Read Online The Blood That Bonds by Christopher Buecheler - Free Book Online

as
unfathomable as his deep, black eyes.
    Two stood next to him at the chair,
terrified, gasping for breath but unable to move away. Unable to
look away. Abraham reached out, touched his finger to her forehead.
The contact brought with it a jolt like electricity. Two gasped,
nipples instantly hard, warmth between her legs once more awake and
throbbing.
    “ You enjoy?” The vampire
laughed at her. Two felt dizzy. She was
hyperventilating.
    “ A taste, Theroen, of this
tainted blood?” he questioned, and his voice mocked Theroen, mocked
them both. She was his for the taking, all three knew it, but he
found the formality deliciously, darkly entertaining.
    “ If you must, father.”
Theroen’s voice was strained. Abraham seemed to smile at this, as
if he approved of both the acceptance and the clear hatred in the
voice of his creation.
    “ You will understand in
time, my son, when this day comes for you, when she takes another
and breaks your heart.”
    “ Get it over with,” Theroen
said, and Abraham grinned broadly. He touched his finger lightly to
Two’s shoulder, and her knees buckled. She fell to the floor,
looking up, enraptured, terrified. His fingers now under her chin,
like those of a lover, raising, exposing the pale neck
below.
    Two gasped, panted, black
spots appearing before her eyes. She was dimly aware that she was
weeping, and the warmth below her waist had become a roaring blaze.
Closing her eyes, she pictured Theroen and thought, Let it be him, and not this monster.
    The vampire leaned his head down, settled
the points of his teeth against her neck, waited. Just as before,
the moment stretched out into eternity. The world became surreal,
painted in shades of grey and yet more vibrant than anything Two
had ever witnessed. She felt a tear grow on a single eyelash,
fatten, drop. It hit her face, warmth of her body fading quickly as
it cooled, leaving a track down her cheek. Her heart throbbed. The
vampire tore through the flesh of her neck in an instant, seeking
the blood forced through her veins by that thudding organ.
    Pain again, like glass, exquisite, blinding,
maddening, and a spike of sheer ecstasy running through her like
before, like with Theroen, this caused only be Abraham’s touch,
Abraham’s teeth. Such power. Two leaned her head back, wailing in
terror, in pleasure, in fear. It was death, it was birth, it was
the coalescence of the entire universe in a single moment.
    And then it was gone. The vampire pulled
back, Two fell to the floor, gasping, weeping. Her eyes fluttered
open and shut, trying to make sense of the myriad images before
her. Theroen, looking away, unable to watch what was transpiring
before him. Abraham, eyes closed, head tilted back, enjoying her
blood like a man tasting fine wine. The flickering candle on the
table cast light on the door, and now it seemed the flame itself
was a door as well, light from inside spilling out, like a hole in
the fabric of reality. Two wept at its beauty.
    “ It makes me lightheaded,”
Abraham said. “The blood is tainted indeed, and yet so strong. So
delightful, ah, she will be a good daughter for you. Daughter,
sister, lover … whatever you choose to make of her. It will be many
years before she finds the strength to leave you.”
    “ It … may be many years
before she … finds the strength to stand up.” Two heard herself as
if from down a long hall, and was aghast at her own blasphemy. To
speak, and so impertinently, in front of this creature who had
given her such pain, such pleasure. Surely now he would strike her
down.
    But Abraham only roared his horrible,
mocking laughter, clapping his hands together. Theroen snarled
something, moved towards her, and Two understood in that instant
the hatred burning between master and pupil, father and son. Was it
like this for all of them? Would it be like this for her? No, Two
realized. Not for her and Theroen. There was no hatred there.
    “ Or perhaps I am wrong!”
Abraham cackled.