Read Online Lover Eternal: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward - Free Book Online Page A

years he'd spent in captivity had sucked out anything even remotely human—er, vampire—in him. He was nothing but dark emotions trapped in a ruined skin now. And if you knew what was good for you, you stayed the hell out of his way.
    From out in the hall there was the sound of heavy footfalls. The brothers got quiet, and a moment later Wrath filled the doorway.
Wrath was a huge, dark-haired, cruel-lipped nightmare of a guy. He wore black wraparound shades all the time, lots of leather, and was about the last person on the planet anyone would want to screw with.
    The hard-ass also happened to be the first on Butch's list of men to have at his back. He and Wrath had forged a bond on the night Wrath had been shot getting his wife back from the lessers . Butch had helped out, and that was that. They were tight.
    Wrath entered the room like he owned the whole world. The brother was total emperor material, which made sense, because that was what he was. The Blind King. The last purebred vampire left on the planet. The ruler of his race.
Wrath glanced in Butch's direction. "You took good care of Rhage tonight. I appreciate it."
     
"He'd have done the same for me."
    "Yeah, he would've." Wrath went behind the desk and sat down, crossing his aims over his chest. "Here's what we got. Havers had a trauma case come in tonight. Civilian male. Beat to shit, barely conscious. Before he died, he told Havers that he'd been worked over by the lessers . They wanted to know about the Brotherhood, where we lived, what he knew about us."
"Another one," Tohr murmured.
    "Yeah. I think we're seeing a shift in the Lessening Society's strategy. The male described a place specifically set up for rough interrogation. Unfortunately, he died before he could give a location." Wrath pegged Vishous with a stare. "V, I want you to go to the civilian's family and tell them that the death will be avenged. Phury, get over to Havers's and talk to the nurse who caught most of what the male said. See if you can get a bead on where they had him and how he escaped. I'm not going to have those bastards using my civilians as scratching posts."
'They're working over their own kind, too," V interjected. "We found a lesser being strung up in a tree on (he way home. Surrounded by his friends."
     
"What did they do to the guy?"
     
Butch spoke up. "Plenty. He wasn't breathing anymore and then some. Do they take out their own a lot?"
     
"No. They don't."
     
"Then it's a hell of a coincidence, don't you think? Civilian gets free of a torture camp tonight. Lesser shows up looking like a pincushion."
     
"I'm with you there, cop." Wrath turned to V. "You get any info off those lessers ? Or did Rhage clean house?"
     
V shook his head. "Everything was gone."
    "Not exactly." Butch reached into his pocket and took out the wallet he'd removed from the treed lesser . "I got this off the one they turned on." He riffled through and found the driver's license. "Gary Essen. Hey, he lived in my old building. Just goes to show, you never know about your neighbors." "I'll search the apartment," Tohr said.
As Butch tossed the wallet over, the brothers got up, ready to leave.
    Tohr spoke before anyone took off. "There's one other thing. Got a phone call tonight. Civilian female found a young male out on his own. He had the name Tehrror on him. I told her to bring him to the training center tomorrow night."
"Interesting," Wrath said.
     
"He doesn't speak, and his translator's coming with him. It's a human, by the way." Tohr smiled and put the lesser's wallet in the back pocket of his leathers. "But don't worry about it. We'll scrub her memories."
    As Mr. X opened up his cabin's front door, his mood was not improved by Mr. O's affect. The lesser on the other side was looking steady, unflappable. Humility would have gotten him further, but any form of weakness or submission was not in the man's nature. Yet.
    Mr. X motioned his subordinate in. "You know something, this confession-of-failure