To Have: Vampire Assassin League #19 Read Online Free Page A

was a weakened man. A shell without integrity. A puppet at the end of a wire. Women were deceit wrapped in beauty. As for this emotion they called love? That was another lie. Perhaps, the biggest one. Any man allowing a woman into his heart gave away his power. His strength. His reason. Women started wars. Turned brother against brother.
    Daron was proof.
    He remembered it as if it happened yesterday. A woman was the reason he was here now. Undead. And she hadn’t been near as feminine and womanly as this one! But she’d been winsome enough. Lithe. Graceful. She’d gained his brother’s heart and his ear, but she’d wanted more. She’d wanted Daron. That’s why she spread lies, pretended ravishment, made accusations of rape. And that’s why his brother had set his soldiers upon Daron’s camp. Killing without one word of warning. Akron had whisked Daron from the carnage and given him vengeance. He had never looked back.
    Until now.
    Daron set his jaw and backed from the bed, calling on every reserve of strength. Women were nothing but trouble. He’d learned his lesson. But this one...
ah!
    Daron had been mistaken. It wasn’t the great god,
Ahura Mazda,
controlling his fate. It had to be
Angra Manyu
, the god of darkness and destruction. That god was capable of sending such a woman into Daron’s sphere. Why else would his mate be so perfect? She stimulated and enthralled. He was having trouble just standing here. Everything about her called to every bit of him. This mating thing was powerful. Threatening with its strength. Almost frightening in scope. Proximity to her turned his thoughts to dust, his belly to a nest of writhing snakes, and his loins were a massive problem that was beginning to resemble a brazier, filled with white-hot coals.
    He backed from her. Reached the door. Turned the handle down without looking and slid out into the main cabin. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

 

CHAPTER FOUR
    Evie eased into wakefulness this time. She inhaled deeply, waiting for any sign of ache. Nope. She felt fine. Clear-headed. A little sore. And then she felt heart-sore. It wasn’t fair. How could she be dead? She’d never have the chance to talk to her parents again. Never hug them. As for her little sister, Katie? Wow. She hadn’t even thought of her family. Her first regret had been losing her sponsor. Was she really that superficial? Being dead sure put things in perspective. It also gave you a lot of time to think things over. Tears stung her eyes for a moment even as she blinked them away. The movement sent a flutter about her cheek, while a dark blur passed over that eye.
    Oh. Yeah. She remembered. She’d been wearing false eyelashes. Looks like one had dislodged. Evie tried to move her arm to pull it completely off but was stopped by the constriction of material about her.
    What in the...?
    She sat up clumsily. Looked about. She was in a different place this time. It was really quiet. And very cavernous. The same dim lighting effect was in place. She couldn’t tell for certain. Everything was covered with a filmy material. No. Wait. That was her. She pulled an arm free, reached her face, and started pinching and lifting at fabric. She got hair more than once. Masses of hair that felt like straw that had been glued into position. Oh. Yeah. She remembered that, too. She’d stepped into her shower in order to spray insta-freeze hairspray until her hair didn’t have a prayer of going anywhere. This hairstyle wasn’t moving. It would’ve survived a trip on a windy day in a convertible. Of course that was before she’d been jettisoned into the Atlantic Ocean, and then flown at hyper-speed through the night air. No wonder she’d looked like a banshee in the mirror earlier.
    But what the hell was this cloaking nonsense? She was covered over with it. It was fairly weightless stuff. Tightly woven. It seemed to be in the same peach shade as the satin earlier. And there wasn’t an opening in