Midnight Rising (Midnight Breed 4)

Dylan felt sick to her stomach as she bolted out of the office for the ladies room. She dialed the number Rio gave her and barely gave him a chance to say hello before she blurted out everything that had just happened.

"One of them said the name Dragos," she told him in a frantic whisper. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Rio's sudden silence made the ice in her stomach grow even colder. "Yeah. Son of a bitch. I know the name."

"Who is he, Rio?"

"Dragos is the one who created the hibernation chamber in that cave. His son freed the creature that had been sleeping there. He's evil, Dylan. About the worst kind you'd ever want to know."

Chapter Thirty-three

Sharon Alexander was making another pot of tea when a knock sounded on her twelfth-floor apartment door.

"It's open, baby," she called from the kitchen. "What'd you do, forget your key?"

"I never had one."

Sharon jolted at the unexpected boom of a deep male voice. She recognized the dark baritone, but hearing it in her apartment - unannounced, and after dark - was something of a shock.

"Oh. Hello, Gordon." She tugged self-consciously at her cardigan, wishing she'd put on something less lived-in, more appealing to a sophisticated man like Gordon Fasso. "I'm...well, my goodness...this is such an unexpected surprise."

He sent his cool gaze around the small, embarrassingly cluttered apartment. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"No, of course not." She smiled but he didn't return it. "I was just making some tea. Would you like some?"

"No. I can't stomach the stuff, actually." Now he did smile, but the slow spreading grin didn't make her feel any more comfortable. "I stopped by the hospital, but the nurse there told me you were released. I understand your daughter brought you home."

"Yes," Sharon replied, watching as he took a leisurely stroll around her living room. She smoothed her hair, hoping it wasn't a complete disaster. "I really enjoyed the chocolates you gave me. You didn't have to bring me anything, you know."

"Where is she?"

"Hmm?"

"Your daughter," he said tightly. "Where is Dylan?"

For a second, maternal instinct told Sharon to lie and say that Dylan wasn't around and wouldn't be coming back any time soon. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

She had no reason to fear Mr. Fasso. Gordon, she reminded herself, trying to see the charming gentleman he'd shown himself to be recently.

"I can smell her, Sharon."

The statement was so odd, it took her aback completely. "You can...what?"

"I know she's been here." He pinned her with an icy glare. "Where is she, and when is she coming back? These aren't difficult questions."

A bone-deep chill settled in her as she looked at this man she truly knew so little about. A word skated through her mind as he moved toward her...evil.

"I told you I wanted to meet the girl," he said, and as he spoke, something very strange was happening to his eyes. The icy color of them was changing, turning fiery with amber light. "I'm tired of waiting, Sharon. I need to see the bitch, and I need to see her now."

Sharon started mouthing a prayer. She backed up as he approached her, but she had few places to go. The walls would hem her in, and the slider in the living room opened onto a short balcony that overlooked a twelve-story drop to the street below. A warm breeze filtered in through the slider screen, and carrying with it the din of the rushing traffic out on busy Queens Boulevard.

"W-what do you want with Dylan?"

He smiled, and Sharon nearly fainted at the sight of his grotesquely long teeth.

No, she thought in near incomprehension. Not teeth at all.

Fangs.