Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [681]
Martina let out a small sigh over the speaker. “Please, Frau Roth… forgive me if I’ve overstepped my bounds in any way.”
“Not at all,” Claire assured her. Before she had to offer Martina either a pleasant lie about her motivations for the park’s construction or explain her estrangement from the Breed male she saw infrequently at best, a hard rap sounded on the library door. “My thanks again for the lovely design, Martina. Let me know if you have any other questions before we proceed with the project.”
“Of course. Good night, Frau Roth.”
Claire ended the call, then stepped out of the room. She closed the door behind her, still feeling protective of her secret undertaking and seeing no reason to invite questions from Wilhelm’s loyal hounds. But now that she was standing alone with one of the half-dozen Enforcement Agents assigned to look out for her and the property she occupied, she realized that her little side project was the least of the security detail’s concern. The guard seemed agitated, uncharacteristically twitchy.
“Yes. What is it?”
“I need you to come with me, Frau Roth.”
“What for?” She could see now that the big male was visibly rattled. Considering he was Breed, in addition to being armed to his fangs with firearms and combat gear, rattling someone like him was no small thing. Something was terribly wrong.
The comm device clipped to his black bulletproof vest was crackling with intermittent static and snippets of urgent conversation among the other agents posted at the country house. “We’re evacuating the premises immediately. This way, if you would.”
“Evacuating? Why? What’s going on?”
“I’m afraid there is no time to waste.” More static sounded over his comm. More voices issuing clipped orders in the background. “We’re readying a vehicle for you now. Please. You must come with me.”
He started to reach for her arm, but Claire stepped out of his range. “I don’t understand. Why do I have to leave? I demand that you tell me what’s going on.”
“We had a situation at the Darkhaven in Hamburg a short while ago—”
“A situation?”
The guard didn’t elaborate, simply spoke right over her. “As a precaution, we’re clearing out of here and taking you to another location. A safe house in Mecklenburg.”
“Wait a minute—I have no idea what you’re talking about. What situation in Hamburg? Why do I need to be moved to a safe house? What exactly does any of this mean?”
The guard gave her an impatient look as he barked his position into his comm device. “Yes, I’m with her now. Bring the vehicles around to the front and prepare to roll out. We’re on the way to meet you.”
He made another grab for her and Claire’s patience snapped. “Goddamn it, talk to me! What the hell is going on? And where is Wilhelm? Get him on the phone. I want to talk to him before I let you haul me out of my own home with hardly an explanation.”
“Director Roth has been out of the country since July,” the agent told her, his schooled expression seeming to suggest that he didn’t notice her embarrassment over the fact that a basic security detail could know more about her mate’s whereabouts than she did. He cleared his throat. “We’re attempting to contact the director now to brief him on the attack—”
“Attack,” Claire replied, awkwardness forgotten as her skin went cold and tight. “Good lord. Was someone attacked at the Darkhaven? Has someone been injured?”
The guard stared at her for what seemed like endless minutes before he finally hissed a curse and blurted out the details in a toneless spill of words. “The Darkhaven in Hamburg was breached less than an hour ago. We just received the call from one of the