Absolution - The First Book Of The Vampire Immortalis Trilogy Read Online Free PDF

high ranking official in the Section for General Affairs at the Holy See in Rome. The other went to a Jacob Wiseman, a man Edgar knew nothing whatsoever about beyond the unremarkable email address the document was to be sent to: [email protected]. If curiosity had ever got the better of him, Edgar would have found that there was nothing more than a blank holding page at jacobwiseman.com, but he wasn't the least bit interested in doing any snooping. Message sent, there was
The Times
crossword to get back to.
     
     
     
    “A death seer who cannot see death! I've heard it all now!” Henry Warwick was berating the other ten members of the Grand Council seated around the large circular oak table. The events in Melrose were, not surprisingly, the only item on the meeting's agenda. “In a moment of weakness, we showed Anna mercy, and this is how she repays us.”
    If Jacob Wiseman was the brains behind the Immortalis, Henry was most definitely the brawn. Built like a tank, and with the firepower to match, every inch of this six foot three frame was hard-wired for combat. That made him a great person to have on your side, but an even greater enemy, and at this moment in time he had his guns trained firmly on Jacob. It was Jacob's casting vote as Grand Master of the Council that had broken the deadlock and saved Anna all those years ago. “Anna's failure to even find, let alone confront, the Hundeprest has taken us to the brink of war with the humans, Henry continued. “If war comes, let it be on your head, Jacob.”
    There were mumbled words of agreement from around the table. Some of it, not surprisingly, came from Henry sycophants, and underlined his growing influence within the Council, but even the less hawkish among the gathering were genuinely concerned about the return of the Hundeprest. Talk of war was premature, they all knew that, but there was a very real possibility that things could quickly spiral out of control if the killings did not stop.
    At her trial, Henry had wanted Anna dead and he made no bones about that. She had broken the Codex and the punishment was death. For him it was that simple. “Live by a code, die by a code,” that was Henry's favourite saying. Before crossing over to the vampire world, he had been an English knight fighting to preserve the Kingdom of Jersulem during the Crusades. Over his armour, he had proudly worn the red surcoat with white cross of the Knights Hospitaller, a military order that demanded absolute loyalty from its adherents. He had taken an oath to give his life for his order in defence of Christendom and the innocent. The surcoat had long gone, and his allegiance was now to the Codex, but his convictions remained unchanged. He knew no other way and expected no less from others.
    The restless mood in the room prompted Jacob to speak out in Anna's defence. Jacob knew only too well that Henry's anger at Anna's failure was also masking a certain amount of pleasure. Henry was an ambitious man, and by reminding the Council of what he saw as the folly of sparing Anna, Henry was able to surreptitiously undermine Jacob's authority. “You are wrong, Henry, blinkered by your own prejudice. In your eyes, Anna can do no right. Had her gift delivered the Hundeprest to us, your praise for her would have been noticeable only by its absence.”
    “Nonsense!” Henry replied, relishing the opportunity to go head to head with Jacob. “You are the one in the wrong, just as you were wrong to spare her all those years ago. I said we would rue the day that we rewarded her betrayal and that day has now dawned.”
    “Come now, Henry, there is nothing to be gained by going over old ground.” Hendrick Bloemer got to his feet and walked the short distance to the window where a vista that included the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands, and the Pacific Ocean, awaited. He had lived by the sea as a child and always envied Jacob's decision to buy a heavily-shaded villa in the exclusive Sea