Read Thirst for Free Online Page B

vampires
find me, find out how I was made. All I wanted was Carl gone and
life to go back to normal.
    “What she is?” Peter asked, staring at me
like I might grow horns. “What is she?”
    “Later, Peter,”
Eddie said. “So, tell me what happened. With Carl.” Abruptly, he
was steely eyed again. As observant as a bird. It was
unnerving.
    “Nothing
happened. Not really. I could smell him. His fear.”
    “Wait, you can
smell fear?” Eddie’s mouth curved upward.
    I bit my lip,
wondering if I said too much again. “Uh, yeah. I went to see what
was going on. A vampire had him, was toying with him. He asked me
if Carl belonged to me, and I said yes. Told him to come over to
me. Left with him. I didn’t notice until later that he was obeying
everything I told him to do. Everything except leave me alone, that
is.”
    “That’s part of
it,” Eddie said. “He can’t until you let him go. He’ll keep trying
to serve you until then.”
    “You know how to
fix it?” Peter asked. His expression was grim; I wondered what he
could be thinking.
    Eddie rocked in
his chair, his eyes closed. He hummed a tuneless song. I glared at
Peter, blaming him for taking me to see a lunatic. He put his
finger to his lips and nodded toward Eddie. I glanced at Carl who
had fallen asleep in his chair, his coffee untouched.
    “It’s as I
thought,” Eddie said after a minute. “You claimed him. He wasn’t
opposed to it. A vampire bore witness. Now he’s yours. Don’t you
want him?” His voice changed again; his tone felt like a cool palm
on my hot forehead.
    I shook my head
slowly. “No.” My voice was a cracked whisper.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t want
anybody. Nobody’s safe around me.” I felt compelled to speak. I
didn’t want to answer him, but I couldn’t help myself. I could
sense Peter staring at me intently, but I could only focus on
Eddie. I was unable to break eye contact with him. My panic was
dulled by whatever he was doing to me. I felt like my body was
spinning around, and I gripped my chair to brace myself.
    “Who sent you to
Peter?”
    “My grandmother.”
Peter made a noise, but it sounded so very far away. I could have
sworn I was floating around the room, but my eyes were still
latched onto Eddie’s.
    “And if I tell
you how to free Carl, will you do it?”
    “Yes.”
    “Even if it
hurts?”
    “Yes.” My answers
were whispers, and I sensed Peter leaning in closer to hear
me.
    “Do you want to
harm Carl?”
    “No. But I might
not be able to stop myself.”
    I still couldn’t
look away from his eyes; they were big black pits of nothingness,
and I was sinking into them, almost freefalling. A cold hand on my
shoulder brought me back to the room. Shuddering violently, I
gasped, not quite sure what had happened. Glancing around, it was
clear nobody else was there, but I knew I felt a hand touch
me.
    “Is she okay?”
Peter asked, more concerned than I would have expected. Eddie
ignored him.
    “Ava. You have
bound Carl to you. The only way to revoke it is to persuade the
witness to reject your claim.”
    “The witness? You
mean the vampire who attacked Carl in the first place? But how? How
will I find him?” I asked, already worrying.
    Peter snorted.
“Surely a vamp knows where vamps hang out.”
    I refused to look
at him. “Yes, of course,” I said, unwilling to share how little I
knew about vampires.
    Eddie smiled, but
his eyes were full of pity. “I’ll give you directions to a bar.
Vampires visit regularly as do their followers. You may find
information there.”
    “Thank
you.”
    “So is that it?
Can I go now?” Peter said, his voice sarcastic. His eagerness to
leave left me cold.
    “You sit down,”
Eddie said. Although his tone was as low and calm as before, I
shivered as though he shouted. His presence was almost
overpowering.
    “Perfect, just
perfect,” Peter muttered, but he sat down right away.
    Eddie ignored
Peter and returned his gaze to me. The blackness was gone, but I
was