Midnight Awakening (Midnight Breed 3)

How so?

I noticed it when the piece was wrapped around the stack of letters. Let me show you.

She folded the square cloth diagonally, turning up one edge so that the designs on the lower left and upper right corners touched. At the place where they met, the delicate embroidery revealed the hidden shape of a teardrop falling into the basin of a crescent moon.

Elise laughed, delighted by the clever artistry of the work.

The woman who made this was a Breedmate?

Apparently so. Irina carefully smoothed it out again. It must be from the Middle Ages, don't you think?

Elise couldn't answer, even if she had a guess. At that instant, a lancing blast of pain sliced into her mind. It was pure menace, something deathly evil...and it was suddenly very close.

Inside the house.

Irina, she whispered. Someone's here.

What? What do you mean someone--

She held up her hand to silence the woman, fighting through the mental assault as her mind filled with the violent thoughts of the intruder.

It was a Minion, sent on a mission to kill.

We have to get out of here right now.

Get out of here? But I don't-- You have to trust me. He'll kill us both if he finds us.

Irina's eyes went wild with fright. She shook her head. There's no way out from back here. Only the window--

Yes. Hurry! Open it and get yourself out of here. I'll be right behind you.

Elise silently closed the room's door, then dragged the bulky leather chair in front of it while Irina worked on opening the ground floor window. The Minion was quiet in his stealth as he prowled farther into the town house looking for his prey, but the savagery of his thoughts betrayed him as loudly as a screaming alarm.

He'd been sent by his Master to kill her, but he meant to drag things out. Make her bleed. Make her scream. That's what he enjoyed the most about his job.

And he was almost giddy with the idea that he'd get to exercise his perversions on two women instead of just the one.

Oh, God, Elise thought, revulsion surging up the back of her throat.

She called upon the power of Tegan's blood inside her and her own determination, working furiously to focus through the chilling knowledge of what was stalking toward her up the hallway.

The window lock is stuck, Irina gasped, struggling in her panic. It won't open!

That worried shriek drew the Minion like a beacon. Heavy footsteps pounded toward the end of the hallway now. Elise grabbed a thick book from a shelf and ran to Irina's side, smashing the heavy binding against the window casement to loosen the sticky lock.>A short while later, Tegan found himself seated in a plush red velvet booth inside a high-end brothel called Aphrodite. The place was swank and expensive, an adult playground filled with beautiful women, sumptuous furnishings, and a host of assorted pleasures to be had at a price firmly negotiated up front. Tegan watched with mild disinterest as more than one small orgy was under way in full public view.

The clientele at the club was almost exclusively human, with the exception of Reichen, who was evidently no stranger to the establishment. He sat across from Tegan in the large booth, his fingers toying idly along the shapely arm of Aphrodite's proprieter, the stunning Helene. More than one of her girls had come around to have a look at Tegan. He'd been offered drinks, food, company, and quite a few temptations not found on the club's general menu.

As the last beautiful prostitute sashayed away from them on her teetering high heels, Helene shot him a slight frown. If you have specific personal tastes, I'm sure I can make arrangements to accommodate you.

Tegan shifted on the soft velvet seat. His personal tastes had narrowed down to one female alone, and she was back at Reichen's estate, probably wishing she'd never met him. I appreciate the offer, he told Helene, but I didn't come here to get laid.

We were hoping you might be willing to help keep us informed of any...unusual activity taking place in the city, Reichen added. It would require your total confidence, of course.

Naturally, she said, nodding in shrewd agreement. Are we talking about keeping an eye on unusual human activity or something else?

Both, Tegan said. Since Reichen had obviously made her aware of the vampire nation and trusted her to keep the secret, Tegan didn't see any point in mincing words. We've been seeing an increase in our Rogue population back in the States. We think we know where it's coming from, but there's a good chance some of those problems may come to roost here in Berlin. If you hear anything out of the ordinary at all, you need to make us aware.

The human female inclined her chin. You have my word.