Page 4 of Midnight Enchantment

Oh, lordy, Ava thought, it was even worse than she had imagined. “You’re not to see that man again,” she warned in a voice that brooked no argument.

Lily shrugged. “Stop worrying, Granny,” she said glumly. “I don’t know anything about him. Not even his name.” And in the bright light of day, she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“Keep it that way,” Ava said as she buttered another slice of toast, and then, under her breath, muttered, “Maybe we should have stayed in Portland.”

“I’ve been thinking about going back to Savaria,” Lily said.

“Oh?”

Lily shrugged. “I miss my folks and my friends.” But that wasn’t the real reason. She desperately wanted to see a certain Transylvanian vampire again. And she was terribly afraid it would be a dreadful mistake.

Hoping to get him out of her mind, she left the kitchen and picked up the book she’d bought a few days ago. Perhaps a good murder mystery would take her mind off the stranger she shouldn’t even be thinking about.

Ava looked up when the doorbell rang, frowned when she glanced at the clock over the mantel and saw the time. “I wonder who that could be? It’s kind of late for company.”

“Only one way to find out,” Lily said. “Do you want me to get it?”

“I’ll do it.” Rising from the sofa, Ava went to the door. “What the devil are you doing here?” she exclaimed when she saw the vampire, Claret, standing on the porch.

“Can I come in?”

“No.” Stepping outside, Ava closed the door behind her. “What do you want?”

“There’s a vampire in town.”

Ava lifted one brow. “More than one, I’ll wager.”

“This guy is new. I don’t mean a fledgling. I mean new in town. And he’s scary as hell.”

Ava frowned. She didn’t know how scary the new vampire was, but if Claret was afraid of him, that was worrisome, indeed. The scent of the vampire’s fear was coming off her in waves. “He must be intimidating as hell, to have you shaking in your boots like a fledgling.”

“Very funny!” Claret snapped. “Have you heard anything?”

“I’m afraid not. What’s his name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I can’t help you then. Good night.”

“Wait!” Claret reached out a hand to stop Ava, let out a hiss when the witch’s magic repelled her. “Can you give me some kind of talisman against him?”

“Not without knowing who he is.” Although Ava had a terrible feeling the vampire in question was the same one Lily had met in the club the night before.

Muttering an oath, Claret vanished from the porch.

“What was that all about?” Lily asked, when Ava returned to the living room.

“Some new vampire in the city has her scared to death,” Ava said, picking up the book of spells she had been thumbing through earlier. “I think you’d better stay close to home until we find out what’s going on.”

“What does Claret have to be afraid of?”

“Apparently, the fact that he’s more powerful than she is. And she’s likely worried that he’s here to take over as Master of the City.”

“She has a lot of nerve, coming to us for help.”

Ava nodded. “She’s got all the nerve in the world and then some.” Just months ago, Claret had been both enemy and ally in the battle against the Elder Knight and the Knights of the Dark Wood.

Raedan sealed the wounds in his prey’s slender neck, released her from his thrall, and sent her on her way, none the worse for the small amount of blood he’d dined on. There had been a time when he would have drained her dry without a qualm, but that had been centuries ago. He had been a peace-loving man once, with little thought for violence or vengeance. But then the vampires had come and changed everything, including him. For centuries, he had known nothing but blood and bloodshed as he fought in one battle after another. He had been in little danger from mortals. As one of the Undead, his wounds had healed almost instantly. He possessed the strength of twenty men. His hungry blade had claimed hundreds of lives, left bodies to rot on the battlefield in one country after another while he walked away unscathed.

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