There is a scent that fills the night, far more delicate than the beat of the heart, more fragile than the whisper of breath escaping human lungs. The echo that fills the darkness is the scent of blood pulsating through the mortal body. Commonly overlooked by those among the living, it is a sound fervently sought by those residing on the fringes of the world existing between the living and the undead. Blood is what the beast craves. Detective Valentina Kureyev had been assigned to one of the worst murder cases of the century. A serial killer haunted the streets of her city, depositing bloodless corpses throughout the section of town known as Little Europe. She hadn't a clue to the identity of the culprit. The case was hopeless. The terror was real. As real as Demetri Petronov. The Professor of Russian Antiquities had been targeted with the murderer's special form of a calling card. Val couldn't turn away from his offer of aide in the bizarre case, even though he whispered tales of 'those that walked on the dark side of the moon' and the beast that hungrily fed on human blood. He was the primary suspect.