Read Online Radiance (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #3) by Eve Paludan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Eve Paludan
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her head. “Why?”
“ To recruit Lucian.”
Ambra shook her head. “For what?”
“To join the Brotherhood of the Blade.”
After a pause, she said, “You want to hire a vampire as a vampire hunter?”
“He helped us to kill Vlad.”
“ He did it because we said we came in the name of his children. It was a spur of the moment decision, not a career choice.”
“ The bottom line is, he helped us. I think he would do it again.”
“ Do you plan to run this by the other brothers? And sisters?”
“ Did Lucas ever do that?”
“ Rarely.”
“ This company and the running of it is only a democracy up to a point,” I said.
“ I see. This is apparently the point where you take over as king and use me as your prime minister.”
“ Ambra, please. Don’t. You’re a great sounding board, but this is an executive decision,” I said. “We just lost two of our best vampire hunters. We have to replace them because we need more people. You said so yourself. Don’t make it about the power of my new position. It’s about necessity and practicality. No one can really replace them. But we need to.”
“ They aren’t easily replaced,” she agreed.
“ I know, but if we recruit Lucian, he is likely equal to two of us, maybe three, with some training in team vampire hunting.”
“ I still think this idea of yours is unconventional at the very least, life-threatening at the very most.”
“ Care to pose your concerns in a specific way?” I asked.
“ Gladly. How do you propose to secure the long-term loyalty of a vampire as a vampire hunter?”
“ Money. Security. A safe place to be a vampire.”
“ A vampire living in the bosom of a group of vampire hunters?”
“ It sounds even better when you put it that way,” I told her.
“ He has kids! He can’t leave them. What in the world are you thinking, Rand?”
“ We’ll bring his whole family here. Having them with him assures his personal happiness and also assures his motivation not to be a vampire who slays us all in our sleep.”
“ That’s not a pretty picture. Where would we put everyone?”
“ It’s a castle, Ambra. We have plenty of room.”
“ A space would have to be renovated for them and the rats exterminated in their sector. We need things to be child safe and immaculate. They have a crawling baby.”
“ We’re ready for them right now.” I paused. “They can have Lucas’s palatial suite of rooms. It’s massive. It’s clean. It’s sealed up from rats with concrete. It’s got three big bedrooms and a marble floor that’s easy to keep clean. And two bathrooms, for that matter. It’s perfect for a family. The suite once belonged to a king, so it’s not like we’re shoving them down in steerage. They’re the best rooms in the house.”
“ Those are supposed to be your rooms, as the head of everything now.”
“ I don’t need two thousand square feet, nor would I want it. I’m perfectly fine in the haunted bedchamber I have. Right near yours. And this library is my office. That’s all I need to run this show.”
“ Rand, have you really thought this through?”
“ I have. We’ll offer Uta a good salary, too, as cook and caretaker of the dairy cow and the small animals in the barn. She could take care of her children and work for us. She can grocery shop and oversee occasional maintenance men and our endless parade of rat exterminators, that sort of thing.”
“ What about schooling for the children when they are old enough?”
“ We’ll pay for a private tutor or an au pair or—what do you call it—a governess?”
“ Ah, you finally decide to think like a European?”
“ I’m trying to make everyone safer, happier, and more successful in our missions. We need to do this from the inside out, so that each person who works for us has what they want out of life and work and love.”
“ Where is this coming from?”
“ We have almost a hundred million dollars in the treasury, well in a Swiss
“ To recruit Lucian.”
Ambra shook her head. “For what?”
“To join the Brotherhood of the Blade.”
After a pause, she said, “You want to hire a vampire as a vampire hunter?”
“He helped us to kill Vlad.”
“ He did it because we said we came in the name of his children. It was a spur of the moment decision, not a career choice.”
“ The bottom line is, he helped us. I think he would do it again.”
“ Do you plan to run this by the other brothers? And sisters?”
“ Did Lucas ever do that?”
“ Rarely.”
“ This company and the running of it is only a democracy up to a point,” I said.
“ I see. This is apparently the point where you take over as king and use me as your prime minister.”
“ Ambra, please. Don’t. You’re a great sounding board, but this is an executive decision,” I said. “We just lost two of our best vampire hunters. We have to replace them because we need more people. You said so yourself. Don’t make it about the power of my new position. It’s about necessity and practicality. No one can really replace them. But we need to.”
“ They aren’t easily replaced,” she agreed.
“ I know, but if we recruit Lucian, he is likely equal to two of us, maybe three, with some training in team vampire hunting.”
“ I still think this idea of yours is unconventional at the very least, life-threatening at the very most.”
“ Care to pose your concerns in a specific way?” I asked.
“ Gladly. How do you propose to secure the long-term loyalty of a vampire as a vampire hunter?”
“ Money. Security. A safe place to be a vampire.”
“ A vampire living in the bosom of a group of vampire hunters?”
“ It sounds even better when you put it that way,” I told her.
“ He has kids! He can’t leave them. What in the world are you thinking, Rand?”
“ We’ll bring his whole family here. Having them with him assures his personal happiness and also assures his motivation not to be a vampire who slays us all in our sleep.”
“ That’s not a pretty picture. Where would we put everyone?”
“ It’s a castle, Ambra. We have plenty of room.”
“ A space would have to be renovated for them and the rats exterminated in their sector. We need things to be child safe and immaculate. They have a crawling baby.”
“ We’re ready for them right now.” I paused. “They can have Lucas’s palatial suite of rooms. It’s massive. It’s clean. It’s sealed up from rats with concrete. It’s got three big bedrooms and a marble floor that’s easy to keep clean. And two bathrooms, for that matter. It’s perfect for a family. The suite once belonged to a king, so it’s not like we’re shoving them down in steerage. They’re the best rooms in the house.”
“ Those are supposed to be your rooms, as the head of everything now.”
“ I don’t need two thousand square feet, nor would I want it. I’m perfectly fine in the haunted bedchamber I have. Right near yours. And this library is my office. That’s all I need to run this show.”
“ Rand, have you really thought this through?”
“ I have. We’ll offer Uta a good salary, too, as cook and caretaker of the dairy cow and the small animals in the barn. She could take care of her children and work for us. She can grocery shop and oversee occasional maintenance men and our endless parade of rat exterminators, that sort of thing.”
“ What about schooling for the children when they are old enough?”
“ We’ll pay for a private tutor or an au pair or—what do you call it—a governess?”
“ Ah, you finally decide to think like a European?”
“ I’m trying to make everyone safer, happier, and more successful in our missions. We need to do this from the inside out, so that each person who works for us has what they want out of life and work and love.”
“ Where is this coming from?”
“ We have almost a hundred million dollars in the treasury, well in a Swiss
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