To Curse the Darkness Read Online Free PDF

It was a miscalculation on their part, of course, but only one of many.”
    Georgia glanced at him curiously. “So, explain this to me. Are you saying you undertook this entire campaign for no other reason than to bring us here tonight, to this moment, to this vote to end the cult of Invitus ?”
    â€œNot entirely. In the beginning, as you know, there were many who sought me out independent of the council. They did so because of my reputation for killing swiftly and efficiently, for not toying with my victims. They were seeking a merciful death for themselves and my promise that their people would be taken care of once they were gone, that they would not be victimized, not enslaved or abused. I acted out of compassion, nothing more. Of course, once I took on the burden of acting on the council’s behalf, I was forced to kill many who did not seek it, but who needed to die nonetheless. In all these cases, however, my own motives remained the same; I sought only to minimize pain wherever possible.”
    Georgia nodded. “Of course. I should have realized. Although I imagine most of the council assumed you were motivated either by cruelty or ruthless ambition.”
    â€œQuite likely,” Conrad replied grimly. “It would not be the first time that has happened. I have been accused of brutality on several occasions when it was not the case. This time around, I saw no reason to correct their misperceptions. It suited my purposes to let them think what they wished.”
    * * * * *
    â€œIt has now been over ten years since any new cases of Vesco Inedia have been reported to this council.” Sojinnyara, generally acknowledged to be the oldest among them, glanced at the group assembled around the council table. Georgia shivered as the older woman’s stony gaze passed over her. “And nearly a quarter of a century since the last major outbreak. Given the time that has passed, and the shortness of human lives, this council believes it is safe to say that everyone who was involved either in conceiving or in carrying out this campaign against us is now deceased. Most of them, of course, were identified and eradicated many years ago—and that includes those who were merely unwitting carriers of the disease.
    â€œTo the best of our knowledge, none of the original instigators was allowed to pass their knowledge on to anyone else. We have pored through all of their written documents and destroyed everything that pertained to the disease. There remains a slight possibility that something may have been missed, that some details were passed down via word of mouth, for example. But we consider that enough of the most crucial information has been destroyed. It is therefore highly unlikely that the exact process could ever be duplicated, or that the disease itself could somehow be revived at a later date.
    â€œThere may be other such threats in our future, of course, and we must remain ever vigilant to that possibility, but in this moment we feel confident—for the first time ever—in stating that the plague is ended. My friends, we are victorious. Those who opposed us have been defeated. Our species, our families and we ourselves have survived.”
    A smattering of applause met her pronouncement. “Hear, hear.” Emrys Ap Llewellyn, the council’s newest member, pounded on the table to signify approval. “Well done.”
    Georgia shifted restlessly in her chair. It mattered not what Conrad said; she did not belong in this company. She was uncomfortable being seated alongside the heads of the various Houses—and not just because of the subject up for discussion tonight, but because all the other vampires who’d accompanied their lords and ladies here tonight were standing at attention around the room, ready to be of service should their sires desire anything. She would have been happier if she were among them.
    She would have been happier still had Conrad allowed