To Hell and Back (Hellcat Series Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

into a
pin near the top of her head.
    “ You don’t have to be a Master to create other Vampires,
Hellcat,” Alexander retorted. “Julius has been Turning Vampires for
two hundred years.”
    Gabi stilled; that was true. Simone had created Julius,
Caspian and Dantè even though she’d never been a Master. And Julius
had created Alexander long before he’d been a Master. She hadn’t
given the issue much thought, but she’d assumed his Clan numbered a
few dozen, not a few hundred.
    “ So how does it all work, then?” she demanded, deciding it
might be best to take another crash course in Vampire politics
before the ceremony. “If any Vampire can create others, how do the
creators keep control of their underlings if they aren’t
Masters?”
    “ We are all beholden to our Sires, irrelevant of whether
they’re Masters or not,” Alexander explained. “It’s one of our
laws. While the Princeps try to discourage the rest of us from
Turning others, it’s not unusual for it to happen. What is unusual
is for a non-Master Vampire to have as large a House as Julius did
before he became a Master.”
    “ House?” Gabi asked, confused.
    “ It’s what we call a group of Vampires Turned by the same Sire
or Sire’s line. We only become a Clan when our Sire becomes a
Master.” He paused and glanced over at her again, one eyebrow
raised quizzically. “Julius hasn’t explained any of
this?”
    “ I never got around to asking. And life has been a little
hectic lately.” She frowned. “What do you mean by a Sire’s
line?”
    “ That means as long as my Sire is still alive, and I haven’t
been freed by my Sire to begin my own house, anyone I Turn is
automatically beholden to my Sire, not to me. It requires an oath
of Fealty to me to break the bond from my Sire. To do that I either
need my Sire’s agreement or I need to be stronger than my Sire.
That’s why Julius had a House long before he killed
Simone.”
    Gabi’s mind was racing, trying to fill in blank spaces she
didn’t know she had. If she didn’t know enough about Vampire life,
this evening could turn into an unmitigated disaster.
    “ So all of the Vampires at the ceremony tonight are part of
Julius’s Clan?” she checked.
    “ No, not all.” Alexander shook his head. “There’ll be some
other Masters from nearby Cities as well as a few lone Vampires who
Julius considers friends.” He finally seemed to take pity on her
and added, “There’ll be some familiar faces, though.”
    That was a small relief when Gabi realised there was no more
time for cramming Vampire knowledge into her brain; the gates of
the Estate loomed in front of them, and the guards on duty gave
them a quick, respectful salute as Alexander sped through. Dozens
of cars lined the lantern-lit drive and overflowed onto grass
verges. Instead of driving to the front of the mansion, Alexander
eased the car around the back of the house and into the underground
parking garage.
    As he cut off the engine, he put a cautionary hand on her
wrist. “If you try to run, I’ll be forced to catch you and drag you
back,” he warned with an evil grin.
    “ I’d have your fangs before you dragged me anywhere,” she
retaliated “but, lucky for you, I don’t often run from something
that scares me.” She tugged her arm away and flung open the car
door before planting her dainty evening shoes firmly on the ground.
Before she could alight from the car, Julius was there, one hand
out, waiting.
    “ No, you don’t,” he purred in agreement. “Or you would’ve run
from me ages ago.” A warm blanket of reassurance wrapped around her
as his strength and confidence flowed through their bond. He was
breathtaking as he stood waiting for her to take his hand. The
black tuxedo was flawlessly tailored to his build, his shirt deep
red, and his bow tie black. The tiny dash of gold fabric peeking
from his jacket pocket completed his outfit in her colours, the braided bracelet
she’d tied to his wrist as part