Laws of the Blood 1: The Hunt Read Online Free Page A

how much he loved her, but he didn’t want to go where that would lead.
    He waited until she stopped kissing his throat and snarled a few forceful swear words into the night before he spoke again. “I trust you didn’t get bored while waiting.” He carefully refrained from mentioning that Cassandra had invited Siri in. She carefully refrained from reminding him. They both carefully refrained from mentioning Cassandra, keeping the subject at bay by avoiding it.
    He did admit, “I made the mistake of mentioning Istvan.”
    “What’d you do a thing like that for? That could only get them thinking about Sebastian.”
    “As if being in the same house with a dhamphir wasn’t on all their minds already. I ended up using the reference to stir them up. We Enforcers like to remind the ones we oversee that things could always be worse.”
    “And somebody ended up accusing Don Tomas of unspeakable acts because of it.”
    Selim scratched his ear. “That’s pretty much what happened.”
    “Oh, honey. Why’d you have to go start a fight?”
    “I let Mike start it. The resentment of Don Tomas was bound to come out. Better now than later.”
    “I suppose.”
    “Were you bored while I was having fun tossing Mike Tancredi around the dining room?”
    Siri laughed at the idea that she could ever be bored. “I had my cell phone and palmtop with me.” She tapped her forehead. “Not to mention my own personal radar. How could I ever be bored?”
    “Palmtop?” He frowned. “You were on-line, weren’t you?”
    “Of course not.”
    He accepted the lie. Another case of what he didn’t know wouldn’t get anybody killed. Many members of the Strigoi Council hadn’t yet adjusted to the idea of telephones. So far, the Internet was strictly forbidden to vampires. He wasn’t going to tell anyone on the Council about his web site—or anyone else’s, as long as they used to the web to advertise their legitimate businesses. People had to make a living, which was something else the Council didn’t understand. Own a few slaves and make them support you was still the dominant opinion of those in charge. It was pleasant, Selim agreed, but not always practical.
    “You know what I told you about E-mail,” he warned.
    “Don’t get caught?” Her tone was sweet as baklava. He could feel the breeze from her innocently fluttered eyelashes. Some night—not tonight—she was going to get herself into deep trouble. Pushing the envelope was the term he believed best defined his companion.
    Selim chuckled. “Something like that. What’s the news, owl bait?”
    “Well, I talked to Rene. He’s with Alice,” Siri said after a moment’s puzzled silence from Selim. “He saw the news reports and wanted to reassure us that they aren’t involved.”
    “News reports?”
    “The Griffith Park problem?” She swiped a hand in front of his face. “Hello?”
    After a few more seconds, Selim finally made the connection. “Someone is killing people and horses in Burbank and North Hollywood. Alice lives in Burbank.”
    Siri nodded. “Rene’s upset.”
    “Tell him not to be. Anything else?”
    “Well, there’s Jager.”
    “Consider him taken care of.”
    “Kamaraju won’t like that.”
    “He’ll cope.”
    “Okay. Got another strig situation, though.”
    “Why me?” He sighed. Los Angeles attracted more loners than anywhere else. Problem was, there really was no such thing as a lone vampire. “What now?”
    “You need to have a talk with Geoff Sterling. That boy’s got himself into a situation.”
    The name wasn’t familiar. “A new strig?”
    She nodded. “Moved here after that mess in Seattle. Wasn’t looking for a new nest. Then . . . he met a girl.”
    “How does that constitute a situation?”
    “Been stalking her.” Siri sounded outraged. Probably thought he should be. He waited until she went on. “The girl’s an actress. Has a role on a television series.”
    Ah. That was decidedly different, one of the hazards of