A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21) Read Online Free Page A

evening. Of course, they were shocked to see me at first, but I soon eased them into a conversation after explaining I’d split up with Hans. I seduced them into joining me for a walk along the beach, and in the meantime, Hans’ three brothers stole the box from the brothers’ ship and transferred it to ours.
    I slipped away from them gracefully and returned to the pub where I sat facing the wall, looking back over the room every time the door opened.
    That night, Benjamin Novak finally arrived. Since mine was the emptiest table, he headed straight for me and took a seat. My act had begun. I had to clutch my glass tight to stop my hands from trembling with anticipation. It felt like I’d waited an eternity for this young man. I didn’t know anything about him yet, but I did know that in order for me to bring him back to Cruor, I needed to be smart. The Elder had said that he was protected by jinn—and I didn’t know much about the creatures other than they were to be feared. I figured that the easiest way to gain his trust would be to begin by offering him casual, unconditional help, and later, make myself out to be a victim.
    Two happy coincidences came along that very night.
    First was the presence of humans in the guesthouse—not just the cleaner downstairs but also another apparently staying in one of the rooms near Benjamin’s—which forced Benjamin to come upstairs. And second was the two brothers smashing through my window. I’d known they’d be angered when they realized the box was missing and they’d probably suspect I had something to do with it—but I’d never dreamed that they would attempt to murder me for it.
    This incident brought Benjamin to me yet again, and this time in a much more permanent way. I had an excuse to insist that we both leave the island immediately. I’d considered suggesting from the start that we travel together, but that might be coming on too strong. He would wonder why I couldn’t just travel in my own boat. So, as we arrived in the harbor, I stopped at a random boat and told Benjamin it was mine. Then I had a few moments to destroy the boat, leap into the ocean and slaughter the sea creatures. I’d worried he’d think it odd that my clothes were drenched, but I’d figured by now that Benjamin was a gentleman and probably wouldn’t pay much attention to it when he saw me “stranded” and calling for help. And that was exactly how it played out as he raced away with me on the boat he’d stolen.
    After that, slowly but surely, I worked toward getting to know him and building myself up as someone he could confide in. When we went to meet with Arron for the first time, Benjamin revealed the level of trust he already held for me by defending me from the jinni who intended to kill me for my heart. I sensed the incident was a pivotal moment. From then on, I just had to keep sowing the seeds of my loyalty and concern for his well-being… all the while trying to figure out how the hell I was going to put a wrench in the works of this surgery Arron had suggested, get rid of the jinn’s protection over him, and deliver him safely back to Cruor.
    It was a frighteningly epic feat ahead of me, and to make matters more difficult, I wasn’t a scheming person by nature. I considered myself honest and straightforward. But desperation did things to people. When a person had enough on the line, they could accomplish anything. I had to hope that if I stayed with Benjamin long enough and managed to prevent the surgery, sooner or later I would get him on his own, without a jinni protecting him. Although I had no idea how, and I certainly hadn’t expected that it would happen in such a smooth manner.
    When we returned to the witch physician Uma’s island with the ingredients and Benjamin found out that the merflor was missing, he immediately suspected Arron—although, of course, it had been me who had removed and destroyed it. Then a few moments later as we stood on that hilltop