Read Online The Cathedral of Cliffdale by Melissa Delport - Free Book Online Page A

accepting it as his punishment for turning her into the monster she had become. Charlotte had morphed into the most sadistic and dangerous of vampires - capable of unspeakable acts of cruelty. She toyed with other vampires in front of him, male and female alike, her sexual appetite almost as insatiable as her thirst for human blood. It didn’t take long before she learned of the Quest for Summerfeld, and she embraced the idea as yet another way to inflict pain on others. Drake had no desire to take up the Quest again, not after seeing the power of the Slayer and how easily he had taken back the crystal. He had also reconciled the Quest with the loss of Charlotte, in his mind. Had the vampires in the village not murdered a Guardian, had they never taken the stone, neither the Slayer nor the Guardians would have been there that night and Charlotte would never have been turned. He would have loved her all the days of her life, and then, when she had passed from this world to the next, he would have joined her in the afterlife. The Quest had taken her from him, taken away the part of her that loved him and everything he had loved about her.
    After five years spent trying to bring back the girl he had known, Drake had conceded defeat. His penance would never truly be paid, but he stopped trying to rekindle their love and hardened his heart, until one day he was no longer the same person who had loved Charlotte. He was the hard, cruel, soulless creature he had been before they had ever met. And so he had remained. He had met Genevieve a few years after leaving Charlotte and he had committed himself to her - out of respect for her position and her adoration - but he would never love again.     
    Entering the house Drake’s thoughts strayed to the woman he had walked home. Something about her irked him, like a pebble in his shoe. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Resolving to keep a closer eye on her, he took a seat near the fire and watched the dancing flames, wondering when Genevieve would return. His fangs ached in his jaws but he would not feed tonight. He didn’t need to – the older he got, the longer he could go without blood. He didn’t deny himself for any noble purpose, or to self-persecute, he simply couldn’t be bothered.

Chapter 9
     
     
     
    “Hello again,” Drake murmured in Quinn’s ear. She started intentionally, not wanting to let him in on the fact that she had sensed him already.
    “Hi,” she smiled, raising her beer at him.
    “Just so you know, I’m unavailable,” he quipped, taking a seat.
    “The usual?” Phil asked, appearing before them. Drake nodded.
    “And another beer for my friend here,” he added and Quinn raised her eyebrows teasingly.
    “Just so you know, I’m not available either.”
    “Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way,” he raised his glass and she clinked her bottle against it.
    And so it went for another week. Quinn was fairly sure that Drake was one of the neutrals – a group of unconnected vampires with a common aim – to live amongst humans and avoid detection. The neutrals had no interest in the vampires’ quest to destroy Summerfeld and its inhabitants. They couldn’t be trusted but they were not a threat to the Guardian’s charges. The fifth time he walked her home, Quinn decided to take the bull by the horns. Once more, he walked her to the door, and again, she did not ask him in. She could not continue for much longer without raising his suspicions and she watched closely as his eyes moved over the doorframe. He would discover that she knew eventually, and she would rather it was on her own terms, before he began to suspect what she really was.
    “I’m not going to invite you in,” she murmured meaningfully. Drake seemed to freeze, his eyes on her face, as though trying to figure out what she had just said. “I know what you are...” she managed, before his pale white fingers darted forward and seized her by the throat,