later, Knox watched Mara Jacobs’s parents lead the young dharmire out of his office. If he’d known the identity of the human who’d shot her full of drugs, he’d have hunted him down and killed him. Fortunately or not, he didn’t, but at least Felicia had pumped a bullet into the bastard. That was some small consolation.
    “You were a little harsh with her, don’t you think?”
    Stiffening, Knox turned toward his younger brother, Zeph, who was in the same stance he’d adopted since Mara had first entered the room. Arms crossed over his chest, he leaned against a bookshelf, glowering at him.
    “You’d rather I’d held back and risk her doing something foolish again?”
    “She’s young. Curious. She doesn’t like being confined to this Dome any more than the rest of us.”
    “‘This Dome’ provides us protection. I’m fortunate that with a simple application of sunblock, dharmires can withstand the sun. This Dome enables full vampires to be active during the day. It’s not a prison, it’s a haven. And Mara will have plenty of time to explore when she’s older and more knowledgeable about how things are.”
    “ And how are things, besides screwed up? This Dome isn’t keeping us from growing weaker with every day that passes . . .” Several harsh