08 Blood War-Blood Destiny by Connie Suttle Read Free Book Online

drink, and they accepted.

Chapter 3  
     
    We’d hired our new guards and Crown Investigators just in time, it seemed. Three wall climbers stood before me inside my study. They'd not only climbed over the wall, they'd managed somehow to paint insults on the wall and a few nearby businesses before Lisster and Rush hauled them in. Drake and Drew took them into custody at that point and brought them to me. They all looked to be in their twenties or early thirties—two men, one woman. From Rorda.
    "You signed the agreement to honor the laws of Le-Ath Veronis before you came, did you not?" I gave them an angry gaze.
    "Yes, Raona." They were contrite. Now .
    "And you did this anyway, even though you knew you could be caught, sent off-planet and never allowed back?" I was pacing, now. Something about these three bothered me. Drake and Drew didn't normally bring me fence-climbers. They must have thought something was up with these, only they couldn't use their Looking abilities to interfere. Those were the rules they had to abide by, being Spawn Hunters for the Saa Thalarr. My head jerked around after I'd passed them. "Grant, check their bank accounts. See if they've gotten any large deposits lately, or whether their recent spending is supported by the jobs they have."
    Grant, standing behind me, started tapping on his handheld computer. He already had their records pulled up. "No deposits, but they've been throwing Alliance credits around like they were among the wealthy, and I see that all three work in prison detail on Rorda."
    "Find out if any Solar Red suspects are imprisoned there." The three that stood before me began to sweat. I'd hit the proverbial nail on the head with these. The Solar Red fuckers, now trying to come back to power, wanted me dead since I'd brought them down last time. Three vampires in my Council had failed to exact revenge.
    These three, playing at being pranksters, were trying to scope out a way to get to me. Well, they were going to be mind-wiped by compulsion and sent home. The Rordans were also going to be notified, and that notification was going to be copied to the Alliance. Aryn had come to the palace to help; he was with us, watching our prisoners carefully.
    "I will be happy to place compulsion, Raona," he said. Aryn always dressed impeccably, like many of the older vampires. He was old, too, I could tell by the scent.
    "Go ahead. Before you do, though, find out if they've gathered or sent any information off world. Drake and Drew are already searching their rooms at the casino." They'd had the temerity to stay at the Chessman.
    "Is this going to hurt?" The female asked timidly.
    "Why are you worried about that now?" I wasn't pleased with any of them and I think they knew it. "You risked your life doing this. Why weren't you worried about it before you signed up?"
    "Ari, shhh," one of the males tried to hush her.
    "You got her into this, didn't you?" I had my arms crossed and went to stand in front of him.
    "Do not stand too closely to this filth," Garde skipped in and glared at all three, smoke pouring from his nostrils.
    "Are you a vampire?" Ari asked Garde. I'm sure the information provided by Solar Red had given her a description of vampires in general, and breathing smoke wasn't anywhere in that description.
    "I am High Demon," Garde growled. "You are threatening my mate. Do not threaten her further, or I shall allow the Thifilathi to come."
    "Garde, honey, back up a little, okay?" I misted to his side and grabbed his arm. We didn't need heads twisted from bodies. That wouldn't be good, especially since their apparent crime didn't warrant a death sentence. Not yet, anyway.
    "How did you get?" One of the males asked, but he didn't get a chance to finish the question. Aryn took over immediately.
    "You will forget what you just saw. Now, let's see what you know," Aryn placed compulsion, so I pulled Garde from the room. The farther away from the interrogation room we went the calmer he became