Betrayal Bites (Tales of Sydney Sedrick Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

I assumed the ball was to honor the Elders and show them that Kieran was heeding their every command since they threatened that if he didn’t, they would take everything away from him. The coven leader was putting forth such an extensive effort that he was putting everyone in danger. Was I the only who could see that?
    It was possible Kieran’s enemies were going to walk right into his house of their own freewill because the Elder liked the time period where people partied with masks on. The whole thing seemed ludicrous to me. The reality of the situation, it seemed, was that the potential of Kieran losing his position was quite real, and Kieran was genuinely worried that it could happen.
    “Have you ever heard of the Elders taking away that duty from a coven leader before?”
    Liam took a seat on the stool in front of the counter holding the cash register. “There was only one other time it’s been in question. That had to do with how close Kieran and your grandmother were getting to each other. Other than that, no, I’ve never heard of it before.”
    “What would make the Elders even think of taking his position away from him now? We aren’t close like they were. As far as I’m concerned, everything is going as it should be.” Why now? Was something going on within the coven I didn’t understand? I knew the vampires kept things from me, but I figured it was probably vampire social issues I had nothing to do with. I thought Kieran was quite open in communicating to me what he felt I needed to know. Well, obviously that didn’t seem so true anymore.
    Nothing was making sense to me.
    “This isn’t common knowledge, so no sharing this with your fuzzy friends what I’m about to tell you. Kieran mentioned that his brother, Cian, might be trying to take over his coven. If that’s true, Cian would likely be given the Selected duty from the Elders as part of the job.”
    “But, Cian already leads the coven in Chicago. Why would he want Kenosha, too?” Grandma had written in her journal that Cian wasn’t as dedicated to the Elders as Kieran was. She also said the Elders were well aware of that fact. So what did Cian have on Kieran that he would use against his own brother to de-seat him from his position of power?
    Liam ran his fingers through his thick, unruly reddish-brown hair. “It’s hard to understand the ways of vampires if you don’t live with them day in and day out. Cian is like a dictator who wants to rule. Kieran’s brother has a very small piece of the pie. Not many vampires live in Chicago, so he has less than half the number of vampires in his coven than Kieran does in his. It doesn’t matter that the city is physically bigger. He sees his brother with a large coven, power, land, and the Selected. Cian is a jealous man. He always has been. He’s never been content with what he’s been given. He only looks at what others have, and then he wants it for himself. Cian is a very dangerous vampire. He’s ruthless in his pursuit of what he wants. He’ll do whatever it takes to have his way. He doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. Even his own brother, Kieran, is disposable to Cian.”
    “But I thought the Elders held Kieran in their favor. Cian is the one who doesn’t always follow the rules.” Why would the Elders even consider Cian as a possible replacement to Kieran? I didn’t understand why they would think to remove Kieran from his post. Every vampire that belonged to his coven held nothing but respect for him. Kieran followed the Elders’ laws to the letter. What more would a governing body want of their servants than complete obedience and faithfulness?
    Liam shook his head and averted his eyes. He knew something, but he hesitated in spilling the beans. What were the vampires hiding from me? Kieran had to be involved in deciding what Liam shared with me, and what he didn’t.
    “Sydney, the Elders are the oldest vampires alive, besides the vampire king. They don’t harbor such