Hell's Teeth (Phoebe Harkness Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

together as Genetic Others, are not of our making.”
    Veronica Cloves’ expression had frozen in a tight smile. Her eyes were murderous. “We are here to discuss the Pale, Dr Harkness. Not the current issues with … other things.”
    “But it is exactly the mentality you just exhibited which is counter-productive to the work we are trying to achieve,” I replied, trying not to sound exasperated. I addressed the room at large, part of my mind half-expecting Cabal to take me out right there and then with a well-placed sniper.
    “When the wars came, and we created the Pale, we lost control of them. We had literally created a monster, and it turned on us. A new war began which humanity almost lost, let’s not forget that. Almost a third of our population was lost in the thirty years which followed. Our society was very nearly not here at all. It was only then, when our total dominion over the world was no longer so certain, that the Genetic Others came forward. When they came into the light, as it were, and for the most part, they came to our aid.”
    “Can you elaborate, Doctor?” came a question from one of the press officers at the rear of the hall. “You’re talking about the vampires, right?”
    A ripple of noise rolled through the crowd. I raised my hands. “This is the distinction I am trying to make clear,” I said. “We do not call them vampires. But … yes, all of the … others, who had always lived hidden within our human society came forward. Many types of Genetic Other, not just the ones the media have called vampires, types of being we had no idea we had been sharing our planet with, they all made themselves known – to combat a common enemy, an enemy we had created, the Pale.” I looked back to Veronica Cloves, who was still staring at me tight lipped. I think if she could have stood up and shot me dead right there and then, she wouldn’t have hesitated. I had a giddy mental image of her standing and pulling a silver pistol from a stocking garter. “These Genetic Others, the ‘vampires’ if you will, and the ones who call themselves the Tribals, the Bonewalkers, and who knows how many others, they helped humanity repel the genetic horror of the Pale, murderous creatures we had brought upon ourselves. Their world was in danger as well as ours. They couldn’t stay in the shadows anymore, not with the Pandora’s Box we had opened. And afterwards? When we had won, in a fashion … when we were rebuilding our cities and countries, what were left of them, putting the shreds of our civilisation back together? Well, let’s be honest, after the war, well, the cat was pretty much out of the bag. We share our world with all these creatures now, and we cannot make the generalisation that they are all a danger, as the Pale are, when the groups could not be more distinct.”
    “This is mostly off topic,” Cloves said. “We are here to discuss the impact of your research. Not the questionable rights of various subhuman groups.”
    “Subhuman?” another voice called out in the crowd. I inwardly winced. The social and societal rights of the Genetic Others was a hot topic at the moment. They lived among us, in our cities, in our communities. They held jobs, they had their own neighbourhoods, their own districts, but we knew so little about them. To many, they were fascinating; to others, they were monsters to be feared. The current debate in the media was whether Genetic Others should have the right to vote or to hold public office. It was hotly contested. Most people seemed to forget that without the help of these peoples, the Pale would have overwhelmed the world during the war. We would have been killed by our own creations if these creatures, once myths and legends, had not come to our aid.
    “I’m sure there are many who would argue with the term ‘subhuman’, Servant Cloves of the Cabal.”
    The voice was coming from the other side of the lecture theatre. A man. People craned their necks to