Hold Back the Dawn by Amanda Ashley

Author:Amanda Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2019-07-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Roan prowled the dark streets, preying on any and all who crossed his path. He had lived alone for centuries, needing no one, taking who and what he wanted with little regard for the consequences. He had never thought of himself as cruel, though he had been undoubtedly self-centered. Still, he had never taken a life without cause once he learned to control his hunger. He had never killed a child. Never ravaged a maiden. Never forced or compelled anyone to his bed.

Never loved anyone since Varinia.

Until now.

He had been a fool to propose marriage to Kathryn. It had been an impulse, born out of fear of losing her. Like must marry like, his mother had always said. She had been right about that, just as she had been right about everything else she had ever taught him all those centuries ago.

He unleashed a string of vile oaths as he cut across the street. The pain of Kathryn’s rejection cut deep, more agonizing than the splash of holy water on preternatural flesh.

How could he have been such a fool? She cared for him; he knew that. She wanted him in the most primal way. But not enough to give herself to him. But then, it would take a very brave woman indeed to tie her life to his. He had no illusions about what he was. He was a monster in human form, a creature that survived on the blood of others.

In the days when he had first been turned, he had killed without a qualm, driven by the need for blood, terrified by that incessant craving. In those days, he had been willing to do anything to appease that awful thirst and the pain that accompanied it if he went too long without feeding.

He wondered fleetingly if the vampire who had turned him still existed. He had met Gyorgy when a band of Gypsies passed through their village. He had been fascinated by their colorful costumes, their carefree lifestyle. The women were exotic, with their dark flashing eyes and swirling skirts, the men handsome and exuberant, filled with the zest of life. When he’d been young, Roan’s mother had often teased that he was a Gypsy, which only increased Roan’s curiosity. The camp was filled with acrobats, jugglers, snake charmers, fortune-tellers, and ventriloquists. Decent people warned their children to stay away from them. They wandered where they would, subject to no one.

Roan had been lingering on the outskirts of their camp when Gyorgy spied him. Come, Gyorgy had said, slapping him on the back. Join us for an evening of singing and dancing. It had been a night unlike any Roan had known. Wine had flowed like water. High on Gypsy wine, he danced and sang as if he was, indeed, one of them. The women, both old and young, cast their eyes in his direction, flirting shamelessly, and he reveled in it.

Gyorgy was gregarious and charming, with a voice like an angel and the heart of a demon.

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