A Covenant of Justice Read Online Free PDF Page B

would want to taste the blood of her next victim.
    The Lady smiled at the thought. She wanted exactly this kind of story whispered among her admirers. For one thing, it would drive d’Vashti insane with rage and lust. She wondered how long she could keep Finn Markham alive. The idea intrigued her—how long would it take to drive Sawyer Markham mad? She would have to drink sparingly of Finn to make it work, but the enjoyment would certainly justify the restraint. Yes, she would give the appropriate orders immediately after tonight’s meal concluded.
    At the opposite end of the table, the Dragon Lord did not share the Lady’s enthusiasm. He had enjoyed his earlier repartee with the Lady as an amusing conceit, a harmless flirtation wherein each of the partners gently tickled the other’s sensibilities.
    This shameless display of unrestrained blood-lust, however, he found extremely distasteful. Perhaps the Vampires found sport in the malicious taunting of the prey; it made him queasy. It reeked of dishonor. His progenitors had trained him to kill his meals quickly and cleanly. Additionally, he had always believed it the lowest form of dishonor to eat criminals. At least, in public. Destroying the distinction between criminals and prey befouled the prey and diminished the meal. It insulted the service of the one and exalted the other. No, eating the wrongdoer did not constitute an appropriate form of punishment. And it implied that the eater’s hunger had grown so far beyond control that he had abandoned all pretense of dining as an art.
    That he himself had only quite recently devoured an appallingly large human criminal did not affect this judgment at all. He could justify that matter easily enough in his own mind. That particular human had tried to escape, and he’d had to personally track her down. Once a Dragon enters into the pursuit of a fleeing animal, all the ancient Dragon instincts come boiling straight to the surface of his soul. The hunt cannot properly conclude until the Dragon has eaten the heart of the hunted. In such a situation, any arbitrary distinctions disappear.
    Once having eaten the heart, the Dragon may also partake of the rest of the flesh, if he so desires. In this case, the Lord of the Dragons had indeed desired. He had sated his hunger three times before abandoning the corpse to whatever predators waited in the dark red gloom beyond. . . .
    Nevertheless, this situation wore a different face. To bring the criminal to the table and partake of his blood as a delicacy offended the Dragon Lord. Additionally, to taunt the prisoner for the entertainment of one’s guests—well, maybe Vampires found amusement in that. Dragons did not.
    After considering this matter for some time, the Dragon Lord at last came to a decision. He rose from his chair and excused himself from the table. The Lady barely noticed, so enraptured had she become with her jest. She did not see the Lord’s grimace of distaste as he turned away and stamped heavily off to his own part of the vessel.
    Along the way, he stopped to address the ambitious young Captain Lax-Varney. “I do not want any Dragons at all assigned to Lady Zillabar’s section of this vessel. Do you understand?”
    â€œSir?”
    â€œI want no tales circulating among my Dragons. What they don’t see, they can’t discuss. Keep them all away from the Vampires’ part of the vessel. If you fail me in this, I will eat your heart.”
    â€œYes, my Lord.” Lax-Varney hurried quickly off to give the orders.

Sawyer’s Vow
    When the Vampires finally returned them to the cell with the others, Sawyer experienced a curious surge of emotion. He felt glad to see this tiny cramped cabin again. He felt happy to finally escape the Vampires’ presence and return to the company of men—even men he had betrayed.
    The lingering wake of his emotional reaction puzzled him—and troubled him as well. Why