Read Online Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) by David Leadbeater - Free Book Online

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    “Like an old Gautier cologne,” Ceriden murmured, barely moving his lips.
    Had he just read my mind?
    Ceriden rolled up the sleeves of his expensive sweater. “Throw me your knife, Belinda darling.”
    “No,” I blurted out, getting a lurid image of Lucy’s self-inflicted wounds in my head. “No knives.”
    “Very well,” Ceriden huffed. “ Mr. Top Man .” His gaze conveyed power, wealth, and absolute confidence. “Come, Belinda, dear, I don’t have all night. Important people are awaiting my return. Important wealthy people,” he made eyes at me. “I know all the most powerful people, you know. Including Posh and David ," to my horror he giggled.
    Again, I stayed quiet.
    The vampire sent a frown towards Belinda. “Your crucifix, Bee.”
    She hesitated. I saw it in her face. A half second of doubt, and then it was gone. She stepped forward and dropped a little crucifix into Ceriden’s outstretched hands.
    A hissing sound and a cloying, burning stench filled the air. I watched in rising horror as a thin curl of smoke twisted up from the vampire’s hands. Ceriden bore it for a few seconds then tossed the crucifix away. Belinda made no effort to retrieve it.
    “Only blessed religious items affect me,” Ceriden said. His palms were raw, the wound edged with a black crust. Lucy’s hand slipped into my own and I squeezed it. Ceriden took out a black velvet handkerchief embossed with the gold Versace symbol and dabbed at the burned flesh.
    He went on. “Holy water. Sunlight. A well-placed wooden stake. But we are a cautious race. Most of us take no blood that is not freely given.” Ceriden showed me his fangs. “For three hundred years I have followed this tradition.”
    Three hundred…
    Ceriden’s gaze lingered on the handkerchief. “I knew Gianni, you know. And later, Donatella- but that girl was so wild. No time for me.”
    Lucy goggled at our new friend. “Do you know Burberry?”
    Ceriden laughed and ruffled her hair so fast I didn’t see him move. “Puh lease! Stick with the eternal Italians, my dear. Gianni, Ge orgio, and Guccio . And maybe Enzo. How old are you?”
    “F ifteen,” I said .
    “Nearly sixteen,” she shrilled in my ear, and added, “Soon.”
    “We need to get you an outfit, ” Ceriden eyed me . “Assuming the Grumpmeister here will let you have one.”
    “Look,” I said. “I don’t mean to be rude, and especially to a vampire, but- “
    At a sudden loss for words, I gestured at Belinda.
    Help? Please get me out of here.
    She grinned. “Background info- Vampires, the good ones like Ceriden here- take what are called ‘shades.’ Will ing men and women who stay with the vampire for life, almost like a soul-mate, if you like, allowing their master to feed off them and slake his blood lust. If he is careful a vampire like Ceriden may need only a dozen shades in his entire life, never feeding off an innocent.”
    “I thought vampires lived forever?” Lucy asked, recovering her voice before I did. 
    “No, dear, Hollywood overestimated us there I’m afraid. Vampires are not immortal,” Ceriden flashed his fangs at her like a benevolent blood-sucking grandfather. “We reach our peak around three-to-four hundred before beginning the dreadful slide into obscurity and senility,” he glanced pointedly at me. “Death occurs after about five hundred years. A vampire that old literally falls apart.”
    “Gross," Lucy said.
    I wondered at her mounting confidence. Was it because she had been given new purpose? Or was it because her old dad was floundering?
    “These human shades,” I picked up on one of the many things bothering me. “Are they your slaves?”
    “Not at all,” Ceriden flapped a wrist. “A shade may walk away at any time. After a few years they will recover and be able to lead a full life. No after effects. But the rewards of being a vampire’s shade far outweigh the downsides.”
    “Why?” Lucy was quick to ask.
    “Too many to count, little