Dark Heart of the Sun (Dark Destinies Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

it?”
    Jackson tried not to wince. If his uncle doubted his nephew’s competence before, he’d deem him useless beyond all hope if he learned what all had gotten by him in the past twenty-four hours.
    A massive, ornately carved wooden desk dominated the center of the parquet floor, its surface cluttered with yellowed manuscripts. Three sleek LCD monitors sat off to one side, scrolling data, but Garrett ignored these as he sat, picked up a pen, and continued a note in what Jackson recognized as the Register of Primary Targets.
    While waiting to be acknowledged, he clasped his hands behind his back, rubbing at the stumps of his two missing fingers with his thumb. They served as constant and bitter reminders of the price of impatience. He would much rather track down Cassidy and stand guard over her regardless of the fight she’d put up. But that could get them both killed. His only hope lay in finding the vampire first—during the day.
    “Shouldn’t you be out looking for a new bride?” Garrett said, not looking up. His broad shoulders bunched and light gleamed off his thinning, neatly combed hair that held not a hint of gray. At fifty-eight, Garrett Striker maintained a vigor and fitness level on par with his twenty-four-year-old nephew.
    “I have a bride.” At his uncle’s raised brow, Jackson forced an agreeable expression even as his heart geared up to slam around his chest. “I think you met her when you humiliated her at dinner on Friday. Her name is Cassidy Chandler, soon to be Striker.”
    Garrett’s eyes narrowed. Taking off his glasses, he sat back and tossed them, together with his pen, on the desk. “Attitude. Well, this is new.” He considered his nephew. “She’s run off, and someday you’ll thank me. Trust me.”
    “She’ll be back,” he countered with only the smallest hesitation. “Trust me.”
    The alternative was unthinkable. Over the past two years, Cassidy had almost filled the hole in his soul left by his twin brother’s death. Losing her would be like losing Justin all over again. This time, he wouldn’t survive. That simple realization snapped everything into sharp focus and filled him with quiet certainty.
    “But I’m not here to talk about my relationship. I came to tell you that I believe there’s a target in the area.”
    “Oh. Do you?” Garrett said in a too mild tone of withering displeasure. “And what would make you think that?”
    Jackson took a deep breath. “The so-called gang war killings over the last couple of months. They—”
    “Are not vampire victims.”
    “They’re unusually violent.”
    “Exactly. Only a youngling could leave a trail of corpses like that, and no sire would tolerate that much risk of exposure. They’d put it down before things got this far out of hand. You should really know that,” he finished on a patronizing note.
    Jackson did. These were facts borne out by centuries of research. But if he was to keep Cassidy’s involvement—and his own botched attempts at hunting—off Garrett’s radar, this was the only plausible option for alerting his uncle to a local vampire problem.
    “Maybe this is a new pattern,” he offered.
    “Now you’re reaching.”
    “Think about it. All these bodies are dismembered, and even if the heads are found, they’re too decomposed to prove anything. Doesn’t that sound like someone’s trying to hide something more than just a murder?”
    Garrett sighed and shook his head. “Kid, it’s a sad fact that humans can be as brutal as any vampire. But they are humans. And human laws and authorities will deal with them. Not us. We’re here for the monsters they don’t know about, the ones that humans don’t stand a chance against.”
    “Maybe that’s what some bloodsucker wants us to think. Throw the humans off the idea that anything unusual is going on while he kills at will.”
    “Then at least he’s cleaning up the streets while he’s at it.”
    “You can’t be serious. What if he expands