Read Online Blood and Fire by Ally Shields - Free Book Online

lay off the caffeine.
    She’d never met an enforcer, but as a daughter of one of the original seven vampires, the much-feared O-Seven, Ursula had to be dangerous. The elders and their minions had ruled the vampire world for thousands of years without opposition, growing stronger and more arrogant with the passage of time. They lived somewhere in Europe, and until two years ago, Ari hadn’t heard much about them. Lately the O-Seven had invaded a large portion of her life and become a very real threat to the local vampire rulers Daron and Andreas and—by extension—to her. Why couldn’t they leave the States alone? And Canada, for that matter.
    “What can you tell me about Ursula?” She glanced at her quiet companion. “Have you met her?”
    “Unfortunately. Twice. Once in France and later in Germany.” Andreas compressed his lips. “You will not like her.”
    Ari nearly choked on her coffee. “No joke. I didn’t think I would, but why do you say that?”
    “Ursula is…condescending and provocative. Unpredictable.” Andreas was picking his words carefully.
    What else was new? That could describe almost every vampire Ari knew. “Not helpful. Specifics, please. What’s she likely to do? Will she ignore me? Pick a fight? What?”
    “That is what worries me. I honestly do not know. Except, I do not think you need to fear being ignored. The more I think about it, I wonder if she set this up in order to meet you.”
    Ari swiveled her chair to stare at him. “Why me?”
    “You are an unknown quantity. The O-Seven has to be curious about how we defeated Sebastian.”
    Ari sat back, sinking into the soft leather seat. Sebastian’s death at the hands of Andreas with Ari’s assistance had been quick and unplanned. It made sense that the O-Seven would want an explanation of what happened to their protégé, but it would be too risky to tell them the whole story. There had to be a better way of handling this than revealing abilities that were best kept secret. As long as the elders didn’t know about her fire abilities or the telepathic link between her and Andreas, they might lose interest. “Tell me about the times you met her. What was she like?” Ari had noticed the way he’d skimmed over that information, and the way his mouth tightened when he said the enforcer’s name. There was a story here—and not a good one.
    Andreas turned his head to look at Ari, his face carefully schooled. The silence grew until he looked away. “Gabriel and I were young to vampire life, less than a year, and, due to abandonment by our maker, we were fending for ourselves. We had arrived in France, slowly working our way toward my family home in Italy, and met Ursula in a bar. All of us were hunting.”
    For human blood donors. There were no blood banks in those days to provide a more civilized alternative. Vampires had hunted for human victims to supply their need for nourishment. Andreas would have been no exception; he hadn’t always been the law-abiding vampire she knew.
    “For some reason it amused Ursula to assist in our hunt. I will spare both of us the details, but before the night ended, seventeen people were dead.”
    “Seventeen.” Ari couldn’t hide her shock this time. She had expected the story to have a bad ending, but she hadn’t imagined the death of so many. “Why? No one needs that much blood.” Knowing her face was filled with horror, she was thankful Andreas wouldn’t look at her.
    “Ursula is insatiable at whatever she does. Especially when she is enjoying herself.”
    “Oh. Then she killed most of them.”
    “I cannot excuse our part in it,” he said quietly.
    “And the second meeting?” She peeped at him over her coffee mug. He hadn’t intended to go on. “I need to know what to expect. So far you haven’t told me much except she’s a vicious killer.” She saw his shoulders move in a silent sigh.
    “We met again at the O-Seven stronghold in Germany. A year later. Gabriel and I arrived