Drake Chronicles: 01 My Love Lies Bleeding Read Online Free PDF

better vampire than me. I shot her a look.
    “What?” she asked innocently. “He was after you, he deserves it.” Nicholas barely turned his head. “Do you two mind?”
    “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered.
    Mom stepped up close enough that Kieran was sweating a little and breathing as shallowly as he could. Our pheromones when we were distracting mortals to drink was nothing compared with the pheromones when we were angry. His entire body was probably flooding with adrenaline, trying to decide between fight or flight. I couldn’t sense it yet, but soon enough I’d be able to taste it on my tongue like champagne bubbles. It wasn’t a particularly comforting thought.
    “Are you accusing us of breaking an oath?” Mom’s voice was like broken glass—
    glittery and dangerous. Beside her, Sebastian bared his teeth. His fangs were retracted, but still, there was something too sharp about his teeth. He barely spoke, even to us, and his silence was terrifying to those who didn’t know him.
    “It’s common knowledge.”
    “Is it?”
    “Drakes,” he spat. “I know better than to trust any of you.” Byron, one of the dogs, growled. Quinn smiled.
    “Let me talk to him,” he suggested. There was always something slightly violent about his smiles. Dad held up his hand. Quinn subsided, but barely.
    “We haven’t broken the treaty,” Dad said quietly.
    “Helios-Ra says you have.”
    “Then Helios-Ra is misinformed. And I won’t have your organization endangering my daughter.”
    He glanced at me, glanced away.
    “If you keep me here, you really will be breaking the treaty.” He was breathing through his mouth, as if that would help.
    “Actually, since you broke the treaty by coming here in the first place”—Dad’s voice was silky—“we really needn’t concern ourselves with those rules.” Mom actually smirked.
    “I . . .”
    “How old are you?” Dad asked.
    “Eighteen.”
    Dad shook his head, dismayed. “They’re training them younger and younger.”
    “They need to be able to infiltrate the high schools and colleges to spy on us,” Connor pointed out.
    “I’m only doing my job. Keeping people safe from monsters like you.”
    “People like you are the reason my aunt Ruby won’t leave her house anymore,” I snapped. She’d lost her husband and three sons to hunters and had never really recovered from the loss.
    His face went hard. “Monsters like you are the reason my father’s dead.”
    “Oh and we’ve never lost family members to hunters or Helios?” I shot back even though I felt bad that he’d lost his father.
    “And they’re not monsters, you bigot,” Lucy broke in, incensed. She leaped to her feet. “It’s a disease, you ignorant prig. Are people with diabetes or arthritis monsters too?” If secrecy wasn’t so important, she would have used her theory in her personal crusade to make the world accept us.
    “It’s not the same.”
    “It is so.”
    “My dad’s throat was ripped out.”
    There was silence. Then Dad frowned. “Only the Hel-Blar rip out throats, son.”
    “A vampire’s a vampire,” Kieran insisted stubbornly. Lucy went red in the face.
    “Why are you really here?” Dad pressed before she could explode.
    “Because of the bounty,” he answered tightly.
    Mom went unnaturally still. Her eyes caught the light and reflected it. “What bounty?”
    “The bounty on the Drake family.”
    Someone snarled. The air was so charged I was vaguely surprised it didn’t spark and catch fire. Dad stalked toward the phone on the desk. He barked orders into the receiver, not even bothering with a greeting. “Double the patrols. Get word to everyone. Yes, even her. And the council.” He switched to the cell phone in his pocket, dialing grimly. His voice muted to a soft murmur I couldn’t entirely make out.
    My hearing wasn’t sharp enough. Yet.
    “What the hell’s the bounty for?” Sebastian demanded.
    “I don’t know.”
    Quinn sauntered over, leaned in close.