Read Online Survive the Dawn by Kate Sweeney - Free Book Online Page B

from Nicholae’s wrath when she remembered what happened to David three years earlier.
    “Are you sure this is what you want me to do?” David asked with concern.
    Nina winced at his stupidity as Nicholae whirled around and flew across the room. He grabbed the old doctor by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
    David gurgled and struggled as Nicholae’s eyes turned blood red, his sharp fangs protruded instantly. His fingernails grew to long points, and the growl that came from him made Nina shudder.
    “You dare to question me?” he spat out as he shook the helpless doctor. “I have controlled your family for centuries. I made a deal with your ancestors: You do my bidding and I won’t destroy you or the rest of your pathetic family. Never question me again,” he yelled into David’s face and threw him across the room.
    David landed on the stone hearth of the fireplace. When his head connected with the masonry, it made a sickening noise. He let out a cry, then he was still.
    Nicholae was breathing like a bull as he watched. He then ran his grotesquely long fingers through his long white hair to calm himself. “Nina! See if that idiot is dead.”
    Nina scurried over to him and knelt down. “He’s breathing but bleeding.” She ran her fingers across the gaping wound on his forehead and lightly licked her fingers.
    “Enough! Get him out of my sight,” Nicholae ordered and walked to the large window and threw it open. “I will not tolerate insolence. Remember that, Nina.”

    And Nina remembered. She shook her head at the memory of that day and shivered. Once you incurred Nicholae’s wrath, there was no turning back.
    Leigh understood this better than any vampire did. She knew the strength Nicholae possessed and the strength Tatiana had, as well. For a thousand years, they sat side by side, despising each other while controlling their world. She remembered Leigh telling her stories handed down through the centuries, of Tatiana in Rome and Nicholae in Romania, each winning and destroying against all odds, both becoming the hierarchy of the vampire world. It was a constant struggle for supremacy. Leigh told the stories with relish, and Nina was captivated by Leigh.
    When they met nearly eighty years earlier, Nina was immediately under her spell. Nina wanted only to live for eternity and be sired by Leigh. Her life in England was nonexistent. She was on the precipice, ready to end it all on that foggy cold night; it was a worthless life.
    Then there was Leigh…

    “You won’t die before you hit the water, darling. And I guarantee it’ll be painful.”
    Nina whirled around to see a tall blond woman standing there. She was smiling as she looked over the bridge and into the river below. She shuddered dramatically and pulled her black cape around her. “And it’s freezing, as well. What if you don’t die? You silly nit. You’ll get pneumonia…”
    “ Wh -who are you? What do you want?” Nina backed away.
    “My name is Leigh and I want to save you from this wretched life.”
    Nina was drawn by the sincerity in her voice. “There is no saving me. My life is worthless.”
    “As it is now? Yes, darling, I couldn’t agree more. However—”
    Leigh moved with such grace, Nina thought she floated toward her. She was captivated by her beauty. Her skin was milky white, her hair fell in flaxen waves around her shoulders, her eyes were a deep blue, but her lips, Nina noticed, her lips were ruby red and full.
    While she desperately wanted to taste those lips, she remembered this was the reason for her taking her own life. Her family ostracized her for her sexual proclivities. She was condemned for loving another woman.
    Leigh arched an eyebrow and nodded sadly. “You should not be ashamed for your desires, my darling.”
    Nina was dumbstruck; she instinctively put her hand to her jacket as if she were exposed. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”
    “Darling, you were going to end it all. Jump from this