Excerpt of Deep Midnight by Shannon Drake

Prologue

The moon was full. Huge in the sky, a brilliant, iridescent orb that seemed to stare down mockingly at the earth.

Though his night vision was excellent, it helped him to see.

From the Campanile, he had chosen to survey the city. He looked out at the dazzle of the evening; at the people milling about, at the clear beauty of the dark sky far above, and he felt his tension and awareness increase.

Carnevale. Venice.

The first true night of celebration. The first night of the grand balls ...

Fat Tuesday.

The delirium of it all.

Tonight. They would strike tonight.

For far below, crowding the streets, alleyways, and canals, were all manner of masqueraders. Musicians, entertainers, stilt-walkers, rich and poor, all were out for a night of pretense, playacting, charades. The world here now was shadow, despite the lights that spilled forth in the city, despite the lanterns so many of the players carried.

Fat Tuesday...

The feast before Lent.

Yes, they would seek to feast tonight. And they would do so. Glut themselves...

Unless ...

Silently, with the grace and skill of the natural born predator, he left his perch.

And entered the city.