Free Blood Red by Sharon Page

Mystery and adventure surrounded her.
    She was about to take part in a ceremony that should be impossible. She was about to raise the undead.
    How could a stuffy ball ever compare?
    She stroked the small case she held. “The truth is that I don’t want to marry. I want to pursue vampires.”
    “And I want to sleep easy, Althea. You’re to marry.”
    Suspicious, Althea stared at her father. “You haven’t already chosen someone, have you?
    You wouldn’t do—”
    The carriage lurched to a halt.

    Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 38
    “Of course not, pet.” The door swung open. Sunlight spilled in, tinted with the heady scent of spring pollen, filled with the ruckus of birds. “But I’ve engaged a lady to help in your search.”
    As he struggled to stand, Althea launched up and grabbed his elbow to assist. “What lady?”
    “The wife of my old friend, Sir Randolph Peters, a fellow of the Royal Society.”
    Horror and embarrassment wrapped icy fingers around her heart. “A matchmaker?”
    Father glanced at the ground, a clear look of guilt shrouding his blue eyes, but before he could say a word, Mick O’Leary leaned in the door. “Are ye ready, sir?”
    Loud protest would have to wait. She wouldn’t humiliate herself in front of Mr. O’Leary.
    She bit her tongue and helped her father to the folding stair. But in a low and determined whisper, she set down her position. “No, Father. I don’t want a match. And I’m not going to London.”
    With a grunt, Father stepped down, favoring his injured leg. “Oh yes, you are, lass. Indeed you are.”
    As Mick O’Leary led the way down the rough path, Althea brushed at a bee that buzzed around her bonnet. Her case bumped against her thigh as she followed Father, Mr. O’Leary, and two of the workmen carrying the large trunk.
    Once she would have breathlessly watched the movement of Mr. O’Leary’s muscles beneath his linen shirt. This morning all she could think about was Yannick… and touching both him and his brother in her dreams…
    Loose stones rolled down the path as her half boots skidded along and mud splattered her hem. She heard her father muttering, reviewing the incantation he was to use to break the curse.
    Would it work?
    They reached the bottom of the hill, the sod torn up where the men had dug up the old stone tomb. Mortared bricks had filled the doorway the day before. The men had labored since dawn and now enough brick was knocked out to allow entrance. Light glowed from within.
    “The case, Althea.”
    He meant to make her wait outside. “I am going in.”
    Mick O’Leary grinned. “It’s dirty in there, love, and smells none too fresh—”
    Her gaze shot sparks at the dark-eyed Irishman. “It’s not as though I’ve not done this before.”
    He held out his bare, callused hand. “Then let me help you, Miss Yates.”
    “O’Leary…” Father warned.
    She stomped toward the opening, fed up with them all, gripped the bricks to her side and hoisted herself in.
    Lantern light lit the large space and played along the smooth stone walls, tooled into the rock that formed the hillside. The air in the crypt was still, dank, but no longer stale. Fresh air flowed in from the breach made in the bricked entrance. There was no stench of decay—the bodies in the sarcophagi were not dead and decomposing.
    Several hundred years ago the tomb had been built, buried with earth and sod and apparently forgotten to all but legendary vampire hunter, Lord Devars. The peer had used it in the last century as a place to bring and destroy vampires.

    Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 39
    And Zayan had known of its existence.
    The search for this hidden crypt had been exciting, even though it consisted mostly of reviewing yellowing records and worn maps. She remembered the thrill in her heart when Mr.
    O’Leary’s shovel had hit the walled-up entrance.
    The light played along the smooth