Read Online Burning (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #1) by Eve Paludan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Eve Paludan
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that you cannot beat them by yourself. Not these old ones.”
“ I’m the last man standing in my family. Once you help me locate her, I’ll go by myself and get her.”
“ Don’t be foolish. What good are you to Kristen if you’re dead?”
I assumed if they had a dossier on me, they undoubtedly knew my daughter’s name, too.
“You worry that they will turn her,” said Ambra gently.
I nodded, ran a hand over my face. “God, I feel sick.”
“I doubt they will turn her, Rand.”
I was about to ask how she knew this, until it hit—and I felt sick all over again. So much so that I leaned forward and heaved the contents of my guts so strongly that I fell to my knees.
Yes, I knew what she meant. In the vampire world, children’s blood is a rare delicacy. A source of great strength. Sick, fucking world.
“ We will not talk about that,” I said, standing on shaky legs.
She nodded. “Sorry. Truly.”
Time to change the subject. “I was getting so close to finding out if they are some sort of a clan, and if they have a vampires’ nest where many live. Not the vamps that live like Samantha Moon and others like her—that is, those who have acclimated into society. I mean like a lair. A nest. Living like animals.”
Ambra raised her eyebrows. “An enclave of vampires?”
I nodded. “I’ve been building a database of killings in Southern California that seem to be vampire-related.”
“ You have enough for a database?”
“ Unfortunately, though some of the data goes back twenty years and had to be gleaned from newspaper morgues.”
“ Who were the victims?”
“ Homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts, runaways, anyone who stayed out all night.”
“ This is starting to sound like a Jack the Ripper situation. Where is the circle of terror?”
“ Griffith Park, where my brother, Rudolph, was killed. There is a lot of wilderness and a long history of murders in it, but only some of those killings do I attribute to vampires. I suspect a vampire nest in or near that park.”
“ How do you even know if they are the same vampires who killed your family?”
“ I wouldn’t, except for this.” I took a small object out of the secret pocket of my wallet and handed it to her.
“ A coin?”
“ A Roman bronze coin. The face on the coin is Nero Caesar. I found this five years ago, near Rudolph’s body in Griffith Park. I got there in time to see him die and the vampire get away. I didn’t even know their names until I talked to Gabby on the ship. She told me that she thought Nero, Vlad, and Delilah killed him. And then I understood the meaning of the coin: A killer’s calling card.”
“ This burning of your house has Nero’s signature all over it. We have seen it before. Additionally, he burned down part of Rome and killed a hundred thousand in order to enlarge his palaces.”
“ Sociopath.”
Ambra handed me back the coin. “I’m so very sorry about your wife.”
“If I had arrived a few hours ago, I could have fought them. If I had run the red lights or taken a different route, I would still have Megan. And that night, if I had come earlier to Griffith Park to meet my brother—he was going to give me some intel on our parents’ killers—maybe I could have saved Rudolph, too.”
“ Rudolph is missed by all of us, especially by Gabrielle, and now she is gone from us, also kidnapped, like your daughter. Perhaps by the same vampires. We have a common enemy, Rand.”
She was right, of course. I ran my hand through my soot-filled hair. “What do you think this all means?”
“It means the vampires are getting extremely bold in their plans to take us down as vampire hunters. We are more than food to them now. I believe espionage may be next, through our kidnapping victims.”
“ You mean they plan to turn them into double agents, of sorts?”
“ Absolutely. Expect it. They have the means, Rand.”
I knew what she meant, of course. Mind control.
Goddamn vampires.
“ What else
“ I’m the last man standing in my family. Once you help me locate her, I’ll go by myself and get her.”
“ Don’t be foolish. What good are you to Kristen if you’re dead?”
I assumed if they had a dossier on me, they undoubtedly knew my daughter’s name, too.
“You worry that they will turn her,” said Ambra gently.
I nodded, ran a hand over my face. “God, I feel sick.”
“I doubt they will turn her, Rand.”
I was about to ask how she knew this, until it hit—and I felt sick all over again. So much so that I leaned forward and heaved the contents of my guts so strongly that I fell to my knees.
Yes, I knew what she meant. In the vampire world, children’s blood is a rare delicacy. A source of great strength. Sick, fucking world.
“ We will not talk about that,” I said, standing on shaky legs.
She nodded. “Sorry. Truly.”
Time to change the subject. “I was getting so close to finding out if they are some sort of a clan, and if they have a vampires’ nest where many live. Not the vamps that live like Samantha Moon and others like her—that is, those who have acclimated into society. I mean like a lair. A nest. Living like animals.”
Ambra raised her eyebrows. “An enclave of vampires?”
I nodded. “I’ve been building a database of killings in Southern California that seem to be vampire-related.”
“ You have enough for a database?”
“ Unfortunately, though some of the data goes back twenty years and had to be gleaned from newspaper morgues.”
“ Who were the victims?”
“ Homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts, runaways, anyone who stayed out all night.”
“ This is starting to sound like a Jack the Ripper situation. Where is the circle of terror?”
“ Griffith Park, where my brother, Rudolph, was killed. There is a lot of wilderness and a long history of murders in it, but only some of those killings do I attribute to vampires. I suspect a vampire nest in or near that park.”
“ How do you even know if they are the same vampires who killed your family?”
“ I wouldn’t, except for this.” I took a small object out of the secret pocket of my wallet and handed it to her.
“ A coin?”
“ A Roman bronze coin. The face on the coin is Nero Caesar. I found this five years ago, near Rudolph’s body in Griffith Park. I got there in time to see him die and the vampire get away. I didn’t even know their names until I talked to Gabby on the ship. She told me that she thought Nero, Vlad, and Delilah killed him. And then I understood the meaning of the coin: A killer’s calling card.”
“ This burning of your house has Nero’s signature all over it. We have seen it before. Additionally, he burned down part of Rome and killed a hundred thousand in order to enlarge his palaces.”
“ Sociopath.”
Ambra handed me back the coin. “I’m so very sorry about your wife.”
“If I had arrived a few hours ago, I could have fought them. If I had run the red lights or taken a different route, I would still have Megan. And that night, if I had come earlier to Griffith Park to meet my brother—he was going to give me some intel on our parents’ killers—maybe I could have saved Rudolph, too.”
“ Rudolph is missed by all of us, especially by Gabrielle, and now she is gone from us, also kidnapped, like your daughter. Perhaps by the same vampires. We have a common enemy, Rand.”
She was right, of course. I ran my hand through my soot-filled hair. “What do you think this all means?”
“It means the vampires are getting extremely bold in their plans to take us down as vampire hunters. We are more than food to them now. I believe espionage may be next, through our kidnapping victims.”
“ You mean they plan to turn them into double agents, of sorts?”
“ Absolutely. Expect it. They have the means, Rand.”
I knew what she meant, of course. Mind control.
Goddamn vampires.
“ What else
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