Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning / Blood Ties Book Two: Possession / Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes / Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night. Jennifer Armintrout

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СКАЧАТЬ if you prefer. They’re humans that live here so I, and my guests, can feed.”

      Most of the rooms we walked by had their doors closed. The few rooms with opened doors were unoccupied, with two small beds in each with a nightstand between them. Dark squares stood out on the faded wallpaper, as though posters or other decorations had hung there and were only recently taken down.

      A door opened, and a skinny, pale girl with dark rings beneath her eyes exited. She smiled nervously at Cyrus, and kept glancing at me as she spoke. “Hello, Master.”

      “Good evening. Amy, is it?” He reached for her, taking her chin in his hand to tilt her head to the side. Faded fang marks stood out against the thin skin.

      “Cami.” Her voice was barely audible as his fingers curled around the back of her thin neck.

      “Oh, yes. Cami. I’m sorry. So many names to remember lately,” he said, more to me than to her. “Cami, dear, how long has it been since I’ve sent for you?”

      “A week.” She looked down at her hands. “Was I…was I bad at it?”

      I wanted to shrink into the wall, to become completely invisible and spare her the embarrassment of this conversation, but she didn’t seem to care that I was there at all.

      “No, no. I’ve just been terribly busy with…other things.” As he spoke, Cyrus discreetly laced his fingers with mine, pulling me into his memory.

      My vision clouded, and I stared down into Cami’s terrified face from Cyrus’s eyes. She struggled not to cry as he moved inside her. My stomach turned at the feeling of her young limbs and barely matured body beneath his. I pulled my hand away.

      Suddenly out of Cyrus’s thoughts, I returned to the present and saw Cami’s face show the tentative beginning of a hopeful smile. “Today?”

      “That is, unless you’d feel slighted?” Cyrus asked me with a rueful grin. His voice invaded my head. If you refuse me, I’ll take her to my bed in the morning and she won’t live to the next sunset.

      The girl looked at me with something akin to jealousy and despair. I had no doubt Cyrus would make good on his threat. I leaned close to his side. I managed, “It’s my first night here. Wouldn’t you rather spend it with me?” Concentrating as hard as I could, I silently added, You dick.

      A low laugh rumbled from his throat, and he spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I’m sorry, Cami, the doctor has spoken. Perhaps you’ll find company with one of my guests?”

      She paled further, her eyes filling with tears. “Will they hurt me?”

      “Of course not. I wouldn’t allow it.” He patted her on the head. “Run along now, I have to show Dr. Ames the rest of the mansion.”

      We exited the hallway and entered a small sitting room. I glanced at the railing to one side and realized we were directly above the foyer. I heard the good-natured shouting of the Fangs below.

      “You pervert,” I said as soon as the door closed behind us. “She’s only a little girl.”

      “She’s fifteen. Just a year younger than my first wife.”

      “This isn’t the Dark Ages anymore,” I seethed. “There are rules.”

      “I find there is something beautiful in the forbidden.”

      “Beautiful?” I thought of the memory Cyrus had shown me, the way her knuckles had turned white as she’d gripped the bedsheets. “What about her parents? Her family? They’re out there somewhere, looking for her, and you’re planning to kill her?”

      “She’s a runaway, Carrie. Nearly all of my pets are. Now, if they don’t suit you, I wouldn’t miss a few of my guards as long as you’re discreet about it.”

      “I’m not going to kill for blood. I want a willing donor.”

      “The cattle are willing,” he said, pointing in the direction we’d just come from.

      “Willing to die?”

      He nodded. “Willing to endure a little bit of discomfort for what I give them. I kill them eventually, but for a few days, maybe even weeks, they feel like they belong. Like someone wants them. Surely you know how precious that can be.”

      I did. As a child, I’d worked hard to be the best, the smartest, the most accomplished in the hopes my parents would take notice. I’d savored every word of their praise like ambrosia. I knew what poor Cami had been looking for. She’d prostituted herself for love, or at least, a shadow of it. She would never know the difference.

      I was infinitely thankful that no one like Cyrus had come along when I was fifteen. I would have been easy prey. I still was. I felt a gentle probing at the edges of my thoughts and pushed away the taloned hand that rested on my arm. “Stop it.”

      We began to walk again, toward a heavily guarded wing I assumed contained his room, and mine. I stopped and waited until he realized I didn’t follow.

      “I’m not going to sleep with you. I only agreed to spend the day with you so you wouldn’t kill her.”

      “I know. And I won’t. Today. Let me show you to your room.”

      The hallway was considerably wider than those in the servants’ wing, though only two rooms appeared to open onto it. At the end, another set of bodyguards were stationed at double doors, but we stood at the only other entrance.

      “Here we are,” Cyrus said, leaning closer to me than was necessary to turn the knob. Ducking past him with a minimum of contact, I entered the room.

      The suite was larger than the whole of Nathan’s apartment. The first room was a parlor full of Edwardian furniture. A fire burned cheerfully in the oversize fireplace.

      “If you don’t like the decor, it can be changed.” Cyrus walked slowly around the room. “Dahlia’s tastes mirror my own somewhat, though I’ve never been able to stomach so much light blue.”

      I had a ridiculous urge to thank him, but I pushed it aside. “This was Dahlia’s room?”

      He lifted what looked like a Fabergé music box from a plant stand by the window, frowning. “Yes. For a while, anyway.”

      I dropped my bag and removed my coat, draping it over the back of the settee. “Why’d you kick her out?”

      “Truthfully? I didn’t like having her so close. The jealous witch monitored all my activities. It was a bit like being married again.” He wound the mechanism of the box and an unrecognizable tune began to play. “Let me show you something.”

      He walked to the small corner hutch and slightly pulled on one of the shelves. The whole thing swung forward with ease. “This leads to my chambers.”

      I stared at the door as if it were ignited dynamite. “Any way we can wall that up?”

      “I prefer to have unhindered access to you.” He closed the secret passage. “But I’m sure you understand why I’d want to keep Dahlia elsewhere. Under heavy guard.”

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