Read Online A Vampire's Soul by Carla Susan Smith - Free Book Online Page B

“I’m guessing they don’t have any effect, do they?”
    â€œNo silver chains or bullets either,” he added helpfully.
    â€œI thought silver was only for werewolves.”
    He scratched his chin, thinking. “So I have also been told, but I never met anyone who killed a werewolf, so I don’t know if such a thing is true.”
    The kitchen tilted slightly. Not enough to disturb anything. The cabinet doors didn’t swing open, and my mug didn’t try to slide into my lap, but it was enough of a nudge to tell me my reality had just slipped a little further.
    â€œAre you saying . . . werewolves are real?”
    â€œOf course.” The corner of Aleksei’s mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a grin. “And I’ll tell you something else humans have wrong—they don’t change because of moon.”
    Was this something I absolutely had to know? Of course it was. “So, why do they change?”
    â€œBad temper.”
    The grin he’d been trying to contain refused to be held back. Do vampires ever need to floss? I pondered as the impressive display of his teeth dazzled me. I doubted they went to the dentist, but hey, you never know.
    â€œAll werewolves have bad temper,” Aleksei continued, his voice bringing me back to the here and now. “Actually, now I think about it, all shape-shifters have bad tempers.”
    â€œYou would too if changing broke every bone in your body,” Anasztaizia interjected.
    I stared at her. “All . . . shape-shifters . . .” I muttered, gripping the edge of the table with both hands.
    â€œSure.” Aleksei nodded and seemed very pleased with himself. “Werewolves are just one kind.”
    Of course they are. Silly me.
    I told myself he was only giving me information he thought would be beneficial to my overall well-being. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to categorize this particular brand of helpfulness. The only way I could control a sudden attack of the shakes was to sit on my hands. The last thing I needed was for Aleksei to see just how badly I was rattled. It was hard enough accepting the existence of vampires. Other supernatural creatures were going to have to wait their turn.
    I had the dismal realization I would be no match for Katja in a physical fight. In truth, I’d known that after seeing her take on Gabriel, but I’d been optimistic that Aleksei might reveal a possible vampire weakness. Anything that would give me an edge if I ever needed it. Now I realized that if Katja was truly determined to get to me, there was nothing I could do to stop her. Except stay in my house. Suddenly the idea of Aleksei being able to cross my threshold was rather comforting.
    â€œI guess it’s safe to assume that you’re not immortal, then?”
    â€œNothing is immortal, Rowan,” Anasztaizia said in a soft voice. “Everything will die. Even vampires.”
    â€œThen I don’t get it. I thought the whole attraction of being a vampire was the chance to live forever.”
    â€œIs that what you would want to do?” Aleksei asked, giving me an unfathomable look. “Live forever?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I backpedaled hastily. “It’s not something I’ve spent much time thinking about.”
    â€œWell, it’s not something a vampire can give you.”
    Somewhere close to midnight I managed to persuade Aleksei he needed to take Anasztaizia home. I promised him, cross my heart and hope to die, that I would be perfectly all right by myself. As long as the rule about vampires crossing thresholds was true, then I was safe. Katja had never been invited inside my house, and couldn’t cross any threshold, front or back, uninvited.
    â€œDon’t underestimate her, Rowan,” Aleksei warned as he helped Anasztaizia put her coat on. “If she comes here, she will try to get you to let her in. Like most females, she is very