Read Online Blood Ties by Amelia Elias - Free Book Online

back to the Clan, either on your
feet or in a body bag.”
    For the second time since Kira and the
bloodslave had vanished, Orion’s mind reeled. The more he thought
about it, the more it made sense. Gregori had been furious when
he’d left the Clan -- it reflected badly on his authority that he
was unable to control his own fledgling. The longer Orion stayed
away, immune to the Master’s influence as he grew strong in his own
right, the more Gregori would burn to bring him to heel.
    He’d probably been waiting for decades for
Orion to make the mistake of caring for anyone. As soon as he had,
Gregori had attacked -- not to kill, but to make him embrace his
Clan again. Powerful as he’d become, Orion was far more useful
alive than dead.
    The night of the attack played again in his
mind and he saw the truth of it. From the moment Kira had walked
into his office and given her notice, Orion was knocked off his
guard. Every ounce of his attention had been focused on her.
Barrett could have struck at any time if his intent had been to
kill, and as much as it shamed Orion to admit it, he would not have
recognized their danger until it was too late.
    Instead Barrett had given warning, first by
calling Kira, then by the gunfire that had ultimately led to her
mortal wound -- but bullets weren’t enough to kill a vampire. No
wise vampire would be without a means of escape from their home,
and they’d been given ample time to reach his escape tunnel before
Barrett had blown up the house.
    All this pointed to the work of a vampire’s
servant, not a vampire hunter.
    He shook his head, stunned he hadn’t seen it
before. “How did you know all this?” he whispered.
    “Because Carlo is more than my bloodslave,”
she replied. “He acts as my Associate, and Barrett’s plan was no
secret.”
    A thousand questions flooded Orion’s mind.
How long had this been planned? What exactly did Gregori want from
him? What would it take to get the Master to back off and leave him
and Kira in peace? Fighting the entire Clan wasn’t a possibility.
Could he force himself to negotiate with Gregori if it meant
keeping Kira safe? Was bargaining for his freedom even
possible?
    But before he could sort through them all and
find one question to ask, the bedroom door flew open. Carlo
stumbled out, pale as a ghost and clutching his bloodstained wrist.
“Carlo!” Ellyra cried, rushing to catch him as he collapsed.
    “I am unharmed, Mistress,” he reassured her
even as he allowed her to support him. Then he looked up and
focused on Orion with obvious difficulty. “She needs you,” he
groaned, and passed out.
    Orion was across the room and through the
door before the bloodslave even finished speaking, his heart in his
throat. If that bastard had so much as scratched her -- “Kira, are
you all right?” he asked, anxiously searching the dark room for
her.
    The door slammed shut behind him an instant
before her bare arms slid around his waist. “You are so
overdressed,” she purred, running her hands up his chest and
nipping the back of his neck. She grasped two fistfuls of his shirt
and yanked.
    The material ripped from his body. Orion spun
to find Kira behind him, clad only in a pair of lacy red panties
that accented the well-fed flush of her skin. He only had a second
to appreciate the glorious sight of her -- black curls rioting over
her shoulders, high, firm breasts tipped with tempting pink
nipples, glistening white fangs just visible in her sexy smile --
before she launched herself into his arms, her momentum tumbling
them back onto the bed.
    And when he sucked in a sharp breath at the
heavenly softness of her breasts colliding with his now-bare chest,
he could discern no scent of sex in the air.
    “You didn’t --” he began, wild joy rising up
inside him at the evidence that Carlo hadn’t touched her, hadn’t
ridden her, hadn’t felt the tight clasp of her sweet pussy, but she
cut him off before he could finish the