Essence of Evil — Terrance G. Kilpatrick

Malcolm managed to keep the Book of the Dead from the Dragon, aka Eduardo Arrellano. When the team was reunited with all members present, the hunter/killer team went on the offensive, taking down the Purple Vampire clan. Princess Prieta escaped to her strongholds in Europe. It seems that for the moment, Malcolm's enemies have retreated. The team realizes it must carry the battle to the vampire clans, including the Order of the Jackal. First a rescue effort must be made to retrieve Rosalva from the prisons of the Purple Velvet Clan of vampires. Martha takes on a bigger role as she has knowledge of the tomb from which the antiquities ministry had mysteriously denied further access to, leading to her being evicted from the country of Egypt. She had already demonstrated she could decipher the tale of the origins of the vampire curse and the plot that surrounded it, nearly 4500 years ago. Now, she discovers why the Dragon is so hell bent on recovering this curse.