Read Online Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) by Fionn Jameson - Free Book Online Page A

him. He said you would be willing.”
    Another task I had been… willing to do. The knowledge he was forcing my decisions for me put my teeth on edge and I sat up, nervous energy making it impossible to stay seated for long. “No. I’m not willing. Damn it, I’m not willing!”
    She looked at me, large black eyes wide and almost all pupil. “If not you, there is no one. And he will die. Then where would you be?”
    I should have turned around.
    Should have turned around, walked down the stairs and out the door.
    Surely there was no shame in refusing to work with a vampire.
    But I did not.
    More the fool, I.
    “It’s only this once,” I said slowly but surely, wording each word carefully. “As soon as Jason regains his strength, he will have to find blood elsewhere. I did not agree to this escapade so I can share my blood. There’s barely enough for myself, as it is.”
    “Just so,” she said with a tilt to her chin. “I could not have worded it better myself.”
    Talking like that, it was easier to see her as a being who had been around since before the formation of the Americas. That still didn’t change the fact that she looked about ten, no matter which way you looked. “Good. Just as long as we agree.”
    She excused herself and I let my knees buckle.
    So much trouble, just to fulfill a duty. Was it really worth it?
    Surely, I could handle a few snide jabs about my ability to help the Fellowship if it meant I didn’t have to open my veins to those I hunted.
    Damn Jason.
    I rubbed my face, waves of tiredness threatening to bring me under. But I couldn’t sleep. Not with a newly turned vampire in the room. Not when I swore to protect him.
    I’m sure somewhere up there, someone was laughing his lungs out.
    I would.
    Minutes ticked by. Hours ticked by. Michael relieved me and I staggered to my room, collapsing on the sheets that smelled faintly of lavender and something else, something sweet like honey. I didn’t remember falling asleep; all I did was close my eyes and failed to see, hear, or think anything for the next couple of hours.
    “Hey. Lady. Wake up.” Gentle but persistent hands shook my shoulders and blearily, I opened my eyes, seeing nothing but darkness.
    Christ, couldn’t a person get some sleep here? “What do you want? I just closed my eyes.”
    Michael’s eyes were hazel. It took me a moment to realize he’d taken off his glasses.
    That should’ve been my first clue that something was not right. “Get up. Something’s wrong.”
    “Turn on the fucking lights then.”
    I almost never cursed. I found them to be superfluous at best. Clearly, I was not in my right state of mind.
    He pulled back the curtains in one swift motion, and I saw the moon hanging low in a starless sky. “I’d love to. Trust me, I would.”
    The familiar fear settled in the base of my spine and I slithered off the bed, less gracefully than I meant to. “What are you talking about?”
    He turned the switch on my bedside lamp.
    Click.
    Nothing happened.
    “Fuck.”
    I was quite…disturbed.
    Unlike me, the darkness hardly seemed to disturb Michael. “Someone’s cut all the lights to the street. I don’t know if it’s intentional. But it’s a bit coincidental, don’t you think?”
    I breathed in and breathed out. Repeated that a couple of times until I was almost sure I wouldn’t hyperventilate. “What about Reiko?”
    He shook his head. “She’s resting. Wouldn’t wake up when I called her. The state she’s in, I’m not going to disturb her. I don’t have a death wish.”
    That sentiment was quite understandable. “Have you checked on Jason?”
    “The door’s still locked.”
    “And who has the key?”
    “Just Reiko and myself,” he said, voice grim and I took another deep breath.
    “Okay,” I said. “That’s fine. Power outages happen all the time. It’s probably nothing.”
    “Probably,” he said, although he didn’t sound convinced.
    And quite frankly, neither was I.
    “Give me a