Blood Born by Linda Howard

presence of something with which he was well acquainted: his old friend, Death. The lingering violence wafted through these silent, luxurious halls like something he could almost smell, almost touch. Through all the hundreds upon hundreds of years that he’d lived, he’d become so intimate with violence that he could often read details in the echoes of energy that remained behind.
    “I’m going into Hector’s apartment,” he said brusquely, striding down the hallway with Enoch a half-step behind. He kept all his senses at a high pitch, so acute that he could even hear the rapid thumping of Enoch’s heart.
    “But—”
    Luca didn’t pause, and Enoch bit back whatever objection he’d been about to make. Hector’s apartment was on the left, at the end of the hallway. Luca gave one sharp knock and the door swung open beneath the force of the blow. Looking down, he saw where the heavy wood had been splintered, the metal of the lock twisted. Even though both the door and the lock had been industrial strength, they couldn’t withstand the sheer force of a strong vampire.
    He stepped inside, Enoch right behind him. “Hector!” Enoch called, his tone edgy with tension. “Hector, are you here?”
    In a way
, Luca thought, but kept the idea to himself. Hector had been right … but then he almost always was. Death
had
been coming for him.
    Rapidly he gathered what impressions he could from the swirling miasma of leftover violence and the thoughts Hector had hurled out, not as weapons with which he could protect himself, but a means perhaps by which his murderer could be found. He would need more time to sort through all the impressions and thoughts, the essence of Hector’s life that he’d left behind, but that time wasn’t now. There would be no other opportunity for him to read the initial reactions of the other Council members to Hector’s death, which meant he had to move now, before they could be forewarned.
    “Wake the Council members,” he ordered, retreating from Hector’s quarters and drawing Enoch with him. He kept his expression cold and blank, to keep from giving away anything. For now, he needed to keep what he’d sensed to himself. “Don’t tell them why. Just say it’s an emergency, and they’re needed in the Council chamber.”
    Enoch looked as if he wanted to spew objections and questions, but Luca turned his pale, glittering gaze on him and despite himself Enoch looked away. Luca was the only one who knew the extent of his powers—and, conversely, his own limitations. Other vampires whispered and wondered, but the ones who had dared try him had all gone to dust at his hands.
    “Yes, sir,” Enoch finally said, and went to the nearest house phone to begin rousing the sleeping Council members. Luca stood beside him, making certain none of the members were given a heads-up about the situation. Enoch followed his instructions to the letter, despite the complaints Luca could hear coming loud and clear from eight powerful and very unhappy vampires. After making those eight calls Enoch looked very unhappy himself. There had to be someone, or several someones, on the Council whom he would have likedto warn, but with Luca standing right there he couldn’t disobey his instructions.
    In a remarkably short time, considering how fractious and uncooperative the Council members could be when they weren’t happy, Luca stood in the primary Council chamber and stared grim-faced at the eight seated members. Women had always outnumbered men on the Council, whether because they were more cunning or paid more attention to surviving rather than dominating; currently there were five women—Alma, Marie, Nadia, Eleanor, and Darnell—and three men—Theodore, Pablo, and Benedict. Of the eight of them, Luca couldn’t think of a single one he’d trust with his life. But which one of them would undermine the Council’s chosen path, and murder Hector to prevent him from interfering?
    “If you’re as smart as you