Free Bitten Surrender by Rebecca Royce

at Adrienne. “You can see me, yes?”
    She gasped, nerves moving through her. “I can.”
    “Good.” He stood and nodded. “How else am I to lead you through what you have to see?”
    “Who do you think I am exactly?” She followed his lead and got to her feet.
    “Adrienne. Who else would you be?” He shook his head. “Your dream is your vision.”
    “Okay. My second trip is slightly different than before.” He held out his hand to shush her, and she stared. Something about the way he held his head to the side while he listened....Jerome? She reached out to grab his arm.
    “Are you Jerome?”
    He scratched his chin. “Not called by such a name in the time period you’re viewing, but yes. And before you ask, no, I’m not a vampire. I wasn’t here when the witch cursed us. It seems to have screwed my version of the curse a little. I stayed human, and I didn’t die. Ever. I age very slowly. Here, at the moment you are witnessing, I’m still not sure what’s going on. Let’s fast forward a bit.”
    “Wait. What?”
    The room around her changed, and she whirled around to try to figure out her surroundings. She was in some kind of study. It was dark outside with only lights from the candles illuminating the room. Jerome sat in front of a desk looking at a book.
    “I’m the only person in town who can read.” He raised his head to stare at her. “Sorry about the whirling around. You aren’t going to be asleep for very long and we have ground to cover.”
    She tapped her foot on the ground. “I hate the dreaming thing.”
    “Tough. Hanzi will never tell you what you need to know. He’s silent, and he thinks he’s protecting you from his monster. Feri arranged the whole scenario to give you the knowledge you’ll need to make your choice. I’m how he managed tonight to manifest. I’m not real. The actual me has no idea you’re seeing me at all. Let’s go where we need to go. Shall we?”
    She sat on the side of the desk. Hanzi hadn’t been able to read. Had he learned to read? He’d had time. She’d have to ask him.
    “What does the book say?”
    “It says the witch had no choice but to destroy our town. A very wealthy man who wished to have more took her son and told her to kill us or lose her child. She did as he asked. Ema and the others, they dropped dead before they went to bed. But the witch had given some of us an out—a way to find revenge for the deaths of the others—she’d turned some members of our town into vampires. Right as you watch, I—the version of me who was real—am reading the book, and I don’t understand it. Vampires weren’t a concept any of us were familiar with. Hanzi and ninety-nine other strong males would crawl from the graves I dug them or simply stand up where they had fallen. They would be filled with bloodlust, and I’d be drained several times before the particular night ended.”
    He stood and walked to the window. “I don’t know how I felt about what happened? I’m Feri’s manifestation of me. I know how Feri felt and it wasn’t pretty. He hasn’t given me Jerome’s thoughts. How do you feel about happened?”
    She rubbed at her nose. Truthfully, she’d rather not over analyze. “Utter horror. I can’t imagine waking a vampire tomorrow.”
    “The witch wasn’t done. She knew their lives after death would be horrific. To give them revenge, she’d made them monsters. They had to live in the night except someday they would have the chance to find a love—a woman to mate with—have children with. They’d be matched.” He stepped forward and touched her wrist. “For example, you and Hanzi.”
    Once again the strawberry birthmark played a role. “The wedding part I know.”
    “It got worse.”
    She hugged herself as a cold wind blew past her. Where was the breeze coming from? She looked around. Nothing seemed out of order. Was she cold wherever she slept in the real world? Dreamland sucked.
    “Okay, we have to go on then. Whirling