Veil of Midnight (Midnight Breed 5)

At least, he hoped she would. He'd been working on it for the past day and a half, trying to get everything just right. He guided Renata and Mira into the heart of the estate, toward the candlelit warmth of the formal dining room. The aromas of baked bread and roasted meat drifted out to greet them. Niko himself had no appreciation for human food, but the Breedmates living at the compound certainly did, and judging from the looks he was getting from the two females walking along at his side, they did too. Renata's astonishment shone in her eyes. "You cooked dinner?">Everything happened in a blink of time, but it played out in maddening slow-motion frames in Nikolai's consciousness.

He cocked the nines, his fingers on the triggers.

Renata's eyes went wide. She shook her head. "Niko...wait...don't!"

The Gen One let go of Mira, letting his big hands fall down at his sides. He didn't even react to the guns trained on his head. His chest expanded as he took in a long breath, then let it out on a resigned sigh.

He wasn't going to fight his death.

He didn't care if he died.

And then Mira was screaming, her child's voice pitched high with fear. "No! Don't hurt him!"

Nikolai watched in stunned disbelief - in total amazement - as Mira lunged forward and threw her arms around the Gen One's broad shoulders.

"Please, don't hurt him!" she cried, staring up at Niko pleadingly as she attempted to protect the hulking vampire with her tiny body.

"Nikolai." Renata caught his gaze as he looked up, disbelieving, two large pistols still cocked and ready, leveled at the Gen One's head. "Nikolai...please, it's okay. Just wait a second."

He frowned in question, but his warrior stance relaxed somewhat. "Get up," he ordered the vampire. "Stand up, and get away from the child."

The Gen One complied without comment, slowly un-fastening Mira's arms from around his neck and setting her away from him as he rose to his feet.

Niko moved around to face him, weapons still held on him as he guided both Renata and Mira to stand behind him. "Who the hell are you?"

Sober, expressionless eyes stared at the ground. "I am called Hunter."

"You're not Enforcement Agency," Nikolai said cautiously.

"No. I am a Hunter."

Renata brought Mira close, holding her as the chaos of the ongoing disruption in the woods and at the house slowly died down around them. "His eyes, Nikolai," she said, understanding now. "He is the golden-eyed assassin who tried to kill Sergei Yakut that night. He's the one Mira witnessed at the lodge."

Nikolai's expression darkened. "Is this true? You are a hired killer?"

"I was." The Hunter gave a grim nod and finally lifted his gaze. "The child saved me. Something...changed in me after I saw the vision in her eyes that night. I saw her saving my life, precisely as it happened a moment ago."

In that next instant, the surrounding forest came alive with armed men moving in on them from all directions. Nikolai had his weapons at the ready, but he made no move to fire on the newcoming threat. Renata's pulse spiked in panic. "Oh, shit. Niko - " "It's all right." He calmed her with a reassuring look and a few gentle words. "These are the good guys, my friends from the Order."

She watched in relief as four of Nikolai's fellow warriors stepped into the area. All of them were formidable in size and attitude, a cadre of muscle and might that seemed to suck all of the air out of the woods by their presence alone.

"How you doing, amigo? Everything okay here?" asked the smooth caramel voice Renata now recognized as belonging to Rio.

Nikolai nodded, his eyes and weapons still trained on the Gen One in their midst. "I've got this under control, but the situation at the house is all fucked up. Edgar Fabien is dead, and Dragos and the others slipped out the back. They went by boat to the other side of the lake. I tried to track them, but..." He glanced at Renata. "I had to make sure everything was okay on this end first."

"We heard a small-engine aircraft buzzing overhead as we arrived," Rio said.

"Shit," Nikolai hissed. "That'll be them, no doubt. They're gone. Goddamn it, Dragos was right here and we lost the bastard."

"Let me help you find him."

All eyes turned to the vampire still held in Nikolai's crosshairs.

"Why should we trust you?" Nikolai asked, his gaze narrowing. "Why would you be willing to help us get Dragos?" "Because he is the one who created me." There was no warmth in the golden hue of the Gen One assassin's eyes as he responded to the question, only cold hatred. "He made me what I am. Me, and all the other Hunters bred to kill for him." "Oh, my God," Renata breathed. "You mean there are more of you?"

The shaved head nodded soberly. "I don't know how many, or where they are all located, but Dragos told me himself that I am not the only one of my kind. There are others."

"Why should we believe you?" asked another of the warriors, this one almost as dark as the night around them, his teeth and fangs gleaming like pearls against his brown skin.