Read Death Deceives: Book Three (Mortis Vampire Series) for Free Online Page A

highlights covered the walls. Thick maroon carpet graced the floors. From memory, the Comtesse’s mansion in the UK was even more breathtaking with its white marble everywhere and gold accents. Still, this building was a far step above anything I was used to.
    Luc and I climbed to the fourth floor to begin our search. We encountered the subtle signs of battle during our journey. The ooze of the fallen imps I’d killed a few nights ago had been scrubbed away. Despite the clean-up job, I could still see the faint traces in the carpet and on the wallpaper of the hallway. The smell of undead blood still lingered and would take time to fade completely.
    In mutual silent agreement, we travelled to the end of the hall and entered the Comtesse’s suite first. The heavy wooden door hadn’t yet been replaced. The foot-sized hole I’d made when rescuing Luc had been covered with a sheet of flimsy wood. Taking a quick glance around the sitting room, nothing seemed to be out of place. The heavy furniture was undisturbed and there were no puddles of ooze on the floor.
    With my weapons held at the ready, I pushed open the door to the Comtesse’s bedroom. Red was the predominant colour. It covered the ceiling, walls, floor and bed. Variation wasn’t in the tiny blonde’s makeup.
    Luc’s jaw tightened when he stepped inside. This was where he’d been forced to be the sexual slave of his master yet again. He’d managed to escape from the Comtesse’s clutches three centuries ago when he’d become a lord. When his pretend maker, Monique, had been killed, he’d been elevated to her former position. It had given him enough power to determine who he would sleep with. Luc’s choice after being granted the title of a lord had been to sleep with no one. Until I’d come along and had dragged him into the sack with my newly risen flesh hunger, that was.
    After a brief glance to verify the praying mantis wasn’t hiding under the gigantic bed, we left the suite. Luc relaxed once we were back in the hallway and offered me a tight smile. I slid my arm around his waist to offer him comfort. He was being brave but it must have been painful returning to the mansion again after having escaped from it so recently.
    We performed a quick search of the rest of the bedroom suites on the top floor. All were decorated in tones of blood red. We’d spent the night here once and I’d privately thought the rooms were tacky. My opinion hadn’t changed at all since the last time I’d visited.
    All of the suit es were empty of life and unlife so we headed downwards. Over the past few days, everyone in the mansion had just up and left. Lights had been left on and the windows were unshuttered from the third floor downwards. I was reminded of the stories I’d read of whole towns suddenly becoming deserted or ghost ships floating around the ocean without a crew. If the courtiers had been human, food would probably still be sitting on plates waiting to be eaten. I could almost believe they’d all been beamed up by aliens to a mother ship and then spirited away. Maybe they had been, our creator had been an alien after all.
    We both heard a car approaching and went to investigate. After taking the long trip down the driveway, it parked near the doors to the mansion. Luc glanced out through a window at the end of the hallway. “Our friends have arrived,” he informed me. I squeezed in beside him to watch our friends pile out of the large black car. All carried weapons despite Luc’s advice that the house was deserted. Since I currently had a sword clutched in my hand, I couldn’t really blame them.
    Our companions caught up to us when we were in the ballroom on the second floor. Dark red drapes covered the windows, sweeping from nearly ceiling height to brush the floor. The floor was polished wood, stained the same dark shade as the four or five hundred year old furniture. A stage had been erected at the far end of the room so that the Councillors could