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Chapter 528
The following night, I waited well back in the woods with two carefully chosen comrades while my soon-to-be volkaane allies gathered at the edge of Brennan Field, where we were to meet. That Leesa had accompanied Rave did not surprise me, but there was no way I was going to allow her to come along. I hoped Rave felt the same—together, we might have a chance to stop her. I was surprised, though, to see a fifth person with them who was not a volkaane. That was not part of our agreement.
For my own companions, I had selected two of the more powerful members of our coven, including Leah, who had first brought Ricard and me to the caverns so many years before. As one of the original members of the coven, Leah also had a position on the High Council.
My second choice was Marcio, a nearly four hundred year old Italian vampire. For several centuries, Marcio had been content to hunt the lands of southern and central Europe. Early in the twentieth century he had decided to
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 529
We were moving through the tree-lined hills above a large reservoir when Rave motioned our party to a halt. I crossed over to join him. The look on his face told me he was puzzled about whatever he was sensing. As I had warned, there was something strange about the renegade vampires.“They are perhaps two hundred yards ahead of us,” he told me. “Moving slowly east to west on a path that will intersect our own.”I nodded, happy to have located our quarry so soon.“Good,” I said. “As agreed, my comrades and I will move ahead, projecting as much of our power as we can without being obvious about it. Hopefully, doing so will mask your presence. I think Jarubu’s arrogance will work in our favor as well. He will be anxious to end what we started last time, and I intend to give him the chance.” I started to head back to my companions, but then stopped and turned back to Rave. “See that you remember your part,
Leesa's Advent Chapter 530
A single keystroke changed the world forever.Three men huddled in front of the computer monitor. The guy pecking at the keyboard appeared young enough to pass for a college student, and his jeans and black T-shirt with a dripping red peace symbol on the front did nothing to disabuse the notion. The other two men—one in his mid-fifties, the other long past sixty—stood behind him, each dressed in a white lab coat.Their hunched postures betrayed their eagerness for this last task to be completed. The big moment was nearly at hand—the moment they had devoted eight years, countless man-hours and millions of dollars toward.All three men were universally acclaimed to be among the top people in their respective fields. Ask the CEO of any tech giant to list the top five computer programmers in the world and Briggs Brennan—the man typing at the keyboard—would show up on every list. He had joined the project two years earlier, at the ripe old age of twenty-four. The man on the right was Timot
Leesa's Advent Chapter 531
The club was packed. Scores of young pleasure hunters milled about in the dimness, proudly peacocking trendy fashions, the bolder among them aggressively trolling for action, the less confident hoping a connection would come to them. The crowd was thickest in front of the bar, where customers fueled their courage with drinks whipped up with impossible quickness by a quartet of black clad bartenders. Out on the parquet dance floor, limber bodies gyrated to the rhythms of a driving hip-hop beat. A swirling kaleidoscope of colored lights danced among them, changing and distorting the colors and shapes of the revelers with staccato swiftness.Pete Weber ignored the dancers, focusing his attention instead on the stunning blonde threading her way through the throng by the bar. Quite a package, he thought approvingly—long hair cascading down her back, generous breasts that stretched the fabric of her red silk blouse, long slender legs lengthened further by a pair of black stilettos. Her body
Leesa's Advent Chapter 532
Casey Filip Conner—“Case” to anyone who was more than a nodding acquaintance—waited alone on the perfectly manicured first tee of one of L.A.’s most exclusive country clubs, gently stretching the muscles of his slender six-foot frame. He’d been playing here twice a week for several months now, but he still felt out of place at the posh club, whose membership counted some of the city’s wealthiest and well-known citizens. An ex-cop like him just did not belong in these surroundings. But that was no big news to Conner; nowadays, the feeling of not belonging seemed to grip him no matter where he was.He sucked in a deep breath of ocean-scented air, reflexively turning his thoughts away, as he always did, from anything beyond the simple, non-threatening life he had created for himself. That was how you survived, when you lost your only son to cancer, and then killed someone else’s kid barely a year later. Keep everything simple. Force down dangerous thoughts before they even began. Think a
Leesa's Advent Chapter 533
Conner motioned to the young blond waitress, indicating he wanted a draft beer. Sloane raised two fingers to show he wanted the same.Conner decided there was no point in delaying things. He nodded at the thin beige folder in front of Sloane. “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”“The body was discovered early Wednesday behind a market over in Hollywood,” Sloane explained, without consulting the file. “She was naked. We ID’ed her from her purse, which her killer conveniently left nearby. Christy DeMars, with a capital M, age twenty-four. The address on her driver’s license was three years old—we’re still trying to trace her to find next of kin. You know this town; hardly anyone sticks with their given names. No cash or credit cards in her wallet, but the killer left a gold bracelet behind.”“Good-looking?” Conner asked.Sloane grunted. “At my age, they’re all good-looking, but see for yourself.” He reached for the folder.Conner’s hand shot forward. He slammed his palm down on the cover of th
Leesa's Advent Chapter 534
Conner drove away from his meeting with Sloane with no plan in mind. Feeling even more unsettled than usual, he turned his new silver BMW west onto Sunset Boulevard, away from home and toward the ocean. He’d purchased the sporty coupe hoping it would add zest or excitement or something to his life, but of course it didn’t. A car was just a car, regardless of price or fancy features, and the only feeling it added was the embarrassment that he’d actually spent so much money thinking a car would change anything.He had no idea where he wanted to go, but he knew where he didn’t want to be—sitting home doing nothing. Cecilia was gone for the day, at some charity function or other, so he couldn’t seek refuge in her company. He wasn’t sure he would have anyway, not after accepting the DeMars file from Sloane. She was adamant about him staying away from his former life. And so was he, he reminded himself. But then what was the file doing on the passenger seat? He glanced over at the thin, har
Leesa's Advent Chapter 535
Conner leaned back in his padded leather chair and propped his feet up on the polished walnut desk that dominated his office. He stifled a yawn. Out until almost midnight the night before, he’d downed six or seven beers while watching television in some dimly lit bar. He’d paced his drinking too well to get drunk, but the comforting buzz was as close as he’d been in a long time. Despite arriving late at his office, he had finished what little work he had to do by noon. Since returning from a tasteless lunch, he’d just been killing time.For the first few months, his job as Director of Security had kept him busy. He threw himself into his work, spending twelve and fourteen-hour days studying and reworking most of the company’s security systems and procedures. The distraction had been a welcome balm. But as his new systems were implemented and perfected, there became less and less for him to actually do, and he was becoming increasingly restless. Especially on days like this. His though
Leesa's Advent Chapter 536
The bank was crowded. Tellers manned four stations behind the dark marble counter, but the line of people waiting between the padded scarlet ropes still folded back on itself like tourists waiting their turn at Disneyland. A couple of young children roamed free, chattering and playing with the ropes and the shiny brass-plated stands. A baby was crying.Conner hated coming to the bank on Saturdays, but he’d been forced to come today by a problem with his car loan that he’d put off for too long. Fortunately, there was only one person ahead of him at the service desk. Conner waited a discreet distance away, leaning against the marble counter around the corner from the tellers’ windows. The broad leaves of a tall dieffenbachia plant provided him some separation from the crowd in the main line.A tall, thin youth wearing an expensive leather overcoat entered the bank. Something about the kid sent Conner’s antennae twitching. The temperature outside was at least seventy. He knew some street
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