Wordless: new adult paranormal romance (Age of Blood Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

When he felt like showing off, he introduced himself. That being said, he did protect a fair few humans. Amongst them, there was one family he particularly cared about: almost every human with a drop of Gardiner blood had voluntarily entered his service, for five generations. They were loyal to him and he had their back – simple as that.
    No sane vampire would have messed with any of them, yet they’d found the nineteen-year-old Gardiner boy’s corpse six weeks ago. The state of the remains, he’d rather never think of. Mutilated didn’t even begin to cover it.
    Amongst other injuries, there had been countless bites, and the entire corps reeked of Adrian.
    Everyone knew Adrian had particular tastes, but it hadn’t been that – or not just that, in any case. Adrian was playing with witches; of that, William was sure. The boy had been a seventh son; no one was interested in seventh sons, save for witches.
    They’d been an issue since the takeover. Witches had loved it back when humans had been in control, because manipulating mortals determined to ignore anything they found even remotely impossible had been a piece of cake – humans just refused to believe someone could have cursed them, so they used half-cooked scientific explanations rather than just pointing their fingers at a person they’d pissed off. Now the Witches had to answer for their actions.
    The shifters were no better; they’d had no issue obeying random human rules about hunting and other matters, but bowing to a vampire wasn’t an option, in their opinion.
    William knew there would be a war, eventually – a significant one, this time. Adrian was a loose cannon in this world. He had friends amongst shifters, witches, and vampires alike – no one could really tell where his allegiance lay.
    If Adrian’s actions were a precursor to a bigger problem, they needed to know it as soon as possible.
    “He isn’t very nice,” Fay replied, her gaze on her knees.
    That got his attention.
    “What has he done to you?”
    “Not much,” she replied dismissively. “I’m not to his taste.”
    She knew Adrian, alright.
    “But the guys at the house… they don’t come out of the infirmary for days after his visits. One has died.”
    Needless to say, Vincent hadn’t reported any human death attributed to vampires.
    William was yet again struck afresh by the stupidity of the council.
    Those rejects no one wished to deal with had been banished to faraway towns, instead of being kept close; they needed constant supervision, dammit. Submitting defenseless humans to their rules was a show of supreme foolishness.
    Thankfully, Michael agreed. He sent out Knights and huntsmen everywhere there were rumors of mistreatments. Abusive lords were imprisoned for a minimum of a year and after passing their rehabilitation assessments, they lived under strict surveillance until they’d proven themselves wiser. Those who crossed the line were killed on spot.
    From what he’d seen, Vincent wasn’t as bad as some… but he would have loved nothing more than to see him burn regardless.
    “When was the last time you saw him?” he asked, trying to get his head back in the game.
    “About a couple of weeks ago. He was in a hurry; just in and out.”
    Brilliant. It meant the asshole might be cocky enough to still be in the country. Not that a few thousand miles would have made much of a difference, but going oversea meant dealing with other Covens. Not all of them would welcome his interference in their domain.
    Politics. His favorite thing, right after self-flagellation and fang extraction. 
    “He said there was a pit-bull on his ass, that he was going to lay low for a while, but he told Vincent their agreement still stood. I don’t know what that means.”
    William couldn’t believe his ears.
    “You were in the room?”
    She shrugged.
    “Whenever a guest arrives, I’m required to stay in the next room, in case I’m needed. I’m supposed to listen, because Vincent