Read Online Avador Book 2, Night Shadows by Shirley Martin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Shirley Martin
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on the rare occasions when she paid him any attention, it was to find fault or chastise him. She was cruel and caustic in her criticism, forever belittling him. And his father had done nothing to counteract her spite. Goddess damn them both.
He'd learned to tolerate dim light but could not endure the glare of a bright sun. And so, from childhood to adulthood, he'd adjusted to both the bandrega way of life and that of the vampire, but despite his vampire half, he still had not gained immortality. Like the other bandregas, he would live a normal life span and then die of old age, if an illness or accident didn't claim him first. Granno's balls! How it hurt to see the vampires live forever, a gift denied him. All his life, he was forced to move from one city to the next so that the vampires never suspected that he didn't share their gift.
Mindful of the reward offered by the government for any information leading to the arrest of the vampires, he thought of the money he could win by turning over the whole Goddess-damned association of vampires to the authorities. And he would soon, damn them all. But first, he must win the scryer away from Gaderian, and thus get even with that vampire. Ah, he thought of the humiliations he had suffered over the years because of Wade, the women he had wanted and lost. Well, this was one time he–Stilo–would win. And then watch Gaderian Wade suffer.
An alarming weakness enfeebled him; time to drink the sacred well water. On the first day of every moonphase, the bandregas always drank from the sacred well in the village of Magh Eamhainn, for the water there held special properties that gave them their powers, and also enabled them to look human. Difficult to believe that a few bandregas chose not to drink from the sacred well, preferring to remain as demons who haunted the night. More fool they, for disregarding the powers gained from the sacred well. Many years ago, their leader, Mabon, had sanctified this well, ensuring that the race of bandregas would in time dominate the humans. Stilo smiled to himself, for Mabon had first ridden the village of Magh Eamhainn of all human inhabitants by poisoning their well water, so that all who drank from the well sickened and died. Within no time, the few humans remaining left the village, convinced that their gods had forsaken them, and that the village was cursed. What was poison for the humans was life-giving for the bandregas. Every few moonphases, the current leader of the bandregas renewed the sanctification, so that the well water continually regenerated the bandregas.
Since then, no other mortals lived in Magh Eamhainn, these people who had fled to other villages, whispering about the blighted water and how they must have sinned to make their gods abandon them. Now Magh Eamhainn stood deserted of human inhabitants. Since then, too, the bandregas had multiplied so that they numbered in the thousands here in Moytura, choosing the capital as their home, since it lay close to Magh Eamhainn.
For centuries, the bandregas had dreamed of becoming immortal, as were the vampires. Nor could the bandregas make themselves invisible, like the undead. Ah, yes, his people still had much to do; they could not let those creatures overcome them.
Stilo's thoughts switched back to Fianna, a woman who had captured his mind. To think
that she believed his tale about being an architect! After the fair next week, she would believe
anything he told her, because she would be under his spell. She would be his!
Chapter Six
Hundreds of blazing torches brightened the fair grounds as Stilo led Angharad through the crowds. Angharad. He wondered if that was the tavern scryer's real name, for he suspected she harbored secrets she would never reveal to him … yet. Was she a criminal, running away from the law? An abused wife, escaping a cruel husband? He'd give anything to know the mystery that surrounded this beautiful woman with her auburn hair and green eyes, this
He'd learned to tolerate dim light but could not endure the glare of a bright sun. And so, from childhood to adulthood, he'd adjusted to both the bandrega way of life and that of the vampire, but despite his vampire half, he still had not gained immortality. Like the other bandregas, he would live a normal life span and then die of old age, if an illness or accident didn't claim him first. Granno's balls! How it hurt to see the vampires live forever, a gift denied him. All his life, he was forced to move from one city to the next so that the vampires never suspected that he didn't share their gift.
Mindful of the reward offered by the government for any information leading to the arrest of the vampires, he thought of the money he could win by turning over the whole Goddess-damned association of vampires to the authorities. And he would soon, damn them all. But first, he must win the scryer away from Gaderian, and thus get even with that vampire. Ah, he thought of the humiliations he had suffered over the years because of Wade, the women he had wanted and lost. Well, this was one time he–Stilo–would win. And then watch Gaderian Wade suffer.
An alarming weakness enfeebled him; time to drink the sacred well water. On the first day of every moonphase, the bandregas always drank from the sacred well in the village of Magh Eamhainn, for the water there held special properties that gave them their powers, and also enabled them to look human. Difficult to believe that a few bandregas chose not to drink from the sacred well, preferring to remain as demons who haunted the night. More fool they, for disregarding the powers gained from the sacred well. Many years ago, their leader, Mabon, had sanctified this well, ensuring that the race of bandregas would in time dominate the humans. Stilo smiled to himself, for Mabon had first ridden the village of Magh Eamhainn of all human inhabitants by poisoning their well water, so that all who drank from the well sickened and died. Within no time, the few humans remaining left the village, convinced that their gods had forsaken them, and that the village was cursed. What was poison for the humans was life-giving for the bandregas. Every few moonphases, the current leader of the bandregas renewed the sanctification, so that the well water continually regenerated the bandregas.
Since then, no other mortals lived in Magh Eamhainn, these people who had fled to other villages, whispering about the blighted water and how they must have sinned to make their gods abandon them. Now Magh Eamhainn stood deserted of human inhabitants. Since then, too, the bandregas had multiplied so that they numbered in the thousands here in Moytura, choosing the capital as their home, since it lay close to Magh Eamhainn.
For centuries, the bandregas had dreamed of becoming immortal, as were the vampires. Nor could the bandregas make themselves invisible, like the undead. Ah, yes, his people still had much to do; they could not let those creatures overcome them.
Stilo's thoughts switched back to Fianna, a woman who had captured his mind. To think
that she believed his tale about being an architect! After the fair next week, she would believe
anything he told her, because she would be under his spell. She would be his!
Chapter Six
Hundreds of blazing torches brightened the fair grounds as Stilo led Angharad through the crowds. Angharad. He wondered if that was the tavern scryer's real name, for he suspected she harbored secrets she would never reveal to him … yet. Was she a criminal, running away from the law? An abused wife, escaping a cruel husband? He'd give anything to know the mystery that surrounded this beautiful woman with her auburn hair and green eyes, this
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