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

Cliff neighbourhood of San Francisco. Maybe he would offer to buy the house when Jacob had had enough of the high life. “All that should concern us now is returning order to our world.”
    “Hendrick is right,” said Mary Smith, one of three women sat around the table. Technically speaking, Mary was the last surviving former American slave. She had been born a slave in 1832 on a cotton plantation, close to the small town of St. Francisville, Louisiana, and had lived on that same plantation until slavery was abolished in 1865. Now, Mary sat as an equal among perhaps the most powerful group of individuals in the entire world. “What is done is done and we cannot undo the past, not that I would wish to. What matters now is that we act quickly and decisively or there is no telling where this could end.”
    “I couldn't agree more, Mary,” said Henry, sensing an opportunity to get his own way. “We must act quickly and decisively. Anna has failed us, of that there is no doubt. If she is allowed to continue to fail us, the consequences are unthinkable. When the second murder is uncovered by the humans, as it will be, all hell will break loose. And if the Hundeprest strikes a third time? A fourth? What then? I say we end this madness now.”
    “And exactly how would you do that, Henry?” asked Jacob.
    “By sending Adam McLeod to Scotland.”
    Silence descended over the room. Nobody knew quite what to say. There would be no arguing that Adam was the man for the job. He was the most ruthless warrior the Council could call upon at times like this. Even the Sabbatarians, sworn enemies of the Immortalis, had admitted as much by putting a ten milion dollar bounty on his head. But reuniting Adam and Anna?
    “If nobody has anything more to say, let's put it to a vote,” said Henry. “Time is of the essence. All those in favour of sending Adam McLeod to Melrose raise your hand.”
    There was some reluctance on the part of both Jacob and Mary to support Henry's motion, but in the end the vote was unanimous. The Hundeprest had to be destroyed for the good of both vampires and humans, on that they could all agree, and if that involved playing with fire, then so be it. Jacob just hoped that, with Henry pulling the strings, any fire did not become a raging inferno.
     
     
     
    Henry and two of his closest associates had made their excuses and left almost immediately after the vote had been taken. They went straight to San Francisco's airport to catch their respective flights, but before going to the boarding gates, they stopped for a celebratory drink at the Firewood Grill in the main International Terminal.
    “A toast! To the Knights Perennius!” said Henry.
    “The Knights Perennius!” Robert and William said as they touched beer glasses with Henry.
    “To Adam McLeod!”
    “Adam McLeod!”
    “Even for a man like Adam, this is a big ask,” said Robert. “If he succeeds, it will be another nail in Jacob's coffin.”
    “Jacob was rattled today, that's for sure,” added William. “The Council was like putty in your hand, Henry.”
    “Adam won't fail us,” said Henry, gesturing to the barman to bring another round of drinks. “His loyalties lie with his brothers. As for Jacob, his days as Grand Master are numbered.”
     
     
     
    It had fallen to Mary to tell Anna what the Grand Council had decided. Jacob thought it better coming from someone Anna considered a close friend and there was no dissent from the other Council members present.
    When she ended their phone call, Mary gave a deep sigh. Anna had taken the news well, probably too well. The Adam that Anna spoke of seeing again was not the Adam that Mary knew. How could he be, given the many years that had past? Anna spoke of him with a love that had evidently barely diminished, but Mary only knew a very different Adam, an Adam who was a cold-hearted killer. Mary would never forget that it was Adam, together with Henry Warwick, who had destroyed her Benjamin, the