Free Blaze by Kaitlyn Davis Page A

were
hollow, but his were happy and full of possibilities. Coughing, he
spoke again, this time in a much more controlled manner. “How is
this possible?”
    “It’s simple, really,” Aldrich said, but
paused when a new servant, one with the same vacant eyes, walked
into the room holding a tray. Three goblets were placed on the
table, one before each vampire, and a plate of food was set in
front of Kira. Glancing down, Kira recognized chicken and smelled a
hint of lemon in the sauce. For once, food did not interest her at
all and she shifted her gaze to Tristan.
    “Simple?” He asked while leaning forward in
his seat. His eyes were glued to Aldrich, turning lighter and
lighter with each passing second as he let his excitement gather.
Absently, he reached for the cup and took a sip. When he set the
cup down, his lips were stained red.
    “It’s all about desire,” Aldrich spoke,
distracting Kira with his own ruby lips. He smiled at her mother.
The crevices between his teeth were crimson before he licked the
excess liquid away. “Changing a conduit is really no different than
changing a human, but the conduit has to want it.” Two pearly white
hands clasped closer together sharing a secret moment of love.
Kira’s heart flipped in her chest and the gripping fingers expanded
to take up her entire line of vision, growing bigger and bigger, or
maybe her focus was growing smaller and smaller.
    “With a human, want doesn’t matter. They
can’t fight the turning. Our bite consumes them. And when the blood
exchange occurs, our blood overpowers them. But with a conduit it
is different. Their blood boils and burns ours, cursing it from
their system before the change can occur. But a willing conduit,”
he paused, took a moment to stroke her mother’s palm with his thumb
and bring her hand to his lips, “a willing conduit won’t fight our
blood. They will welcome it.” Her mother smiled with pink stained
lips and Kira’s eyes snapped up to those discolored teeth. The
secretive smile she had dreamed of seeing in person was corrupted,
stained like her mother’s teeth by blood. It was directed at the
wrong man, a killer with brown hair instead of a father with red
curls.
    “How has this never been discovered before?”
Tristan asked. Kira heard the words distantly in her mind.
    “How many conduits have fallen in love with
a vampire before?”
    Tristan leaned back in his chair with
thoughts circulating faster than even his quick brain could
process. Kira on the other hand was slow and sluggish. Her gaze
followed her mother’s, honed in on Aldrich’s open smile. She
searched for some break in his calm demeanor, some evil flicker
that would let her in on the secret and let her know the game was
up. The love in her mother’s eyes couldn’t be real—she couldn’t be
looking at this murderer with affection. Kira thought of the holes
in the servant’s neck and her absent, haunting stare. How could her
mom love a man who could do that? How could she forget about her
father? About the man who sacrificed his life to save Kira, who
jumped into a pile of vampires to try and save her, who gave up
everything he had ever known for an unborn child. How could this
woman in front of her have abandoned him for Aldrich?
    “These Dawson women,” Aldrich said with a
smile before reaching for his glass again.
    “She’s not a Dawson,” Kira whispered,
surprising even herself. Aldrich’s eyes snapped to her
instantly.
    “She speaks,” he said mockingly, always
acting superior. “What’s that?” With his vampire senses, Kira
doubted Aldrich had actually missed her words, but his haughty
attitude goaded her and suddenly she was furious.
    “I said, she’s not a Dawson.” Kira spoke
through clenched lips and her hands began to burn. “My father was a
Dawson. I am a Dawson. But she is not.” Kira crossed her arms and
hugged her palms to her body to keep her fire from exploding. She
didn’t even realize she was