Read Online Blood Deep (Blackthorn Book 4) by Lindsay J Pryor - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lindsay J Pryor
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a lingering stream of smoke as she rested her head back against the wall, surveying him under her thickly coated lashes. ‘Herbs are a definite. Protection. That’s a big bonus for him. You’ve got to know how to handle yourself enforcing those rackets around here, especially with all the sires. Those vampires get precious over their feeders. You ever had any dealings with the third species before?’
‘Once or twice,’ Eden declared, opening the wardrobe, feeling Tatum’s cool gaze observing every move he made.
‘Then you know how to look after yourself.’ She raked him slowly with those penetrative eyes. ‘Not that I hadn’t worked that out already.’
He stared at the wall behind the bed, at the peeling wallpaper, the damp patch on the cigarette-smoke-stained ceiling. But he wasn’t there to stick around. He was there to get what he wanted and then get the fuck out. ‘Anything else I should know?’
‘Just know that once you’ve pledged an allegiance, you’d best stick to it. I’m guessing Pummel’s already warned you that you don’t go near Jessie.’
‘Jessie?’
‘The brunette at the pool table.’
Finally he had a name.
He strolled over towards her but maintained his air of nonchalance as he threw his jacket onto the bed, opened the top drawer of the bedside table. It was packed with foil packets – the one item Blackthorn was given freely in copious supplies.
All cons were made sterile before they were abandoned into Blackthorn. It was the only act of mercy the authorities showed – not just to the potential victims, but the potential kids caught in the middle. They put it forward as a human rights initiative. What they meant was politics got messy if kids were left to run around Blackthorn – and transferring them elsewhere in the locale complicated their perfect segregation system. What it subsequently proved was that, in the Global Council’s eyes, no one was born free. You were born to a class and nothing changed that.
The free supplies were subsequently added security – an effective measure in light of the potential of sexual disease being rife and the lack of medical support a guarantee.
‘Is she Pummel’s?’ he asked, closing the drawer again.
‘She’s none of your business,’ she said, her curtness frustrating. ‘Remember that and you’ll be okay.’
Persistence would have aroused suspicion. He was there and he was in; that was step number one. The focus was on getting to step number two.
‘How long have you been here?’ he asked.
‘Four years.’
‘How did you get to the exclusive end?’
‘Like everyone else who’s here – I made myself indispensible to Pummel.’
He braced his hands either side of her thighs. ‘By fucking whoever he asks you to?’
‘Let’s make one thing clear,’ she said, spreading her thighs either side of his in a slow and languid move. She exhaled a cloud of smoke in his direction. ‘I pick and choose. And I always get first choice.’
Substance fumes seeped into his head and into his system – fumes that reminded him of his past, his misspent youth.
He hadn’t grown up in Blackthorn, but he may as well have. Lowtown had already been rife with corruption several years before his older brother, Billy, had been born. So by the time Eden had come along three years later, the disintegration of any remaining civility amidst the deemed underclass had begun.
His parents struggling more and more to find any legitimate work over the years, witnessing his father return home after too many unprovoked beatings, too many sleepless nights listening to his mother cry, had hardened Eden – physically and mentally. Whereas his father had been ground down by the system, Eden had become determined to fight it. He’d learned how to talk the talk. He’d learned how to survive on the roughest streets of Lowtown, even venturing into Blackthorn on occasion. He’d learned how to get what his family needed – primarily illegally because
‘Once or twice,’ Eden declared, opening the wardrobe, feeling Tatum’s cool gaze observing every move he made.
‘Then you know how to look after yourself.’ She raked him slowly with those penetrative eyes. ‘Not that I hadn’t worked that out already.’
He stared at the wall behind the bed, at the peeling wallpaper, the damp patch on the cigarette-smoke-stained ceiling. But he wasn’t there to stick around. He was there to get what he wanted and then get the fuck out. ‘Anything else I should know?’
‘Just know that once you’ve pledged an allegiance, you’d best stick to it. I’m guessing Pummel’s already warned you that you don’t go near Jessie.’
‘Jessie?’
‘The brunette at the pool table.’
Finally he had a name.
He strolled over towards her but maintained his air of nonchalance as he threw his jacket onto the bed, opened the top drawer of the bedside table. It was packed with foil packets – the one item Blackthorn was given freely in copious supplies.
All cons were made sterile before they were abandoned into Blackthorn. It was the only act of mercy the authorities showed – not just to the potential victims, but the potential kids caught in the middle. They put it forward as a human rights initiative. What they meant was politics got messy if kids were left to run around Blackthorn – and transferring them elsewhere in the locale complicated their perfect segregation system. What it subsequently proved was that, in the Global Council’s eyes, no one was born free. You were born to a class and nothing changed that.
The free supplies were subsequently added security – an effective measure in light of the potential of sexual disease being rife and the lack of medical support a guarantee.
‘Is she Pummel’s?’ he asked, closing the drawer again.
‘She’s none of your business,’ she said, her curtness frustrating. ‘Remember that and you’ll be okay.’
Persistence would have aroused suspicion. He was there and he was in; that was step number one. The focus was on getting to step number two.
‘How long have you been here?’ he asked.
‘Four years.’
‘How did you get to the exclusive end?’
‘Like everyone else who’s here – I made myself indispensible to Pummel.’
He braced his hands either side of her thighs. ‘By fucking whoever he asks you to?’
‘Let’s make one thing clear,’ she said, spreading her thighs either side of his in a slow and languid move. She exhaled a cloud of smoke in his direction. ‘I pick and choose. And I always get first choice.’
Substance fumes seeped into his head and into his system – fumes that reminded him of his past, his misspent youth.
He hadn’t grown up in Blackthorn, but he may as well have. Lowtown had already been rife with corruption several years before his older brother, Billy, had been born. So by the time Eden had come along three years later, the disintegration of any remaining civility amidst the deemed underclass had begun.
His parents struggling more and more to find any legitimate work over the years, witnessing his father return home after too many unprovoked beatings, too many sleepless nights listening to his mother cry, had hardened Eden – physically and mentally. Whereas his father had been ground down by the system, Eden had become determined to fight it. He’d learned how to talk the talk. He’d learned how to survive on the roughest streets of Lowtown, even venturing into Blackthorn on occasion. He’d learned how to get what his family needed – primarily illegally because
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