Blood Gods_Rebel Vampires Standalone Novella by Rosemary A Johns

Author:Rosemary A Johns [Johns, Rosemary A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-20T05:00:00+00:00

11

When I watched the First Lifer orphan dying in Exitus’ arms, I hissed with the same impotent fury that I’d drowned in, naked and beaten, on the night that Wakefield that hunted me to the attic of the Orphan School.

I was no prey. Yet now I had the fangs to prove it.

I’d show these elitist First Lifers, who were using orphans like snacks for their Blood Lifer friends, that I was now a predator…and that the poor and oppressed had a savior, although not like any superhero that Kathy had been imagining.

The suited First Lifer kissed Exitus on the cheeks, ignoring the corpse of the young man that he’d offered up like a sacrifice, even as his hands brushed it. Then he waved a casual goodbye, before turning on his heel and shambling towards the medieval town center.

He was now my prey.

The boys in the Orphan School had understood that they couldn’t take on the injustice of the teachers, Matron, or the system that trapped them there, but they could take out their frustrations on anyone who they thought was weaker or younger than them. It stood to reason that at long last I should copy them: I couldn’t take on the two Blood Lifers, the Long-lifer, or the whole belief system of the Blood Gods, but I could find out why there was a First Lifer cozied up to them.

I buzzed with howling righteousness. I don’t reckon I’ve ever been blessed with that before. It was addictive, the same as human blood.

Maybe there’s something in this redemption lark?

I prowled through a grand square that was cold in the shadow of a statue of Napoleon. Gothic spires made my shoulder blades throb for wings. The traitor First Lifer disappeared up steps that paraded between archways. I whistled, shoving my hands in my pockets.

Why had he entered the mayor’s office…?

Yet even as my shoulders stiffened at what it could mean, I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised. Power and politics were hatched from the same diseased egg, and a First Lifer who traded First Lifer orphans with Blood Lifers for nuclear secrets was a man who was desperate for power.

A light sprang on like a winking eye on the first floor.

I narrowed my eyes: time to catch the little pig…

I sprinted across the square, whilst the blood throbbed loudly in my ears. I couldn’t think beyond the noise. I darted up the steps and through the archways. The wrought-iron doors swung open on my first wrench.

The First Lifer was so arrogant that he hadn’t even locked the door…? Was he important enough that no one would steal or hurt him? Yet didn’t he know to fear the dark, even though he kissed what lurked in the shadows?

I scowled, slamming against the wall. I’d teach him to fear: Teach him his manners. Yet in my rage, I was jolted to a stop by the image of Kathy hunched on our bed with the blanket around her shoulders.

Think on this: are you a First Lifer or Blood?

I drew back, wrapping my arms around myself.

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