Cortigiana (A Vamp Life Prequel) by Jez Strider Page B

pinned to the bed. The pain didn’t last long. It kind of gave me
relief, something different to focus on. I wanted to open my eyes,
but I couldn’t wake up. Each second the lips suckled on my neck,
the weakness in my body grew greater. The mouth left me at the
moment when my heart struggled to beat any longer.
When the person beside me came close again,
something fleshy pressed against my lips. Liquid instantly coated
and healed my dry throat. It tasted metallic. I didn’t recognize it
as blood in my state. All I knew was that I wanted more. My
rotting, plague ridden body healed with each gulp. Each sip gave me
energy and strength. The hair on my arms stood up as my skin
tingled. It was like each cell in my body sprang to life.
    “ Beautiful once more,
Evelina.”
    A guttural purr escaped me
and I opened my eyes wide to see Dante Sanuto. My nails had dug
into his arm until he was bleeding from the wounds, not just the
slit on his wrist firmly pressing into my mouth. He pushed me down
to the mattress after prying his wrist free from my grasp and I
knew he was going to take me. That’s when I let myself believe what
I’d done, that I had been drinking blood. This realization sent my eyes rolling back
in my head and I fainted.

After harsh lessons on feeding and lies
about vampires, I discovered the Dante I thought I had met when he
rescued me had disappeared. He forced me to kill an innocent during
my first feeding and I did nothing to stop it. I was evil, blood my
addiction, and night my solace.
In those early days, before I had stopped
telling Dante I loved him, he would watch the stars with me as he
stroked my long hair with his fingers. He would tell me stories of
wars and places I had never been. Sweetly, I’d smile and nod, even
ask questions. We had fled Italy and were now living in France. If
being kept in captivity could be called living.
No matter what Dante said or did, in the end
I was a pampered prisoner… a slave to his whims. Worst of all, my
heart remained in Venice where I had loved completely for a short
time. Perhaps that was where it belonged because I was no longer
myself, just a cold shell of a woman.
Eternally miserable.
Vampire.
    “ I love you, my
Queen.”
With effort, I answered as he required. “I
love you, Master.”
From the Author
To learn more about Evelina and her life as
a vampire, check out book one in the Vamp Life series, Vampire’s
Eve. Thank you for reading. Reviews are appreciated.
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