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he often doesn't when away on a mission for the Iunctio . I'm not entirely sure what he gets up to, but as the Emissary, he could be spying or assassinating at the Champion's request. Neither of which he particularly enjoyed, but unlike me, Michel was making the best of his lot. He was at least trying to make his new role work.
    I resigned to do the same, my last thoughts, before sleep ensnared me, were of making an appointment to see the new Master of London City tomorrow evening, and perhaps getting at least one thing crossed off my duties to fulfil list.
    I woke to loud voices coming up the stairwell from downstairs. As Michel's quarters were on the upper most floor, it was a surprise that I could hear anything at all. Which meant the voices were either really loud, or approaching my door. Neither idea wanted. I scampered out of bed, noticed the shutters were still down, so daylight was out, and grabbed a robe from the back of the door. I crept out onto the landing and tried to decipher what was being said.
    I recognised Matthew's voice first of all. He had answered the door. Being still daytime, that didn't surprise me. Christopher would have talked to the visitor through the intercom and not allowed them access inside though. Matthew, being human and not normally in Michel's main home base, had obviously just opened the door at the sound of the knock. I felt the vampires in the house on full alert, their Sanguis Vitam pulsing through the air. I couldn't see any of them, but all three were awake and aware and hiding in the shadows downstairs. Their rooms were located on the floors beneath Michel's and mine.
    Resigning myself to walking past them, still barely woken for the day and no doubt with bed-head hair, I took a breath in and ventured down the stairs determined to find out what all the fuss was about. Sergei stepped out of the shadows as soon as I reached his floor.
    "Mistress," he said in his thick Russian accent. "It would be best to let the human deal with this."
    I rolled my eyes at him. Sometimes he just sounded so vamp. "What's going on? Do you know?"
    Something flashed across his deep brown eyes. Anger? I couldn't quite catch it and he wasn't giving off any vibes of being angry, maybe cautious, on guard. But not ire.
    "A messenger, mistress," he said quietly. "From the Master of the City."
    Oh fuck. Just when I had decided to do the right thing, he pips me at the post. Being summoned to meet him was definitely not as good as making an appointment of my own accord. Well, if this messenger was here because of me, I wasn't going to let Matthew wear the brunt of the new Master of the City's rage at my neglect of duty.
    I patted my vampire on the shoulder in an effort to reassure, then headed down the stairs much to his annoyance. Matthew was just shutting the front door when I reached him, the scene already passed. In his hand, as he turned to spot me hovering on the last step, was an envelope. A wax seal on the back. He was running his fingers over the ridges of the seal, which from where I stood, was difficult to make out.
    "Lucinda, good afternoon. This is for you." He handed over the object and with a small sad smile full of concern, headed towards the kitchen.
    The envelope felt heavy in my hands. What is it with vampires using paper with high quality gsm? I took a closer look at the red wax seal. It was a creature of some sort, with the body of a lion and the head of cat. A sphinx. Not something I would have expected the Master of London City to have. Considering the last official Master of London had been of Russian birth, it really shouldn't have surprised me. Vampires get around, they can choose to live anywhere and are not restricted to their places of birth. But I must admit, I was relieved that the seal did not depict something typically Russian. Although I didn't know Boris Davydov personally, I did know his brother. And staying clear of him was an excellent idea.
    I thrust a finger under the seal and