Read Online Redlaw - 01 by James Lovegrove - Free Book Online Page A

more powerful is common in all walks of life.”
    “And non-life.”
    “Indeed. So, having satisfied your curiosity, I would now ask you to satisfy mine. Why are you here? Why do you wish to see me?”
    “For the sparkling repartee, of course,” Redlaw said evenly. “When we met last night, something clicked between us. Didn’t you feel it too?”
    Next thing Redlaw knew, he was bent painfully backwards over the concrete parapet, Illyria’s fists bunching the material of his coat. He was accustomed to how quickly vampires could move, but this hadn’t been just fast. It had been lightning .
    Eleven storeys’ worth of freefall yawned beneath him, and Illyria was both pushing him over and supporting him. The edge of the parapet bit into his lower spine. He was almost upended. If she let go, there would be nothing he could do except plummet.
    “Mockery,” she said. “Not a wise course of action, I think you’ll find, Redlaw. I have a very low tolerance for disrespect.”
    Redlaw, in response, tugged his crucifix free from inside his shirt, at the same time latching firmly onto her wrist with his other hand.
    “How’s your tolerance for this ?”
    He expected her to recoil, and in recoiling pull him back onto the balcony. Instead, Illyria just looked at the crucifix and laughed, merrily, scornfully.
    “A small piece of wood on a chain?”
    “It represents the Holy Cross on which our Redeemer suffered and died,” Redlaw said. “It is a constant reminder of the grace of God, through which even the most sinful may be saved. It is hope in the shadows, a beacon in the dark. It is the promise of resurrection and the life eternal.”
    “Right you are, Redlaw.”
    “It is not just a small piece of wood.”
    “If you insist.”
    With an abrupt, effortless motion Illyria drew him up so that he was standing on the balcony once more. The blood rushed from his head and he teetered. Shock set in, belatedly. The balcony seemed unsteady beneath his feet. He waited for the shaking to pass.
    “I do not share all the frailties of a vampire,” Illyria told him. “I am superior in almost every way. And now that we have established this, I will ask you politely, for the last time, what is it you want? What brings you to the ghetto on such a dismal night?”
    “Because there was a riot in this ghetto,” said Redlaw, “and I want to know what caused it.”
    “You know what caused it,” Illyria said. “Vampires went mad for blood. Their primal urges came out. They could not control themselves.”
    “Did you witness the events yourself?”
    “I did not. I choose not to stand in line to have my sustenance handed out to me. I send others to fetch my share.”
    “Handy. You run a little gang in this building here, then?”
    “I have... followers. Loyal associates. Livingstone Heights is exclusively ours.”
    “Your own turf. A ghetto within a ghetto.”
    “Should you be saying ‘ghetto’ so much?”
    “You used it first,” Redlaw said. “I reckoned that gave me the green light.”
    “You would be censured for it, if one of your colleagues or a member of the public heard.”
    “Report me to Commodore Macarthur. See if she gives a damn.” Actually, in light of her current attitude towards him, she probably would. It might even be the final straw for his career. Not that Redlaw cared.
    Illyria appraised him with haughty curiosity and, he thought, a hint of wry amusement.
    “You feel there was more to the riot?” she said.
    “I feel there have been too many incidents like it in recent weeks,” Redlaw said. “This year so far, to April, at least two major breaches of the peace have occurred in each of the main inner-city SRAs, and countless minor ones. Last year, guess how many there were? Five. In the entire country. Almost all of the outbreaks of violence have been centred around the blood deliveries. That means something, although I’m not sure what.”
    “Maybe it means vampires are not content to drink cattle