Page 79

Cneajna gathered up the tangled jewelry and tossed it onto a table. Smoothing out her dress, she smiled at me. “Our Master will come to us and we will feed. As he promised. ”

As her words ended, the door opened behind me. Vlad swept in dressed in a cloak, the sack swung over one shoulder.

“You wished to feed tonight, my loves, so I brought you a feast to restore your bodies, your youth, your beauty. ”

I leaned back against a column and looked at him over my shoulder. His features wore a particularly satisfied expression.

“And where is this feast?” I asked of him. I suspected he was toying with us once more. Giving us false hopes just to listen to us wail with starvation later.

Vlad laughed at my impertinent manner and leaned over to press a kiss against my lips. I turned away from him sharply, so he licked the side of my face with his awful, long tongue. He lowered the bag to the floor and untied the top.

The other Brides gathered around us, whispering with delight among themselves. I looked down at Vlad as he leaned over to open the bag.

What had he brought us? An animal of some sort?

But in my heart, I knew the truth.

The edges of the bag fell away and huddled before us was a small child about the age of three. It was a young boy, his tiny soft limbs browned by the sun, his wide brown eyes staring out at us from beneath the bangs of his brown hair.

“Oh, how lovely he is,” Elina exclaimed.

I gripped Vlad’s arm and he looked into my eyes. “You wished to feed, did you not, dear wife?”

“We cannot,” I protested.

Ariana fell to her knees and gushed over the child, petting his head, tweaking his tear-stained cheeks. “He is such a beautiful little boy!”

“I promised you a fine feast, dear Glynis. Enjoy!” Vlad smirked, turning

to leave.

I did not relinquish my hold on his arm as my fingers dug into the fabric of his coat. “We cannot!”

Leaning down, he cocked his head and stared triumphantly into my eyes. “Ah, but you will. ”

Suddenly, my grip was empty. He had merely vanished.

The door to the chambers slammed shut with a loud crack.

I trembled with the horror of what was happening, but I knew I could not stop what was about to happen. The hunger was upon us. Our feeding from the previous night had barely taken the edge from our desperate need. Already, we looked pale and drawn. The need for blood was strong within us all…within me.

Cneajna drew the child into her gentle embrace and kissed his forehead tenderly. Laughing, the Brides gushed over the child and his fear began to fade away. Ariana lifted him high into the air and spun him around until he was gleefully giggling. Elina stole him away from her sister and bounced him on her hip while she sang to him. Cneajna was enraptured by him as she ran her hands over his silken hair and caressed his baby flesh.

I could not move. I froze, clinging to the column by the doorway. It was as if the world had suddenly stopped all motion except for the movements of my vampire sisters. With gay laughter and chilling adoration, the vampire women fussed over the child, hugging and kissing him with affection.

“We cannot,” I whispered in protest.

Cneajna whirled about the room with the child cradled in her arms. Her eyes were bright with the hunger, and I pressed my hand to my mouth in anguish.

The hunger was eating at me with savage desperation.

Ariana took hold of the child and drew him away from Cneajna. Taking his hand, she led him into a little dance. Elina laughed and took his other hand. They danced around in a circle as the child’s laughter echoed through our dark chamber.

“Please, please, we must send him away,” I said. I felt tears on my face while my body burned with the hunger.

Giggling, the child ran away from the Brides and playfully hid behind the furniture in the room, peeking out to smile before he ducked back down. Ariana dropped to her knees, her eyes sparkling dangerously and chased him around a table as the child giggled with delight. Elina caught him in her embrace and kissed his cheek with her dark red lips. She cuddled him up against her and looked at me with slitted eyes. With a small smile, she set him down on the floor, nudging him toward me.

He ran and threw his small, chubby arms around my legs. Stricken, I let my hand fall onto the top of his little dark head. I covered my face with one hand, unable to look into his eager face.