Darkness Rising: The Dark Angel Series: Book Two Read Online Free PDF Page B

path.
    “Only a very small fraction have decided it would be better to keep the keys unfound,” she continued. “Unfortunately, all voices on the council must be heard, and efforts to persuade them otherwise have so far proven ineffective. Which means it is up to you to prove your worth to them.”
    I licked my lips and said, “So this councilor who’s dying—is it possible that one of the lesser members of the council has decided he or she needs to be higher on the ladder?”
    “It is always possible, but there are easier ways to do that.”
    I was curious despite the fear twisting my insides. After all, it wasn’t often you got the chance to hear about the inner workings of the local vamp council. They were a secretive lot at the best of times. Hell, most people didn’t even know there was both a local council and the overall high council, situated in Melbourne. “Like how?”
    Her shrug was oddly graceful. “There is always the blood challenge.”
    “Which I’m gathering is a physical challenge of some sort?”
    “Of some sort, yes.” This time, amusement touched not only her lips but also her eyes, and it was a fearsome sight. “The winner wins the right to drain the blood of the loser.”
    “Killing them?”
    “No. Under most circumstances, it merely weakens them.”
    I wondered about the exception to that rule, but didn’t say anything. Instead I asked, “Yet vamps do kill one another to gain position on the hierarchical ladder, do they not?”
    “Of course. But that is different.”
    I couldn’t actually see how, but then, vampires didn’t always think with human—or, in my case, nonhuman—sensibilities.
    “So where are Boulanger and Alston on the hierarchical ladder?”
    “It does not matter, as I doubt ascension is the cause.”
    “Why? If both die, all those vampires below them automatically step up a couple of rungs, don’t they?”
    “It is not that simple. There are levels rather than rungs. The kill and the killer must be acknowledged and confirmed before he or she can move up to the next classification.”
    Which sounded a whole lot more formal and complicated than I’d expected. “It’s still something that should be investigated.”
    “There are Cazadors examining that situation as we speak.” She pushed to her feet. “I wish an update once you talk to Catherine. I need to keep the council informed as to your progress.”
    “And what if there isn’t any?”
    “I still wish an update.”
    Her expression made me gulp. No progress was
not
an option if I valued my life. “Is it possible to get a list of anyone who might have held a grudge against Alston and Boulanger?”
    “That could be a very long list.”
    “Meaning you’ll arrange it?”
    “The list is being prepared as we speak,” she said, a cool smile teasing her lips again. “But it is an encouraging sign that you’ve asked. You might yet survive this little task of ours.”
    She turned and walked out of the room, but her scent and her presence lingered, casting darkness through the sunlit room.
    As soon as she’d vanished, Azriel reappeared. Valdis lay quiet across his back. “She does not linger. She has left the house.”
    Tension slithered from my limbs, and I blew out a breath. “Do you have any idea what might be attacking the councilors?”
    He shrugged. “There are many things—both in the gray fields and beyond—capable of such acts.”
    “But surely most of them would have enough sense not to attack a councilor.”
    “Most of them,” he corrected, “would only do so if ordered. Those who break through the dark gates under their own power are generally not so selective with their targets.”
    Probably because they knew the Mijai would be on their tails, and that, if they were caught, their fate would be eternal death, not eternal hell. “Has anything like that broken through recently?”
    He shrugged. “Things break though all the time.”
    In other words, either he had no idea or he