Radiance (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #3) by Eve Paludan Read Free Book Online

morning…”
    “ Coroner? Morgue? What in the name of heaven are you talking about?” Corbin asked. “I was just about to watch Peter and the Wolf on video.”
    “ I’m very sorry, Corbin. Can you get ready to help us once again? I’ll explain on the way.”
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    “ The good news is, the vampire, Linus Ankeny, is dead,” Ambra said when we got back to the castle after we had sneaked into the morgue, stripped Lucas and Daphne of boots and all weapons and then sneaked out again as Corbin drove the getaway car.
    Now it was time to face everyone at the castle and it would be the hardest thing I had ever had to say out loud.
    She looked at me to tell everyone about our bad news. Everyone was looking around for Daphne and Lucas, and I knew that they knew, when only the two of us walked in, our faces streaked with tear marks, that it was the worst news imaginable. However, they waited quietly, letting me gather my wits.
    I said, “The bad news is, Lucas and Daphne are dead.” I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
    Corbin softly excused himself and left the room.
    Jade immediately had a meltdown and slid out of her chair onto the floor. I didn’t blame her for any of this—nobody did—but she certainly blamed herself.
    “ You were doing your job, Jade, and you helped us take down a vampire who killed two of Ambra’s loved ones,” I said.
    “ And he killed two of our loved ones!”
    “ No, it was an accident. They had the heater running in a vehicle for more than a half hour, no probably an hour. No window open. And probably set on recirculated air. It was likely carbon monoxide that killed them. We’re waiting for the coroner’s report, I guess.”
    “ I should have opened a window slightly,” Ambra said.
    “ That’s not your fault. They were adults. They could have done that.”
    Jade could not be consoled either. She sobbed and sobbed, and sank down into the carpet of the library and laid there. Joan dragged an afghan off one of the couches and covered her. I brought a pillow and threw another log on the fire. Joan put her arm around Jade and held her, even though she was crying, too.
    Mikhail and Nariko softly whispered their condolences and holed up in her bedchamber, crying quietly. I knew they were discussing what to do—if they would stay or go. I knew this because I heard them as I walked past to my own bedchamber. Her door was ajar and one of them closed it after I walked past. I looked out of my bedchamber window and saw Ambra heading for the chapel, parkour style, leaping on top of the gravestones and swinging from bare tree limbs, only touching the ground when she made it to the chapel door.
    I decided to go outside and talk to her. By the time I got my heavy coat and walked to the chapel, the wolves had apparently set themselves up on the steps for their morning bask in the sun. I had to phone Corbin to shoo them off the steps so I could go into the chapel and talk to her.
    “The wolves will be back in a few minutes to warm up on the steps again. I’ll wait out here until you’re ready to leave,” Corbin said, and sat on the stone steps in his coat and hat, writing in a notebook.
    I went quietly into the old chapel and saw Ambra kneeling in a front pew, tears streaming down her face and her lips moving silently. I walked quietly to her and sat next to her. Her lips stopped moving and she opened her eyes and looked at me.
    “You can’t do anything for me. I know you want to, but you can’t.”
    I gulped. “Okay. But answer me this. Why do vampires go after the same family until they’re all gone?”
    She swallowed. “I don’t know, Rand. Something in their preying instincts, perhaps? Where they take out one family member and then they go back and back and back? It’s happened to your family, too. Your parents, your brother, Gabrielle. Why do vampires even think this way?”
    “ I don’t know the why of it. Sometimes, I think that we aren’t even meant