Free Vampire University (Book One in the Vampire University Series) by VJ Erickson

it to her elbow, not pressing hard enough to leave a mark. Taylor shuddered.
    “Now look how complicated all this has gotten,” he said, with a playful, almost sing-songy voice.
    “All I really wanted,” he continued, pressing the side of his face against her neck, “was a taste.”
    Taylor tried to shift away from his touch, but he pulled her closer with his free hand.
    He leaned into her ear and whispered, “You should have just said yes. I always get what I want.”
    He then leaned back and spoke loudly enough so that Addison could hear as well.
    “So what you’re going to do, Taylor, is just sit there. You are going to let me do what I want, and if you don’t,” he gestured towards Addison as he said this, “I’m going to kill her.”
    Addison began to tremble at this. Taylor sat as still as she could, her mind racing. She tried to think of some way to escape, but Eric was armed with a knife and she had no idea what a vampire was capable of. She tried to tell herself that whatever it was he had planned, they were going to survive it. If he had wanted to kill them, she reasoned, he would have already done so. Looking at his face, though, she wasn’t so sure. He seemed to be enjoying this.
    “You see? It’s so much easier when you listen,” he said and leaned closer to her.
    He reached towards her with the knife and she flinched as he pointed the blade at her chest. He lingered there and then drew the blade slowly up to her neck and then slashed it across with a quick swipe. For a moment she felt nothing and then a sharp pain. She instinctively reached to cover her neck, but he grabbed her hand and held it to the bench.
    “Remember what I said? You do what I say or she dies,” he said.
    Taylor tried to keep herself still. She looked down and saw a single drop of blood hit the top of her shirt. It must not be deep, she thought, trying to reassure herself.
    “Don’t worry, this won’t kill you,” he said, seeing her concern. “At least, the knife won’t.”
    Taylor could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes, but she determinedly blinked them out. She reminded herself that the reason they were in this situation was that he couldn’t control her.
    Suddenly, she heard Joseph’s voice in the distance and felt a wave of relief. Eric heard him too and backed away from Taylor, looking frantically in the direction of the voice. He moved slowly towards Addison, clutching the knife in his hand. The sound was followed by footsteps approaching at a rapid pace. Joseph was running towards them.
    Taylor inched slowly along the bench towards the end opposite Eric, carefully watching to see if he noticed. His attention was turned to Joseph, however. She stood slowly and backed up a few steps just as Joseph, with Hannah behind him, emerged from the line of trees. They rushed to the edge of the pond and then stopped.
    Eric grabbed Addison in his arms and pressed the knife against her neck again.
    “I told you,” Eric shrieked. “I told you not to follow me. I told you. I told you she would die. I TOLD YOU!”
    Joseph took a step towards him.
    “Eric...” Joseph said cautiously.
    “No! Don’t you talk to me. Shut UP!” Eric replied.
    With this he cut the knife across Addison's neck, drawing a thin red line that then unfurled down her neck like a red satin sheet.
    “Eric! What are you doing?” Hannah yelled at him. “What is the point of this?”
    “Yeah, Eric,” Joseph said, stepping up beside Hannah, “what do you gain from killing her? All that blood... a waste.”
    “Oh, it’s not a total loss little brother,” Eric said with a smirk and then licked her neck.
    He then made exaggerated smacking noises as blood spurted out the corners of his mouth.
    “Really, she’s delicious. You should come taste,” he said, licking the blood off his fingers.
    “Not like this, Eric," said Joseph. "You're being reckless. You could hurt her.”
    “Oh? Well that would be a shame wouldn’t it? If only there