Read Online The Vampires' Birthright by Aiden James - Free Book Online Page B

remembered well how the creature had seemed to scurry over the statues like a garden lizard over a wall, but thankfully, either Raquel’s sorcery protected that entrance as well, or the creature was too dim to try and go around to it. Instead, the monster’s angry cries grew softer and softer as it retreated. When the sounds finally faded away to silence, my diminutive protector stopped chanting, closed her mouth and eyes, and lay back down inside her casket as though nothing had happened to disturb her. I tentatively stood and stole a peek into her daytime resting place. She looked calm and peaceful, like an angel at rest.



here’s no way we can stay here!”
    My latest protest landed upon the same deaf ears as the previous ones had. After pacing around my bedchamber for hours while waiting for the sun to set, I was in no mood for the collective nonchalance that greeted me when my vampire “friends” awoke. Only Tyreen shared my anxiety; her repeated glances through the gaping maw of the empty doorway into the gathering darkness beyond the palace at least reassured me she was listening to my concerns, or perhaps had some of her own. Beyond the physical threat to me and my unborn child, their callousness to the horrifying fate of that poor woman reminded me that despite their beautiful exterior and fact they drank blood in fine crystal chalices, I was still in the company of monsters.
    It should have been telling that while my own companions were blowing me off, the team of Chinese vampires tasked with the nightly ritual of scaling the palace walls to light the hundreds of torches covering the main building seemed concerned by the fifteen-foot jagged hole in the third floor window. It’s worth mentioning here that we had recently learned that the glass was nearly four inches thick, and designed to withstand hurricane-strength winds or any other assault from Mother Nature. No doubt, the window would prevent certain caliber bullets from breaking it, as well… but not a furious vampire/dragon.
    “I’ve already spoken with Gustav. He agrees with Huangtian Dadi that you interrupted the feeding time for one of the descendants of the founders of Xu Zheng,” said Chanson. “As long as you don’t willingly seek this one out, you’ll never encounter him again. Personally,
I’ve
not even seen this kind of vampire before―that’s how rare they are.”
    “So, you’re
okay
with what it did?” I was incensed and incredulous. “You’re saying that you… and it are the same thing and it’s okay? Are you justifying it? Or yourself? That thing is a demon as far as I’m concerned! It orphaned two children who watched while it fucking devoured their mother! There’s
no
way—”
    “Sh-h-h!”
She placed her cool hand over my mouth to prevent me from saying anything else that could get me into trouble with her. “It’s not for us to judge the customs of another culture, Txema. We are not the same as them, any more than we are the same as you. I don’t like this either, but we’re in no position to enforce our ways upon
any
members who follow the Order of the Dragon. The leaders of the Order are connected to an ancient power, older and greater than even Gustav or Huangtian Dadi.”
    “So, you are saying that we should just turn a blind eye to what’s going on around here?” I moved away from her hand to at least try and get out what I wanted to say. I desperately needed her to hear it. I needed
all
of them to hear me loud and clear! Wrong was always wrong, regardless of whether it offended someone to speak up about it or not. I couldn’t have cared less about some ancient Order’s moral or political code. Chanson, as my cousin, should’ve appreciated my stance, since the women in our family would’ve never put up with this kind of shit! It was as integral to our birthright as the fact we can make some vampires handsome or beautiful. “At least we now know why there are only a bunch of kids running the