Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,128

Niall would belong to him. He didn’t have a lot of excess funds, but he had far more than Niall, such that no landlord could blackmail him again. “Choose, Niall.”

“Death and leave my family tae starve . . . or you.”

“I make few promises, but I guarantee I’m a better choice than option one.”

Niall stared up at him, then offered his hand. The effort was such that his fingers, the entire arm, were shaking badly, but Evan lifted his own blood-soaked hand, clasped palms. “If it doesnae work, you’ll take care of my family.”

“No, I won’t. You have to fight to live, to honor your promise. I won’t give you that escape route. I get what I want, or you get nothing.” The wound was severe. Even a vampire couldn’t win a one-on-one with the Grim Reaper. Much would depend on Niall’s strength, his desperate will to live.

“Bastard. All right then. Aye. I owe ye a debt. Give me my life so I may care for my family.”

First your family, then me, Evan thought. “Close your eyes. This will feel like dying, but then you’ll feel better than you ever felt in your life. If it works.” Giving all three marks at once could kill the Scot in his current state, but there was no time to do it any other way. Hopefully, the first two would provide enough vitality to give the irrevocable third mark the chance to latch on to his soul.

Bending, he laid his hand on Niall’s jaw, pressing his cheek to the earth, and unsheathed his fangs. The brown eyes flashed in shock, as Evan bit down on the first sweet, sweet taste of his servant’s blood.

“What happened to his son?” He’d shared the images in his head, but it was obvious Evan had gotten as lost in them as she had, so she brought him back to the present with the quiet question. He blinked.

“A few years after Niall left, Eric booked passage on a ship to take his family to Jamaica, to join a sugar enterprise there. The ship went down, no survivors. Niall broke off all contact with his other relatives then. He’s never been back to Scotland. I’ve honored his request not to return for all three hundred of our years together.”

Evan’s face was shadowed. There were lights inside the cottage, and she saw Niall foraging in the kitchen.

“You sent money to help his son, didn’t you?”

“I did.” A smile touched his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “When Niall came into my service, he told me whatever salary he was paid should be sent to his family, minus any small pittance he might need for his upkeep. By the time he realized there is no salary associated with being a vampire’s servant, I’d ensured his family had been cared for. His service was more than enough compensation. It’s only taken him three centuries to believe that. Stubborn Scot.”

She nodded. “Niall said . . . you visited him while he was still married.”

“You want to know what his wife was like.”

At her dismayed look, he tugged her hair. “Female curiosity is one of the very few predictable things about you creatures.”

He had forgiven her enough to tease her, his gentle touch sending warm tendrils through her stomach. When she pressed her lips against his hand, his gaze stilled upon her. She reached up, touched his mouth, fingertip grazing a fang. He nipped her enough to draw some blood, sipped it away while her body stirred at the attention.

“Insatiable creature,” he murmured. “I think your desire is greater than your curiosity.”

She couldn’t block the thought, and was glad she hadn’t when he laughed. “Yes, I expect you would like both satisfied. But I’ll tend your curiosity first. Ceana was courteous but reserved with me. Typical of a country girl, but I think it was more than that. They were childhood friends, pushed together by their families as a practical matter, but they had a real fondness for one another, if not a huge passion. She was protective of him, which I think is the real reason she was never overfriendly to me.” His lips twisted in a wry expression.

“Niall had no sense of his reputation in the eyes of other men. He’d grown up poor, struggled through difficult times, but he’d proven himself. He was a better hunter, warrior and scout than a crofter, but he worked hard at whatever was necessary to care for his family and community. Despite his refusal