Eventide: The Dark Ink Chronicles Read Online Free Page A

Riley? He abducted you.” His grip tightens on Victorian’s throat. “He almost killed you.”
    Yeah, I already know all that. It doesn’t matter. “He isn’t the monster his brother is,” I say. “Please. Trust me.”
    Eli literally shakes with rage. The scarlet pupils widen, like a cat’s eyes adjusting to darkness. He knows Victorian’s brother wants me dead. Valerian is, in every sense of the word, a monster. There’s no telling how many he has either killed or turned. He’s the most feared of predators. A serial killer who cannot die. At least, not easily. And he’s got a personal grudge against me. Why, I don’t know. Maybe because I’m the one who got away. I beat him, and he hates that. Maybe because his own brother cares for me. But I know Victorian isn’t like Valerian. And I don’t want him dead.
    “Eligius,” I say calmly, and he looks at me. “Move.”
    Pure white eyes stare at me in silent debate for what seems forever. Without looking at Victorian, he manages to say, “Not until he tells me what the
fuck
is going on.”
    Moving from between them, I turn to Victorian. Bloodred eyes seek mine. I keep my hand on Eli’s armfor support and give Victorian a nod. My stomach churns with anticipation.
    Victorian simply breathes for several seconds, head bowed, collecting himself. His shoulders, broad but slim, rise and fall with air I’m certain does not circulate within his lungs. When he lifts his head, the only remnants of his vampiric morphing are his eyes. They remain crimson and fixed on me. “Riley has too much of my brother’s strigoi DNA. It’s…changing her.” He glances at Eli. “Changing her in ways even her dark brethren cannot cure.” His Romanian accent is heavier at times, like now. “She is beginning to crave. I’ve seen it.” His voice lowers. “She will kill.”
    “I will what?” I ask, shocked, staring back at Vic. “Are you friggin’ crazy?”
    “Bullshit,” Phin says, and his angry voice echoes off the concrete walls of the parking garage. “She went through weeks of cleansing.”
    “You underestimate the power of a strigoi,” Victorian replies.
    “Fuck you,” Phin returns.
    “We underestimate nothing,” Eli says quietly, deadly. Threatening. “You’re wrong, Arcos.”
    “She broke my power of suggestion,” Victorian argues, flashing me a glimpse. “Started growling, convulsing.” He glances at me, then to Eli. “Nearly jumpedfrom my car going eighty-five. I had to pull over and restrain her physically, and even then she briefly overpowered me. I had to chase her down as she tried to escape.”
    “So where were you taking her?” Phin asks. His voice does not sound like his own; he is getting impatient. Out of character for Séraphin Dupré.
    Then again, the flashes I’d had while running through the woods behind the rest stop had been out of character for me. Those weird cravings. What the hell was that? I convince myself it was nothing more than a residual effect from the trauma at Tunnel 9.
    “Where?” Eli states. His patience is going fast, too.
    Victorian’s unholy gaze settles on mine. “To my family home in Kudzsir in Romania. To my father.”
    I blink, and Eli’s body flies in front of me. By the time my vision finds them, Eli has Victorian crushed against a wall. “So you can turn her? Have her for yourself?”
    “Eli!” I yell.
    With his face close to Victorian’s, Eli growls, “I’ll fucking tear your limbs from your body and burn them myself before I let that happen. And I’ll start with your goddamn head.”
    “No!” I run now, because Eli’s looking like he’s about to dismember Victorian right where they stand. Someone grabs my arm and I jerk to a jolting halt. I turn and glare at Phin. “You’d better turn me loose.”
    Phin just looks at me. Tightens his grip.
    Just then, a beam of light arcs over the gray concrete walls of the garage; an SUV pulls in.
    “Eli, let’s go,” I plead. “Now. Just forget about