it was a thousand times stronger. A million times. It felt as if a wild beast was within me, surging forward, fighting for control of my
body. I heard a manic scream.
It took me a moment to realize that the scream was coming
from me.
“Rena!” someone was calling my name, but I didn’t
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recognize the voice. I hardly recognized the word itself as having
anything to do with me. My entire world was consumed by the rage.
I felt as if I could have slammed my body straight through the bars
in front of me, straight to Moira, who was still standing there and
laughing as if she’d never seen anything as hilarious as my current
situation.
“Rena! Calm down. Try to breathe through it.” A hand was
on my back. I shook it off. Just the thought of anyone touching me
right now was maddening. Everything was maddening. The color of
the walls, the pervasive cold in the room—but Moria’s screams of
laughter were the worst thing of all. I felt my head throb with the
sound of them, as if they were coming from inside me somehow.
Maybe they were. They seemed to mingle with my own cries
of rage—and now, pain. It was as if something was stabbing me,
stabbing me in the mouth. My hands flew to my lips and I dropped
to my knees, confused and desperate. As I cradled my aching face, I
felt hot blood on my fingers, and something else, something
unfamiliar. Something that didn’t belong.
Fangs.
I can rip her throat out with these. It was my only thought.
I leapt to my feet, idly licking the blood away from my
lips— From the first swallow, I felt my throat ignite. It was as if my body had been cued, suddenly, to a craving that had been lying
dormant.
Blood.
I wanted it.
I ached for it.
More.
“You feel it now, don’t you?” A dark voice, a voice I knew I
recognized, was speaking. I tried to sift through my memories and
put a name to that voice, but I couldn’t find it. The need for blood was too all-consuming. I couldn’t think about anything else. “You
feel the craving,” the voice continued. “You feel the price, now, of belonging to the royal family, of being one of them. This is the cost, little human. You may sit on a throne in a fancy palace, but you will 115
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feel everything more intensely, always. Did they prepare you for this pain? Did they tell you how it would feel to be one of them?”
“Fight it, Rena!” That voice was near a scream. It was a
voice that should have been a comfort, I thought, but how could
anything be comforting right now? How could anything be anything
besides pain and confusion?
“You should consider yourself lucky,” the first voice said.
“You should thank me, little human. You should be grateful.
Because I’m not leaving you alone with no way to help yourself, am
I? I’ve given you a perfect way to alleviate the pain you’re feeling now.” A way to end this pain? I would take it. Whatever it was, I
would accept it gladly, even if it cost me my life. Suddenly, my
perspective shifted. This woman, whoever she was, was no enemy.
She was a benefactor. She was here to help me. To save me.
I waited desperately for my lifeline to be thrown.
“Yes,” she said. “Two delicious little snacks for you. Only
one of them of royal blood, I’m afraid, but we mustn’t allow
ourselves to become spoiled. You must take what you’ve been
offered and be grateful for it.”
Grateful. I was grateful. So grateful. I would take anything.
Snacks, she had said, and when I sniffed, I realized I could smell something. A scent I wasn’t familiar with, but an absolutely
mouthwatering one. Just the smell of it told me so much. I knew that one taste of whatever it was would soothe the burn in my throat. It
would be like finding an oasis in a desert when you were dying of
thirst. It’s going to save my life.
I needed it.
I turned.
There were two women staring at me, and I knew
instinctively that neither of them was the ominous benefactor who
had promised me relief. They were staring at me as if they were
frightened.
There was something familiar about both of them…
“Rena,” the younger one said. She sounded absolutely
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petrified. “Your eyes...they’re red. Bright red.”
“Stay quiet, Cecile,” the older woman said. “No sudden
movements. Just stay still.”
“What’s she going to do?”
“I can fight her, if it comes to that.”
She couldn’t fight me, though. I knew she couldn’t. I
couldn’t have explained how I knew it, but I did. This woman
wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to what I could do in a fight. She would be better served by backing down before she got hurt.
I could hear the rush of blood through their veins.
It’s going to save my life.
I sank into a crouch and moved in on them.
“Rena.” The older woman spoke in a voice that would have
been calming if I hadn’t been so hyper focused on the sound of her
blood. “We’re going to get this taken care of. We’re going to fix it, I promise you. It’s all right. Remember yourself, okay? You’re Rena.
I’m Giorgia, and this is Cecile. Your best friend. You don’t want to hurt her. You love her. It’s okay.”
I couldn’t keep track of what she was saying. It didn’t matter
what she was saying. They were full of blood, rich, delicious blood, and I needed that blood to live. Everything else was irrelevant, and I wasn’t going to let their words turn me from my goal.
Closer and closer I stalked them. One of them had her hands
up, as if trying to ward me away, and the other was shaking and
crying. And it didn’t matter.
I had to feed.
The thought of quenching the excruciating thirst that burned
in my throat was hypnotizing. I wouldn’t let them get away. Not for
anything.
Nothing else mattered
Not the male voice calling my name, sounding as if his heart
was being torn apart.
Not the throne I was supposed to claim when this was all
over. Not the people of this strange city who I was supposed to
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rule one day.
Vampire or human, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered.
I could anticipate how it would feel to sink my new fangs
into their flesh. I could imagine the feel of hot blood flowing over my tongue, sliding down my throat, extinguishing my pain. It would
be the most sublime experience of my life—of either of my lives,
vampire or human.
“Rena,” the woman before me whispered. “This isn’t you.
You know this isn’t you. You know who you are. Fight it. Come
back to us. You can still be saved. You don’t have to be this person.
You don’t have to give in to violence. We can help you. Let us help
you.” I didn’t want her help.
I wanted her blood.
I bared my teeth and prepared to spring.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tiffany Heiser is the author of Yearn for Blood,
the first
book in the Blood Origins series. She was born in
Killeen, TX. She spent her early years writing and
reading, living in fantasy worlds and writing out her
feelings in poems.
She grew up with her parents doting on her creative
abilities and pushing her to continue doing what she
always loved to do. Raised in a small town in Central
Texas where she resides ow with her son, their dog, and
her son’s hamster-along with the plethora of notepads,
pens, and books as she continues her dream of writing.
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Document Outline
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Thre
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Fight for Blood (Blood Origins Book 2) Page 13
