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Chapter 17
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Rebel Blood Chapter 18
Aldric's POV “You weren’t kidding when you said Simone is a slow healer,” Vesper says and hands me a glass of his finest, aged blood. I have no idea how it’s made, or exactly what process they use to keep blood this old fresh enough for consumption even hundreds of years after the original donor died. It’s a family secret of the Eurynomos bloodline. The blood is slightly alcoholic and can give a neophyte quite the buzz, but ancient vampires like us enjoy it merely for the novelty – and sometimes it tastes good. “It’s strange,” my brother goes on. “Humans usually heal so fast from our blood.” “Maybe it’s her genetics. I mean, her mother never fully turned. She was able to drown herself.” “Imogen suffered from blood madness. They die quickly anyway.” “Yeah, I suppose,” I sigh and sip the aged blood. This vintage is actually pretty nice, and I find myself wishing that Simone could enjoy it with me. After all the blood I'd given her, the imprint intensified, and leaving her, even f
Rebel Blood Chapter 19
Aldric's POV Ever since the miscarriage, I can’t leave Simone’s side for longer than a few hours at a time. Whenever I try, an invisible elastic band rips me back to her side. I don’t know if she can feel it or not, but she doesn’t question my presence. For the most part, she stays in bed. I make sure she eats and drinks, but I can feel her weakening – not just her body, but her very soul – and it scares me half to death. I’m very sure that if she dies, I’ll spiral into some kind of madness like Baron did after Imogen died. On the fifth day, Simone bolts upright in bed and stares at me where I’m sitting in one of the chairs, sipping on a blood bag and reading a book about vampire hunting. I thought it was factual, but it’s mostly fiction. I chuckle every time I read something ridiculous, like, ‘Hang garlic in every corner of the house to deter vampires.’ It’s true that we’re not particularly fond of the taste or smell of garlic, but it won’t kill us or harm us in any way. “You okay
Rebel Blood Chapter 20
Simone's POVThe moment the words leave my mouth, I wish I can take them back. I've showed him too much of my heart already. I'm giving him way too much power.If only I could figure out how to lie to Aldric. I’ve tried so many times, but it's always the same - my mouth speaks my heart's truth.I wonder if it’s that bond thing he told me about that’s compelling me to say every little thing that pops into my head. “Why can’t I lie to you?” I ask.“You can’t lie to me?” he asks, clearly surprised. He laughs and looks very relieved. “You imprinted back.”“What?”“That’s what we call it when we feel a blood bond with a human. Imprinting. Sometimes, often actually, it’s a one-way deal. Humans don’t imprint as we do. You fall in love…or a facsimile of love at least, but you don't imprint very often.”“A facsimile?”“A copy…a weaker version of what vampires call true love.”“Are you saying humans don’t understand the meaning of true love?”“Yes.”I stare at him for the longest time. “My God,
Rebel Blood Chapter 21
Aldric's POV “No!” I call out and fly across the lawn just as the wolf sets upon Simone. I heard him just a second too late. A fleeting thought crosses my mind before I reach my mate. 'How the hell did he get in here?' Vesper comes charging past me, kicking the wolf off my bride as he descends. The black wolf yelps and rolls away just as I kneel next to Simone, trying to take in the carnage that he wreaked on her. It all happened so fast that I can't seem to get my head wrapped around it. If it weren't for the gaping, bleeding wounds staring at me, the scent of her rose-water blood, I would convince myself that it is all just a dream. At least he didn't get her neck or throat. Thank God. Her blood spills over my hands and soaks into my clothes, clinging warmly to my skin. “No, no, no,” I whisper and pat her cheek. “Come on now, baby, open your eyes. You cannot die like this. Please look at me.” She coughs and blood bubbles from her mouth in a thick, frothy milkshake. My eyes slid
Rebel Blood Chapter 22
Simone's POVConfused, I look around me. I’m on a beach that I had only ever seen in photos and whenever he felt as if he had to calm me down, Baron would promise that he’d show me the beach one day.I hate beaches. I hate the ocean. It took my mother from me. It’s where I almost died. How Baron could never see that was beyond me.How the hell did I end up here? The last thing I remember is the werewolf jumping me.I walk across the golden strip of sand into the break. I don't feel the sand under my feet, it's like walking on thin air. I can see the spray wafting in from the waves breaking on the shore, but I can't feel the cold water on my face or taste the salt in the air. The warm sun in the sky is cold on my skin.Behind me, there's a sheer hill covered in lush greenery. I can’t see a way up the hill or through the plants growing close to the ground. To the left and right of me there's nothing but the endless beach.I'm stuck here.Sighing, I turn to look at the blue-green ocean.
Rebel Blood Chapter 23
Aldric's POV Simone flies past me and runs blindly in the direction of the exit. Our blood bond is unlike any I’ve ever had before, strong and intense in ways I don't understand. It's ten times stronger than it was before I turned her, and if the both of us aren't careful, it will consume us. I’m not as remorseful as I should be. I’m elated in fact. She’s angry, but she doesn’t hate me, and anger is to be expected. Very few vampires are in a good mood right after they’re reborn. It’s a painful process and it’s not over for her yet. There's a reason we keep our neophytes close for the first ten, sometimes more, years of their lives. They're completely out of control. I catch up with her at the entrance of the cave. She’s standing in the opening staring straight down. My stomach lurches before I remember that she’s a vampire now, and while the fall will probably liquefy all her internal organs and break every bone in her body, she won’t die. She’ll just wish for death before she’s don
Rebel Blood Chapter 24
Simone's POV The door behind me opens and I whirl around, ready to launch more insults in Aldric’s direction, but it’s Vesper who darkens the doorway. “What do you want?” I spit at him. I don’t know why I’m so fucking angry. I could have stayed on the beach. I could have allowed death to take me, maybe to a better place than that Godforsaken place, but I went with Aldric instead. Yet, I can't stop the anger, and I want to rage at him because he did this to me. “Now, now, Poppet,” Vesper says in a calm, measured tone. “We’ll have none of that. Aldric needs to feed and he really needs to wash, because he stinks of your blood.” “My blood doesn’t stink.” “No,” Vesper agrees, and sits on the edge of my overturned bed. “But it will attract wildlife.” I don’t know what to do with my rage. I want to scream and fight and break things, but I’ve basically destroyed the room and I’m too afraid to leave. I’m too afraid that I’ll hurt someone. “You are very angry,” Vesper states as a matter o
Rebel Blood Chapter 25
Aldric's POV “Are you sorry you made me?” Simone asks. I slowly shake my head from side to side. “I know you want me to be, but I’m really not.” She pulls her knees up to her chest and folds her arms around her ankles. “Did you fight it? The change?” “Yes,” I reply. “For a long, long time.” “But you didn’t get the blood madness thingy?” I laugh softly. “No. It doesn’t happen to everyone who resists the change.” “So we don’t know how I’ll turn out?” I shake my head at her again and get to my feet. “I want to find out who sent that werewolf. Do you want to come with me?” “What?” she asks surprised. “I’m not supposed to stay locked up in my room?” “You can, if you want, but I thought you’d like to get some answers.” “You trust me?” Smiling at her, I nod. “As long as I can keep an eye on you.” “When Baron made new vampires, he sequestered them for six months.” “How many vampires did he make while you were there?” She shrugs. “Is it important?” “Yes. He’s a powerful vampire
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