Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,7

him to let go of her hand. The strength and gentleness of his touch, the mild but unmistakable sternness of his voice, awakened a craving in her so strong she almost swayed on her feet. Drawing her dignity around her, even if it was a tattered cloak, she steadied herself.

“Thank you. Anything you need, I will be happy to do.”

Over the next three days, he’d kept her busy as promised, though she suspected it was more of his unexpected kindness than a real need for her assistance. But today that came to an end. She was preparing to join her new Master. Even if the main purpose of her placement was to draw Stephen out of hiding, perhaps she’d prove to be of true use to Evan. While drawing out Stephen was a use, she wasn’t certain how functional that was to Evan’s needs, except as a way to be rid of her sooner.

She’d become a burden.

When she was done packing, she sat on her bed, the suitcase before her. Her mind stepped back into that painting on her flesh. The hazy sun, the small dots of white flowers . . . the casually possessive graze of fingers over her sex. It was the only thing worth remembering anymore. That and Adam. But thinking about Adam was still too painful, because it connected to everything else.

She’d had four other siblings. Three considered her an oddity in their world of school, sports, making friends. Dating. But Adam was her twin. On his eighth birthday he’d asked for only one gift. To be enlisted in the preenrollment training with her. Her parents had refused, not wanting to lose both their firstborns, but Adam persevered, appealing directly to the InhServ rep who made monthly visits to check on her progress. All she’d had to do was see the two of them side by side, red-haired, fair-skinned twins, and Adam’s will persevered.

Alanna was considered exceptional by the trainers. Hungering for the ability to serve and do everything needed for a vampire Master or Mistress, she had no resistance to full submission, no need to determine her own sexuality or any other preferences. Those decisions belonged to her Master or Mistress.

Though the vampire world was dominated by born vampires, the Council advanced a handful of made ones who demonstrated enough power and Machiavellian traits to warrant notice. As such, they often assigned an InhServ to a made vampire who met their qualifications for the privilege. Alanna’s job had been not only to serve Stephen, but to give him insight into the politics and culture of the born vampire world, to help him adapt to their ways. Since she was only sixteen, it was an unprecedented honor to her.

It wasn’t natural to Adam like it was to her, but he’d been assigned to a well-placed Mistress, a born vampire who was an overlord of a territory in Spain.

And now he was dead.

That was why she’d done it, gone to Lord Brian when she’d learned of Lord Stephen’s deceit against the Council. Her own selfish pain for Adam. A servant accepted that a Master’s or Mistress’s sins were their own. There was no need to make a decision between right and wrong. The Master’s will was the only compass. She lived to serve him in every way, regardless of what kind of person he was. The point was the service.

It had been a moment of unforgivable weakness, a purely emotional decision. Adam had loved her so much he became an InhServ with her. Even knowing they wouldn’t share the same household, he’d chosen to share the same life she did, the same world. Her Master had refused to allow her to grieve him, had even forced her to . . .

Refusing to go any further with that, Alanna began a meditation discipline, intended to center and focus her mind. Whether a mockery or not, her training had become the puppet strings that kept her moving.

A knock on the door interrupted it. It was Debra, bringing her several months’ worth of blocking treatment. Lord Brian had made it clear she must take them religiously. If that wall fell, Stephen could not only set upon her mind and soul again; he might tear her apart if he detected the challenge of a second-marking from Evan.

As Debra emphasized those instructions again, Alanna nodded. “I understand. Can you tell me anything useful about my service to . . . my new Master?” She’d never served a vampire without the title of