The Midnight Guardian Read Free Page B

millennial, and few hunters knew the formula. Indeed, few even believed in the lore of such very ancient creatures. It seemed too incredible to be true.
    They never understand. They always think it’s just about strength, about the seduction and the kill. They know of our loves, but they think that’s just about endless lust. They know nothing of our actual lives.
    Living one thousand years was not only about eating well and avoiding hunters’ stakes and blades, or accidents involving fire and bad timing. It was about cultivating a powerful motivation for life. One found interests, remained constantly curious, developed the mind. And there was love. Pure, deep, earth-shattering love. It gives to every power a double power. The alchemy of all this created something close to an omnipotent vampire. It was just as well the human world was generally ignorant of their existence. The fear would be overwhelming.
    But it meant that Eamon couldn’t join them. Nor Cleland’s Padraic.
    Next to her, Cleland was staring out the window with an air of determination.
His hand, resting on his thigh, rhythmically twirled a sovereign through his fingers. Brigit watched the sovereign’s path for a few hypnotic moments, then shifted her focus back onto nothing. Cleland was regarded as the exemplar of tragedy in the vampire world, a mantle considered all the more respectfully deserved because he shrugged it off. He’d endured the loss of great love as both human and vampire, and now, just over one hundred years into a new relationship, was being called upon to leave it for who knew how long.
    Not too long, they’d all determined. The Nazis were arrogant, and this weakness was one they could easily exploit. They were only too well versed in the nature of human arrogance. Careful flattery and a few well-placed dispatches should allow them all to infiltrate the party with ease. The males would impersonate SS officers, the females would ply their particular wares, they all would sow seeds of discord, confusion, and chaos. They would break the party’s back from the inside, and the Nazis wouldn’t know what had hit them.
    Brigit had her doubts about Meaghan, though. This wasn’t really the sort of thing for which she was suited. She looked across at Meaghan, who was, as ever, huddled against her partner, Swefred. They were unlikely millennials. For that matter, they were unlikely vampires. Few vampires fit the description spun by humans, but the one thing they did all irrevocably have in common was a demon deep inside them. And while each demon was a bit different, it was cut of the same hellcloth. That was what gave them vim and zest. It made them hungry. Both Swefred and Meaghan were quiet, retiring even, and rather humorless. Swefred, at least, had a dashing air—there was just something about the swoop of his brow and his slightly crooked nose that made him interesting and gave him edge. But Meaghan, when she wasn’t quiet, was fretful and petulant. Brigit had never liked either of them. Everyone in the tribunal got on well enough, as was the vampire way, and Otonia insisted on congeniality, but at home, it was easy to avoid Meaghan. Now, here she was, right across from Brigit. They’d been traveling only two nights, and already Brigit was impatient. It didn’t help that Swefred and Meaghan were so close and affectionate. Never mind that they’d have to work separately on arrival, Brigit wished Otonia had ordered them not to touch in public at all. It felt like a slap, watching them.

    Well, I hope she has it in her. I hope she knows what she’s doing.
    There wasn’t much choice. Otonia could not leave the tribunal and looked far too Greek. Leonora looked too Jewish. And Ramla was pure Egyptian. There were no other millennials in England. There weren’t even any others left in Europe, not since the last war. So Meaghan it was.
    She was pretty, certainly, with her