Page 50 (2/2)

"Still, Majesty We need to offer the people hope for a future alliance"

He scrubbed a hand down his face God, he wanted to fight the, the sooner he could scour the witch’s brain "Deal," he said "I’ll date the girls here Once each"

"Done" The gavel descended Boom "Next order"

They spoke of a feud over a blood-slave, and Aden had to decide on the rights to said blood-slave They spoke of so to travel back to Romania, and Aden had to decide if that was acceptable They spoke of an upco peace talk with another faction of vampires Vanized the name from his history books, but wasn’t sure that ho they meant Could be her, but he didn’t want to ask and reveal his ignorance

He was supposed to travel to England for thisApparently, Bloody Mary and her crew could feel the pull of hih they hadn’t traveled to Oklahoma to find the source, for whatever reason They were curious about hih to reach out to Vlad’s council for information

"Could be an ambush," one of the councilmen said

"Or another atte enemies with nearly every other race, the vampires were also at ith each other Sweet

"We’ll protect him Or rather, the wolves will They are behind him one hundred percent" There was a bit of displeasure in this council our teeth off him There’s no way Bloody Mary will be able to do so She’s a savage!"

"Guys," he said, interrupting their debate "I have school I can’t leave until suland then"

"You could drop out of school We have tutors, after all," one said

"Nope Sorry" Not even they could talk hih And hoas he supposed to pack up and go to another country when even sneaking here was a problem? And really, he’d had several recent encounters with so-called tutors Look hoell those had turned out "Su Victoria and Riley with hi her boyfriend, even for a short period of ti her

More murmurs resounded, but one by one, the councilmen nodded

Next order Many of their blood-slaves were ry and hungry and de new slaves To obtain theht now, they can feed, but they cannot kill They can feed, but they cannot enslave" Because of Victoria, he knew that if they drank from a human only once--or twice--that hu addicted to the vah the councilmen were disappointed, they called the next order of business Aden’s supernatural pull, or "huly they were drawn to hi to Aden’s neck and stayed He had to stop the huain, as if they were locked on the words and couldn’t move past them Maybe they were entranced

"I can’t stop," he replied, shifting nervously

The souls grew restless in his an s were somehow familiar As if Aden had heard theer we’re with him, isn’t it?" sory"

"What do you think he’ll taste like?"

"Nirvana"

Finally, there was silence Absolute, utter silence Was the ain, piercing, narrowed Then the silence was broken as lips were licked and breath e nostrils A few of the council to hold thehting the urge

What should he do? Stand and run? Or just stay here, like this, until they got themselves under control If they could Should he shout for Victoria? No, he didn’t want her in the line of fire, just in case Besides, he had to learn how to deal with these people if he was going to lead the to lead them

Slowly, Aden pushed to his feet The council him Do not show fear "I have a lot to do," he said "I’ll leave you now"

No reply

He stepped around his chair, never turning his back to the vampires One step, two, he moved away from them Slow, easy, as if he hadn’t a care But they were predators, and he was their prey, and with his retreat, they lost control

With a cry, the closest man launched himself at Aden--and that was all the permission the others needed to follow suit They flew at him, teeth bared

TWENTY-THREE

OUT OF HABIT, Aden had his daggers drawn before the first vaer to a va match Useless He slashed, made contact with his opponent’s chest, but the le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>