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 good eyes before I returned to this city. Fresh ones are hard to come by, and they wear out before you’ve gotten much use from them.”

      My physician’s curiosity took over then, distracting me from our earlier line of conversation. “How does it work?”

      “I don’t know.” He blinked a few times, as though he’d just put in new contact lenses. A thin line of blood ran like a tear down his cheek. “I’m assuming it has something to do with the regenerative humors in human blood.”

      “There’s no such thing as humors. Does it work with other body parts? Limbs?” I scooted forward in my chair. “What about teeth?”

      “How do I know? Carrie, I understand your thirst for knowledge, but there are questions even the blasted Sanguinarius can’t answer.” He sipped from his glass. The eye inside rolled around to stare at me.

      I was going to barf.

      Cyrus either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “I’ll have the servants prepare your room, but I fear it won’t be ready before dawn. You can stay with me today. I’m sure we can find some engaging activity to fill the boring daylight hours.”

      “Whoa, whoa.” I waved my hands in front of me as though I were signaling a plane. “I’m not staying.”

      Not that I wasn’t tempted. The blood tie was an incredible aphrodisiac, despite the fact I’d just watched him pick over a dead body as if it were a rotisserie chicken. But I had only come here in need of information, not an unfathomably dirty one-night stand.

      Cyrus’s expression darkened. “I thought you said your apartment burned down. Surely you need a place to stay.”

      “I have other options. Did you do it so I’d have no place else to go?”

      “I didn’t do it at all. If Dahlia harmed your property, then I’m sorry. The drama of fire seems to hold some fascination for her. I can’t undo what she’s done. All I can offer you is a place to stay. And a few amusements.” He reached across the table to stroke my hand.

      I rolled my eyes. “That’s a lovely sentiment, but there’s this organization who’ll want to kill me if I stay here with you.”

      “The Movement?” His rich laughter filled the dining room. “They’d like to cage us all and let us die.”

      “You don’t think much of them,” I said.

      “No. I don’t. I’ve longed for a companion for years, but because of the restrictions in place by the damned Movement, I have been unable to retain any of the fledglings I’ve sired.”

      So he didn’t know about his pet and her penchant for offing the competition. I couldn’t believe he would be so dense, but if he was really lonely, perhaps he purposely overlooked her transgressions. Maybe a murderous companion was better than none at all.

      Cyrus stood and moved behind me, placing his long fingers on my shoulders. “Fate has put us in a unique situation. Why not come to an arrangement that will be beneficial for both of us? You become the companion I’ve been seeking, and I’ll teach you to use the full extent of your power, power the Movement would deny you.”

      “What kind of power?”

      He smiled like a used-car salesman. “The power to rule, of course. The power over life and death and the strength to wield it to your advantage.”

      A pang of longing washed over me. I’d loved the seemingly God-like powers I’d believed I’d held as a doctor. But that illusion had been ripped apart the night Cyrus had destroyed my perceptions of death and accidentally set me apart from both.

      “I thought I had that before. I ended up bleeding to death in the morgue,” I said, shaking my head. “Why should I believe you? I don’t know you that well. You might just kill me again.”

      “I might,” he said finally. “I’m not generally regarded as someone to be trusted.”

      I looked over the rapidly purpling body on the table. “No kidding?”

      He knelt at my side. “Search your heart, Carrie. I have faith you’ll make the right choice.”

      Some choice. I could live only if I pledged my allegiance to the Movement, or I could live to be Cyrus’s little wifey. Either way, I was a slave. A prisoner. A prostitute.

      “I’ve made my decision. Us meeting, that was an accident. I’m not fated to be your companion, or whatever the heck you’re looking for.”

      “Tell me, Doctor, do you follow many of your patients to the morgue?” he asked with a knowing smile. “You followed me. You wanted me.”

      “You were dead. That’s not my bag. Sorry.”

      He reached out his hands again, but I dodged them.

      “If that’s what you believe, I can’t change your mind,” he said, gesturing to the door.

      I stood and headed for it, but Cyrus called after me.

      “Dahlia is useful. She’s only alive because she amuses me. Not because I love her. And she doesn’t love me.” His voice was quiet and sad.

      “I’m sorry if you’re unhappy.” And I was. I could feel his desperation, his hurt, his anger. But I could also feel the cool edge of manipulation. He was confident I would cave in.

      He continued, and his sorrow sounded genuine. “I only want to protect you.”

      “I don’t need protection, Cyrus. I need time to think.” I walked away. “If I go through that door, will the guards stop me?”

      Cyrus shook his head. “Will you return?”

      I thought of Nathan and his undying loyalty to the Movement. Would I ever become so indoctrinated to their rhetoric? Was I even susceptible to such brainwashing? “I don’t know. Maybe.”

      His sorrow instantly changed to anger. “I’m your sire, Carrie. You belong to me.”

      So this was the true nature of his game. He would coerce me into staying.

      “I don’t belong to anyone.” The words gave me courage as I spoke them. “I don’t belong to my job, I don’t belong to a man, I don’t belong to the Movement, and I sure as hell don’t belong to you. I have five days left to make a decision. If I choose to return to you, I will. But I’m not stupid, Cyrus. You didn’t make me on purpose. You didn’t make me out of love. You meant to kill me in the morgue. I was an accident. And I don’t owe you anything.”

      I walked out the door and didn’t look back.

      Seven

      June 23, 1924

      Cyrus’s word was good. No guards accosted me as I left the house.

      My head swam with a tremendous mix of emotions. The rage came from Cyrus. I could still hear his screams of fury and the crash of things breaking inside the house as I crossed the lawn.

      My sadness СКАЧАТЬ