Free Forbidden (The Gabriel Lennox Series Book 1) by M.L. Desir Page A

just as Gabriel thought he was going to speak, his eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists.
    Interesting. The boy was fighting him. Actually fighting him with what seemed to be his will alone. Gabriel just stared at the boy, wanting to know more about his mysterious past, but afraid of what could happen if he forced the information out of him. He thought about satisfying his curiosity another way, by drinking some of Colin’s blood, which would form a strong, but temporary bond.
    He’d only experimented with a blood bond once before—a century ago, and with a mortal girl. He remembered being in her mind, hearing her silent thoughts, flipping and perusing her inner secrets, like the words on the pages of an open book.
    A wonderful experience.
    Frightening.
    He never did it again for three reasons. One, the exchange of blood seemed more intimate than sex with a lover. Two, he always feared that the person with whom he formed the blood bond could somehow have access to his thoughts, his memories, share his pain and pleasures, long after the blood had been exchanged. But that only worked if the sharer was another Chosen. Blood bonds between Chosen were like steel marriage contracts that not only had to be mutual between both parties involved, but also had to last as long as the two forming it lived. It could only be broken if the one who no longer wanted it spilled all of his blood upon the ground. Gabriel could only imagine blood spilling as a slow, agonizing descent into oblivion. Due to the dire circumstances surrounding blood bonds, few ever formed them. Chosen weren’t the sociable, compromising type.
    In this case, however, Colin was still human so maybe . . .
    Oh, and he mustn’t forget the third reason. The girl, once the blood bond had been severed, she had forgotten who he was. He didn’t linger to see if she ever regained her memory of him. And with the centuries, her face, her scent, her name, became as faint, pale, and bitter as ashes from a sacrificial pyre.
    His curiosity warred with the memories and won.
    Gabriel waved his hand in front of Colin’s glassy stare. The boy made no response when he spoke to him in a quiet, soothing tone, telling him to relax. At once, Colin’s stiff hands loosened, and Gabriel took an upturned arm. He rolled back the long sleeves of the boy’s coat. Then, he bit into his arm at the wrist and drank a little of the blood that flowed from it. He made a small incision into his own wrist, pressing the shallow wound to the boy’s mouth. He told him to taste and swallow, and when he did, Gabriel closed his eyes and waited.
    The off-black darkness replaced with the image of Colin dressed in the uniform of a wealthy college student. More images faded in and out.
    Oxford. Colin with a group of friends, sitting around on the floor talking about the future. Laughing. Feeling brave, daring. Experimenting with opium. His friends injected it into their arms . . . he drinks it . . . laudanum it’s stronger . . . he feels unstoppable, immortal. Several hours later, the sensations disappear. He feels like an emptied bottle. Nights are sleepless, filled with pain, nausea, and chills. Every breath he takes feels like his last. Another taste, another smoke, just one more sip will allow him to relax.
    To live.
    Trapped by opium. His need emptying his pockets. Becoming desperate. Performing sexual favors for women and men to get the funds to feed his habit. Snuffing out the lives of younger boys whom he took under his wing. Suffocating them while they slept. Freeing them from the empty, hopeless world of prostitution. Freeing them from the monsters in the guise of elegant men and women. He’s their savior. Their angel of death. His reasoning is simple: “I send them to heaven. They mustn’t suffer.”
    Gabriel witnessed the funeral of Colin’s mother. The boy weeping. His father telling him to go to hell. “That’s right, you wastrel! You wasted our hard-earned money!