The Devil's Scribe Read Online Free
Author: Alma Katsu
inside could possibly be dead.
He and I had been apart for so long that occasionally I forgot how miserable I had been with him, and standing there, shrouded in fog, I began to think twice about my betrayal. I stepped very close to the wall, removed my hat, and leaned forward to press my face against the stone, placing my cheek on the rock in the same way that I used to rest my head on his bare chest.
At first, the wall was only rock, cold and unyielding. But then it changed all at once, becoming as soft and warm as human flesh, and as peaceful as those times when I’d lain next to him while he slept.
Then I felt a sharp jolt, coldly electric, as though he had woken suddenly and was aware of my presence. The feeling was so strongly malevolent that I jumped back from the wall. That direct, threatening presence broke off immediately, but my cheek now throbbed as though I’d been bitten. I stifled the urge to cry out and stumbled through the rosebushes and away from the house, reminded vividly of what he was capable of, and desperate to once again put as many miles between him and me as possible.
My story didn’t end that night, though I would not see Edgar again. I checked out of the hotel without incident and caught a train for New York. From New York on, I took a more leisurely route, as I would not be leaving America for another month, having made plans to meet up with companions in Europe later in the year.
It wasn’t until November that I was on the train to Baltimore, on my way to catch my ship. Lying innocuously on the seat in my compartment was a discarded copy of a magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, and by some strange coincidence Edgar’s name was on the cover. I flipped past the fashion illustrations and poems until I came to his story and, settling deeper into my seat, began reading.
“The Cask of Amontillado.”
Curious to learn why Lanny was forced to flee Boston over twenty years ago?
Continue reading for an exclusive excerpt from
THE TAKER
Book one in Alma Katsu’s enthralling trilogy!
To discover how it all began. . . .
True love can last an eternity . . .
but immortality comes at a price.
PRAISE FOR THE TAKER
“Mesmerizing. . . . A sweeping story that transcends time. . . . Enchanting and enthralling!”
—M. J. Rose, international bestselling author of The Hypnotist
“A novel full of surprises and a powerful evocation of the dark side of romantic love.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Seductive, daring, soaring, and gut-wrenching. . . . A lush, historical rendering of transcendent love, paranormal beings, and the depths of pain that can be felt by immortal hearts.”
—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
“Readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from Katsu’s mesmerizing tale.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“Alma Katsu’s searing tale of otherworldly lovers and eternal obsession will seduce you from page one. With its elegant prose and riveting plot, The Taker is as irresistible as the hauntingly beautiful, pleasure-seeking immortals who scorch its pages. A wicked, sensuous, shattering love story that I can’t recommend enough. You have to experience it for yourself !”
—Kresley Cole, #1 New York Times bestselling author
ONE
Goddamned freezing cold. Luke Findley’s breath hangs in the air, nearly a solid thing shaped like a frozen wasp’s nest, wrung of all its oxygen. His hands are heavy on the steering wheel; he is groggy, having woken just in time to make the drive to the hospital for the night shift. The snow-covered fields to either side of the road are ghostly sweeps of blue in the moonlight, the blue of lips about to go numb from hypothermia. The snow is so deep it covers all traces of the stumps of stalks and brambles that normally choke the fields, and gives the land a deceptively calm appearance. He often wonders why his neighbors remain in this northernmost corner of Maine. It’s lonely and
He and I had been apart for so long that occasionally I forgot how miserable I had been with him, and standing there, shrouded in fog, I began to think twice about my betrayal. I stepped very close to the wall, removed my hat, and leaned forward to press my face against the stone, placing my cheek on the rock in the same way that I used to rest my head on his bare chest.
At first, the wall was only rock, cold and unyielding. But then it changed all at once, becoming as soft and warm as human flesh, and as peaceful as those times when I’d lain next to him while he slept.
Then I felt a sharp jolt, coldly electric, as though he had woken suddenly and was aware of my presence. The feeling was so strongly malevolent that I jumped back from the wall. That direct, threatening presence broke off immediately, but my cheek now throbbed as though I’d been bitten. I stifled the urge to cry out and stumbled through the rosebushes and away from the house, reminded vividly of what he was capable of, and desperate to once again put as many miles between him and me as possible.
My story didn’t end that night, though I would not see Edgar again. I checked out of the hotel without incident and caught a train for New York. From New York on, I took a more leisurely route, as I would not be leaving America for another month, having made plans to meet up with companions in Europe later in the year.
It wasn’t until November that I was on the train to Baltimore, on my way to catch my ship. Lying innocuously on the seat in my compartment was a discarded copy of a magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, and by some strange coincidence Edgar’s name was on the cover. I flipped past the fashion illustrations and poems until I came to his story and, settling deeper into my seat, began reading.
“The Cask of Amontillado.”
Curious to learn why Lanny was forced to flee Boston over twenty years ago?
Continue reading for an exclusive excerpt from
THE TAKER
Book one in Alma Katsu’s enthralling trilogy!
To discover how it all began. . . .
True love can last an eternity . . .
but immortality comes at a price.
PRAISE FOR THE TAKER
“Mesmerizing. . . . A sweeping story that transcends time. . . . Enchanting and enthralling!”
—M. J. Rose, international bestselling author of The Hypnotist
“A novel full of surprises and a powerful evocation of the dark side of romantic love.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Seductive, daring, soaring, and gut-wrenching. . . . A lush, historical rendering of transcendent love, paranormal beings, and the depths of pain that can be felt by immortal hearts.”
—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
“Readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from Katsu’s mesmerizing tale.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“Alma Katsu’s searing tale of otherworldly lovers and eternal obsession will seduce you from page one. With its elegant prose and riveting plot, The Taker is as irresistible as the hauntingly beautiful, pleasure-seeking immortals who scorch its pages. A wicked, sensuous, shattering love story that I can’t recommend enough. You have to experience it for yourself !”
—Kresley Cole, #1 New York Times bestselling author
ONE
Goddamned freezing cold. Luke Findley’s breath hangs in the air, nearly a solid thing shaped like a frozen wasp’s nest, wrung of all its oxygen. His hands are heavy on the steering wheel; he is groggy, having woken just in time to make the drive to the hospital for the night shift. The snow-covered fields to either side of the road are ghostly sweeps of blue in the moonlight, the blue of lips about to go numb from hypothermia. The snow is so deep it covers all traces of the stumps of stalks and brambles that normally choke the fields, and gives the land a deceptively calm appearance. He often wonders why his neighbors remain in this northernmost corner of Maine. It’s lonely and
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