The Dark Messenger Read Online Free PDF Page B

pull my knife out
of his brain.’ There was a slight sneer on his face.
     
    Anger swelled up in Kaine, and he roared back
at him, ‘Get it your fucking self, and if you kill another guard
whilst I'm here, I will kill you, you old dirty crone!’
     
    Rex sighed. He responded in a patronising
voice, ‘He was worthless, Kaine--just a guard and nothing
else.’
     
    ‘Test me you old fool, see if your guards
will protect you,’ Kaine growled.
     
    A second then passed of
ominous silence, but it was broken as a voice spoke: ‘Shall I leave
now, my Master? ’
     
    Visibly relieved at the interruption, Rex
smiled and turned to the speaker.
     
    ‘Yes. Longinus. It is time.’ He clapped his
hands and said loudly, ‘Guards prepare the time travel ritual.’ As
they scurried to obey him, the old vampire addressed his servant, a
newly arrived vampire who stood just inside the doorway.
     
    ‘Longinus, you have only been in this coven
of ours for some eighty-five years, and already you have impressed
me a lot. I let you stay initially because of the information you
gave us about the priest, but that does not mean your life here is
guaranteed. Fail me and it will mean much pain, and keep in mind
that you cannot hide from the dark spirits. Make sure you find this
human woman, Jenny Barker, in Brighton. When you do, you must turn
her into a vampire. The location you have.’
     
    ‘ Yes, my master,’ came the
reply.
     
    ‘Very well then. Twice daily you must leave
us messages so that we know everything is going to plan, since we
are eighty-five years ahead. You will chisel the messages into the
bark of the old oak tree, which I have indicated to you. Do you
remember the location of the tree?’
     
    ‘Yes I do,’ Longinus replied, careful not to
sound too condescending.
     
    ‘Fail us, and I promise you will die an
agonising death,’ Rex added with a scowl.
     
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Longinus said quietly. He bowed
his head down as if already guilty of failure.
     
    ‘I send you alone, since you will have more
chance to blend in without being seen. Should you require help,
however, ask for it and my elite guards will be sent to you.’
     
    ‘My Master, I thank you. I will not fail
you,’ Longinus said as he disappeared through the doorway.
     
    All eyes were on the departing messenger,
until Rex loudly exclaimed, ‘And on another issue. For thousands of
years we have only been but a whisper on the breaths of humans,
dark imaginings in the night. No one had ever known for sure that
we really existed.’
     
    He paused to pace up and down a couple of
times, building up the excited expectations of his audience.
Stopping in front of his seat, he put his hands on the railing in
front of him. Gazing sternly around the room, he went on, ‘Recently
the Scottish vampire clan in Edinburgh have ignored our sacred
rules and have killed freely. We have been exposed, and there is no
covering it up. Our existence is now being televised on the humans’
news channels all across the world.‘
     
    He paused before saying, ’ And I know some of
your views of past was that our previous war with them was only so
I could steal their riches, but that was not true, and now we must
hold them accountable for their actions, else Satan is sure to
punish our whole species for breaking the age old rule.’
     
    ‘We have told the Scottish clan that we are
coming to discuss this matter peacefully.’ He smiled, a malicious
gleam in his eye. ‘However, when we get there we are going to let
loose our infected humans, and at midnight the beasts will kill
them all!’
     
    Pausing to collect himself, he then looked
down at the vampires and shouted,
     
    ‘Fuck peace! It’s WAR!’
     
    The assembly roared their approval, their
evil screams ricocheting around the room.
     
    The noise in response to the idea of another
battle coming was unbelievable, and even though the previous war,
had seemed like their leader was only wanting Angus’ riches,