Free Crimson Debt: Book 1 in the Born to Darkness series by Evangeline Anderson Page A

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it could go either way.
    “Cease this bickering.” Roderick looked
irritated rather than enraged, which I cautiously hoped was a good
sign. “Celeste, you have committed an illegal act. And you have
made me party to it by giving me the fruits of your illicit
activity as a tribute. I should kill you here and now.”
    “Inquisitor, no… please .” Celeste’s
dark eyes grew wide and terrified.
    “Calm yourself. I said that I should, not
that I would—yet, anyway. We must have a trial to determine your
fate.” Roderick turned to Corbin. “We can hold it in your club. You
will close tomorrow night in order that we may do so.”
    Tomorrow night was a Saturday and I had an
idea of the vast amount of revenue Corbin would lose by closing but
he only nodded. “As you say, Inquisitor. But what of the fledgling
I came for?”
    Roderick sighed. “I will cede her to you. I
was growing tired of her relentless sniveling anyway.”
    Corbin inclined his head. “You are most
kind.”
    The other vampire snarled. “Do not be so
quick to count me kind, Corbin. You may have gotten what you want
but I will be looking into your affairs next. I hope you will have
something suitable for me to bring back as tribute.”
    “I am preparing something as we speak,”
Corbin said neutrally. He turned to Celeste. “The fledgling. Where
is she?”
    She crossed her arms over her flat chest
sulkily. For someone who was facing a trial and possibly the
vampire equivalent of the death sentence, I didn’t think she looked
too concerned. “Danica will show you,” she said. A vampire with a
single red star tattooed under her left eye nodded at Corbin and
walked down a hallway toward the back of the house.
    I hurried ahead of him, trailing right behind
the one-star vamp who had long black hair and a perfect figure a
lot like Taylor’s. Obviously Celeste had a type and this was it. We
came to a bedroom door and Corbin reached over my head to push it
open.
    “Carefully,” he murmured, putting a
restraining hand on my shoulder to hold me back when I would have
gone rushing in. “Celeste is capable of great cunning. Let the one
she sent to guide us go first.”
    I thought he was being a bit too cautious but
I slowed down reluctantly and let Danica enter the room ahead of
us. Then, when Corbin nodded, I walked in behind her, looking for
Taylor.
    At first, all I saw was a vast expanse of
black satin. A huge four poster bed with strangely carved posts
dominated the room, drawing the eye immediately, and it was spread
with satin sheets. Walking closer, I saw that the carvings on the
posts were some kind of never-ending orgy. But not just any orgy—a
vampire orgy. The carved figures all had fangs and they were
displaying amazing levels of flexibility. I hadn’t even known some
of the positions shown were possible and I supposed they
weren’t—for humans, anyway.
    Then I heard a soft whimper from the vast
bed. It was Taylor, curled up in a corner near the far right post.
She had the black satin sheet pulled up to her neck and her long
dark hair was hiding her face.
    “Taylor, it’s all right. I’m here for you.
I’m going to get you out of here and you’ll never have to come
back.” I climbed up the high side of the bed onto the slick satin
sheets, almost slipping in my haste to get to her. “It’s okay. It’s
okay,” I crooned, gathering her into my arms.
    Taylor leaned her head against my shoulder
and sobbed. I held her tight, not minding that the arm she wrapped
around my waist was just about squeezing the life out of me. I
wondered why she wasn’t squeezing me with the other arm too but
when I looked up, I saw that she couldn’t. A thick metal cuff
connected her slender wrist to the ornately carved post. There was
a fine wisp of smoke rising from where the metal was touching her
flesh, proving it was real silver, which burns vampires on
contact.
    “The keys. We need the keys to these cuffs.”
I turned my head to look for Corbin.