Read Online Eternal Captive: Mark of the Vampire by Laura Wright - Free Book Online Page A

head, narrowed his eyes. “Are we really going to play this game? Because if we are then I’m going to need one of those BarcaLounger recliners and a snack.”
    “We play at nothing,” she said quickly, seriously.
    “And by snack I mean blood; preferably from a female and over ninety-eight degrees.”
    Her lip curled with distaste. “It is you who have sought us this eve, Lucian Roman. We felt your presence in the Hollow, pulled you in, and brought you here before us.”
    This bunch of relics was working his last goddamn nerve.
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Lucian said, heading to the table like they couldn’t incinerate him with just a thought. “I just came from a wall with your scrawl on it. Bronwyn Kettler and the sun. Ring a bell?”
    The
veana
turned to the others at her table. “Did one of you call for Lucian Roman?”
    Beyond irritated now, Lucian’s gaze shot to his father, who, like the others, shook his head in response.
    “We sent no message, Son of the Breeding Male,” she said, her tone rife with confusion and concern as she turned back to face him. “Bronwyn Kettler has mated. We all witnessed this mating. She is no longer a concern of ours.”
    A low growl started in Lucian’s throat. He had no idea what was going on here, but he didn’t like it. “The Order cannot open their mouths without deception bleeding out.”
    A
paven
beside the white-haired
veana
hissed. “This censure is uncalled for.”
    “Lucian, Son of the Breeding Male.” It was Titus now, his hood unmoving, his voice an even thread of calm and reason. “We have made no call to you.”
    Jacked up on both irritation and—fuck it—a pretty heavy dose of concern for Bronwyn now, Lucian sneered at his father, and was about to open his mouthand say something ugly and obvious when the
paven
spoke inside his mind.
    “Do not reveal my identity
.
I beg you.”
    “Beg all you want, Daddy,”
he mused, lifting his upper lip as he stared at that hood.
“This is about Bronwyn now. Your secret is not mine. Your life, your future—none of it is—”
    His thoughts, his ire, his near reveal of the
paven
who had given him life, were interrupted by the white-haired
veana
. This time her voice demonstrated its own version of irritation. “There is another who has the power to call upon you still.”
    As the low rumble of concerned chitchat ebbed up and down the long wood table, Lucian felt the pulse of understanding jar his mind. This game was a sick one, a cruel one—and clearly it wasn’t stopping here.
    “Cruen,” he said, his pupils dilating, his skin retracting over his bones—ready for flight, ready for fight.
    The
veana
nodded, her eyes glazed with the anger of one who thought that up until a moment ago they had all the control.
    Welcome to my world,
Veana.
Feels pretty shitty, don’t it?
    “So,” Lucian began, having a seat on the Order’s illustrious wood table. He ignored the quick intakes of breath from either side of the
veana
. “Why would that menace to our breed have a need to call upon me?”
    “It seems he has a special interest in you,” she said evenly, though beneath her cool exterior there was more than a sliver of unrest. “We didn’t know it when there was the original call on the Roman brothers. We think Cruen may be trying to draw you in, draw you to him—wherever it is he hides from us, from justice.”She lifted one pale eyebrow. “Did you know that Cruen was the one who created the Breeding Male program?”
    Lucian’s gaze shot to Titus.
    “Yes, I knew.”
    “His main goal was to morph you,” the female continued, “to send you into Breeding Male status.”
    “There is another place for us to speak of this, my son.”
    Lucian could barely contain his anger, his questions, could barely keep his fangs from extending. Betrayal—ever present when it came to this
paven
who sired him—surged through his blood. Had his father known about Cruen’s intentions and given Lucian no