Free Hunger by Felicity Heaton Page A

and a sanctuary in an old church.”
    It was Tor’s turn to fall silent and pensive. Little walls and an old church. It was as good a clue as any, but Eve clearly didn’t recognise it as one. Section Seven mustn’t have given her many missions outside of the United Kingdom.
    “I said it didn’t make sense,” she muttered and he lifted his head and shook it.
    “It makes perfect sense.” Tor’s lips twitched when her eyes grew enormous, so wide the white showed all around her stunning rich brown irises. “De Wallen are the little walls, and Oude Kerk is the old church.”
    “It’s a location?”
    He nodded. “A viable one too if your information is recent because they’re still in Paris right now.”
    “It’s not in Paris?” Her dark eyebrows dipped low above her beautiful eyes and he shook his head again.
    “Amsterdam. It’s neutral ground. No pure bloodline has residence in the city, but there’s a Vehemens safe house in the countryside not far from it. A lot of pureblood vampires frequent the area you mentioned.”
    She leaned forwards, her frown melting away, a glimmer of curiosity crossing her face. “Why, is it good hunting?”
    Tor almost smiled again.
    “It’s the red light district,” he said and her eyes grew even wider, tempting him into unleashing his smile. He swore that if she could have, she would have been blushing ten shades of red. Before she could say anything, he asked, “How long ago did you hear them talking about this?”
    “A few weeks back, maybe a month. I remember it because they smelt of blood at the time and it made me focus on them more intensely. I could do nothing but stare and listen, absorbed in them.” The sour look on her face warned she hadn’t liked it. If she was as hungry as he suspected, her instincts would have hijacked her body and compelled her to feed.
    Tor leaned a little closer to make sure he had all of her attention. Her eyes met his, the darkness back in them, showing him the side of her that despised those new instincts and what she had become.
    She had seemed normal and at ease before mentioning blood and that moment when she had been spying on her betrayer. It gave him hope that he could convince her that feeding wasn’t something vile akin to torture and that being a vampire was the same as being human, but with added benefits, and some drawbacks.
    “Eve?” he said in a low cautious tone and she blinked in response, as if pulling herself out of a daze. “How long has it been since you fed?”
    “I fed at One.” She didn’t miss a beat. Her answer was out before he had even finished his question.
    Tor continued carefully, not wanting to upset her or make her lash out at him. “I spoke to Oneiric. You had animal blood mixed with human blood from him. That’s not enou—”
    “What?” she snapped and shot to her feet, her eyes enormous and fury pouring off her. “Human blood?”
    Tor inwardly grimaced and ignored her outburst. He should have known Oneiric would keep it from her. He had probably told her that it was purely animal blood. The stronger smell would have obscured the softer fragrance of the human blood in the mix.
    “That isn’t feeding. When was the last time you hunted and fed properly?” he continued and she began to pace, taking swift agitated strides across the pale carpet, making a trail between him and the hotel room door.
    “I’ve never hunted.”
    That took him aback. “Never?”
    Eve turned away and stopped with her back to him. “I don’t want to talk about it. Tell me more about this place in Amsterdam. You think we’ll find them there?”
    Tor pushed to his feet. He didn’t want to press her but this mission depended on strength, speed, and secrecy, and Eve had just announced she was a liability, in a condition far worse than he had suspected. No wonder she hadn’t been able to fend off the weaklings at the club. She was probably close to starving.
    “Have you had human blood since your turning? Other