Read The Dark Blood of Poppies for Free Online Page B

drawing room. How awkward, Charlotte thought, that they had no social niceties to ease the atmosphere; she couldn’t even offer them a drink. Like birds of prey they settled and gazed unblinking from lovely, piercing eyes. All watching her.
    Charlotte busied herself stoking the fire and lighting lamps. As she finished, Karl came to stand beside her near the fireplace. Rachel, too, remained on her feet. She seemed restless, repeatedly touching her neck with both hands.
    “Do you really think it’s fair,” Charlotte said, “to discuss Violette when she’s not here to speak for herself?”
    “You wouldn’t want her here,” said Rachel. “Believe me.”
    “Why?” Charlotte glanced at Karl, chilled.
    John, the hard-eyed stranger, said, “Tell them.”
    Again Rachel scratched at her throat. “A vampire who places herself in the public eye is unnatural. We should exist as chameleons in the dusk. No human should know our faces or names. She’s breaking the laws.”
    “There is no law,” Charlotte said impatiently. “What does it matter if she’s famous? No one will guess what she is.”
    “Someone might, if she reaches seventy or eighty without a line on her face,” Pierre drawled. He didn’t appear to be taking this seriously. Rachel shot him a vicious glance.
    “It’s not just that,” she went on. “There’s something wrong about her. It’s no secret that she believes herself to be Lilith, the progenitor of all vampires. She’s plainly mad and too powerful for her own good.”
    Charlotte’s anger was fuelled by guilt. She feared Rachel was right, but couldn’t accept it. “You don’t even know her! At least give her a chance before condemning her.”
    “Oh, we gave her a chance,” said Rachel. “We went to see her. We asked her politely to stop dancing, to stay well away from humans and vampires alike.”
    “Well, I can imagine how she reacted to that. Who went, exactly?”
    Stefan answered uneasily, “Niklas and myself, Rachel, John and Matthew.” Cautiously he met Charlotte’s eyes. She glared, but he held her gaze.
    “Not Ilona and Pierre?”
    They shook their heads. Ilona said, “We’re only here now because Stefan seems to think it’s so important.”
    “Much ado about nothing,” Pierre added, “but amusing.”
    “Nothing?” Rachel’s chalky face lengthened. “I tried to set aside the fact that she murdered my friend Katerina –”
    “Katerina could be
very
provoking,” Ilona put in flippantly. Charlotte could have struck her for saying this in front of Karl, who had loved Katerina.
    “I tried to be fair,” Rachel continued, “but she wouldn’t listen. John, you tell them. I can’t.”
    John leaned forward, his eyes black with hatred. His modern but shabby suit hung on him like a stage costume. “Matthew is dead. She killed him. He was the dearest companion of my heart, my only refuge from the madness of this century, and she slew him. She tore off his head with her hands.”
    Charlotte gaped. “How?
Why
? What did he do?”
    “Nothing!” John flared. “She flew into a rage and attacked him for no reason!”
    Stefan added quietly, “Actually, Matthew suggested that unless she took our advice, her ballet dancers might be in danger.”
    “Oh, God,” Charlotte gasped. “He threatened their lives, and you’re surprised that she reacted? She would give her life to protect them!”
    “But it was only a threat, mere words,” said Rachel. “She didn’t argue, she
tore off his head
. And that proves my point. She’s insane, capricious, a danger to all vampires.” Again she rubbed her neck, fingers tangling in her flame-red hair. “She attacked me, too… and I’ve lost myself. I’m so afraid.”
    A long, heavy silence. Charlotte watched Rachel in dismay, realising she was not merely agitated but in torment. She thought,
Violette has done this
.
    Controlling her emotions, she said, “What do you expect us to do?”
    “You made her immortal,” said