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

was someone,” he said looking directly at Taylor, “who would be willing to take her place.”
    “You can’t have her either!” said Hannah.
    “Oh can’t I?" said Eric. "What do you think, Taylor? You willing to let her die?”
    Taylor looked back at Hannah sadly. Hannah seemed to understand what she was thinking.
    “Taylor, you can’t!” Hannah insisted.
    “I can’t watch someone die, either. Not over me,” said Taylor.
    Taylor looked down at her feet, trying to muster up every scrap of courage that she possessed and then took a step forward.
    “Taylor, NO!” Hannah screamed and stepped towards her, but Joseph held her back.
    “He won’t kill her, Hannah. He’s not a killer,” he said.
    “Are you so sure, little brother?” Eric asked and then tossed Addison to the ground in front of him while grabbing Taylor with this other arm.
    He pulled her close and held the knife to her neck.
    “You can go now,” he said to Addison.
    Addison lay still for a moment on the ground and then started to move slowly away from them.
    “I said GO,” he yelled.
    She got up slowly and then began to run towards Joseph and Hannah. Joseph released Hannah and caught Addison as she fell into his arms. He whispered into her ear and she fell unconscious. He laid her gently on the ground and walked forward to grab Hannah, who was moving towards Eric and Taylor.
    “Stay right there, Hannah,” Eric said menacingly, “or I swear I will kill her.”
    Hannah stopped moving. Eric leaned forward and Taylor felt the warmth of his breath against her neck. She felt the knife pressed firmly against her neck and saw thin trails of blood flowing down onto her chest.
    “Eric, stop. Please stop!” said Hannah.
    Eric looked up for a moment.
    Sensing his distraction, Taylor knew immediately what to do, having grown up with an older brother. She dropped swiftly to her knees, her unexpected movement allowing her to fall easily through his arms, and shoved her elbow back as hard as she could, right into his groin.
    He stumbled backwards, clutching himself for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. Not quickly enough to prevent Taylor from escaping his grasp, however, and she stumbled forward into Joseph's arms.
    Eric smiled at them darkly.
    "Oh this is not over. Now that I have a taste," he said drawing his tongue slowly across the flat side of his blade, "I will have the rest. Maybe not now, but I will have it."
    Eric seemed menacingly confident at first, but suddenly his face turned to an expression of worry. He stepped back and his weight shifted to his back leg. He seemed to be off balance.
    “How did you...?” he asked, doubling over while clutching his stomach.
    “How is this even... poss...i...”
    He collapsed on the ground before he finished his sentence.
    Taylor looked at Hannah in confusion, but she seemed just as uncertain as Taylor was.
    “Are you okay?” Hannah asked her.
    “I think so,” Taylor said touching the cut on her neck. “I think it’s just a scratch.”
    Joseph rushed up from behind them and leaned over Eric.
    “What did you do to him?” Joseph asked Taylor angrily.
    “I... I don’t know,” she replied.
    Eric groaned and began to stir. As he slowly rose Hannah drew her arm in front of Taylor and pulled her back.
    Eric looked up at them and Taylor saw the same shadows dancing across his eyes that she had seen before. They were moving more slowly this time and appeared to be fading. He fell back down on one knee.
    “I don’t feel so good, Joe,” he whispered.
    “What’s wrong, Eric? What’s going on?”
    “I don’t...” as he said this, the shadows vanished from his eyes, leaving them neither black nor sky blue, but brown.
    He collapsed into Joseph’s arms. Joseph leaned over him and held him close.
    “Hold on, buddy,” he said, and then bit into Eric's neck.
    “What is he...?” Taylor began to ask Hannah.
    “He’s trying to heal him. Stand back,” she ordered.
    Joseph broke away from