Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) by Laura R Cole Read Free Book Online Page B

door
behind her. She waited until the footsteps faded before turning to
Devon. “Well? What is it?”
    “After our little chat the other night with
the brother, I took it upon myself to find out what these
officiators of the event might be expecting of you at this ceremony
you've been invited to.”
    Jezebel sat forward in her chair excitedly.
“And?”
    “And, I can tell you that you'll be told
about the society that you are joining, how it is designed to
benefit the greater good of mankind and can help each of its
individual members in exchange for complete secrecy and
obedience.”
    Jezebel waved a hand impatiently, “Yes, yes,
yes. I know all that, but what am I supposed to do?”
    Devon nodded his head once and grinned,
sharing her excitement. “They'll read you the list of rules which
you will swear an oath to uphold. My source was sketchy as to the
details, but mainly they revolve around keeping it secret and
carrying out orders that you'll be given. All you'll have to do is
swear to it.”
    “As long as they don't mind me adding my own
twist to their orders,” Jezebel sneered.
    Devon hesitated, and Jezebel thought she saw
a flicker of concern flash across his features. “I have no doubt
that you can handle yourself, my lady,” he said carefully, “but do
remember that these are not scheming merchants that we are dealing
with. These people are dangerous.”
    Jezebel felt a stab of annoyance, but
suppressed it. “Of course I will. Now, what else did you
learn?”
    Devon was silent for another second. Jezebel
was about ready to snap at him that she could take care of herself
when he continued. “Next, you'll be asked to share your deepest
secret in front of their witnesses. The purpose for this seems to
be so that they gain a certain level of control over you by playing
on your guilt.”
    “As if anything I might tell them would
seriously give them the upper hand,” Jezebel scoffed. Devon had
that look again so she sighed and made another impatient motion for
him to go on.
    “Finally, they will ask you a question, and
this is the most important step.” Jezebel drew her eyebrows
together, waiting for him to elaborate. “Now the correct answer to
this question was tricky to find out. They'll ask you if you will
denounce the rule of the King to show your obedience to them. My
source indicated that if you refuse to do so, they commend you for
your loyalty. Interestingly though, these candidates are still
accepted but they never rise any higher in the ranks of the Order.
If, however, you denounce the King, they believe that it shows that
you will be loyal to them above all else. They see this response as
a sign of intelligence, that you possess enough knowledge to
understand that the greater good of humanity doesn't always
correspond with the whims of the King. The people who give this
response often find themselves with invitations to additional
ceremonies and consequently move to higher levels within the
Order.”
    Jezebel sat back in her chair and lifted a
hand to her chin, letting it all sink in. Devon waited patiently
for her to respond. “This source of yours, how reliable is he and
how likely is it that those at the ceremony would that know I have
this information?”
    Devon gave her one of his sadistic smiles.
“My source is quite knowledgeable, and conveniently, he does not
have any clue that he talked to me at all.”
    Jezebel smiled, vaguely wondering at Devon's
methods of obtaining the information, but was more concerned with
the information itself. “Excellent. And the man we chatted with
last night?”
    “Taken care of, my lady. The pigs had a
rather large breakfast this morning.” He laughed at his own
personal joke, and Jezebel raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Sometimes his callousness amazed even her. “I would like to warn
you as well, my lady, that although it was never mentioned
outright, I suspect that there is some sort of magical binding in
addition to any oaths they have you swear