Cara MIA - By Book One of the Immortyl Revolution - By Denise Verrico Page 0,25
in the dark. My head ached horribly with a sound like blood rushing through it. Warm stickiness ran between my thighs, running and running, soaking the bed linens. Something was wrong. I tried to sit up. My head swam. Nausea overcame me, the cramping unbearable. Where was Richard, the sonofabitch? I shouldn’t have been bleeding this much. It was suddenly, sickeningly evident my womb was gushing from the spot where the thing we’d made had been ripped. I was bleeding to death.
I struggled to roll over and grab the receiver of phone on the night table next to the bed. With shaking, chilled fingers I dialed Richard’s number. It rang for an eternity.
I fumbled for the white card with Ethan’s number on it. Somehow, I dialed the phone again. It rang and rang, until he picked up. “Yes?”
“Ethan, it’s Mia. I’m bleeding— help me.”
The phone slipped through my fingers as I sank to the mattress in terror, unable to move from the spot. A cold, black hurricane swirled in around me. I cried for help silently, my voice not obeying my will.
Then a presence filled the room. A large, warm hand soothed my forehead, smoothing the damp hair back. I floated above the bed. I figured I must be dying, because I hovered, suspended in mid-air about to be borne off to the afterlife. But was I in the arms of an angel or a demon? It couldn’t be an angel, not after what I’d just done.
Through the fog of my semi-conscious state a voice flowed— rich and melodious— the voice of an outraged, avenging angel. His warmth enveloped me, staving off the creeping chill paralyzing my limbs. I struggled to open my eyes. Two frosty orbs of blue light looked down. I cried. He calmed me, kissing my forehead. “Hush now, rest my little broken bird.”
I clung to him with what strength I had left. “Ethan— I’m so scared!”
“You’re dying, little one.”
“Don’t let me die! I killed my baby. I’ll go to hell!”
“Hush, you’re not going anywhere without me. Did he force you to do this?”
Tears rolled down my face, as I confessed, “I wanted you so desperately.”
His voice took on this note of urgency, “Understand what I’m about to offer. It’s not something to be taken lightly.” I shivered. He held me closer. “Think Mia, before you choose. We haven’t much time, but you must to do this with the awareness of what we’re undertaking. You know what a vampire is?”
Why on earth was he asking me this ridiculous question? I reached in and pulled a name from the file drawer of my memory, a Hollywood icon. “Like Dracula?”
“A fairy story, Mia, look at me!” I opened my eyes wide and beheld the wonder he was. He spoke gently, not as forcefully like in the restaurant. “I’m what some call a vampire, but I’m a living, breathing creature— not a foul animated corpse. Immortal. I want you to become like me. You’ll never suffer from illness and remain young forever. But there’s a price, cara mia.”
I was still reeling, telling myself this must be a nightmare. “Drink blood?”
“We take the life force so we may live eternally. Are you willing to do this, to kill and drink the blood of living human beings to survive? Are you ready to accept this and join me forever?”
Intellectually, I understood what he was saying but I was motivated purely by the flesh. “Would you stay with me?”
“You’ll be mine forever, to love and protect.” Then he said the most extraordinary thing. “I need you so, Mia.”
Well, that was all he needed to say. I was so terrified of being left alone and dying that his promise was the ultimate seduction. Eternity with that beautiful being? You gotta be kidding if you think I hesitated for a moment.
Taking great care not to jostle me, he laid me down on the bed and eased his body next to mine. The smooth swell of his perfect mouth met mine; rapture to finally be in his embrace, whatever the cost. Suddenly, his hands and mouth were all over me as he stripped the blood-soaked clothing from my torn body and licked me all over like an animal that’s given birth. The delicious sweep of that warm, wet tongue aroused in spite of the chill overtaking my body. He panted and shuddered, tearing off his clothes as he licked. Boy oh boy, the splendor of that incredible form, smooth, white and spectacularly hard. He gashed his