Read Online Blood of Gold by Duncan McGeary - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Duncan McGeary
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thought about it. If she just went with her emotions, she found she really didn’t care anymore, either.
No, she thought. I won’t do it.
It was becoming more and more obvious that she was going to have trouble restraining her “sisters.” She would be loyal to them first, no matter what. Rod seemed like a nice enough guy, but what did she really owe him? He was human, and Simone woke up every night feeling less and less like a mortal.
A coldness had settled over her, a calculating hunger she’d never felt before. Of the three of them, she was the only one who had had a solid home life, who had ever subscribed to the moral values imbued in them by school and family. Her two sisters had never had that luxury. For them, life had always been a dog-eat-dog existence. It wasn’t much of a stretch to a vampire-eat-human existence.
It wasn’t the fault of all humans that the Monster had imprisoned them. He’d been a monster even before he was Turned, but not everyone was like that. Still, Simone found that her anger didn’t distinguish as much between “good guys” and “bad guys” as it used to. Humans were a different species now. They were prey. Food.
She shook her head. They hadn’t yet crossed that boundary into the forbidden. Simone sensed that once they did, they were lost. They would be forever hungry and forever damned. So far, Laura and Patty, in spite of her bravado, were too frightened to wander far from their refuge, too scared to hunt, but that wouldn’t last much longer. The hunger was building.
Simone went into the kitchen, then down the hallway. Where was Laura? With mounting panic, she checked the three bedrooms.
She was hurrying back to the living room to tell Patty that Laura was nowhere to be found when she heard voices coming from Rod’s closet. She opened the door. Rod was sitting cross-legged in the corner. Curled up next to him was Laura, in the same posture that Simone remembered from night after night of lying on the cold cement floor of their prison: on her side, wrapped in as small a ball as she could make of herself.
Rod looked up. “She’s all right. She just wanted to escape for awhile.” He seemed genuinely concerned about Laura’s welfare.
Simone didn’t answer him. She crouched over Laura and pressed her until she got to her knees. From there, she managed to get the girl to her feet. Rod started to follow them out. “Stay!” she ordered, then mumbled, “Thank you.”
More than ever, she was determined to save this man. Rod had thought he was being kind. He hadn’t seen what Simone had seen upon opening the door. Laura’s head had been only inches away from the man’s legs, and her fangs had been extended and glistening.
Simone had found Laura just in time.
#
Kelton walked out into the sunlight, never doubting. He could feel the cold, damp soul of his Maker settling into his bones. He was like a passenger in his own body, nominally in charge of his movements, but knowing that someone else was really making the decisions.
The sunlight poured down on him, but it seemed to stop a few inches away. It wasn’t so much that he could now survive in daytime; instead, it was as if the sunlight never reached him, as if the darkness that filled him repelled all light and he was a concentrated patch of night gliding through the hours.
He saw someone approaching. The man hesitated, looking as though he wanted to cross the street, but then got ahold of his courage, hunched his shoulders and walked quickly past. Kelton put on his goofy smile, but instead of reassuring the stranger, it made the man grow pale, and he seemed to be holding back a shout.
Huh, I guess I’ve lost it, Kelton thought. Well, I always did wonder why the stupid grin worked.
#
Feller was lost. He was FBI: he’d always been FBI. Without his job, he was nothing, nobody. He was vampire, a scavenger feeding off society. He hated himself. Every morning, he fought the temptation to open
No, she thought. I won’t do it.
It was becoming more and more obvious that she was going to have trouble restraining her “sisters.” She would be loyal to them first, no matter what. Rod seemed like a nice enough guy, but what did she really owe him? He was human, and Simone woke up every night feeling less and less like a mortal.
A coldness had settled over her, a calculating hunger she’d never felt before. Of the three of them, she was the only one who had had a solid home life, who had ever subscribed to the moral values imbued in them by school and family. Her two sisters had never had that luxury. For them, life had always been a dog-eat-dog existence. It wasn’t much of a stretch to a vampire-eat-human existence.
It wasn’t the fault of all humans that the Monster had imprisoned them. He’d been a monster even before he was Turned, but not everyone was like that. Still, Simone found that her anger didn’t distinguish as much between “good guys” and “bad guys” as it used to. Humans were a different species now. They were prey. Food.
She shook her head. They hadn’t yet crossed that boundary into the forbidden. Simone sensed that once they did, they were lost. They would be forever hungry and forever damned. So far, Laura and Patty, in spite of her bravado, were too frightened to wander far from their refuge, too scared to hunt, but that wouldn’t last much longer. The hunger was building.
Simone went into the kitchen, then down the hallway. Where was Laura? With mounting panic, she checked the three bedrooms.
She was hurrying back to the living room to tell Patty that Laura was nowhere to be found when she heard voices coming from Rod’s closet. She opened the door. Rod was sitting cross-legged in the corner. Curled up next to him was Laura, in the same posture that Simone remembered from night after night of lying on the cold cement floor of their prison: on her side, wrapped in as small a ball as she could make of herself.
Rod looked up. “She’s all right. She just wanted to escape for awhile.” He seemed genuinely concerned about Laura’s welfare.
Simone didn’t answer him. She crouched over Laura and pressed her until she got to her knees. From there, she managed to get the girl to her feet. Rod started to follow them out. “Stay!” she ordered, then mumbled, “Thank you.”
More than ever, she was determined to save this man. Rod had thought he was being kind. He hadn’t seen what Simone had seen upon opening the door. Laura’s head had been only inches away from the man’s legs, and her fangs had been extended and glistening.
Simone had found Laura just in time.
#
Kelton walked out into the sunlight, never doubting. He could feel the cold, damp soul of his Maker settling into his bones. He was like a passenger in his own body, nominally in charge of his movements, but knowing that someone else was really making the decisions.
The sunlight poured down on him, but it seemed to stop a few inches away. It wasn’t so much that he could now survive in daytime; instead, it was as if the sunlight never reached him, as if the darkness that filled him repelled all light and he was a concentrated patch of night gliding through the hours.
He saw someone approaching. The man hesitated, looking as though he wanted to cross the street, but then got ahold of his courage, hunched his shoulders and walked quickly past. Kelton put on his goofy smile, but instead of reassuring the stranger, it made the man grow pale, and he seemed to be holding back a shout.
Huh, I guess I’ve lost it, Kelton thought. Well, I always did wonder why the stupid grin worked.
#
Feller was lost. He was FBI: he’d always been FBI. Without his job, he was nothing, nobody. He was vampire, a scavenger feeding off society. He hated himself. Every morning, he fought the temptation to open
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