Free Nightside [Diana Tregarde series] by Mercedes Lackey Page B

that the victims were always out on the street and entirely alone, there were no witnesses whatsoever, so the thing needs total privacy and apparently can't strike where it will. And ‘when'—is moon-dark."
    "Bad.” He shook his head. “I have no clue at the moment. The loup garou I can recognize, and others, but I know nothing that hunts beneath the dark moon."
    She grimaced. “You think I do? That's why I need your help; you're sensitive enough to feel something out of the ordinary, and you can watch and hunt undetected. I can't. And I'm not sure I want to go trolling for this thing alone—without knowing what it is. I could end up as a late-night snack for it. But if that's what I have to do, I will."
    Anger blazed up in his face as if from a cold fire. “You go hunting alone for this creature over my dead body!"
    "That's a little redundant, isn't it?” Her smile was weak but genuine.
    "Pah!” He dismissed her attempt at humor with a wave of his hand. “Tomorrow is the first night of moon-dark; I shall go a-hunting. Do you remain at home, else I shall be most wroth with you. I know where to find you, should I learn anything of note."
    "You ought to—” Diana began, but she spoke to the empty air.
* * * *
    The next night was warmer, and Diana had gone to bed with her windows open to drive out some of the stale odors the long winter had left in her apartment. Not that the air of New York City was exactly fresh—but it was better than what the heating system kept recycling through the building. She didn't particularly like leaving her defenses open while she slept, but the lingering memory of Katy Rourk's fish wafting through the halls as she came in from shopping had decided her. Better exhaust fumes than burned haddock.
* * * *
    She hadn't had an easy time falling asleep; and, when she finally managed to do so, tossed restlessly, her dreams uneasy and readily broken—as by the sound of someone in the room.
    Before the intruder crossed even half the distance between the window and her bed, she was wide awake, and moving. She threw herself out of bed, somersaulted across her bedroom, and wound up crouched beside the door, one hand on the light switch, the other holding a polished dagger she'd taken from beneath her pillow.
    As the lights came on, she saw Andre standing in the center of the bedroom, blinking in surprise wearing a sheepish grin.
    Relief made her knees go weak. “Andre, you idiot!” She tried to control her tone, but her voice was shrill and cracked a little. “You could have been killed!"
    He spread his hands wide in a placating gesture. “Now, Diana—"
    "'Now Diana’ my eye!” she growled. “Even you would have a hard time getting around with a severed spine!” She stood up slowly, shaking from head to toe with released tension.
    "I didn't wish to wake you,” he said, crestfallen.
    She closed her eyes and took several long, deep, calming breaths; focusing on a mantra, moving herself back into stillness until she knew she would be able to reply without screaming at him.
    "Don't,” she said carefully, “Ever. Do. That. Again.” She punctuated the last word by driving the dagger she held into the door frame.
    " Certainement, ma petite ,” he replied, his eyes widening a little as he began to calculate how fast she'd moved. “The next time I come in your window when you sleep, I shall blow a trumpet first."
    "You'd be a lot safer, I'd be a lot happier,” she said crossly, pulling the dagger loose with a twist of her wrist. She palmed the light switch and dimmed the lamps down to where they would be comfortable to his light-sensitive eyes, then crossed the room, the plush brown carpet warm and soft under her bare feet. She put the silver-plated dagger back under her pillow. Then with a sigh she folded her long legs beneath her to sit on her rumpled bed. This was the first time Andre had ever caught her asleep, and she was irritated far beyond what her disturbed dreams warranted. She was