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

see who was challenging the great and powerful Cabal. He was tall and pale, dressed in a simply cut black suit, the shirt beneath crisply white. His dark hair was shaggy and long, falling carelessly over his ears. His skin was only a few shades richer than his shirt, a pale ivory.
    “Dr Harkness,” the man called, sounding confident and a little amused. “Tell me, do you see my people as a threat, or as a scientific curiosity?” His voice practically purred across the lecture theatre, as though it had been rolled in honey. It was loud enough to carry, to ensure that all present heard the question, but somehow crafted to seem like a soft whisper in my ear at the same time.
    I stared for a few moments, utterly lost for words. He was one of them. I’d never seen one close up. New Oxford has a few districts, like most towns, for Genetic Others. They’re not officially ghettoised, but they keep to their own areas, and we keep to ours, for the most part. They had a killer nightlife – no pun intended – but I’d never really strayed into it.
    I had my own reasons for that.
    “You’re a…” I faltered.
    “Genetic Other?” He grinned at me, entertained by my surprise; his smile was wide and white. “You can use the word ‘Vampire’ if you wish. Your people seem most fond of it. It does not offend.”
    The crowd became louder and more agitated. Some of the people sitting close to the man practically climbed out of their seats in barely controlled panic, trying to get away from him. Others seemed to clamour to get a better view, as though he was a movie star. One of his kind in the midst of the Campus was very rare. One of his kind in the same room as several members of Cabal was absolutely unheard of.
    Veronica Cloves was on her feet in the rows of chairs so quickly I swear to God she had viper in her DNA. I wondered vaguely if she had biomodifications. It wouldn’t surprise me. “This is a private function by invitation only,” she said coldly. “Not a three ring circus. Official Cabal business is being discussed this evening. The only people … or otherwise … who should be in attendance are those by invitation. This is certainly no place for…”
    “… for an undead bloodsucking vampire?” the man asked, cocking his head to one side, still looking faintly amused as his eyes flicked over to the woman on the other side of the lecture hall. “Perhaps not, Servant Cloves. But part of your audience here tonight are members of the public, chosen as per rote as with each of the presentations to ensure a representation of the vox populis. I am one of those. I applied for a seat, and was selected with my fellow guests.”
    I could see Veronica Cloves’ jaw work for a moment, and knew that what she wanted to say was that the section of the public was meant to mean the human population, but of course she couldn’t say this. There was no box on the attendance forms to tick to indicate your species. There had never been any need for one. None of the Genetic Others had ever yet shown even the slightest interest in our affairs. They moved amongst us, lived amongst us now even, but they kept apart, like gypsy travellers in a foreign land. I found myself wondering why there was suddenly a change in that. What on earth was one of his kind doing here?
    His eyes flicked dismissively away from Veronica Cloves and back to me. Even across this distance, they pinned me to the spot, a soft grey and piercing pair. I noted absently amidst my confusion that he was astonishingly beautiful. Not handsome, that word was too heavy handed, too gung ho American and plain. He didn’t look feminine in any way, despite the flowing dark hair – his jaw was too strong for that. But his features on the whole made him look like a Rossetti painting. I wondered how old he was. Some of them were hundreds of years.
    “You haven’t answered my question, Doctor,” he smiled,
    “Your question?” I heard myself say.
    “Whether you see my kind,