Read Online Night's Templar: A Vampire Queen Novel (Vampire Queen Series Book 13) by Joey W. Hill - Free Book Online

member should have far more weighty concerns than spying on servants.”
    “Now my servant is chastising me.” He chuckled. “Another reason to punish her later. Right now, I would do nothing to muss your beauty. I will have that name from you then, though.”
    She shook her head, her reserve returning as she completed the task of helping him dress. He enjoyed teasing her, but he could not indulge the easy informality like what was between Lyssa and Jacob, or other vampires who enjoyed greater intimacy with their servants.
    He’d never considered that a burden, and he didn’t now, but it made him think about how often of late he woke up with a feeling as if he were bound in heavy chains. The sensation sometimes lingered throughout the night. Because of it, he prayed more, worked out harder, pushed himself further on Council duties. Which was what could have led to his slip earlier tonight, he mused, where Daegan had seen Uthe’s fighting skills were greater than most knew. He needed to figure out the right balance to restore his equilibrium, but the problem was the fulcrum of that seesaw was moving daily.
    He could not give in to the fatigue. Or the fear of what it all meant. Too much remained to be done. One moment at a time. For tonight, Lady Lyssa and the Council were depending on him to be who he’d always been for them.
    “My lord, did you review the mail I left on your desk today?”
    He tuned back in to Mariela. She had a voice like a flute, haunting like a dove’s coo. It soothed. At times he allowed her to read him to sleep at dawn. Perhaps he’d do that tonight. “I didn’t realize I’d received any.”
    Though many things were communicated electronically, correspondence requiring excess discretion was usually couriered. He searched his mind for what might have come from the Berlin office, but came up with nothing.
    “It was just a postcard. I should have propped it up on your desk and made it more noticeable. I was going to throw it away, because it was from a tourist attraction.” Mariela grimaced. “Even vampires end up on marketing lists.”
    “Evidence of the Devil at work, for certain.” Uthe shrugged into his coat.
    “Hmm.” She smiled at him. “However, this card had a first class stamp and it’s handwritten in Arabic. It may be inconsequential, but…”
    Mariela moved to his desk, her skirt flowing out from her like peacock feathers, the light in the room reflecting off her blonde hair. Picking up the single postcard, she brought it back to him. “Discover the Holy Land Experience” was in bright red letters on the front of the card, and layered over what looked like a map of the exhibits one could see there. It appeared to be a Florida tourist attraction. His brow creased. Solomon’s Treasures, the park’s gift shop, was circled with a black marker. When he flipped the postcard, there was only one handwritten line. In Arabic, as Mariela had said.
    Your gift is ready!
    It is ready. He should know what that meant. It was the missive. Heat flushed through his body beneath the confines of the tuxedo, and a tremor went through his fingers. His mind strained, panicked, as the information eluded him. By the Holy Relics, this was important. So important.
    “My lord?” Mariela was staring at him. “You have gotten…paler. Are you…”
    “Leave me.” He spoke brusquely and turned away from her. “I will see you on the back lawn.”
    “Yes, my lord.” He heard the hesitation in her voice, the worry, but she was ever-obedient, his beautiful Mariela. She closed the door behind him.
    He stared at the card, passed his fingers over the writing. Damn it, damn it. Closing his eyes, he dropped to one knee by the bed and began to pray, fervently. But he was trying too hard, he knew it, and he could not open himself to God’s will. The information eluded him.
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    A couple hours later , he stood on the back lawn of the Savannah estate, facing the forest perimeter. He’d tucked the card