Prince of Hearts Read Online Free PDF

again and again, leading me to believe that, if nothing else, you are hiding something crucial.”
    Sasha growled in frustration.
    “Perhaps you don’t even know yourself what you are hiding. But whether you like it or not, you are at the center of this debacle, and you always have been,” Rowan finished adamantly.
    This was one charge Sasha could not deny.
    Rowan eyed the approaching Franco. “Our Italian friend, however, is convinced of your guilt. I would tread lightly. Don’t give him any more reason to hate you.”
    “You mean, stop baiting him? What, and take away one of the few rare pleasures in my long and tedious life? I think not. And under the circumstances, I believe I will take your advice, my friend , with a grain of salt,” he murmured.
    Rowan clenched his jaw and winced. Good , Sasha thought. Let him stew, the Judas.
    Franco finally arrived at their side. He ripped the spectacles from Sasha’s hand and glared at him.
    “You know,” Sasha began conversationally, “I’ve been in Paris this past week. At the Sorbonne. Dozens of people can testify to my presence there. I could have hardly jaunted down here, butchered that woman, then returned to Paris, without someone noticing my three day absence.”
    “I won’t believe you were in Paris all this time without confirming it myself. Even if you were, you could have had an associate who carried out the crime for you. I am well aware of your connections to all sorts of men of science with dubious credentials.”
    Sasha laughed. “Now I have minions, who go around slaughtering people on my bidding, all to – what, Franco? Throw you off my scent? And I suppose by scientists with dubious credentials, you mean Dr. Freud of Vienna, or Mr. Edison of America? Yes, I suppose anyone with even a spark of creative genius might seem dubious to you.”
    Sasha didn’t think it was possible, but Franco’s face became redder, and the vessels in his temples began to bulge. Sasha almost felt sorry for the man. Almost. But Franco was so blind. And so, it seemed, were Rowan and the rest of the Elders. Most still held an infuriatingly medieval suspicion of modern science.
    Despite its myriad drawbacks – drawbacks that were mostly a result of Elder interference, anyway – one of the few redeeming aspects of the present era was the emergence of the modern scientific method, in Sasha’s opinion.
    The High Council was still grounded in a mysticism that had never appealed to Sasha. For many on the Council, God had ordained their immortality, but such hubris was downright dangerous. Sasha’s infamous father had also thought God had guided his hand.
    And that hadn’t turned out well for anyone.
    Since the debacle in the Crimea forty years ago and its aftermath, when Elder interference had nearly decimated entire nations, the Steam Age was fast leaving the Elders behind. Sasha couldn’t help but feel relieved.
    He just wondered what would happen when the Elders finally realized they were fossils.
    “As I’ve told you and the rest of the Council for centuries, I am innocent. Someone is using me to distract you, and as much as you don’t want to hear it, there are only two possibilities. Either it is one of the other Elders, or one of your Bonded companions.”
    The incredulous looks they gave him were exactly what Sasha expected. He sighed. Most of the Elders saw nothing wrong with the practice of Bonding – sharing their special Heart’s Blood to prolong the life spans of a select few humans. But Sasha had always thought it a morally suspect practice, and above all a risk to their security.
    No one had ever listened to his concerns, however. He wasn’t a true Elder, after all.
    According to the Council, there were rules about Bonding, and those rules were strict enough to prevent any loose ends. But as Sasha had learned the hard way from the moment of his birth, rules were meant to be broken, and often were.
    And unlike Rowan, Sasha didn’t have blind faith in the