Primal Instincts by Susan Sizemore Read Free Book Online

with a Tribe,” the Prime said. “What more do we need to know?”
    Francesca spoke up. “Whether or not it was voluntary. Did they make a deal with creatures they consider mankind’s worst enemy, or were they forced to help vampires? The hunters will want to believe the worst.”
    She came closer to the table as all gazes shifted her way. She ignored all but Strahan’s curious dark glance. Curious but not contemptuous.
    “You’d like to have the help of the sane members of the vampire hunters. Getting them to cooperate will be easier if you have proof their fringe Purist movement is voluntarily working with Tribe vampires. If they think the Tribes are coercing mortals, suspicion falls on all vampires. Better to have the hunters help go after their own crazies.”
    She smiled with a bit of fang showing for all those watching her, but her gaze never left Strahan’s.
    “Military matters aren’t my department,” she said. “Politics I get.”
    She hoped that Strahan understood she was offering to help and not just mouthing off in infamous Flare fashion. As Reynard Clan heiress she couldn’t openly give her support to the Dark Angels. Anything she did could affect her mother’s position on the ruling council. Her being allowed to have a child with the help of the clinic had already caused Lady Anjelica some political trouble.
    But if Strahan wanted to ask her opinions . . .
    He gestured for her to sit beside him at the table. “Tell me, Lady Flare, what’s really going on with these attacks?” he asked when she took a place beside him.
    She could detect no mockery in his attitude or hismind, though he’d pounce on her least mistake.
    “As you have already said, terrorism is theater. The attacks have been done to get a response. The intention is to use the response against us. The enemy wants us to out ourselves. I’m sure that the Purists involved have finally abandoned the secret game mortals and immortals have always played. They want to finally destroy us by making the general public aware that monsters really do live among them. They’re playing along with Tribe vampires because they’re certain mortals will kill all of us once they know we exist. They are thinking that they are only giving the appearance of being manipulated while really using the Tribes. Of course, that’s not what is happening at all.”
    “What is happening?” Strahan asked.
    “Probably more than I can guess at, but I’m certain of several things.”
    “I’m listening.”
    His concentration on her was so intense that Francesca forgot about everyone else in the room. She’d never seen anyone with eyes as darkly compelling as his.
    “I know that the Tribes have united with each other for the first time in centuries to destroy the Clans and Families. They’re putting aside their differences temporarily to face a greater threat. This alliance is something they should have done a long time ago and we’ve grown complacent thinking that theTribe mentality wasn’t capable of it.”
    The voice of the other Prime at the table chimed in. “Amen.”
    Francesca continued talking to Strahan. “The Tribes have grown weaker and weaker while our cultures have prospered in the modern world. We have been trying to destroy their culture and can’t blame them for hating us.”
    “Even if they deserve it,” said the witch.
    “So, they’re conspiring to bring down the Clans and Families by getting us to out ourselves by responding to the recent attacks. They want the media spotlight all over us. They’re used to living in hiding, while we’re living more and more among mortals. They are certain they’ll survive while the villagers will take torches and pitchforks to the rest of us. And that’s still not all that’s going on.”
    “Are you about to agree with my personal conspiracy theory?” Strahan asked.
    “That there is someone behind the scenes manipulating the Tribes who are manipulating the Purists? And that the conspiracy