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Ivan Petrovsky flipped through the unopened mail on his desk Electric bill Gas bill Here was a stack that was posted What was three weeks when you wereconnected to the mundane, mortal world He ripped open the first envelope Oh, his lucky day He was eligible for life insurance Morons He tossed it into the trash

An ivory envelope caught his eye Return address¡ª Rorowl vibrated low in his throat He had the envelope and contents almost completely torn in then he paused Why would that accursed Ro to each other Ivan removed the card and laid the two halves side by side on his desk

He and his coven were cordially invited to the Gala Opening Ball of the 2005 Spring Conference to be held at Roain Draganesti hosted this big event every year, with vampires from around the world in attendance, and their coven masters met in secret conferences to discuss relevant issues of modern-day vampire life Whiny little bastards Didn&039;t they know vampirism was a superior way of life? Problems were caused by mortals, and there was only one way to handle them Feed and destroy No discussion necessary There were billions ofer of running out of food

Ivan threw the invitation in the trash He had not attended their inane conference in eighteen years Not since that traitor Draganesti had introduced his new, synthetic blood to the vaone back

It surprised hianesti continued to send hi that Ivan and his folloould change their entle varavitated toward Ivan&039;s neck He ed the muscles below each ear and closed his eyes A vision slipped into hisBall, dancing in their elegant evening wear, sipping that slimy, fake blood from their crystal flutes, while they patted one another on the back for their heightened, evolved sensibilities It was enough to ive up fresh human blood, or the thrill of the hunt, or the ecstasy of the bite Draganesti and his folloere traitors to the very definition of varace

And just when Ivan thought it couldn&039;t get any worse, theyfroanesti had introduced his latest invention¡ªVaroaned Pain throbbed in his neck To relieve the pressure,he snapped the vertebrae like a mortal would crack his knuckle

Fusion Cuisine It was laughable Sha hawked in coital Vairls sneaking in bottles of Chocolood¡ªDraganesti&039;s perverted fusion drink of blood and chocolate Ivan had ordered the girls whipped Still, he suspected his hare to drink the nasty stuff when he wasn&039;t there For the first tiht

That da the vas and the woh, he was getting filthy rich He and his coven enjoyed the good life while Ivan and his folloere cra, though Soon he&039;d deliver Shanna Whelan&039;s dead body and earn a quarter-million dollars After a few more well-paid assassinations, he could be as rich as those other snooty coven us MacKay, and Jean-Luc Echarpe They could take their fancy Fusion Cuisine and stick it where the sun did shine

A knock sounded on Ivan&039;s door, drawing his attention away froanesti "Come in"

His trusted friend Alek entered "There is a mortal here to see you Calls himself Pavel"

A stocky, blondnervously about Stesha clais, which probably uy could read

Ivan rose to his feet He could have risen to the ceiling, but that was a trick he&039;d reserve for later "How did Stesha take the news of your abysrimaced "He wasn&039;t very happy But we do have a solid lead"

"The pizza place? Did she show up there?"

"No We haven&039;t seen her anywhere"

Ivan perched on the corner of his desk "Then what is the lead?"

"The car that 1 saw The green HondaI9 traced the license plate"

Ivan waited "And?" God, he hated how

"It belongs to Laszlo Veszto"

"So?" A twinge of pain pinched Ivan&039;s neck This was taking far too long "I&039;ve never heard of him"