Demon's Delight by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Paranormal, Anthologies, Fantasy, Vampires
ISBN: 9780425213810
Amazon: 0425213811
Goodreads: 184329
Publisher: Penguin Group USA Inc
Published: 2007-03-06T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2

FOR a Yama, to descend into the Victorian capital of Avvar was akin to traveling back in time. Millennia had passed since Yamish-kind had been so primitive, and Khira sincerely doubted they’d ever been as dirty as humans.

The carriage in which she rode through the twisting, fog-shrouded streets was, thankfully, a Yamish vehicle masquerading as a human electric car. Though many humans still used horses for transportation, they had developed these contraptions in the last few years by repurposing Yamish technologies they’d obtained in the Avvar Accord.

Two generations had passed since that famous treaty, signed after humans stumbled upon the hidden cities of the Yama, thus ending her people’s long and splendid isolation. Understandably, the Yama wanted nothing to do with their ridiculously emotional “discoverers,” but the emperor made the best of a bad situation, ceding old technology to the humans in return for them allowing Yamish deportees to settle in Avvar’s slums.

This was an improvement over letting Yamish rebels infect the general populace with their antihierarchical ideas. Additionally, helping Queen Victoria reign supreme over her neighbors ensured that human wars wouldn’t spill into Yamish lands. The less the races interacted, the better for everyone.

Happily, Khira’s faux electric carriage was in no danger of breaking down. It plowed through the mud and dung with no worse effect than the seeping of the stench inside the glass windows.

The air that carried the stench was frigid. For the first time, Khira felt sorry for the banished members of the lower class. The rohn didn’t have it easy living here.

Her companions, the two black guards the minister had promised her, were dressed like rohn in plain gray robes and trousers—upper class daimyo being rare enough visitors to attract attention. The guards appeared at ease among the squalor of streets so narrow every turn put them at risk of scraping the walls. One guard operated the vehicle while the other sat beside her in back, but whether to protect or control her was hard to say. Neither guard had welcomed her insistence on accompanying them.

“You know what I need?” Khira repeated for the second time.

“Yes,” said the guard who sat beside her, his awareness of the insult revealed by the subtle gustiness of his voice. “Adult male. Twenty-five to thirty. Healthy. Poor. No social ties.”

“And you realize a healthy human will not be as vigorous as a healthy Yama?”

“Yes,” said the driver. “Trust us, Dr. Forette. We have experience with these people. And we’ve done this sort of thing before.”

Khira didn’t apologize for asking. It was too important to be sure. The Blacks were an elite military regiment, answering directly to the emperor. Only the smartest, strongest, most loyal and ruthless Yama could hope to enter their ranks. The two who had been assigned to her seemed true to form—too true. Their blandly handsome faces were such mirrors of one another, she was certain they had been cloned from some previous assassin extraordinaire. Though she understood the desire for consistency among the royal guard, the geneticist in her was offended.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.