In the Blood

By Abigail Barnette
Chapter One
They waited for her below. Claws extended, gleaming in the moonlight.
Flashing teeth dripping in anticipation. She searched the darkness, looking for help,
for a saior she co!ld not name, tho!gh she called o!t to him. "ne #!ick shoe sent
her oer the ledge, into the pit, and their greedy claws scored her arms, tangled in her
hair. Faceless, r!bbery white skin parted in a sick imitation of a smile, reealing long,
serrated $aws. It sprang.
Cassandra Connely woke to the angry beeping of the alarm clock. "!t of habit
and reflex, knowing it was a silly thing to do, she thrashed the blankets off her legs
and to!sled her hair to get rid of the feeling of the dream creat!res% hands on her.
Another night, another nightmare.
She reached for the bottle of pills on her nightstand. They were s!pposed to
stop the dreams and make her normal. She popped the top off the prescription bottle
and dry&swallowed two of the tablets. So what if they didn%t do exactly what they
promised' They kept her from feeling, most days.
For a split second she considered calling someone. B!t who' A friend' Those
had dropped off one by one after Cassie%s accident, when she%d lost interest in frat
parties and reading Cosmo. (r. )olden, her psychiatrist, was on acation, and een
he seemed tired of hearing the same old complaints. *o one co!ld help her. And
maybe she didn%t desere help.
(r. )olden always stressed that it had been an accident, and to think of it that
way, b!t Cassie co!ldn%t br!sh it aside that easily, een to restore her sanity. She
co!ld remember the moment so clearly+ st!mbling o!t the door with ,mily, clinging
to each other to stay on their feet, la!ghing at their dr!nken cl!msiness. And Brad
standing on the lawn, offering them a ride again and again, following them to the car
helplessly. Still trying to stop it all from happening, een as Cassie climbed into the
drier%s seat.
Six years. Six long years of meeting with probation officers and showing !p
for co!rt dates. Shaking off her self&pity-pity she did not desere-Cassie reached
for the phone. She did hae a call to make, b!t not to drone on abo!t her problems.
.!lie had left her abo!t a million messages d!ring her shift the night before, and all of
them were /"h my 0od, !rgent, call me back12 She p!nched in the n!mber and
waited while it rang.
/)ey, girl, what%s !p'2 .!lie was always perky, always glad to hear from her
coworkers. ,en more so when she wanted something from one of them, and Cassie
noticed she%d really ramped !p the ch!mmy factor when she%d answered.
She slipped on some fake cheerf!lness of her own. /*ot m!ch. 0rant said yo!
needed some help coering clients.2
0rant was the /appointment manager2 at 3&4&5, the gentlemen%s cl!b .!lie and
Cassie both worked for. /Appointment manager2 was really $!st a nice way of saying
/pimp2, b!t 3&4&5 wasn%t yo!r aerage brothel. Clients p!lled down a minim!m
seen&fig!re salary ann!ally, were re#!ired to follow strict dress and cond!ct codes,
and the wealthiest men in *ew 6ork were wait&listed for years before being granted
membership.
The girls were held to higher standards than most cl!bs too. *o illegal dr!gs,
monthly blood work and nothing fake. *o implants, extensions, or peroxided
blondes. 3&4&5 was s!pposed to be classy, the highest #!ality girls in the city, and
they made eno!gh do!gh to b!y themseles a cloak of inisibility.
The sweetly wheedling tone in .!lie%s oice $!mped !p three notches on the
s!gary scale. /7ell, the g!y is really, really great.2
"f co!rse he was. All of their clients were stand!p g!ys, C,"s, men with
wies and children they neer saw, who spent all their free time with hookers. And if
.!lie co!ldn%t get rid of this one, well8 /If he%s s!ch a gem, how come no one will
take him'2
/There%s nothing wrong with him. )e $!st has preferences.2 .!lie and Cassie
were the only redheads c!rrently employed by 3&4&5, and there were plenty of men
with that partic!lar fetish. Cassie had wondered if her bookings wo!ld go !p in the
wake of .!lie%s leaing, b!t something abo!t this assignment p!t her on her g!ard.
She always tr!sted her instincts now, een if they a!tomatically $!mped to s!spicion.
/Is it a red hair thing'2 She examined a lock, frowning at a split end. /Beca!se
if that%s the case, gie it to 9iolet. She%s strawberry blonde. She co!ld !se the extra
income.2
/It%s not something 9iolet can handle,2 .!lie hedged and, as if she%d reali:ed
she wasn%t getting anywhere with said hedging, came right o!t with it. /)e%s got a
ery specific kink.2
/And now I%m the go&to girl for kinky'2 Cassie raised an eyebrow. /7hat%s his
deal'2
,nco!raged to contin!e, .!lie spilled all. /First of all, he%s a real gentleman.
)e doesn%t come down here to hang o!t, he%s not married, he%s not in the mob or
anything like that. )e $!st gets off on8!m8he drinks blood.2
The tho!ght of drinking blood bro!ght a strange, coppery taste to the back of
Cassie%s tong!e. ;robably a memory from the weeks she%d spent in the hospital.
/7hy are yo! asking me' I mean, it%s yo!r last night, so obio!sly I wasn%t yo!r first
pick. Are yo! really that desperate to !nload him on someone' 7hy not let him
worry abo!t who%s going to replace yo! in his (rac!la act'2
.!lie dropped her forced enth!siasm. /I like the g!y. <isten, don%t make that
into more than it is, okay' I $!st feel bad for him. )e%s sweet, and I tho!ght yo!%d
like him. I haen%t asked anyone else, either.2
/Blood drinking, h!h'2 That was certainly a new one. Cassie didn%t !s!ally
take /special2 clients. It was too m!ch work to tie someone !p or dress all in r!bber,
and there were plenty of other girls willing to take those $obs. B!t .!lie ery rarely
disc!ssed her clients as if they were h!man beings she co!ld m!ster empathy toward.
That spoke well of the g!y, blood drinker or not. /I%m not making any promises, b!t
I%ll meet him. 6o! swear to 0od that he%s not a total psycho'2
/)e%s not a psycho. )e%s $!st8t!rned on by different things, yo! know' )e%ll
treat yo! really nice. And he pays well. It%s an easy tho!sand b!cks per isit. And
he%s really, really good.2
A tho!sand dollars per isit wasn%t exactly prime money with their clients, b!t
it was more money than none. /I%ll gie him a shot. B!t I%m not kidding, if I wind !p
dead, I%m going to ha!nt yo! foreer.2
/Thank yo! so m!ch12 .!lie slipped right back into her false enth!siasm. /If
yo! eer need anything-and I mean anything-yo! $!st let me know. Carla in )=
told me there are some openings in the billing department.2
Cassie shook her head. .!lie, like all the other girls who%d gotten o!t of the life
since Cassie had gotten into it, meant well. /I like my $ob. I don%t need a new one.2
.!lie sighed oer the line. /Some people like being call girls. B!t yo! don%t.2
That was tr!e, Cassie had to admit. B!t she wasn%t working her way thro!gh
college, the way .!lie had, and she wo!ldn%t fool herself into thinking she%d find a
place at >iller, >iller, and Firth, the most prestigio!s law firm in >anhattan. /I%m
not c!t o!t for law school like yo! were.2
/I know,2 .!lie conceded, so!nding disappointed. /I $!st don%t like to think
abo!t yo! wasting yo!r life.2 She didn%t know the real reason Cassie had dropped o!t
of college. *o one did, and that was the nice thing abo!t working at 3&4&5. ,eryone
stayed o!t of each other%s b!siness.
B!t Cassie didn%t arg!e. She fo!nd a pen and d!tif!lly took down the client%s
address.
/As if I had a life to waste,2 she m!ttered as she h!ng !p the phone.
7inter in *ew 6ork was miserable, wet and cold, een after the snow had
melted. The b!ildings p!shed and $ostled the wind into the narrow spaces between
them, the free:ing c!rrents dipping to sting the city%s inhabitants as they b!stled
along b!sy sidewalks trying to get to places they didn%t really want to go.
In the twenty&fie year history of 3&4&5, only one girl had eer been h!rt by a
client. That client died a week later in a robbery where nothing was stolen. It had
been widely r!mored that 3&4&5 had mob money tied !p in it, and the incident with
the client sort of proed that. B!t that didn%t make Cassie feel any safer. (ead was
dead, een if someone got their throat slit for doing it. (eath was permanent. She
knew that all too well.
Still, she forced herself into the b!ilding, gae the doorman her name, let him
lead her to the eleator. As it ascended, she shook off the feeling of apprehension that
had dogged her all day, forced herself into the role of professional sed!ctress that
seemed at once a welcome escape and a ridic!lo!s $oke.
The eleator came to a smooth stop and the doors opened onto the a!stere
blackness of marble coered walls, floor, and ceiling. Cassie stepped into the foyer
where inset lights created small, ill!minated circles in the blackness. A wide,
descending staircase flanked by two tall, white ases stood before her. The so!nd of
footsteps climbing !p preceded the arrial of a short, barrel&chested man in a gray
s!it. )is black hair was slicked back from his face, reealing how thin it had become
in middle age, and he smoothed down his goatee with his fingers as he crossed the
wide floor.
/Are yo!82 Cassie s#!inted at the b!siness card in her hand. /9ik89iktor'
Am I saying that right'2
The man smiled and extended his hand. /I%m Anthony. I%m >r. *ootny%s
personal assistant. 6o! m!st be from the cl!b.2
The formal way he referred to the client set Cassie back a little. ?sing first
names was a trick she !sed to p!t herself on e#!al footing, helpf!l when the men she
dealt with were !sed to being worshipped on a daily basis. She%d neer had to disc!ss
them with their personal assistants. It took her half a second to recoer her crafted
attit!de. /Is >r. *ootny aailable' I know I%m a bit early-2
/<et me take yo!r coat,2 Anthony interr!pted.
The girls of 3&4&5 were instr!cted to look sexy b!t not trashy when they went
o!t to work. Cassie shr!gged o!t of her white peacoat and smoothed the skirt of her
red, long&sleeed wrap dress, ad$!sting the neckline so a bit less cleaage showed.
She t!cked her hair, which h!ng loose and straight down her back, behind her ears
and followed Anthony down the stairs.
The apartment was nicer than anything Cassie had eer seen, in real life or the
moies. The stairs were clear, tempered glass, anchored by a single steel spine down
the center. The rails were slick black enamel, so shiny that she almost didn%t want to
p!t her hands on them for fear of leaing fingerprints. As they walked down, a large
liing room !nfolded into iew. Stiff, black sofas and chairs were arranged on the
black marble floor aro!nd a pl!sh white r!g. Abstract sc!lpt!res in siler and
tarnished bron:e dotted the sheles and mantle, and a c!bist painting in shades of
gray h!ng oer a sleek marble fireplace. (ark tinted windows stretched from floor to
ceiling, and the iew from the thirtieth story made Cassie%s knees a bit weak.
/7atch yo!r step, miss,2 Anthony said, steadying her with a firm grip on her
elbow.
/Sorry. I%m afraid of heights.2 She took a deep breath to make the room stop
spinning. Youre not going to fall out of the windows. You dont even have to go near
them. Just keep walking.
A dark oice, startling in its nearness, c!t thro!gh the relatie silence of the
room. /The iew can be8intimidating.2
Cassie stopped, her feet seemingly f!sed to the stairs. .!lie had said the g!y
was rich. She%d said he was nice. She hadn%t mentioned that he was totally hot, or that
his deep, gentle oice wo!ld t!rn her knees to water faster than any tall b!ilding eer
co!ld.
(ressed in a black s!it that probably cost more than any car Cassie wo!ld eer
own, the man blended perfectly with his monochromatic s!rro!ndings. )is hair, c!t
short and neat, was stark white, b!t not from age. )e wasn%t old. )e wasn%t yo!ng,
either. )is age was impossible to place on first glance. ,erything, from his long,
pale fingers b!ttoning his $acket to the caref!lly composed expression on his face
s!ggested an elegant timelessness that intrig!ed Cassie more than she cared to admit.
=eali:ing she stared, she tried to open her mo!th to introd!ce herself, b!t he
spoke first, a faint accent coloring his words. /I am 9iktor *ootny. And yo! are'2
/Cassandra,2 she whispered, then cleared her throat to speak !p. /Cassandra.
From 3&4&5.2
/6es, .!lie recommended yo!. ;lease, come in.2 )e gest!red to the room
aro!nd him, and Cassie walked the rest of the way down the stairs on shaking legs.
/>r. *ootny, will yo! be needing anything else tonight'2 Anthony asked.
/*o, thank yo!, Anthony, I beliee I hae all I need.2 )e answered witho!t
taking his eyes off Cassie. The corner of his mo!th ticked in a smile that sho!ld hae
p!t her at ease, b!t it !nnered her een more than his stark formality. /;lease, sit
down, Cassandra.2
Settling into a practiced pose on the co!ch, she managed to regain some of her
self&ass!rance. /6o! hae a bea!tif!l accent. 7here are yo! from, >r. *ootny'2
She wondered if that was a part of the (rac!la act, as well.
/;lease, call me 9iktor. 7o!ld yo! like some wine'2 )e stepped away before
she co!ld recite her strict r!le abo!t not drinking on the $ob. /I am originally from
C:echosloakia. B!t I hae lied in *ew 6ork City for a long time.2 )e did not
speak as he po!red the wine. 7hen he ret!rned, he pressed a glass into her hand
before settling into one of the arm chairs. /And yo!' )ae yo! always lied in *ew
6ork'2
/*o.2 )er a!tomatic response was more c!rt than she wo!ld hae liked. /I
moed here abo!t three years ago.2
She dropped her ga:e to her wineglass. 7hite. She didn%t know whether to be
s!rprised it wasn%t red beca!se of his strange fetish or !ns!rprised that it matched the
decor. /So, 9iktor, my friend .!lie tells me that drinking blood really t!rns yo! on'2
)e nodded and sipped his wine, !nembarrassed by his pec!liar tastes. /I paid
.!lie a tho!sand dollars a isit. In ret!rn, I drank her blood. (oes that make yo!
!ncomfortable'2
/(o yo! want it to'2 It was always best to know what got the client off at the
start. /Is that part of the thrill'2
/*o, of co!rse not.2 )e set his glass down. It was still f!ll. /I wo!ld not wish
for yo! to do something8distastef!l. If yo! are tr!ly comfortable with the idea, then
the $ob is yo!rs. I wo!ld need an ass!rance that I co!ld see yo! eery week.2
,ery week' ,en if the g!y was a little freaky, she co!ld get past it for fo!r
tho!sand extra dollars a month. /I don%t think that will be a problem. So, what
happens, do yo!8bite me' And then we do it' "r we do it and then82
/*o. I do not like to bite. It is not in ca!sing pain that I find en$oyment.2 )e
reached into his $acket and prod!ced a single, gleaming ra:or blade. /.!lie preferred
to c!t herself, b!t I can do it, if yo! find it diffic!lt. Some do.2
So, she wasn%t his only s!pplier. She wondered how many girls he had lined !p
for this $ob and tho!ght she sho!ld point o!t how astly !nsafe s!ch practices were.
She held her tong!e. A man like this, with his expensie s!its and palatial apartment,
co!ld afford clean tricks. /I think I%d rather do it. (on%t take it personally, it%s $!st
that I don%t know yo! well eno!gh yet to tr!st yo! with a sharp implement.2
)e la!ghed softly, and her stomach $!mped in response. She co!ld feel his
ga:e on her like a wae of heat searing to her bones. A client had neer affected her
this way before. She g!lped down half her glass of wine, personal r!les be damned,
and tried to get her head on straight. A fl!sh crept !p her skin like a feer, b!rned
thro!gh her like fire.
/Come here.2 )is softly spoken command sent electric shocks of aro!sal
thro!gh her eins, and she rose on trembling legs. She stood before him, looking
down as he st!died her face, time swelling aro!nd them !ntil she was s!re she wo!ld
scream $!st to break the tension. )e gest!red and said, simply, /Sit,2 and she fo!nd
herself in his lap, the ta!t m!scles of his thighs pressing into the backs of her legs as
he p!lled her to lie against his chest.
/The ra:or,2 she had the presence of mind to say and, before she co!ld panic at
the potential danger of the sit!ation, he pressed the flat of the blade into the palm of
her hand.
/(on%t c!t yo!rself,2 he warned, his lips moing like a phantom chill oer the
skin of her throat. /*ot yet.2
It sho!ldn%t be like this, she warned herself. It was her $ob to remain in control,
to gie a man his fantasy. It was her $ob. And still, as he tipped her head back to rest
on his sho!lder, stroking her throat with his long, gentle fingers, she wanted to
s!rrender that control, more than she%d eer wanted anything.
)is hand dropped to her thigh, where the red fabric of her skirt rode !p and he
helped its ascent. )is mo!th fastened at her neck, teeth gra:ed her skin. )is hands
b!nched on her skirt, raising it higher, fingers sliding oer the red silk of her panties,
now soaked to her skin. She moaned and writhed against him, pressing back against
the !nmistakable hard ridge of him beneath his tro!sers, and he whispered against her
ear, /*ow. (o it.2
The words shocked some sense into her, and with n!mb fingers she bro!ght the
blade to her neck. )is hand ca!ght her wrist. /*ot !nless yo! want to kill yo!rself,2
his dark oice scolded, and he bro!ght the hand gripping the blade to her wrist.
/)ere. *ot deep.2
She shook so badly he had to help her. The sting of the c!t p!lled a s!rprised
cry from her, b!t the pain disappeared !nder the shocking cold of his mo!th as he
fastened it to the c!t.
The room darkened before her eyes. )ad she c!t too deep' 7o!ld he notice
before it was too late' She tried to speak, b!t the darkness came oer her too #!ickly,
far too #!ickly to be bleeding to death. She knew what that was like, to be on the
edge of death. This was not the same, tho!gh it was $!st as terrifying. She was falling,
farther than the floor, and the monsters were on her.
"nly this time, they were real. Their teeth, their claws.
)er screams.
/Cassandra'2 9iktor shook her sho!lders gently. /Cassandra12
)is oice p!lled her iolently back to reality een as it echoed thro!gh her
nightmares. )ad she heard a oice in them before' It took her a moment to reali:e
that she still sat in his lap, his arms strong aro!nd her as he looked down at her with
eyes wide in concern. =ed stained his lower lip, and he h!rried to wrap a
handkerchief aro!nd her wrist. She smoothed her hair back with one hand, her head
po!nding like she%d $!st woken !p with the worst hangoer of her life. She p!shed
herself away and stood, trembling for a different reason now. /I%m sorry. I hae to
go.2
/6o! were screaming.2 )e followed her-he probably wo!ld neer want her
in his home again, and she didn%t blame him-!p the stairs to the foyer. /Are yo! all
right'2
Screaming' That was a new symptom she%d hae to tell (r. )olden. /I%m fine1
I $!st8I want to go.2
/6o! sho!ld wait,2 he said, tho!gh he helped her into her coat with trembling
hands. /I am afraid Anthony has gone for the night, so there is no car to take yo!
home-2
/I%ll get a cab.2 She searched for an eleator b!tton on the sleek black walls.
/<et me o!t of here12
/Cassandra,2 he began, b!t he did not finish. Instead he opened a panel on the
wall and called the eleator. /I sent .!lie%s payment to the cl!b. Shall I do the same
for yo!'2
)er money. (amn it. She hadn%t done the $ob, not to her satisfaction, certainly
not to his. /*o, I co!ldn%t accept it. It wo!ldn%t be fair.2
/It wo!ld not be fair to send yo! away witho!t payment,2 he co!ntered.
/Fine,2 she whispered. Anything to get her o!t of here, away from this g!y
who seemed stranger eery second. Anything to get home to the pills that wo!ldn%t
help her and the nightmares that at least kept their hands to themseles.
Before she co!ld stop herself, tears slid down her face and it was too late to
hide them.
/Cassandra, don%t go.2 )is ha!nted eyes p!lled at something in her heart, b!t
the monsters flashed thro!gh her mind again. The eleator doors opened and she
raced inside. She did not want to look back, b!t something p!lled her ga:e to the
doors. 9iktor stood, the shadows on his face deepened by the light oerhead, making
no moe to follow her. )e did not look away, een as the doors slid closed.
A tremor went thro!gh Cassie, one that did not stop shaking her limb from
limb, een after she%d r!n from the b!ilding and into the cold *ew 6ork winter.
Chapter Two
9iktor stood at the liing room windows, watching the s!n rise oer the
skyline. From his antage point he co!ld look oer the row of b!ildings s!rro!nding
the park and iew the way the s!nlight !nfolded like a golden blanket oer the hidden
green $ewel of the city. )e !s!ally en$oyed this morning rit!al, b!t today he hated it.
)e hated knowing that she was o!t there somewhere, alone and afraid, and he had not
done what he%d needed to do to reass!re her.
)e had seen her sorrow the moment he%d tasted her blood. )orrific isions of
blood and twisted metal, memories of !nimaginable pain. And >inions. She knew of
them, their blank faces deoid of h!manity, their spirits f!eled by iolence. If she
hadn%t left, he was not s!re he co!ld hae made loe to her anyway. @nowing the
pain she was in, tasting her fear, it wo!ld hae damaged his h!manity, not restored it.
)e tightened his grip on the crystal glass in his hand and it shattered, raining
droplets of !nfinished blood to the floor.
/Shall I clean that !p for yo!, >r. *ootny'2 Anthony already moed to wipe
the blood off the black marble before waiting for a reply.
/6o!%re s!ch a considerate $ailer.2 )e ch!ckled. For the past thirty years,
Anthony had shadowed 9iktor%s eery step in the g!ise of being an incredibly
solicito!s personal assistant. >ost of the time, he f!lfilled his role ery well, b!t
9iktor knew the man ga!ged his eery step, determining if today wo!ld be the day he
had to sink a stake in his back.
9iktor let the man beliee that he wo!ld be physically able to accomplish s!ch
a feat. /And how are my friends at the Conclae'2
/(edicated to wiping o!t yo!r entire species. I sent them a glowing report
regarding yo!r8longeity. 6o! may wish to step back from the window, sir. The
light is getting ery close.2
=epressing a heay sigh, 9iktor flipped the switch on the wall that wo!ld
lower the blinds. Anthony followed him to the bar, where 9iktor wiped his bloodied
hand on one of the pristine white bar towels. )e tossed it into the sink, knowing
Anthony wo!ld come back for it later and fret oer it the entire time it sat !ntended.
/(o not mention Cassandra to the Conclae. She has nothing to do with them.2
/(oesn%t she'2 Anthony shr!gged. /If yo! insist. I find what yo!%e told me of
her isions rather s!spect.2
/She is not one of !s, nor will she be.2 An almost painf!l determination
tightened his m!scles at the words, as tho!gh he were tensed to take action. )e
sho!ld not hae told Anthony abo!t her ision. 9iktor c!rsed himself for his
st!pidity. /I do not know how she knows of >inions, b!t I will find o!t. ;erhaps a
simple hypnosis will c!re her of her memories.2
/6o! may try. I will act according to my ow to the Conclae, 9iktor.2
9iktor nodded, not wishing to rehash old enmity. /See to the deal with
7hitehall and Barnes. They insisted on a l!nch meeting at their downtown offices.2
/They think they%ll p!t the cra:y sh!t&in at a disadantage.2 Anthony shook his
head and ch!ckled. /7ill there be anything else before yo! retire'2
/*o, thank yo!.2 Tho!gh he sho!ld hae seen to his other h!nger, he needed to
be left alone with his tho!ghts. )e co!ld not examine them freely while Anthony was
there, reading eery emotion that crossed his face. 7hile the Conclae monitored his
eery moe, waiting for the day he wo!ld lose his h!manity and become a >inion, he
walked a fine line.
7hen Anthony had gone, 9iktor crossed the liing room to sit in the chair he%d
occ!pied the night before. Closing his eyes, he felt Cassandra%s firm body beneath his
hands, heard her soft moans as she had gien herself oer to him completely. The
memories enflamed him, b!t he co!ld not concern himself with carnal desires now,
een at the cost of the slier of h!manity s!ch an ind!lgence wo!ld hae bro!ght
him. *ot with so many !nanswered #!estions, and an innocent h!man life hanging in
the balance.
)ow had Cassandra known of >inions' *o h!man who enco!ntered them
sho!ld hae s!ried. )e knew that well eno!gh8
Br!shing aside memories best left !nisited, he concentrated on the woman
who needed his help. The woman he co!ld not get o!t of his mind, who seemed
inextricably connected with the ghosts of his past. )e c!rsed his st!pidity alo!d and
stood, reaching into his collar for the ring he wore s!spended by a chain aro!nd his
neck. The moment his fingers closed on the slender band, his mind calmed. )e
credited >elina%s spirit with the transformation. >omentary tho!gh it might be, it
proided a welcome respite from the darkness that p!lled his h!manity away by
shreds.
A shock ripped his tran#!ility from him. The gentle a!ra that >elina%s memory
bro!ght to him was so familiar, he hadn%t #!estioned its presence the night before.
B!t it had been there when he%d fed from Cassandra.
)is heart sei:ed, and he flattened the ring to his flesh. It was not possible. )e
probed his memory for any tho!ght he might hae had that wo!ld hae con$!red s!ch
a feeling, b!t his mind had been fixed on Cassandra, on her body and her blood and
the l!st that had raged thro!gh his eins as he%d held her. Shamef!lly, >elina had
been the f!rthest thing from his mind.
In the back of his mind, he still felt Cassandra. The act of feeding forged a
connection, one she wo!ld be wholly obliio!s to, b!t too keen on his end to ignore.
)er conf!sion and despair were palpable, and he blamed himself. If he had only
known-
There had been no way to know, he reasoned, sh!tting down the g!ilt that
wo!ld do him no good now. ?s!ally once he%d fed from a h!man and made loe to
them, the r!sh of h!manity he%d ac#!ired blocked that predator instinct to sense his
prey. B!t since she%d r!n off witho!t completing the feeding, all he co!ld do was wait
!ntil she came seeking answers, and make s!re she didn%t do anything foolish in the
meantime.
Cassie called in sick to work. In the past, she hadn%t been able to shake the
dreams made !p of teeth and fangs and scenes from the accident. *ow, the monsters
and memories stalked her in the daylight, $oined by the b!rning imprint of 9iktor%s
hands she co!ld still feel on her body.
She%d tried calling (r. )olden, b!t !ltimately hadn%t been able to tell him the
whole story. )ow wo!ld it hae so!nded' /I met a man who makes my nightmares
worse. )e makes them real. And yes, I am ready to go to the asyl!m now.2
B!t there was no other explanation for what had happened. To!ching him had
made her nightmares materiali:e o!t of thin air. *o, not to!ching him8being
to!ched by him.
*o other client had eer bro!ght her to her knees the way he had. >aybe that
was scarier than her nightmares.
Sitting !p in her bed, she reached for her bottle of pills and swallowed two,
then screwed on the cap and set them in their place on her nightstand. She got to her
feet and h!rried across the cold, wooden floor to the bathroom. The st!dio apartment
was small and !s!ally drafty, b!t it had become the only place in the world where
Cassie felt safe. )er twin bed $!st fit in the bay window, and she woke most
mornings to m!lti&colored light streaming from the s!ncatchers and prisms she%d
h!ng. )er small teleision perched on the ledge of a bookshelf, and a second&hand
desk sered as a dresser and anity. The rest of her clothes st!ffed the little closet and
one c!pboard in the tiny kitchen. It was small, b!t it was her sanct!ary. *ow, she
didn%t feel safe.
She leaned against the sink and splashed cold water on her face, her eyes fixed
miserably on her own reflection. 7hat was she doing, letting a client get to her this
way' >onsters didn%t exist. She was sick, and it had nothing to do with the man
she%d met the night before. She needed to take her pills and go back to bed for a long,
long time. She co!ld make a new plan tomorrow.
7ith a f!ll glass of water from the sink in the bathroom, Cassandra ret!rned to
her bed. She climbed in, popped the top off her pill bottle, took o!t two and g!lped
them down.
A growing sense of !nease dogged 9iktor !ntil nightfall. Two ho!rs past
s!nset, he ca!ght himself pacing in front of the windows.
/I%m sorry, >r. *ootny, b!t there was no answer.2 Anthony descended the
stairs, sliding a cell phone into his $acket pocket.
9iktor frowned at the cars gliding so!ndlessly below. )e did not know where
Cassandra was, b!t he knew she was in the city. )e felt it in the lingering bond
between them. That it had lasted this long was !ncommon eno!gh. That he co!ld
sense she was in danger was !nthinkable.
/)ae yo! tried the cl!b'2 It was a grasp at straws, he knew.
Anthony raised an eyebrow. /Is there a reason it has to be this partic!lar girl'2
/.!st try them, please,2 9iktor implored. )e t!rned back to the city beyond the
windows, not bothering to listen to the conersation. )is hand slipped into the collar
of his shirt for the steadying weight of the ring.
/All they can tell me is that Cassandra is not working tonight,2 Anthony said
after he%d h!ng !p. /If that%s een her real name.2
/Thank yo!, Anthony.2 ;erhaps 9iktor had imagined it all. 7as this the
beginning of the madness that wo!ld transform him from ampire to >inion' )e
swallowed a l!mp of sorrow and closed his eyes.
/6o! know yo! get like this if yo! don%t finish yo!r feeding.2 Anthony
!nfastened and refastened the c!ffs of his $acket. /All paranoid and shaky. If yo!
need me to bring yo! another girl-2
9iktor waed his hand. /It does not work that way.2
/I co!ld send the car for ,lliot,2 Anthony s!ggested. 9iktor shook his head. )e
didn%t want to feed. That wasn%t what droe him to seek o!t Cassandra. )e wanted to
be s!re she was safe, and at the moment he co!ldn%t conince himself that she was.
/6o!%re tired,2 he said #!ietly to his $ailerAassistant. /0o home.2
The h!man wasn%t a fool. )e didn%t moe from his spot.
/I swear to yo!, I do not wish to harm anyone tonight. >yself incl!ded. 6o!r
serices will not be re#!ired before s!n!p, at least.2 7itho!t waiting for a reply,
9iktor headed to his office. Sleek and black as the rest of the apartment, the office
was dominated by a large desk with a top&of&the&line comp!ter. Technology neer
ceased to ama:e 9iktor as he%d watched it change oer the years. )e typed !p an
email to his company%s most s!ccessf!l skip&tracer and, within an ho!r, had
Cassandra%s home address in his inbox. The man wo!ld be rewarded handsomely.
)e%d dismissed Anthony. (amn1 Conclae spy tho!gh he was, Anthony was
his drier. 9iktor had neer bothered to learn. )e s#!ared his sho!lders. It co!ldn%t
be that diffic!lt if so many people had mastered it. )e went to the closet&si:ed office
Anthony kept on the second floor near the eleator, took the keys to his least&
extraagant car and rode down to the garage. After some minor diffic!lty shifting
gears with the two paddles attached to the steering wheel, the Aston&>artin 9antage
-and its cl!msy drier-l!rched from the garage.
The 0;S and a healthy dose of l!ck helped him arrie safely in B!eens, where
he p!lled to a stop in front of a storefront deli that had closed for the night. Aboe
that, 9iktor reali:ed, was Cassie%s apartment.
She didn%t answer the b!::er and her windows were dark. Tho!gh common
sense told him that she simply wasn%t home, his !ncanny sense arg!ed otherwise.
Checking the street to be certain he wo!ld not be seen, he leapt to the second story,
perching on the ledge o!tside her window. )is heart $!mped into his throat at what he
saw inside. Cassandra, lying face down on the floor, her legs tangled in bedclothes
that had tripped her when she%d risen from her bed. A cordless phone lay in pieces
beside her, broken in the fall, and a bottle of pills sat open on the nightstand.
7itho!t thinking, he p!nched his fist thro!gh the glass and !nlocked the
window. )e opened it and crawled inside and oer the bed to kneel beside her on the
floor. )e called her name and shook her sho!lder, b!t she did not ro!se. 9omit caked
her hair and pooled on the floor beneath her. ;ressing his fingers to her neck, he felt
for a p!lse. It was there, weak, b!t she lied.
)ad she done this intentionally' The tho!ght was like a physical blow. Tho!gh
he did not know her well, he knew the terror l!rking inside of her and the desperation
it bro!ght. The tho!ght of another s!ffering as he had for so many years8
The moment he lifted her in his arms, his despair fled. As #!ickly and easily as
if he held >elina in his arms again, he felt h!man. )e slid Cassandra onto the bed
and went to the small washroom to find something to clean her !p. A small hand
towel h!ng beside the sink, and he wetted it before ret!rning to bathe her face and
neck. The T&shirt she wore was sodden with omit. )e tore it down the front and slid
her arms from it, mentally scolding himself for the reaction the sight of her naked
body ca!sed in him.
,en in her !nconscio!s and serio!sly ill state, she was bea!tif!l. )er
eyelashes, !ncoated in mascara, lay soft and red as her hair against her freckled
cheeks. Tho!gh her head lolled !ns!pported, the angle only accent!ated her gracef!l
neck. )e co!ld hae admired her all night, !ntil he noticed that her f!ll, nat!ral
breasts and firm, toned stomach were coered in gooseflesh, her nipples p!ckered
against the cold. )e coered her with the thin #!ilt folded oer the end of the bed,
then picked !p the prescription bottle. )e didn%t recogni:e the name of the dr!g.
/Anthony,2 he barked into his cell phone the moment the man answered. /Find
o!t what yo! can abo!t a dr!g called-2 )e so!nded the word o!t, then spelled it,
hoping that wo!ld be s!fficient for his assistant.
/(o yo! need me'2 Anthony asked. /If the girl is in some kind of tro!ble, yo!
need to call C44.2
/I don%t know if she%s in tro!ble. ;lease, $!st get me the information.2 )e
wo!ld do whateer it took to see that she s!ried. Something abo!t her was linked
to him, and he co!ld not see her die before he fo!nd o!t what it was.
In her dreams, Cassandra was no longer fighting monsters. Instead, she fo!ght
the temptation to let her heart stop beating, her l!ngs to cease filling with breath. It
was as if she were drowning, oer and oer, and each time she began to p!ll herself
aboe water, she wo!ld slip.
)is oice was there, most dist!rbing of all. Telling her to calm herself, that she
was safe. She did not do!bt that she was safe from the moment she heard his oice,
b!t een on the edge of death she had eno!gh sense to know that something abo!t
him was strange, too strange to be tr!sted. All thro!gh the night, she fo!ght her
body%s wish to die and her brain%s insistence to wake, s!spended in an in&between
world with a man she did not know and who co!ldn%t be there.
7ith a strangled cry, she sat !p, s!ddenly loosed from the medicated grasp of
sleep. She felt her face, her hair, then felt for the phone. She%d had it in her hand $!st
a moment ago, to call for help. She patted the bed, her hand coming to rest on another
hand, a cold hand, lying atop the bedclothes. 7ith a scream, she l!rched away from
the fig!re who straightened himself, casting bleary eyes aro!nd the room.
/Cassandra,2 9iktor breathed. /Thank 0od.2
)e sat beside the bed on the stool that !s!ally stood before her anity. )is
shirt, blindingly white in the dark, was r!mpled and the sleees rolled back. )is pale
forearms had pillowed his head on the edge of the bed. )e looked as tho!gh he%d
been there all night.
/7hat are yo! doing here'2 she shrieked, reaching for something, anything, to
throw at him. It was a gross inasion of priacy for him to walk into her home and sit
beside her as she slept and-
)er hand closed on the bottle of pills, and she remembered.
/I almost didn%t get here in time,2 he said, his oice hoarse. /I%m glad yo!
called me.2
/I didn%t call yo!,2 she snapped, b!t she co!ldn%t remember. She%d had the
phone in her hand, hadn%t she' 7here was it now'
/6o! m!st hae broken it when yo! fell, beca!se the line went dead,2 he
explained patiently, scooping !p broken plastic pieces off her anity. /I don%t think
yo!%ll be able to fix it.2
/B!t why wo!ld I hae called yo!'2 she asked, not that he wo!ld know the
answer. )er mortification grew by the second. She%d called him, despite barely
knowing him, which showed she was, like, obsessed with him or something. And he
was a client. ?nprofessional on so many leels. /I%m so sorry, I wo!ld neer-2
)e waed a hand. /*onsense. I co!ld tell from yo!r oice that something was
wrong and came straight oer. 7hat on earth were yo! doing, Cassandra'2
She closed her eyes and shook her head. /I don%t know. It was an accident.2
It had been an accident, hadn%t it' She scrolled thro!gh the eents of the night
in her mind. She%d taken too many pills, she knew that well eno!gh. 7hen she%d
reali:ed her mistake, she%d tried to call for help8b!t had it really been a mistake'
7hy hadn%t she called C44' 7hy hadn%t she gotten real help, instead of calling a
client who might not hae bothered to come to her aid at all' )ad she really wanted
to die'
/I am glad to hear that,2 he said, his soft accent making the words so!nd more
intimate than they really were. )e ran his fingers thro!gh his m!ssed white hair, a
gest!re he m!st hae performed co!ntless times while she%d slept. The top b!ttons of
his shirt were open, reealing the pale flesh beneath, and the sight held Cassie%s ga:e
for longer than she meant it to.
/7hy did yo! come'2 She s#!ee:ed her eyes sh!t in embarrassment. /I meant,
why wo!ld yo! bother' I called yo!, so I obio!sly wanted yo! to come here. B!t
yo! don%t know me. 7hy wo!ld yo! take the time'2
)e shifted on the stool, stretching one long leg o!t, then the other. /I don%t
know. I think if I were in need of help, I wo!ld want someone to come to my aid.2
A rich, powerf!l man like 9iktor *ootny coming down from his iory tower
to help her' She hated herself for being so $aded, b!t she co!ldn%t help b!t feel there
wo!ld be some kind of !lterior motie woen in to this act of kindness. 7ith his
type, there always was. /7ell, thank yo!. I think I%ll be okay now.2
/6o! wish for me to go'2 he asked !ncertainly, as tho!gh he wanted to stay
here in her apartment that smelled like p!ke and was probably smaller than his g!est
bathroom at home. There definitely was something weird abo!t this g!y.
She smiled weakly and nodded. /(on%t worry, I won%t call yo! again.2
/If yo! need anything,2 he said, reaching to p!t one hand on her arm. The
shrieks of the monsters filled her ears, and she flinched from him. )is eyes clo!ded
with h!rt.
/I%m sorry, I%m $!st8$!mpy. ;robably the dr!gs wearing off.2 She shr!gged,
knowing she was a good liar who had $!st had a rare slip !p.
)e swallowed, the so!nd a!dible, the way his throat moed looking almost
painf!l. /I know that yo! are tro!bled-2
/It was an accident,2 she snapped.
/And I beliee yo!.2 )e hesitated. /I know yo! hae8nightmares. ,pisodes,
perhaps' (!ring yo!r waking ho!rs, as yo! did at my apartment'2
)er cheeks b!rned, and she knew he co!ld see the embarrassment written on
her face. /*o. That neer happened before. I was kind of thinking yo! had something
to do with it.2
/>e'2
0od, how co!ld she do this when the g!y had $!st saed her life' Self-
preservation, thats how. /6eah. )ow do I know that wine yo! gae me wasn%t
dr!gged'2
)e leaned forward. /6o! think I wo!ld hae to dr!g yo!'2
)is entire being, from the looming expanse of his broad sho!lders to the dark
promise of sed!ction in his deep oice, ca!sed sparks of awareness to race thro!gh
her, b!t she wo!ldn%t show it. She flipped her hair oer her sho!lder and shot back,
/7hat, beca!se I%m a prostit!te' 6o! don%t need to dr!g me, yo! can $!st throw a
wad of cash at me and my panties will fall off'2
/*o.2 )e leaned closer. Their noses almost to!ched. If she had wanted to, she
co!ld hae br!shed her lips against his. )e contin!ed, in a oice eery bit as deep
and dark as her most erotic daydreams. /I wo!ld not hae to dr!g yo! beca!se if I
wished to sed!ce yo!, I wo!ld. I co!ld do things to yo! that wo!ld make yo! beg for
it, Cassandra. I co!ld gie yo! pleas!re like yo!%e neer felt in yo!r life, and by the
time I was finished, yo! wo!ld be screaming my name.2
She cleared her throat to hide the h!ge g!lp of air she took. She%d had a taste of
him already, and knew with aching certainty that he co!ld make good on his threat.
As m!ch as she hated herself for admitting it, a part of her wanted him to. /7ell, I%m
glad yo! think so. B!t I%m not interested. (on%t call me, don%t contact me thro!gh the
cl!b, don%t eer come here again. (o yo! !nderstand'2
)e straightened, looking as tho!gh he%d s!ddenly remembered his
s!rro!ndings. )e fastened the top two b!ttons of his shirt, his face so deoid of
emotion that he appeared almost alien. /6es, of co!rse. I !nderstand perfectly. 0ood
night, then.2
"nly after he%d collected his $acket and left did Cassie notice the broken
window pane.
Chapter Three
For three nights, Cassandra didn%t sleep. She didn%t take her pills. She sat !p in
bed, staring at the cardboard she%d taped oer the hole in the window. =ationally, she
knew that if a window hadn%t kept him o!t in the first place, a broken window
wo!ldn%t make m!ch difference in him getting in, b!t cold logic wo!ldn%t set her at
ease. Constant s!reillance at least gae her some charade of control.
)ow had he fo!nd her' She was certain she hadn%t called him, after she saw
the broken window. )ad he intended to, what, attack her' @ill her' B!t then he%d
stayed and n!rsed her thro!gh an oerdose. Those didn%t seem like the actions of a
cold&hearted m!rderer. ,ery time she tried to conince herself otherwise, she
remembered the way he%d fallen asleep at her bedside, waiting for a sign that she was
all right. "f co!rse, she wo!ld hae been better off in a hospital, b!t they might hae
locked her !p for attempting s!icide. A rich, smart g!y like 9iktor wo!ld hae
known that. >aybe he hadn%t called for help beca!se he wanted to protect her.
She forced that notion from her mind. It bordered on something almost
romantic, and she definitely didn%t need to be mooning away her life in day dreams
abo!t a client, een if that client set her blood on fire $!st from being near her. She
shiered at the memory of the sens!al threat he%d deliered before storming o!t of
her apartment. There was no do!bt in her mind that he co!ld really do those things,
make her scream with pleas!re and beg for more. Chills raced oer her skin at the
tho!ght of those elegant hands stroking her, her skin fl!shed and perspiring.
She had to stop this. It was one thing to fantasi:e abo!t a client, another to
fantasi:e abo!t the g!y who%d broken into her place. )ow on earth had he gotten !p
to her second&floor window' Someone wo!ld hae noticed a g!y with a ladder on the
street in the middle of the night, right' Briefly, she%d considered reporting the
incident to 3&4&5. They%d make s!re he stayed far, far away from her. She%d changed
her mind when she tho!ght abo!t what might happen to him. ,en if he had broken
into her apartment, she co!ldn%t deal with any more blood on her hands.
She co!ldn%t stay in her apartment foreer, and she co!ldn%t call in to work
foreer. She made an appointment with one of her easiest&to&please clients, a
nebbishy thirty&fie&year&old who was set for life owing to the sale of the Internet
search engine he%d created at twenty&fo!r. )e worked late-whateer someone
worked on once they were independently wealthy-and wanted to meet after dinner.
Fine by Cassie. The longer she stayed awake, the better.
As if her retreat from life had proided respite for the weather, as well, Cassie
stepped o!t onto a sidewalk wet with melting snow. The smell of spring rain in the
city played tricks on her. )ad she been cooped !p for fie days or fie months' It
sho!ld hae been pleasant on the street, b!t her ga:e was drawn away from the last,
retreating dregs of winter to the sleek black car parked on the opposite c!rb. A
>aybach D5 S. Cassandra was no stranger to expensie carsE this one didn%t belong in
her neighborhood.
She started to walk slowly, checking oer her sho!lder only once to see if the
car moed. It did, a slow, menacing crawl. The glare from the street lights created an
impenetrable reflection on the windshield. She co!ld not see who droe, b!t she
knew who wo!ld be in the back, watching her. 9iktor.
A tho!sand women%s self&defense classes came thro!gh her mind, b!t she
co!ldn%t remember any tips for hiding from a ehicle that was clearly following yo!.
)er first instinct was to d!ck into the narrow alley !p ahead, and she followed that
instinct.
The moment she eered off the sidewalk, into the space between the two
b!ildings like the walls of a coffin, she knew she had made the wrong choice. A
shock of fear stiffened her spine, the kind that gripped her in her nightmares.
Something moed in the darkness at the back of the alley. Nothing. Its nothing. She
rolled her neck, staring !p at the patch of sky, tinged orange with light poll!tion, that
she co!ld see between the rooftops.
A hiss, a flash of fangs, and the creat!res from her nightmares were falling,
teeth bared, to the paement all aro!nd her.
/I%m dreaming1 I%m dreaming12 she shrieked oer and oer, sinking to her
knees as the ring of them closed aro!nd her, their freakishly long arms and blank,
white faces closing her in. She co!ldn%t watch, s#!ee:ed her eyes sh!t tight and
coered her ears to block o!t the so!nd of their harsh, drooling respirations in her
ears.
It seemed years !ntil one of them to!ched her, its talons scraping her wrist. She
tried to scream, b!t the terror fro:e her l!ngs. This was how she wo!ld die, then+ on
her knees in an alley, o!t of her mind, killed by a hall!cination that seemed so real it
stopped her heart.
Something growled beside her ear, b!t instinct told her it was not one of the
creat!res. It was an oddly familiar so!nd, and she stopped cowering long eno!gh to
catch sight of its so!rce.
9iktor, his white hair and skin glowing in the darkness, stood beside her, his
hand at one of the creat!res% throats. It thrashed its arms and legs, snapped its strange,
wide $aws. The other creat!res stood back, defensie, their mo!ths stretched into
eerie grimaces oer their long, pointed teeth.
7ith a $erking motion, 9iktor lifted the creat!re he held and smashed it
straight down, into the paement. The gro!nd seemed to part like water aro!nd the
body, and a shockwae r!mbled beneath them as 9iktor t!rned for the next one.
"ne of the creat!res darted o!t of its protectie stance and grabbed Cassie. She
fo!nd her l!ngs this time, and 9iktor whirled at her scream. )e #!ickly dispatched
the monster in his hands by breaking it oer his knee like sticks for a fire and l!nged
for the one that held Cassie.
In her life, she%d seen plenty of angry people. )er parents, the $!dge, ,mily%s
parents. )erself, as she%d screamed obscenities at her own reflection.
She%d neer seen anyone as angry as 9iktor when the creat!re laid its hands on
her.
0rasping each of the monster%s arms, he twisted the limbs in opposite
directions !ntil bone snapped and broke thro!gh the r!bbery skin of the thing%s
sho!lders. It howled, and its cry so!nded like wind blasting thro!gh the cracks in an
abandoned ho!se. Bringing !p his leg, 9iktor p!t one foot on the creat!re%s chest and
kicked. The beast flew into the b!ilding across the alley, connecting in a shower of
brick shrapnel. 9iktor still held its arms, now detached from the body, which
wriggled and went still, a bloody p!lp on the gro!nd.
)e sho!ted something at the remaining creat!res in a harsh, foreign lang!age,
and they cowered, hissing in one last display of braado before receding into the
darkness.
9iktor watched them for a moment, his chest heaing, then t!rned to Cassie.
/Cassandra, get in the car.2
"nly then did she notice Anthony standing patiently beside the >aybach at the
end of the alley. She was too n!mb, too frightened to arg!e, b!t she co!ldn%t #!ite
moe. 9iktor p!lled her to her feet, looped one arm aro!nd her and t!cked her close
to his chest as he helped her st!mble toward the car.
/(rie !s home,2 he ordered Anthony in a low oice, then slid into the car
beside her. )e laid a hand on her knee, and it was cold thro!gh her $eans. /Are yo!
all right'2
She nodded st!pidly. "f co!rse she wasn%t all right. *othing was all right.
,ither the monsters of her dreams were real or 9iktor was part of her hall!cination.
In either case, she was cra:y, and she had no cl!e how long she%d been that way.
For a long time, she said nothing, and he did not try to engage her. She stared
o!t the window, imagining that all of the people on the sidewalks wo!ld t!rn to her
with blank faces and yellow teeth. A woman $!ggled a paper bag of groceries on her
arm, and Cassie watched with terrori:ed fascination, waiting for her to expose her
startling lack of feat!res. 7hen she did t!rn her head, she was only another h!man
being, b!t Cassie still startled.
Finally, she had the co!rage to ask 9iktor. /7hat were those things'2
/9ampires.2 The word was hard and !napologetic.
She nodded again, content to withdraw and contin!e staring o!t the dark&tinted
glass as she slowly lost her mind.
9iktor was not as content to let her. /It was my fa!lt. >y mark is on yo! now,
from feeding. They can track yo!, as they can track me.2
/6o!r mark'2 Cassandra shook her head. /(id yo! know that wo!ld happen to
me' That monsters wo!ld try to attack me' And yo! drank my blood anyway'2
.es!s, what was she saying' She co!ldn%t possibly beliee a word he had to
say.
/?s!ally, it does not happen this way. If we had-2
/7hy wo!ld they be tracking yo!' They%re my nightmares. I%e been
dreaming abo!t them my whole life.2 7ell, not her whole life. ,er since the
accident. B!t she didn%t feel like rehashing those details with a stranger.
/They%re tracking me beca!se they wish to make me one of them.2 )e cleared
his throat and looked away, o!t the window, as tho!gh he were ashamed to meet her
eyes. /I hae taken a life before, o!t of h!nger. It fract!red my so!l, as s!ch an act
always does, and they are8attracted to that kind of despair. I carry a scent that is
irresistible to >inions. 7hen I fed off yo!, it mingled o!r essences. If we had8
finished o!r b!siness together, the h!manity restored to me thro!gh the act wo!ld
hae lessened my connection to yo!. B!t I let yo! leae my apartment. Then,
st!pidly, I led them to yo!r home.2 )e looked o!t his own window, hopelessness
lining his face. /I sho!ld hae known better.2
An angry la!gh b!rst from her throat. /Abo!t what' Abo!t ampires'2
/6es, abo!t ampires.2
The a!thority with which he spoke was dangero!s, p!lled Cassie in, made her
want to beliee eery word he said. 6et her brain ref!sed to adapt to this new and
abs!rd reality. /6o! can%t $!st say that to me. >y life can%t be part of yo!r sick
fantasies. There isn%t eno!gh money in the world to-2
/7hat do yo! think they were, then'2 he asked calmly, c!tting her off as
tho!gh he were a patient father dealing with a toddler%s screaming tantr!m.
The monsters from her nightmares were ampires. "r >inions or whateer.
They existed, like h!mans and dogs and cats and trees. And not $!st tonight. ;robably
foreer. And she%d neer had a cl!e, besides her dreams.
Tho!gh she wasn%t s!re she wanted to know the answer, she asked him
anyway. /7hat are yo!' 7hy co!ld yo! fight those things the way yo! did'2
)e let go of her hand then, as if s!ddenly !ncomfortable with their closeness.
/I am a ampire.2
Conf!sion sp!rred her c!riosity on. /B!t those things were ampires. If yo!%re
the same8species-2
/7e are not the same12 )is oice was too lo!d, een in the spacio!s interior of
the car. )e took a deep breath and contin!ed, more gently, /A new ampire possesses
all the instincts of an animal. If he s!ppresses those instincts-to h!nt and kill-then
he will retain his h!manity. For a little while, anyway. Those that seek only to satisfy
their h!nger do not. They become >inions. The ones that attacked yo! are little more
than animals, and they wo!ld hae killed yo! had I not interened.2
/)ow did yo! know they wo!ld come for me'2 If it was him, if something in
him had tainted her, was she8oh, 0od, she co!ldn%t be-
/6o! are not one of !s. I swear to yo!, I wo!ld neer8not witho!t some8
ass!rance82 )e shook his head, as if to clear it. /They en$oy the despair. The smell,
the taste. And yo! hae a limitless well of that inside of yo!. "nly the blind and
mortal wo!ld not see that. The look in yo!r eyes.2 )e to!ched her face, his fingers
c!ring oer her $aw. /6o! do not look like yo!rself this way.2
/)ow do yo! know what I%m s!pposed to look like'2 She p!shed his hand
away. /6o! don%t know me.2
)e closed his eyes briefly, sorrow crimping the space between his eyebrows.
7hen he ret!rned to the moment, the sadness in his expression was all for her. /They
co!ld not resist. I sho!ld hae known better than to leae yo!.2
They p!lled !p o!tside of 9iktor%s b!ilding. />r. *ootny, yo!%re all clear,2
Anthony said oer the intercom.
/7e sho!ld walk #!ickly. (o not r!n. If any are near, r!nning will attract their
attention.2 9iktor reached for the door.
/7ait, $!st wait.2 She dropped her head to her hands. /I%m sorry, I can%t8
(rie me home. I can%t get wrapped !p in whateer weird game it is yo!%re playing.2
/It is not a game.2 Something in his oice had changed. It was still deep and
gentle, b!t command warped the edges. /6o! will not be safe on yo!r own. Come
!pstairs, where I can protect yo!.2
She wanted to arg!e, b!t she co!ldn%t find the words. ,en if she co!ld hae,
she co!ldn%t hae said them. (espite her fear-of him, of the creat!res he was s!re
had followed them-she slid from the car, let him p!t his arm aro!nd her sho!lders
and g!ide her into the b!ilding, into the eleator, straight to his pentho!se tomb. She
had no choice. It was as if her body had decided, independently of her mind, to obey
him.
"nce they were o!t of the eleator and standing in the marble foyer, the mental
paralysis lost its hold, and rage sei:ed her.
Before she co!ld !tter a word, he held !p a hand. /I am sorry. I promise I will
not !se s!ch a cheap trick again.2
/Trick'2 She t!rned to the eleator, pressed the b!tton f!rio!sly. /That wasn%t
a trick1 That was a iolation1 ;eople don%t $!st do that, they don%t $!st get to-2
/6o! are right,2 he said, lo!d eno!gh to break thro!gh her angry tirade. Then,
softer, /People do not do that.2
The cold shock was like ice water p!mping thro!gh her eins. She t!rned to
face him. She%d neer seen eyes so sad, an expression so despondent.
6es, she had.
She t!rned to her reflection in the polished black marble wall. The image was
distorted, twisting her face into a pale sk!ll with s!nken eyes. She saw it again, in the
floor.
And in the black marble world at her feet, her reflection was alone.
She walked to him, looking at the walls, the floor, the gleaming br!shed&metal
of the eleator doors. *o hint that he stood there except his act!al, physical presence.
She came close eno!gh to to!ch him, and did, pressing her palm to the side of his
cold face. /6o! don%t hae a reflection.2
/It makes it easier to stalk prey.2 )e gae her a grim smile. /I hae lost too
m!ch h!manity to hae retained something so !nnecessary as my reflection.2
Tho!gh his statement thoro!ghly creeped her o!t, she co!ldn%t moe her hand
from him. >aybe there really was some kind of connection between them, like he
said. She co!ldn%t stop staring into his eyes, despite the limitless well of pain she saw
there. /6o! really are8what yo! say yo! are.2
)e leaned into her to!ch, took a breath that so!nded like a sob. 7hen he
spoke, tho!gh, his words were controlled, almost polite. /6es. A ampire.2
)is hand capt!red hers and p!lled it to his lips. For a weird, frightening
moment she tho!ght he wo!ld bite her. Instead, he kissed her palm on the fleshy pad
below her th!mb. Before she co!ld react, his other arm snaked aro!nd her waist,
p!lled her tight to him, and he coered her mo!th with his. )e was h!ngry, desperate,
his hands sliding to her sho!lders, then down, capt!ring her arms to her sides,
releasing her the next moment.
It had been years since Cassie had been kissed like this, like a woman and not
an employee. The caref!lly drawn lines she%d p!t down for herself in black and white
faded to gray and disappeared altogether. It was dangero!s, angering, een, that he
co!ld do s!ch a thing.
B!t this was not another of his hypnotic tricks. >addening tho!gh it was, she
co!ld not resist. She opened her mo!th !nder his, fo!nd herself $!st as wild and
desperate as him. She wo!nd her arms aro!nd his neck and rose on the tips of her
toes, not close eno!gh and too close at the same time. )is hands smoothed her shirt
tight against her back, then b!nched the fabric in his fingers, slid !nder to s!ddenly
hot skin beneath, tracing down her spine, fingertips dipping into the waistband of her
$eans.
Someone cleared their throat, and 9iktor%s hands immediately moed to
smooth his $acket as he stepped back from her. Anthony stood in the foyer, a
respectf!l distance from them. /I%m sorry for my interr!ption, >r. *ootny. Is there
anything else yo!%ll need tonight'2
/*o, thank yo!, Anthony. 0ood night.2
)e nodded toward Cassie. /7ill the lady be needing a ride home'2
/0ood night, Anthony.2 9iktor%s oice was firmer, and he waited !ntil the man
entered the eleator and the doors had closed behind him before he spoke again.
/I apologi:e for my behaior.2 )e !nb!ttoned and re&b!ttoned his $acket as he
spoke, tho!gh it hadn%t been r!mpled. /It was not8 I did not mean to make yo!
!ncomfortable.2
/6o! don%t hae to apologi:e,2 she said #!ickly. /I don%t !s!ally do8that.
,ither.2
They stood in silence, looking anywhere b!t at each other, tho!gh Cassie stole
a glance or two to try and discern what he was thinking. )ad that been another mind
trick' The sensible thing wo!ld hae been to blame it on that, b!t the tr!th was, she%d
lost control, $!st as he had.
/I hae #!estions,2 she asked after what seemed like a long time, hoping to
ret!rn the moment to ne!tral gro!nd.
/All right.2 )e r!bbed his hands together as tho!gh he anticipated her
#!estions happily. )is s!dden shift in mood only highlighted the awkwardness of
their sit!ation, an oddly endearing reaction in Cassie%s mind. )e placed a hand on her
elbow to steer her from the foyer to the staircase, and his to!ch sent a shock of
awareness thro!gh her. Strangely, the cra:y glass stairs and di::ying height displayed
by the windows ahead didn%t seem as terrifying with him at her side.
)e led her to the co!ch and waited !ntil she had sat before seating himself in
the armchair ad$acent. /7o!ld yo! like to go first, or shall I'2
/I will,2 she said #!ickly. She hadn%t tho!ght he wo!ld want to know anything
abo!t her. *o one !s!ally did. /)ow old are yo!'2
/Forty&two,2 he answered a!tomatically, then corrected himself. /*o, no, yo!
wish to know abo!t-2
/Total,2 she prompted. /The total n!mber of years.2
/6es.2 )e tapped his finger against his lips, his brow creased in a frown. /I
was born in 4FF4. That wo!ld make me8one h!ndred and twenty&nine years old.2
She tried not to choke on her own spit. She%d expected him to be old. >aybe
een ancient. She%d been f!lly prepared to learn he was fie h!ndred. )earing it o!t
lo!d was a lot different than imagining it in yo!r head, tho!gh. />aybe I sho!ld hae
started with Gwhere are yo! from'%2
)e shook his head, making a cl!cking noise with his tong!e. /*o, no. It%s my
t!rn now. 7here are yo! from'2
She took a deep breath and tried to remember her therapist%s words. You do not
need to dislose what happened to an!one. You have a new life now, and !ouve paid
!our de"t to soiet!. You wont hurt an!one "! omitting the truth. ,asy eno!gh to say
when yo!%re being paid to, she g!essed. *ow was not the time to tell him, if she eer
told him at all. /I%m from Ari:ona.2
)is eyebrows shot !p at that. /Ari:ona, and yo! moed all the way to *ew
6ork' I%m impressed.2
She shr!gged. /(on%t be, it was $!st a plane ride. *ow, my t!rn. 7here are
!ou from'2
/The A!stro&)!ngarian ,mpire,2 he said, then he c!rsed !nder his breath.
/*o, I%m sorry. C:echosloakia.2
/The C:ech =ep!blic,2 she corrected him #!ietly. /Since the end of the cold
war.2
/Ah, yes. I hae not been back since I left there, and I m!st confess I hae not
always cared for politics.2 )e shr!gged. /I m!st now, for the sake of the company.
B!t it bores me. I let Anthony handle the details.2
/And yo! don%t miss yo!r home'2 If a news story came on related to her home
state, Cassie%s ears always perked !p, een tho!gh she didn%t want them to.
/There is nothing there for me,2 he said, with a harshness that shocked Cassie.
=ecoering his cool demeanor, he contin!ed, /B!t yo! spoke o!t of t!rn. I hae the
same #!estion for yo!.2
Cassie felt her heartbeat in her throat. /(o I miss my home' *o. *ot at all.2
)e smiled, slow and gen!ine. /I think we m!st be ery alike.2
/6o! mean besides the whole yo!%re&a&ampire thing'2 She snickered. /6eah,
I g!ess we%re a lot alike.2
In more wa!s than !ou know.
S!ddenly, it wasn%t f!nny anymore. *ot een in a grim, darkly h!moro!s way.
She closed her eyes and r!bbed her temples. /"h man, I am8so exha!sted.2
/It is the adrenaline wearing off. It is safer for yo! to stay here,2 he said, letting
o!t a long breath, as if bracing for an arg!ment. /I do not expect yo! to8f!lfill o!r
preio!s agreement while yo! are here tonight. B!t if yo! wish to be compensated
-2
/*o.2 She cleared her throat. /6o! saed my life.2
/Twice,2 he reminded her with a gentle smile. /It is late. <et me take yo! to
the g!est room.2
0!est room' They hadn%t been able to control themseles in the foyer, what
wo!ld happen when they were in a room with a bed' *othing, she resoled as she
followed 9iktor to a door that blended seamlessly into the marble wall.
/>y idea,2 he said with an embarrassed smile. /I greatly admire the secret
passages of Bond illain hideo!ts.2
7as that a $oke' )ad he $!st made a $oke' /I didn%t reali:e ampires had a
sense of h!mor.2
/(on%t tell anyone, it wo!ld r!in o!r collectie rep!tation.2 )e held open the
door for her, and she took a deep breath as she stepped past him. Into a secret
passageway, with a ampire. It was official. She had lost her mind.
The corridor they%d entered was as dark and ma!sole!m&like as the rest of the
ho!se. Sconces on the wall reflected shallow light off the black marble walls, b!t at
least the floor here was carpeted, a thick white pl!sh that wo!ld feel heaenly
barefoot. Thankf!lly the carpet contin!ed into the g!est room 9iktor opened for her.
/6o!r entire apartment makes me crae "reos,2 she said, wandering to the
king&si:ed bed in the center of the room, a mo!ntain of black pillows piled high !pon
the pristine white d!et coer.
)e followed her only a few steps, as tho!gh an inisible tether held him back.
/I co!ld call Anthony back to bring yo! some, if yo! wish. I can make him get yo!
almost anything. )e%s ery handy to keep aro!nd.2
She smiled at his $oke and shook her head, wondering what it wo!ld be like to
$!st order someone to get yo! cookies. (id people really do that kind of thing' 7as
Anthony an assistant, or was he a slae !nder hypnotic mind control' /*o, I%m not
h!ngry, act!ally.2
/7ell, if yo! are, or if yo! need anything else, don%t hesitate to ask. I owe yo!
yo!r comfort, since I hae ca!sed yo! all this tro!ble.2 )e motioned to the dresser.
/There are a few things in there yo! might find !sef!l. *ightclothes, !nderthings.2
/?nderthings'2 She raised an eyebrow at him.
/I am a ampire, not a monk.2 )is easy shr!g told her that $ealo!sy was not
re#!ired. *ot that she had a reason to be $ealo!s. It wasn%t like he hadn%t slept with
.!lie, and probably with lots of other women in his long, long life.
Something was definitely wrong with her brain if she was worried abo!t what
other women this ampire g!y was sleeping with, een if he had kissed her and saed
her life. The kiss had been nothing b!t a nat!ral expression of relief after danger. And
he may hae saed her life, b!t he een admitted it was his fa!lt she had gotten into
tro!ble in the first place.
Altho!gh, the first time, she%d gotten herself into tro!ble. B!t it had been
beca!se of the nightmares, and those had gotten worse when she%d met him.
)ad gotten worse, b!t hadn%t simply appeared oernight. Since the moment
she%d met him, he%d dominated her tho!ghts. Being apart hadn%t made things any
better, and now, being near him, her conf!sion had been t!rned all the way !p to
eleen.
/9iktor, may I ask yo! something'2 )e nodded, and she contin!ed. /6o! told
me the >inions were after me were beca!se of yo!. B!t I%e had nightmares abo!t
them eer since-for my whole life. >y whole life, I%e had them. *ot $!st after I
met yo!.2
)er words had isibly shaken him. She had tho!ght it wo!ld be impossible, b!t
he went paler, the deep, sorrowf!l hollows beneath his eyes darkening. /(id I say
something wrong'2
/*o, no,2 he ass!red her, composing his shocked expression b!t not tr!ly
hiding it. /It is rare, b!t not !nheard of, for people to know of the existence of
>inions witho!t tr!ly knowing what they are. ;erhaps yo! saw them once and only
mistook it for a dream.2
/I think I wo!ld remember those things pretty clearly.2 She didn%t mean to
arg!e with him, b!t something nagged at her, some component of the sit!ation that
did not rest easy in the back of her mind. /They%re not normal. It%s not like yo! see
scary, blank ampires all oer *ew 6ork. I%e neer een seen a bat since I moed
here.2
)e shr!gged, his pretended indifference beginning to resemble act!al
indifference. It made it seem more like an act. /;erhaps they are a part of the
collectie primal memory. ;erhaps something happened once, something that bro!ght
yo! close to death.2
)er heart went icy cold. /*o, nothing like that has eer happened to me.
6o!%re right, maybe they%re $!st a part of eeryone%s nightmares. They%re certainly
nightmarish eno!gh.2
/7ell, if yo! will be comfortable for now, I will exc!se myself.2 )e hesitated
only a moment, to gie her a chance to ask for anything else, to see if she tr!ly was
comfortable. She smiled, trying to look more at ease than he did, so he wo!ld go. If
he didn%t, the temptation to $!mp into his arms and beg him to make good on his
threats to gie her pleas!re !nlike any she had felt before might $!st oerwhelm her.
It was a far more attractie prospect than going to bed and giing herself !p to the
nightmares. She watched him go, waiting to hear the soft click of a door before she
let o!t the breath she held.
"nce inside his office, 9iktor closed the door and took a moment to still his
racing mind. )e reached into his collar and gripped >elina%s ring. It b!rned white hot
against his palm, and he dropped it with a c!rse. It bo!nced like a hot coal off his
skin, and he ripped the chain from his neck with a growl. The ring rolled across the
carpet to settle innocently a few feet from him. The ,astern cross etched into the
band mocked him with a glint of light, and 9iktor co!ld not force his ga:e to settle
!pon it.
Aersion to holy ob$ects, he tho!ght. "ne step closer to the end. )e forced his
limbs to stop trembling as he wiped his b!rned hand oer his face. )e wo!ld hae to
feed now, to heal his wo!nds, and feed that other h!nger in him, as well. Tho!gh the
kiss he%d shared with Cassandra had soothed the ragged edges of his h!manity, a
simple kiss co!ld not stem the tide that flowed away from him. )e%d needed to be
with her that first night, to hae taken someone else in the days since. )is self&
enforced chastity of the past week had been a s!bstantial blow to his h!manity, and it
co!ld not hae come at a worse time. )e co!ld not worry abo!t himself when he was
so worried abo!t Cassandra. B!t why was he so worried' )e had not ca!sed her
tro!bles. The sadness he had tasted in her had been aging for some time.
It is "eause she reminds !ou so muh of someone !ou an never have
again.)is chest tightened as tho!gh the missing weight of the ring were eno!gh to
cr!sh him. Cassandra was nothing like >elina. B!t she had seen the >inions, she%d
remembered them when other h!mans wo!ld not hae. "ther h!mans wo!ld hae
been dead if they had enco!ntered them. ,en those who had been slain by the
creat!res had likely not known what had ca!sed their death.
;erhaps she had died, his traitoro!s mind insisted. ;erhaps she died long ago,
when there was no one to sae her.
)e shook his head, desperate to clear those dangero!s longings from his mind.
)e wo!ld not let Cassandra meet the same fate >elina had, and he wo!ld not
entertain any notion that they were connected. )is imagination wo!ld happily r!n
away with him to let him feel a fraction of what he%d felt with >elina. 7hat he%d felt
when he%d kissed Cassandra.
Caref!lly, he lifted the precio!s ring with his handkerchief. Thro!gh the silk,
the metal band b!rned as tho!gh it had been remoed from an oen, b!t when he set
it onto the gleaming enamel of his desk, it left no mark. The handkerchief came away
witho!t a scorch on it, and he !sed it to mop his sweating brow. 7ith trembling
hands, he reached for his phone and dialed Anthony%s n!mber.
/0et me someone. I don%t care who,2 he ordered as soon as the man answered.
)e co!ld not keep !p the pretext of Anthony%s false employment now. The man acted
in his capacity as a protector of h!manity tonight. 9iktor looked away from the ring
and fixed his ga:e on the clock. After he fed, his mind wo!ld be clearer. After he fed
from a h!man and took his pleas!re from a h!man body, he wo!ld hae the strength
to banish these conf!sing tho!ghts and to concentrate on what sho!ld be his tr!e
concern.
)is loss of h!manity that droe him eer closer to losing his so!l completely.
Chapter Four
In her completely dark, completely silent room, in a bed ten times more
comfortable than her bed at home, Cassandra co!ldn%t sleep. Sleeping in strange
places had always been a problem for her. She p!nched her pillow with a fr!strated
sigh and threw her legs o!t of the bed. A soft silk robe h!ng from the bedpost and she
p!lled it down. The nightgown she%d fo!nd in the drawer-with the price tags still on
-was long, made of the same delicio!sly soft black silk as the robe, b!t a bit too
tight and not something she wanted to parade aro!nd a stranger%s ho!se in. Shr!gging
into the sleees of the robe, she padded to the door and opened it, t!rning the knob
slowly so as not to make a noise.
7hile she was pretty s!re 9iktor wo!ld still be !p-ampires slept d!ring the
day, didn%t they'-she didn%t want his solicito!s manserant popping !p with a glass
of warm milk. 7hat kind of a person $!st h!ng aro!nd waiting for someone else%s
orders all day and all night' 9iktor m!st pay him a fort!ne. "r maybe he had some
really horrible dirt on him. 7hile she s!pposed it might be conenient to be waited
on hand and foot, she $!st needed to be alone with her tho!ghts. "r alone with 9iktor,
since her tho!ghts all concerned him.
The liing room was empty, the large windows !ncoered. The traffic o!tside
had slowed. 7hile *ew 6ork might be the city that neer sleeps, it certainly looked
as if eeryone was taking a nap. ;robably one of the benefits of liing in a wealthy
neighborhood. 7hen the banks closed, so did eerything else.
*ot able to bring herself closer to the windows and their di::ying iew, she
wandered past the fireplace and ran her fingers along the mantel. In the dark, the
marble walls and black f!rnit!re made the room a oid. It !nnered Cassie and forced
her to retreat to the hallway she%d come from. Far at the end, at the do!ble doors
leading to 9iktor%s bedroom, faint light glowed.
7o!ld it be intr!sie to knock and speak to him, if $!st to pass the time' She
wondered if he was $!st as lonely as she was, sitting !p all night alone. She stopped
o!tside the door and knocked softly. 7hen he didn%t answer, she knocked again, then
p!shed on the open door to widen the opening $!st slightly.
/9iktor'2 )er softly spoken #!estion ended on a gasp. 9iktor was not lonely.
At least, he wasn%t alone. And he didn%t look lonely at the moment.
)er heart po!nding, Cassie took a step back. "therwise occ!pied, 9iktor and
his companion hadn%t noticed her. That left her with the awkward decision of whether
or not she sho!ld leae, or stay to watch and ass!age her c!riosity.
It wasn%t as tho!gh she hadn%t seen people haing sex before. "ne of her
easiest clients had been a ery s!ccessf!l real estate deeloper who often $!st wanted
her to watch him with one of his mistresses. She%d neer seen a ampire hae sex
before and, while it didn%t seem all the different from a h!man haing sex, she%d
neer seen a man f!ck another man. 7hich was exactly what was happening in
9iktor%s room.
She pressed her face to the crack between the doors, chastising herself for
spying b!t !nable to resist her c!riosity. A fire b!rned in the sleek marble fireplace,
and 9iktor knelt, naked, on the pl!sh white r!g in front of it, his head thrown back,
mo!th open and groaning with pleas!re. )is hands twisted in the sho!lder&length
dark hair of a yo!ng man lying in front of him. The light of the fire cast the men%s
bodies in a golden glow, gilding the droplets of sweat on the yo!ng man%s tight
m!scles.
/,no!gh,2 9iktor warned, and the man p!lled back. 9iktor climbed to his feet,
and Cassandra%s iew was blocked by the angle of the room, b!t the brief glimpse
she%d ca!ght reealed the deception of 9iktor%s finely tailored clothes. Those
expensie s!its hid the body of a man more acc!stomed to the weight room than the
boardroom.
The yo!ng man waited patiently, a slow smile c!ring his lips as he watched
what Cassie co!ldn%t see. 7hen 9iktor stepped into iew, she saw what had made the
g!y on the floor so happy. 9iktor moed toward him, stroking his hand !p and down
the length of the longest, thickest cock Cassie had eer seen. She coered her mo!th
to stifle her cry of s!rprise, her c!nt growing wet as she watched 9iktor%s hand
gripping his massie shaft.
The g!y on the floor whistled and la!ghed. 9iktor smiled gracio!sly, as if he%d
$!st been complimented on haing a loely home or good skin. Cassie almost la!ghed
herself. 7hen 9iktor dropped to his knees again, the man%s braado faded a bit. /0o
slow, okay'2
/I will,2 9iktor reass!red him. /And if yo! find me8too diffic!lt to take, let
me know. It will not affect yo!r payment.2
It so!nded like 9iktor made a ro!tine of this. Something akin to $ealo!sy flared
in Cassie%s mind, b!t she dismissed it. 9iktor had been honest with her when she%d
first come here. )e%d told her that he had other so!rces of8well, whateer it was he
liked to do with male prostit!tes. And she co!ldn%t exactly $!dge him for being a
$ohn, when they%d met on the $ob. )e hadn%t declared tr!e loe, and she had to admit
she wo!ldn%t hae been brae eno!gh to let him in thro!gh the backdoor, so to speak.
There was no reason to be $ealo!s.
There was no reason to peep, either, b!t she co!ldn%t look away as 9iktor
positioned himself behind the man, who s!pported himself on his hands and knees.
Cassie had been so intent on staring at 9iktor%s cock that she hadn%t seen the condom
in his other hand. )e !nrolled it down his length and reached for something o!t of her
line of sight, coming back with a bottle of l!be. )e p!mped a genero!s amo!nt into
his hands and smeared it oer his penis, then dispensed more and slid his fingers into
the cleft of the man%s ass.
/6o!r hands are cold,2 the man p!rred, reaching down to grip his own cock.
Cassandra reached down too, her fingers b!nching the material of her
nightgown, lifting it higher. Act!ally haing sex with someone didn%t get her as hot
as $!st watching 9iktor. She practically ached with emptiness, and she pressed her
thighs together, her channel spasming, begging to be filled.
7hat was she thinking' She sho!ld be ins!lted that 9iktor, who had seemed
pretty darn attracted to her earlier that eening, had apparently been hiding a gay
streak a mile long. 7hy had he pretended' 7hy had he kissed her'
Those concerns fled as she watched 9iktor lean oer the man, easing the wide
head of his erection against the man%s body. The man hissed and b!ried his face
against his arm as 9iktor pressed forward, then halted. /Are yo! all right'2
That was far gentler treatment than Cassandra wo!ld hae expected from a
client, een the ones at 3&4&5. *o one had eer h!rt her o!tright, b!t none had been
anything close to considerate witho!t her prompting. The man made a strangled noise
b!t nodded, so 9iktor pressed forward, so slowly as to make Cassie aware of the
breath she held.
/0od,2 the man on the floor groaned, rolling his head back. The tension in his
face changed to $oyo!s relief and back again as if someone had flipped a light switch.
9iktor la!ghed softly, b!t his concentration neer waered. The hard ridges of
m!scle across his stomach contracted and he sh!ddered as his control slipped and he
droe the rest of himself into his partner%s body. The man gasped lo!d eno!gh to
coer Cassie%s own startled noise.
/I%m sorry,2 9iktor panted, his head and sho!lders sl!mping like a r!nner
recoering from a losing race.
The g!y grimaced, b!t shook his head. /*othing to be sorry abo!t. <et%s go.2
It didn%t take any more enco!raging. 9iktor growled, and the feral so!nd shot
straight to Cassie%s dripping core. Almost witho!t reali:ing what she intended, she
slipped two fingers between her folds and oer her clit. )er teeth sank into her lip, a
dam holding back the sea of moans and gasps that she feared wo!ld oerwhelm her.
The threat of being discoered and the mortification that wo!ld follow seemed s!ch a
small thing to risk. )er eyes closed as she swirled her fingertips oer her swollen
flesh, and she forced them to open to take in more of the scene before her.
9iktor grasped the man on the floor by one sho!lder, forcing him back as he
droe forward. 9iolent exhalations b!rst from the man%s throat and his hand worked
f!rio!sly on his cock while his hips b!cked in time to 9iktor%s p!nishing thr!sts. /So
f!cking good,2 the man babbled senselessly.
It certainly looked f!cking good from where Cassie stood. A sheen of sweat
stood o!t on 9iktor%s pale body. =opes of m!scle strained against skin as he slammed
his hips against the man%s ass. The man sho!ted, his cock sp!rting thick white fl!id
oer his hand and onto the r!g.
Cassie%s orgasm ca!ght her #!ickly, and she gripped the door for s!pport as
her knees b!ckled. She prayed silently that she wo!ldn%t make a so!nd or, worse,
topple thro!gh the door entirely.
7hile the man still trembled from his release, 9iktor grabbed a handf!l of dark
hair and p!lled the man%s head back, exposing his throat. )e opened his mo!th to
reeal needle&sharp fangs that gleamed in the firelight like something o!t of a horror
moie. ;araly:ed with pleas!re and fear, Cassandra co!ld not look away in the brief
second it took for 9iktor to bite into the man%s corded neck.
)er heart po!nding, Cassandra co!ld not beliee what she saw. She%d tho!ght
she%d !nderstood what 9iktor was. )adn%t he dr!nk her blood' Fo!ght off the
monsters that had attacked her' She%d seen his missing reflection too, b!t none of
those things had tr!ly gotten across the reality of what 9iktor was. *ot like this.
The man screamed and str!ggled. 9iktor broke his mo!th, smeared horrific
red, away from the man%s throat and hissed strange words into his ear. Immediately,
the man%s str!ggles ceased, and 9iktor pressed his lips oer the wo!nd, s!cking
noisily against it. The man moaned and arched his back, grinding against 9iktor%s
p!mping hips. 9iktor tore his mo!th from the bite in the man%s neck and, to
Cassandra%s astonishment, the wo!nd closed before her eyes. 7ith a low groan,
9iktor sh!ddered against the man, ramming his hips forward one last time.
Cassandra backed away, terrified that when 9iktor%s head cleared he wo!ld
look !p and finally notice her. She co!ld not t!rn away from the door, paraly:ed by
the fear that if she did, he wo!ld see her fleeing and know that she saw. Somehow,
staring at the door and creeping slowly backward was the only way she co!ld
imagine keeping it from happening. The tension was too great to bear after only a few
steps, and she t!rned and ran with the lightest steps possible back to her room. She
leapt into bed and b!rrowed as far !nder the coers as she co!ld stand, certain that
any moment he wo!ld poke his head in to check and see if she were awake.
;retending sleep soon threatened to gie way to act!al sleep, and she s!cc!mbed, one
hand protectiely clenched aro!nd her throat.
9iktor rolled away from Christopher%s prone form. )e didn%t bother to look
back. There had been nothing wrong with the yo!ng man%s performance. In fact, the
only thing he seemed to be lacking was the fact that he was not Cassandra.
;!shing the g!ilt from his mind, he got to his feet. )e%d needed to feed. There
was nothing wrong in that. Blood to keep his heart p!mping, intimacy to halt his
ineitable slide into the abyss.
7hy did he feel as tho!gh he%d betrayed her' )e reached for his robe, then
tossed it aside. )e needed fresh air, before the s!n came !p. )e p!lled a pair of $eans
from his dresser and p!t them on, then shoed his arms into the black b!tton&down
shirt he%d left balled !p on the floor.
)alfway thro!gh the liing room, he felt her presence like the prick of a needle
all oer his skin. )e waited a few more strides to see if she wo!ld speak. 7hen she
did not, he said, /.oin me, if yo! like.2
)e didn%t wait to see if she followed. )e knew that she did. ;!shing open the
door to the terrace, he stepped o!t into the night air. She pa!sed at the door, a little
gasp escaping her throat. She held one pale hand to the bare skin oer her
collarbones. The light night bree:e stirred her silk nightgown and flattened the fabric
against her body, accent!ating the line that bisected her toned stomach, the soft
mo!nd at the $!nct!re of her thighs. (espite his enco!nter with Christopher, his body
longed for her. *ot solely sex!ally, tho!gh he did grow hard at the sight of her hard
nipples straining against her nightgown. *o, he wanted her, b!t he wanted to hold
her, to feel her safe in his arms, real and alie.
#o !ou long for her, or do !ou long for $elina%
/There is no need to fear. I wo!ld not let yo! fall.2 )e leaned against the sleek
railing, arms braced wide, letting the cool night wind p!sh thro!gh his open shirt.
/I know I won%t fall.2 She so!nded almost ashamed of her fear. /6o!%e been
so good to me.2
)e t!rned and held o!t his hand to her, and she took it, stepping easily into his
embrace. )er skin was remarkably warm and alie against his. Soft in a way that
Christopher had not been. And familiar. )er body was so familiar. )e held her close,
b!rying his face in her hair.
/$ilu&i t', 9iktor. Neopou(t'& m' )novu.2
I love !ou, *iktor. #o not leave me again.
,ery synapse in his brain beat to desperate alert. )e lifted his head, not daring
to look at her face, not willing to beliee that this might be a dream. B!t he had to
look, and when she lifted her head, her face creased in concern, >elina%s face had
replaced Cassandra%s.
/7hat%s wrong'2 she asked, this apparition with >elina%s face and
Cassandra%s oice. )e backed away, felt the hard iron rail at his back and, in a
horrifying moment, felt it disintegrate. T!mbling back, he opened his mo!th to
scream, only to see >elina change shape, twisting into the grotes#!e form of a
>inion.
(ripping with sweat and gasping for breath, 9iktor sat !p. The air in his
darkened room prickled with the daylight that loomed behind the window shades.
Christopher was long gone, as was the money 9iktor had left for him. Cassandra
remained, a rosy glow that lay gently at the edges of his mind. .!st her presence
helped calm him.
As he dressed for the day, 9iktor tried to shake the terror of the dream. Tho!gh
it was tempting to r!minate on the possible meanings behind it, he knew better than
to expect any good to come from dwelling on nightmares. Some might hae the gift
for diining from dreams, b!t he had neer fo!nd a !sef!l message in them. )e
expended !n!s!al concentration on tasks that were !s!ally a!tomated+ fastening
c!fflinks, b!ttoning his shirt, tying his tie. Any small task that wo!ld distance him
from the lingering shadow of his dream.
7hen he passed the room Cassandra had slept in, he noticed that the bed was
empty and !nmade. )e contin!ed to the liing room, mentally bracing himself for her
presence.
Seated in a leather armchair, wrapped in the silk robe he had left o!t for her,
Cassandra leaned oer a coffee table coered with takeo!t boxes. The smell of the
food assa!lted him, and 9iktor took a step back. ?s!ally, his apartment smelled
like8nothing. It had been a ery long time since he%d seen h!man food in his home,
and this smelled strongly of cotton oil and broccoli.
Tho!gh he hadn%t made a so!nd, Cassandra straightened, her head whipping
aro!nd o!t of reflex. 0one was the temptress from his dream, replaced with an almost
wholesome side of Cassandra that he had not tho!ght to see before. (ressed in a silk
camisole and her $eans from the night before, she co!ldn%t hae been more sexy, b!t
it was the way she looked, the way her p!lse was isible in her throat and her eyes
went wide, searching for some threat, that capt!red him. That this bea!tif!l creat!re
lied in s!ch fear that it had become reflex broke his heart. The night before she%d
warmed to him, or at least it had seemed as tho!gh she had. ;erhaps it had $!st been
the shock of the attack, of all she had learned, that had left her !lnerable to him.
That bothered him more than it o!ght.
/I hope yo! don%t mind. 6o!r assistant bro!ght this all for me.2 She motioned
at the coffee table t!rned b!ffet. /There%s plenty here if-2
)is stomach t!rned at the tho!ght. /*o, I do not-2
/"f co!rse.2 She bl!shed, closed her eyes and shook her head. /I%m sorry, I%m
getting !sed to this whole82
/9ampire thing'2 )e forced himself to relax. The food wo!ld not attack him.
)e took a seat on the sofa, warily eyeing the bo!nty on the table. /I m!st remember
to thank Anthony for his tho!ghtf!lness.2
After a long, !ncomfortable silence, d!ring which Cassandra sipped from a
soft drink and 9iktor f!rio!sly tried to think of a way to reenter the easy conersation
they%d had the night before, she s!ddenly spoke. /6o!r friend left early this
morning.2
If it had not already been so, 9iktor%s blood wo!ld hae r!n cold.
/It%s fine, I%m not8weird abo!t st!ff like that.2 Cassandra picked !p a box of
noodles and stabbed at the contents with a pair of chopsticks, not willing to meet his
eyes. /I g!ess it wo!ld be pretty hypocritical of me, in my b!siness.2
/I fear yo! might mis!nderstand. )e is merely someone I feed from.2
/I saw yo! together.2 She bl!shed again, her pale skin glowing with proof of
her embarrassment. /I%m sorry. I didn%t mean to spy on yo!. I woke !p in the night
and I tho!ght maybe yo! wo!ld be awake too. I honestly wo!ld neer-2
)e lifted his hand to stop her. /It was wrong of me to entertain g!ests while
yo! stay in my home. Think nothing of it.2
/7ell, I do think something of it.2 She frowned and dropped her chopsticks
into the box. /I hae to know, are yo!8 I tho!ght when yo! kissed me82
/I hae lied a long time, Cassandra.2 )e groaned inwardly at the poor exc!se
that was. /That is no exc!se for my r!deness toward yo!. I merely wish for yo! to
!nderstand, once a person lies as I hae and has seen all I hae, certain distinctions
no longer matter as they apply to companionship and feeding.2
/So, yo!%re not gay' Is that what yo!%re trying to tell me'2 It made sense for
her to be so incred!lo!s, b!t it wo!ld hae been m!ch easier if she wo!ld simply
beliee him.
Another tort!red silence fell between them. 9iktor wanted to r!sh to reass!re
her that what she%d seen meant nothing, b!t the sentiment wo!ld seem cheap. /There
are not so many open&minded persons in this city as yo! might think. If I cannot find
someone to feed from, I am not aboe bringing them here !nder false pretenses.2
/6o! mean, he didn%t want yo! to feed from him'2 She looked tr!ly horrified
by what she heard.
/As I am s!re the chicken in that carton wo!ld rather yo! not feed from it.2 )e
smiled to soften the harsh tr!th of his reply. /I did not h!rt him, and he will not
remember what happened to him b!t that he isited a client and en$oyed the serice
he proided. I do!bt yo! can say as m!ch for the chicken.2
She p!rsed her lips. /It%s not the same thing.2
/*o, it is not.2 )e st!died her face. There was something of >elina there, in
her defiance, her gentle, willf!l way of speaking that warned him not to dismiss her.
/Tell me, when yo! do yo!r work, do yo! en$oy it'2
/*o, no,2 she answered witho!t hesitation, waing her arms in front of her and
la!ghing witho!t h!mor. /*o, it%s a $ob. That%s all it is.2
/6o! find nothing abo!t being with another h!man sex!ally a connection to
what yo! are' 6o!r h!manity'2 The expression on her face told him he might as well
be speaking 0reek.
Cassandra la!ghed. /*o. In fact, I wo!ld say it%s $!st the opposite. ,ery time I
sleep with a g!y for money, I%m less h!man than I was that morning.2
/It is different for ampires.2 It sho!ld be different for h!mans, as well, b!t
9iktor did not wish to ins!lt her. Another time, perhaps, when he co!ld show her
what he meant, take her into his arms and gie her pleas!re, show her it did not hae
to wo!nd her so!l to s!rrender her body. /If yo! had not left the night of o!r first
meeting, I wo!ld hae not only fed on yo!r blood, b!t I wo!ld hae en$oyed yo!r
body. In making that connection with a h!man, we are able to retain some of o!r own
h!manity.
/For last night, I can only apologi:e. >y h!nger droe me to behae in a way
that was !psetting to yo!, and I will endeaor not to do so in the f!t!re.2
/Apology accepted. And appreciated,2 she added with a timid smile. Timid-
there was a word he wo!ld not hae applied to her before. ,ery moment he spent
with her, she fascinated him more.
As if his tho!ght of the time had alerted her, she glanced !p to the clock on the
mantel. /I%m sorry, it%s almost noon and I%m still hanging o!t in yo!r ho!se. I can get
a cab and head home-2
/*o, I wish for yo! to stay.2 )e hated the desperation he felt at the tho!ght of
her leaing, b!t knew she wo!ld not stay foreer and he sho!ld not wish her to. B!t
there was a real danger waiting for her, and he wo!ld not let her go where he co!ld
not follow. /It is not safe for yo! to leae witho!t me to accompany yo!, and I cannot
do so before s!nset. Tr!thf!lly, I feel yo! are m!ch safer here, with me.2
/Tr!thf!lly' So do I.2 She bl!shed and looked down at her hands. /I $!st don%t
want yo! to think yo! hae to let me stay here. I don%t want to p!t a crimp in yo!r
lifestyle.2
So, she still concerned herself with that. It sho!ld not make him pleased that
she was tro!bled to see him with someone else, b!t it did. /6o! are inordinately
concerned with what yo! saw last night.2
/7ell, it%s kind of hard to get o!t of my mind.2 She fl!shed. /I don%t mean it
like-2
(esire lanced, !nexpectedly, thro!gh him. /,xactly how m!ch did yo! see'2
She picked !p a take&o!t carton and stabbed at the contents with no clear
intention of eating. /I saw eno!gh.2
/,no!gh.2 )e ch!ckled to himself. Tho!gh he%d neer considered it before, he
had to admit there was something aro!sing in the tho!ght of being watched.
She snorted and made a gest!ral threat with her fork. /6es, I saw it. I%m s!re
yo!%re ery pro!d.2
/And I%m s!re yo!%re a little c!rio!s.2
/(on%t do that,2 she warned gently. /(on%t try to tease me to change the
s!b$ect. I%m not a child. 6o! kissed me yesterday. 6o!%e gone o!t of yo!r way to
protect me. I think I hae a right to know what%s going on in yo!r head.2
/I cannot arg!e with yo!. 6o! do hae a right to know.2 )e stood and walked
away, not from the conersation, b!t from the distraction of her sitting there, looking
so bea!tif!l and to!sled from bed. If he looked at her, he wo!ld not be able to form a
coherent explanation of his feelings. )e stood at the window, tho!gh the shades hid
the iew.
/I didn%t call yo!,2 she said softly. /7hen I was oerdosing. I didn%t call yo!
for help, b!t somehow, yo! showed !p. 7hat were yo! doing at my apartment'2
So, she knew the tr!th. /I am sorry. I did not mean to deceie yo!. B!t I felt
that yo! were in danger.2
After a long pa!se, she asked, /6o! felt me'2
/After I fed on yo!, I co!ld feel yo!r presence in my blood. It does not always
happen, b!t it is not !ncommon. Something in yo!r blood bo!nd yo! to me, and that
bond wo!ld hae been broken if we had made loe. ;erhaps it was yo!r sadness. I
knew yo! were in danger and I came to yo!r aid. I had hoped that wo!ld be the end
of it, and yo! wo!ld neer hae ca!se to #!estion my story.2
/6o! didn%t hypnoti:e me then, did yo!'2 A steely anger !nderscored her
words. She was as strong&willed as >elina had been, and did not like to hae it
altered.
)e did not hae to lie to p!t her fears to rest. /*o. 6o! were !nconscio!s when
I fo!nd yo!, and I knew yo! wo!ld not remember all the details of that night. I did
not like lying to yo!, b!t I co!ld not explain-2
/7itho!t telling me what yo! were. I !nderstand.2 She pa!sed, her breath
hitching a!dibly. /Is that why yo! kissed me' Beca!se of my blood'2
/I kissed yo! beca!se I wanted to.2 )e t!rned and fo!nd her standing behind
him. It was !n!s!al for anyone to be able to sneak !p on him, and she had done it
witho!t trying. It did not bode well for him that his concentration was so broken.
/Cassandra, I m!st confess that I wo!ld be attracted to yo! een if we were not in the
sit!ation in which we find o!rseles.2
/I was thinking the same thing.2 She bl!shed again. The woman who had been
so cool and professional toward him when she had tho!ght to be sericing a sex!al
fetish bl!shed at the mention of her feelings. /And then last night-2
/Forget last night,2 he bade her softly. )e did not need to !se a trick of the
mind on her now, and wo!ldn%t. )e hoped his words wo!ld be eno!gh to reass!re
her. /Cassandra, yo! are beholden to me for nothing. I will not ask yo! to stay here if
yo! do not wish to, or spend time with me if yo! do not wish to.2 Tho!gh he spoke
those words, he silently prayed she wo!ld not leae. If she did, he wo!ld hire
someone to g!ard her eery moment of eery day, b!t it wo!ld kill him to see the
task fall into another%s hands. It wo!ld kill him to hae her far from him, to miss the
sight of her when he had $!st beg!n to appreciate it.
She took a deep breath. /I%ll stay. It%s $!st that I don%t want to be a bother.2
/6o! will not be. It wo!ld bother me far more to think of yo! o!t there, alone
and !nprotected.2 )e glanced at his watch. /I hae a teleconference with
shareholders in ten min!tes. 6o!%ll hae to exc!se me. I keep rather odd work
ho!rs.2
/6o! wo!ld hae to. 6o!%re a ampire.2 She looked aro!nd his spartan
apartment and said with a sigh, /I g!ess I%ll find some way to keep myself
entertained.2
Chapter Five
There was absol!tely nothing f!n in 9iktor%s apartment. Cassandra didn%t
know if it was beca!se he was a ampire or beca!se he was a workaholic, b!t there
weren%t any books in the liing room, no teleision, not een a spare piece of $!nk
mail lying aro!nd. It was like no one lied there. 7as 9iktor liing' She wo!ld hae
to ask him the next time they spoke. 7hich co!ld be any time in the next ten years.
There wasn%t a clock to keep track of the time she%d spent while bored.
The h!ge windows were shaded, b!t that didn%t make them any less terrifying.
Boredom co!ld drie Cassie to do any n!mber of st!pid things, so for a while she
made a game of inching her way, step by step, toward the glass. *ot being able to see
the height at which she stood sho!ld hae made it easier, b!t knowing what was
behind the dark shades didn%t help at all.
This is so like yo!, she scolded herself. 6o!%re afraid of something, b!t yo!
don%t want to con#!er yo!r fear. 6o! $!st want to tort!re yo!rself with it.
Cassandra went to the co!ch, flopped down and stared !p into the dark oid of
the ceiling. It felt like ho!rs since 9iktor had exc!sed himself to go to his office, and
it wo!ld probably feel like more before he emerged again. Any other normal person
wo!ld hae been glad to be as far away from a ampire as possible. *ope, not her.
She wanted to get closer. A lot closer.
She groaned at her own st!pidity and p!lled one of the throw pillows oer her
face. She m!mbled into it, /I wo!ld kill somebody for a maga:ine right now.2
/,xc!se me'2
F!mbling to get the pillow off her face, she looked !p at Anthony, who peered
down at her with concern. /I said I wo!ld kill somebody for a maga:ine right now.2
/(id 9iktor leae yo! here witho!t anything to do'2 Anthony ch!ckled.
/Forgie him, he doesn%t reali:e that his eternal martyrdom isn%t as fascinating to
eeryone as it is to him.2
She sat !p and smoothed her hair. /I ass!me he works a lot'2
/Twenty&six ho!rs a day, if I let him. Something to drink'2 )e already made
his way to the bar, and Cassandra got !p to follow him.
/Any soda in there'2 She nodded toward the minifridge below the bar.
Anthony shook his head. /"range $!ice, tho!gh.2
/I%ll take it.2 She slid onto a bar stool while Anthony po!red her a glass of
$!ice. /So, I bet yo! work twice as hard as he does.2
/Three times.2 )e passed the glass to her. /B!t I still find time to read.2
/I don%t think I%e seen a book in this ho!se,2 she said with a smile, then
added, /Thank yo!,2 as she lifted the glass for a drink.
/6eah, 9iktor doesn%t read m!ch. *ow me, on the other hand, I read a lot of
st!ff.2 )e reached into his $acket and p!lled o!t a manila enelope, dropping it onto
the bar with more force than necessary.
Cassandra swallowed. 7as this a blackmail attempt' She%d seen more than one
girl at the cl!b go o!t with the wrong client and end !p signing off on /confidentiality
agreements2 that amo!nted to little more than eiled legal threats sho!ld they eer
tell what they knew. /7hat do yo!, !h, what do yo! read'2
)e raised an eyebrow. /All sorts of things. Tr!e crime, lately. 6o! sho!ld take
a look.2
7ith shaking hands, Cassie set aside her $!ice glass and reached for the
enelope. Almost before she opened it she knew what wo!ld be inside, b!t she still
gasped when the photocopied newspaper stories slid into her hand. The grainy, black&
and&white matrix of the photos took her back with sharp clarity to that night. From an
entirely different angle, lying on the broken glass strewn on the paement, she saw
the car on its side in the median. Saw them p!ll ,mily%s ragdoll body from the hole
they%d c!t in the roof, saw them lay her on the grass and coer her with a sheet so the
passing cars wo!ldn%t gawk at her.
/I was wondering how long yo! were going to wait !ntil yo! told 9iktor. )ow
many times yo! were going to let him feed off yo! again.2 Anthony smiled an
!nfriendly smile. /6o! know, he%s hanging on by a thread. )e might lose his
h!manity in days. )e might go a co!ple years. I don%t know. B!t I think that whoeer
hired yo! isn%t planning on me killing him when the time comes. 7hy don%t yo! get
o!t and go tell yo!r boss that he%s not going to take down 9iktor *ootny on my
watch.2
Cassie shook her head, her heart still po!nding wildly from the shock in the
enelope. /I don%t !nderstand a word yo! $!st said.2
/6o! expect me to beliee that yo! $!st showing !p with yo!r poisoned blood
is a coincidence' 7hen 9iktor%s condition has taken a t!rn for the worse and
>inions are swarming the city'2 Anthony la!ghed. /6o! m!st think I was born
yesterday.2
/I think yo!%re really oerestimating what I know abo!t yo!r sit!ation here.2
Trying to regain her calm, Cassandra p!shed the photocopied pages back into the
enelope. /6es, I had an accident in college. B!t that has nothing to do with 9iktor.2
Anthony said nothing, b!t regarded her skeptically.
/Besides, I don%t know what yo! mean abo!t his condition. )e%s a ampire.
)ow does that get worse' )e said he co!ld lose his h!manity, that he might be one of
those8things, one day. B!t I don%t !nderstand what wo!ld make that happen, or
where I come in.2 That so!nded like something a spy wo!ld ask. A ery inept spy,
which was apparently what Anthony tho!ght she was. /<ook, I%m nobody. )onestly,
I had no idea that ampires existed !ntil I met 9iktor. B!t if there%s something wrong
with him, like he%s going to die or something, I hae a right to know.2
/*o, act!ally, yo! don%t hae a right to know.2 Anthony sighed in fr!stration.
/<ook, I%m going to be watching yo!. If yo! don%t hae a reason to hide this, yo!
sho!ld tell 9iktor abo!t the accident. That way, I know yo!%re not !p to anything and
9iktor can make !p his own mind on whether or not he wants to feed from yo!.2
/7hat, beca!se I had a car accident my blood is damaged somehow'2 She
frowned. /9iktor wo!ld hae been able to tell, right' )e wo!ld hae tasted it.2
Anthony shook his head and took the enelope back, t!cking it into his $acket.
/*ot beca!se of yo!r accident. <ook, I can%t tell if yo!%re playing d!mb or not, b!t
yo! killed somebody. That stays in yo!r blood. 9iktor has been losing his h!manity
at an een faster rate than !s!al lately, and drinking the blood of a killer is only going
to speed !p the process.2
The blood of a killer. The cold way he%d stated it left her no room for
arg!ment. She had killed someone. >aybe not as directly as p!lling a trigger, b!t her
actions had led to someone losing their life. /6o! said he%s losing his h!manity.
7hat happens then' 7hen it%s all gone, what happens to him'2
It was clear that Anthony still didn%t beliee her, from the way he pa!sed
before answering. /6o! know what happens. 6o! met it in the alley last night.2
Cassie shiered at the memory of the creat!res that had s!rro!nded her. She
co!ldn%t imagine 9iktor being one of them. They%d been faceless, oid of personality
or compassion or fear. They%d been8inh!man. /I don%t want to h!rt 9iktor. I $!st
met him, and he%s been nothing b!t kind to me.2
/*either do I. B!t I%ll hae to, if he becomes one of them. 6o! need to make
yo!r choice.2 )e po!red himself a splash of whiskey in a highball glass. /"r I%ll
make it for yo!.2
After he downed his drink, the entire conersation seemed to hae neer taken
place, as tho!gh the whiskey had washed it away. /7hat do yo! like to read' I%ll
swing by the bookstore before I bring yo!r dinner.2
/?m, anything, really. .!st maga:ines wo!ld be fine, I g!ess.2 Anthony might
hae been able to flip his switch from threatening to solicito!s in a heartbeat, b!t
Cassandra was less able to switch from threatened to not&threatened while he stood
there, cold expectation still glinting in his eyes. /Thanks.2
/*ot a problem,2 he said with a friendly wink before setting his glass aside and
moing toward the stairs.
Cassandra sat at the bar for a long time after he%d gone. So, Anthony wasn%t
$!st a personal assistant, then, that m!ch was clear. And if he tho!ght she had been
sent to harm 9iktor, that wo!ld be the story he told him. *ot the story of how she%d
paid her debt to society thro!gh ho!rs of comm!nity serice and probation check&
!ps. *ot how despite all that, she still felt like a m!rderer. Still was a m!rderer. She
had to tell 9iktor before Anthony did.
Then she tho!ght of the way people had looked at her after the accident.
>ixt!res of hatred and pity and relief that it hadn%t been them. She%d become a
walking ca!tionary tale. She co!ldn%t stand it if 9iktor looked at her that way.
And what if he decided he didn%t want her aro!nd, if she had killed someone'
7hat if he tho!ght, as Anthony did, that she was working for someone, trying to r!in
9iktor%s h!manity' If he sent her away, who wo!ld protect her from those awf!l
creat!res' "n the other hand, she%d been liing with them stalking her dreams for a
long time now. >aybe she wo!ld be fine on her own. She co!ldn%t rely on 9iktor to
sae her from eerything. She%d neer relied on anyone before.
Then there was 9iktor himself. )is loneliness m!st be !nbearable, liing in his
ma!sole!m of an apartment with only Anthony and some reg!lar tricks for company.
If her presence somehow tainted him, tho!gh, and made him more like those r!bbery
monsters who%d attacked her in the alley, she definitely didn%t need to stick aro!nd.
*ot that she sho!ld want to, anyway. She%d met lots of lonely g!ys. It was an
occ!pational ha:ard. She%d neer really cared abo!t that before. >aybe this was a
sign that it was time to get o!t of the life altogether. B!t something abo!t 9iktor
called to her, the way no other person had before. She wanted his protection, b!t she
wanted his attention too. She wanted him to feel the same, !nexplainable draw that
she felt, the !nsettling lift she got $!st from being in the same room with him.
)er head throbbed, and she looked aro!nd helplessly. That was as close to
admitting haing real feelings abo!t anything, let alone a g!y, in a ery long time.
*ow, more than eer, she wished she had something to distract herself.
/6o!r afternoon snack, 9iktor.2
)e looked !p and took the warm m!g of blood from Anthony%s hand. /Thank
yo!. I will need some for s!pper, as well.2
/*ot feeding off yo!r g!est'2 Anthony set a sa!cer down where 9iktor wo!ld
place the m!g and laid a napkin beside it.
/*ot that it%s any of yo!r b!siness,2 9iktor scolded. /I hae s!spended o!r
arrangement while she stays here. And I will not be feeding from anyone else, so I
will need more blood for dinner.2
Anthony raised an eyebrow. /Taking my adice'2
/*ot entirely.2 )e sipped from the m!g, hating the feel of the gla:ed ceramic
s!rface !nder his lips. The soft, warm skin of a willing h!man was m!ch preferred.
;erhaps Anthony was correct, tho!ghE perhaps distancing himself from the act of
feeding was good for his so!l, as well as for his dealings with Cassandra. /7hat do
yo! think of her'2
The silence that met his #!estion sered as a sharp eno!gh impression of what
Anthony tho!ght of her. )e spoke slowly and caref!lly. /I think she%s a ery
attractie, ery intelligent girl.2
/6o! say intelligent as tho!gh it were an acc!sation,2 9iktor m!sed. It
mattered little to him what the Conclae%s lackey tho!ght of Cassandra.
/I don%t tr!st her,2 the h!man stated simply.
9iktor nodded as tho!gh he !nderstood the man%s concern. /)as she gien yo!
any reason for s!spicion'2
Anthony spread his hands. /)er timing. Forgie me, 9iktor, I%m s!re yo!%e
already tho!ght of this, b!t it seems strange that she comes into contact with yo!
when the city is oerr!n with >inions.2
/Anything else'2 9iktor kept his tone een, as tho!gh he were considering the
information he%d been gien. In reality, it was abs!rd. If Anthony had the power to
taste Cassandra%s blood, he wo!ld hae known immediately nothing that dark l!rked
in her so!l. The darkness inside of her had nothing to do with the >inions she%d seen
in her dreams. She s!ffered beca!se a part of her was missing, an important part she
wo!ld not be able to deny foreer.
/I want yo! to be ery caref!l,2 Anthony warned. /I%m warning yo!, as a
member of the Conclae, b!t also as someone who knows yo! well. I don%t think
yo!%e got yo!r head on right where this woman is concerned.2
/;erhaps not.2 Tonight was not the night to ask for Anthony%s help in the
matter. )e had already so!red himself against Cassandra. /Thank yo!, I will think
abo!t what yo! hae told me.2
)e waited !ntil Anthony exc!sed himself, then t!rned back to his comp!ter
screen. The spreadsheet that had been open when the h!man had entered had merely
been a coer. 7hen he minimi:ed the window, the screen filled with website after
website, all detailing some manner of reincarnation belief. .!st seeing the words on
the screen was eno!gh to draw a cold sweat onto his brow. Co!ld he tr!ly be
considering it'
Tho!gh he made a good effort at reading the words, their meanings eaporated
the instant he read them, replaced by the memory of >elina%s smile, her kind eyes,
her soft body beneath his hands. (id he want Cassandra, or did he want Cassandra to
be >elina' If the two of them stood before him to choose, he did not know which
choice he wo!ld make, and that tro!bled him.
If >elina had been there, she wo!ld know the answer. She had always been
able to say the right thing, to reass!re him of his choices. She%d had total confidence
in him, een when he%d had none. That had been her downfall.
Perhaps it will "e Cassandras, as well.
*o, he wo!ld not let that happen. This time, he knew what he faced. )e knew
how to protect her. *ot against himself, b!t when the time came, Anthony wo!ld do
his d!ty. ;erhaps it wasn%t fair to want Cassandra when his time was so short. If she
fell in loe with him only to hae to release him, what wo!ld that do to her'
That was too pres!mpt!o!s. Cassandra was with him beca!se she was in
danger, not beca!se of some romantic entanglement.
Imp!lsiely, he picked !p his phone and hit n!mber one on his speed dial.
/Anthony, I wish to hae dinner with Cassandra. A proper dinner. Set it !p.2 )e
disconnected the call before the man co!ld arg!e with him. )e didn%t need anyone
else trying to conince him that f!rther exploring the feelings he%d already grown for
Cassandra was a terrible idea.
)e was already trying hard eno!gh to conince himself.
Chapter Six
Cassandra had receied her initation to dinner rather informally. Anthony had
m!mbled something abo!t it when he%d come by her room with an oernight bag.
)er oernight bag. ;acked f!ll of her clothes.
/)ow did yo! get these'2 she had asked, holding !p a pair of $eans.
Anthony had straightened his tie and told her, /I took the liberty of entering
yo!r home and taking a look thro!gh yo!r wardrobe.2
)o!rs later, Cassandra was still bristling oer the inasion to her priacy. She
was !sed to rich, powerf!l men doing whateer they wanted, b!t she hadn%t pegged
9iktor for one of those types. She went to the dining room at seen with eery
intention to tell him exactly where he co!ld stick his home&inading little messenger
boy.
7hen she entered the room, 9iktor wasn%t there. The table had been set with
immac!late white china and gleaming siler. Cassandra wondered what a ampire
needed dishes for, and if he%d had them before he%d decided to hae dinner with her.
)is place was set only with a glass and a black linen napkin, and the stark reminder
of what 9iktor was dist!rbed her. She had to tell him the tr!th tonight, no matter
what occ!rred. If he re$ected her, then what had she lost' A ampire who had messed
!p her life.
"n the other hand, she wo!ld also lose a ampire who had saed her life, who
had owed to protect her no matter what the cost. A man who was attracted to her,
not to some faHade she%d created to impress him. Somehow, he%d seen that she was
damaged and, !nbelieably, that seemed to make him like her more. At best, losing
9iktor%s tr!st wo!ld mean losing the only person who seemed to know what was
happening to her, and the only person who co!ld sae her. At worst, it wo!ld mean
t!rning her back on the only person who%d made her beliee she had a chance at
happiness.
/6o! look sad.2 9iktor had entered the room so #!ietly she hadn%t known he
was there. )e p!lled o!t her chair and motioned for her to sit. /I apologi:e for my
lateness. I lost track of the time.2
/That%s a pretty lame exc!se in yo!r own ho!se.2
/Anthony tried to hire someone to cook for yo!, b!t no one was aailable at
this late notice. I hope take&o!t will s!ffice.2 9iktor took his seat and !nfolded his
napkin, while Anthony appeared, as if s!mmoned by the mention of his name, with a
plastic grocery bag filled with Styrofoam containers.
/>aybe Anthony co!ld hae $!st picked !p some pots and pans from my
kitchen. 6o! know, while he was r!mmaging thro!gh my st!ff.2 She scooted her
own chair in. /?nless he can%t cook. )e co!ld hae at least bro!ght the paper plates
and saed himself the dishwashing. They were on top of the microwae, didn%t yo!
see them'2
/>r. *ootny doesn%t entertain dinner g!ests that often. )e wanted a chance to
!se his wedding china.2 Anthony dropped this bombshell smoothly while he
!npacked the cartons. /I hope yo! like Indian food.2
/I loe it. (id yo! get the men! off my f!cking refrigerator'2 she snapped in
reply at the same time that 9iktor said, /Thank yo!, Anthony, we can manage from
here.2
7aiting in silence for the assistant to leae, Cassie f!med. 9iktor was married'
"f co!rse he was. 3&4&5 had plenty of married clients who didn%t want to risk an
indiscreet mistress. And who was she to get her nose o!t of $oint' She%d come here
on assignment, not as a date, and his marital stat!s hadn%t exactly mattered when
she%d been cowering from monsters in an alley. Still, she co!ldn%t keep the h!rt o!t of
her tone when she asked, /So, let me g!ess. 6o! stay here while she gets the mansion
in Connectic!t, right' "nly get together for important f!nctions' Is she a ampire
too'2
/*o, not at all.2 )e looked down as he smoothed his napkin oer his lap.
/She%s dead. For #!ite a long time now.2
If Cassie had needed any more conincing that she was a horrible person, this
wo!ld hae done the trick. /I%m sorry. I can%t beliee I said that, I%m so st!pid. "f
co!rse, she might hae been8deceased or diorced or82
9iktor shook his head and didn%t look at her. /It is fine. Anyone wo!ld hae
inferred the same from Anthony%s statement. I think, perhaps, that is why he made
it.2
/Still, I%m sorry.2 The chair beneath her seemed s!ddenly !ncomfortable, and
the scents from the cooling take&o!t containers seemed m!ch less appeti:ing.
/It was a long time ago.2 )e glanced !p at her, a hard, indecipherable set to his
eyes. /;lease, eat. 6o! m!st be h!ngry. I know that my home is not set !p for a
h!man%s comfort. I will try to hae that corrected.2
The s!b$ect of his wife was closed, apparently. Cassandra co!ldn%t think of the
last time she%d p!t her foot in her mo!th so badly. She did as he asked and scooped
portions of saffron rice and something delicio!s with lamb and c!rry onto her plate.
/I wonder why Anthony bro!ght this, if the smell of food bothers yo! so m!ch.
>aybe he sho!ld hae bro!ght a baloney sandwich.2
/I think he did it to show he is not pleased with me.2 9iktor ch!ckled. /I wo!ld
fire him, if he was not s!ch a good assistant.2
/)e%s not $!st an assistant, tho!gh, is he'2 She took a bite and pretended not to
be concerned with his answer. /Assistants don%t $!st break into someone%s ho!se and
go thro!gh their shit.2
/)e didn%t break in.2 9iktor looked !p. /)e !sed yo!r key. And I did not send
him. )e went of his own accord. )e seems to think yo! hae8sinister moties,
where I am concerned.2
/6o!%re a ampire, b!t he thinks I%m sinister.2 She narrowed her eyes. /I%m
s!re that%s exactly what happened. 6o! didn%t send him to spy on me.2
9iktor%s look of conf!sion seemed gen!ine. She had to gie him credit for his
acting skills, b!t at the end of the day, he was $!st like eery other rich asshole in
*ew 6ork.
/6o! didn%t send him to look into my priate life' To dig !p st!ff from my
past'2 She p!shed her chair back and stood. /I appreciate yo! saing my life, b!t I
can%t deal with this. I hae to go.2
Something br!shed her sho!lder, and 9iktor stood before her. She shrieked
and took a step back.
/I will not harm yo!12 he said #!ickly, his face a mask of despair. /;lease, I
wo!ld neer h!rt yo!.2
She swallowed her fear, b!t her ears still roared with the terror co!rsing
thro!gh her eins. /6o!%ll $!st break into my ho!se, hypnoti:e me, send someone to
spy on me' )ow is that not h!rting me'2
/I did not ask Anthony to do that. I knew he had s!spicions abo!t yo!, b!t I
neer expected him to do something so drastic,2 9iktor stated firmly. /I hae already
promised not to !se tricks of the mind to control yo!. I do not wish for anything
between !s to be forced.2
/6o! might say that now, b!t I know yo!r type.2 A note of hysteria crept into
her oice. /6o! hae all the money in the world, so yo! think yo! can make
eeryone p!t !p with yo!r b!llshit. 6o! can%t b!y me. I don%t care if I am a
prostit!te, yo! can%t b!y me.2
/I do not wish to b!y yo!.2 )e stepped forward and reached a hand toward her.
/Cassandra, there is a deep wo!nd inside of yo!. =ight now, my only wish is to know
why.2
/6o! want to know why'2 )e%d probably already seen the contents of his
lackey%s manila folder. This was $!st the test, to see if she wo!ld be honest with him.
If she failed, maybe she co!ld go home, back to real life. B!t that wasn%t what she
wanted. *o matter how she might try to conince 9iktor that she didn%t want him, no
matter how she might try to conince herself, she didn%t want him to think she was a
liar or a spy or whateer his assistant alleged. 9iktor was the only person she had
tr!sted in a long time, and she wanted to hae his tr!st in ret!rn. /I killed my best
friend.2
The silence while she waited for him to re$ect her8it was the most terrible
silence she%d eer felt.
)is whole being seemed to sl!mp. The light of concern in his eyes dimmed, his
sho!lders slo!ched. This was it. This was when he reali:ed what a monster she was.
/It was in college.2 She h!rried to fill the time !ntil he ordered her o!t of his
ho!se. /I was at a party, drinking too m!ch, doing dr!gs. ,mily had been drinking
too, b!t she didn%t to!ch any of that other st!ff. She didn%t een know. I tho!ght I
was okay to drie.2
/6o! droe, with yo!r friend in the car'2 9iktor asked slowly.
/I knew it was wrong.2 She took a sh!ddering breath. /I knew it was
dangero!s, and I did it anyway. The next thing I knew, I was on the side of the road
and they were8they had to c!t her body o!t of the car.2
)e opened his mo!th to speak, and s!ddenly Cassie didn%t want to hear him
lect!re her or yell at her. ?s!ally, she tho!ght there was nothing a person co!ld say to
make her feel worse abo!t what had happened than she already did. B!t hearing him
deno!nce her was, for reasons she co!ldn%t discern, !nthinkable. /I know what I did
then was wrong. B!t that doesn%t mean I%m trying to8I tho!ght yo! had a fetish, and
.!lie needed someone to coer yo!. *o matter what Anthony says, I%m not here to
h!rt yo!.2
/I neer tho!ght yo! were.2 9iktor%s oice was practically a whisper. /7hat
has happened to yo!8it is a wo!nd to the so!l, and it will scar, b!t it can heal.2
She shook her head. /=eally' Beca!se it doesn%t feel like it eer will. And
when Anthony acc!sed me of trying to steal yo!r h!manity or t!rn yo! into a >inion
or whateer it was he tho!ght I was doing, it act!ally took me a min!te to reali:e that
he was wrong. ,ery day, I lie with the conse#!ences of being a monster.2
)e to!ched her face, his fingers feather light as they br!shed her skin. /I hae
killed. In my first days as a ampire, the thirst oerwhelmed me, and I co!ld not help
myself. (o yo! see a monster when yo! look at me'2
A shier ran down her spine. 9ampires were monsters. ,ery )alloween, all
those scary moies. There was no way to get aro!nd the fact that he was a monster.
B!t from where she stood, he looked like a man. A man who was lonely, in pain. A
man who tho!ght more of her than she did herself.
/6o! don%t !nderstand. It%s not the same as it is for yo!. 6o!%re a ampire.
6o!%re s!pposed to be a monster. I%m not. I was $!st s!pposed to be a reg!lar
person.2
/I had no aspiration to be a monster. I was s!pposed to be a reg!lar person too
and die a reg!lar death.2 )e dropped his hand, clasping both in front of his body in a
silent plea. Finally, he spoke again. /There is nothing yo! can say that will make me
think any less of yo!, Cassandra. I hae lied too long not to hae learned that the
past shapes a person, b!t it does not mar them foreer.2
She closed her eyes, ashamed to feel a hot tear escape and roll down her cheek.
/(on%t do this.2
/(o what'2 )is oice held all the helplessness of a man who saw pain and
didn%t know how to fix it.
/(on%t try to make me feel better when I don%t desere to.2 She shook her
head, dislodging more tears, b!t she wo!ldn%t open her eyes. /(on%t try to sae me.2
She felt his nearness as he closed the gap between them. /6o! are worth
saing.2
)is fingers lifted her chin, and she opened her eyes to stare into his. The
molten gray pools b!rned with a new intensity, and she co!ldn%t p!ll her ga:e away.
B!t this was no hypnotic trick. 7hat passed between them was p!re need.
She didn%t plead for him to make her pain go, or to help her forget the horrible
memories, the nightmares, the blood and the pain. )is arms strong aro!nd her, he
leaned his head down and capt!red her lips.
The kiss sho!ld hae bro!ght the monsters to her, b!t their claws and shrieks
receded !nder the cold to!ch of his mo!th. She parted her lips, welcoming him to
stroke her tong!e with his. )is arms tightened aro!nd her, then he released her
abr!ptly.
/*o,2 he said, all b!t wiping his mo!th in his disg!st. /I cannot treat yo! this
way.2
/)ow'2 she demanded angrily. /I don%t !nderstand what any of this has to do
with me. I don%t know why, b!t the only person I feel safe with on this entire planet is
yo!.2
/Then it is not right to take adantage of yo! in this position.2 )e t!rned as if
to go, and she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
/I don%t care. It%s not taking adantage. I want this.2 She co!ldn%t find the
words for f!rther pleas, so she rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cold cheek. )e
t!rned to face her, a tho!sand conflicting emotions etched into his expression, a
tho!sand denials poised to b!rst from him. *one of them co!ld oercome the one
!rge Cassandra knew he felt, beca!se she felt it too, and it was too powerf!l to deny.
7ith an almost inh!man growl, he lifted her into his arms, kissing her with a
passion she hadn%t tho!ght someone so controlled wo!ld hae been capable of
feeling. )e carried her to his bedroom and kicked the door sh!t with a reerberating
slam. The moment he set her on her feet, her hands smoothed oer his chest, into his
$acket. )e shr!gged it off, his hands ret!rning to die greedily into her hair. Their lips
met again as she diested him of his tie and went to work on the b!ttons of his shirt.
)e p!shed her hands away and gripped the front of his shirt, p!lling it open, sending
b!ttons flying. Cassandra gasped against his mo!th, then broke their contact to let
him p!ll her shirt oer her head. )e ran his hands down her back, deftly popping the
clasp of her bra before he grabbed her b!tt and p!lled her hips fl!sh against him.
Thro!gh her $eans, Cassandra felt the s!bstantial hardness of him and
gooseflesh peppered her skin in anticipation. The memory of what she had seen the
night before sent new awareness flooding thro!gh her eins. She let her mind linger
on the image of 9iktor%s body, the crisp lines of his m!scled abdomen flexing as he
had po!nded into a man. All that tight skin and hard body belonged to her tonight,
and she shiered, remembering how powerf!lly aro!sed she had been $!st looking at
him. *ow, she didn%t hae to $!st look. She ran her greedy fingers oer his chest
inside his open shirt. )is skin was cold and smooth, slightly warm oer the place
where his heart wo!ld be. She looked !p, #!estioning, and he closed his hand oer
hers, pressing her palm flat as he kissed her again. The gest!re, so !nexpectedly
tender in the moment, took her breath away. 7hen he looked at her, she reali:ed with
a shock he saw her and not some fantasy woman. )e saw her, yet his eyes lingered on
her in adoration.
She stepped back and let the black lace of her bra fall forward, the straps
sliding down her arms. )is breathing a!dibly #!ickened at the sight of her exposed
flesh, and he leaned down to take one hard nipple into his mo!th. Cassandra%s head
fell back and his hand immediately ca!ght her at the small of her back, s!pporting her
as his mo!th teased her sensitie breast mercilessly.
)e $erked the d!et from the bed and p!shed her gently back, and she landed
with a bo!nce on the soft mattress. She la!ghed, and in the next second she stopped
la!ghing, beca!se his hands were on her thighs, !rging them apart. )e knelt on the
carpet and lowered his face to the bend of her knee, looking !p at her with a hot,
h!ngry ga:e. 7o!ld he bite her' (id she want him to'
*o, of co!rse she didn%t. Tho!gh sharing blood with him had been a
powerf!lly erotic experience, it had also been terrifying. 7ith her tainted blood, the
conse#!ences were too dire.
As if sensing her fear-and how co!ld he hae missed it' )er whole body had
tensed !p like a line abo!t to break-he said, /I hae other plans for my mo!th that
do not incl!de biting yo!.2
/I%m sorry, I%m $!st being st!pid. I-2 )er apology was c!t off by a gasp as his
cold mo!th descended on the bend of her knee, and a flood of wetness r!shed to her
core. 7hen was the last time anyone had eer made her feel like this'
*eer, she reali:ed as his mo!th moed !p her thigh, closer and closer to the
lacy edge of her panties. *one of the men she%d dated in college, none of the clients
she%d sericed thro!gh the cl!b. They%d wanted her to be oercome with passion, to
scream their names and rake her nails down their backs. They hadn%t cared if she%d
tr!ly felt anything, $!st that their egos were stroked by their enco!nter. A tear slid
from the corner of her eye, wetting the hair at her temple.
Immediately, 9iktor lifted his head and came to lie beside her. /)ae I done
something to !pset yo!'2
/*o.2 She swiped at her eyes, hating her st!pid emotions for r!ining
eerything. They%d neer interfered like this before. /*o, it%s $!st me. I%m screwed
!p.2
)e didn%t respond right away, and that made her feel more !lnerable and
exposed than when his head had been between her legs. She crossed her arms oer
her bare breasts and moed to sit !p.
/*o, please.2 9iktor !rged her to stay with a hand resting lightly on the tight
skin of her stomach. /Tell me, what has !pset yo!'2
/It%s $!st82 7hy was she talking' She%d been with eno!gh men to know that
talking didn%t sole anything. /I haen%t been with anyone. I mean, when it wasn%t a
part of my $ob. 6o! didn%t do anything wrong, yo! $!st8s!rprised me.2
)e leaned down and to!ched his lips to hers. *ot a f!ll kiss, $!st the lightest
br!sh of his mo!th against hers. /Allow me to contin!e to s!rprise yo!.2
She nodded and held her breath while he moed to kneel between her legs
again. "ne finger slipped beneath the lace at her hip, dragging the scrap of fabric
down. She exhaled shakily, lifting her hips so he co!ld p!ll the panties off the rest of
the way. )e stroked the length of one leg, the lace trapped !nder his hand, and she
was completely bare before him.
=eerently, he placed his hands at the $!nct!res of her inner thigh and mo!nd
and traced the sc!lpted line of hair there. All her earlier tension left her, replaced by a
completely different kind. She let her legs fall wider apart and watched, teeth s!nken
into her bottom lip, as he leaned forward and parted her folds with his fingers. The
first shock of his cold tong!e on her hot flesh b!cked her hips and p!lled an a!dible
gasp from her l!ngs. She pl!nged her fingers into his pale hair, holding him there,
wanting to p!ll him away, too weak to decide on either co!rse of action and content
to let him contin!e. *o, desperate for him to. )is tong!e p!lled in la:y circles aro!nd
her clit, !p and oer and then down to taste the wetness at her entrance.
The sensations co!rsed thro!gh her body like electricity, $olting her eery
nere with alternating c!rrents of /too m!ch2 and /not eno!gh2. She rolled her hips
beneath his mo!th, trying to bring him closer to where she desperately needed him to
be, and he complied readily, fastening his lips to her clit with gentle s!ction as his
tong!e flicked oer the hard n!b.
Cassandra exploded, her hips b!cking, a long, strangled sigh of disbelief
p!lling from her throat like a ra:or blade. She fell back and only then was she aware
she%d arched !p, straining toward his mo!th, so hard she co!ld feel the stretch of it in
her m!scles.
In a moment he was on her, coering her with his body while her c!nt still
spasmed from her release. The wide tip of his cock r!bbed against her opening, and
her hands flew to his sho!lders to stop him. /<ook, I know I%m not some delicate
irgin, b!t82
/B!t yo!%re asking me to be gentle'2 )e la!ghed, soft and low. /I will be.2
She co!ldn%t think of a good reason not to tr!st him, or to stop him. For the
first time in years, she wanted someone and tr!sted him eno!gh to let him into her
body, not for money, b!t beca!se she wanted to.
)e pressed forward, her $!ices and the wetness left from his mo!th aiding his
entry. She gratef!lly accepted his weight atop her, and at that moment it felt like
she%d been missing it her entire life. )e parted her folds with his fingers and the head
of his cock slid into her aching c!nt, stretching her and filling her with delicio!s
press!re. )e p!shed in farther and she moaned, bringing her knees !p to bracket his
waist. >ore and more he filled her, eery cold inch of him warming from the heat of
her body as he sank deeper and deeper.
/"h 0od,2 she whimpered as his pelis came fl!sh to hers, his massie cock
b!ried inside her tight channel. /(on%t stop.2
7hen he moed, she cried o!t, the m!scles in her cales trembling. She
cl!tched at him with her hands and her c!nt as he withdrew, the length of him
slipping from her at what seemed like neer&ending increments. )e p!lled free and
pl!nged forward again, filling her, tort!ring her with his slowness. She whimpered
and rocked her hips, begging him silently to end her fr!stration.
)e gae $!st what she asked, pistoning inside of her with growing speed !ntil
she scored his back with her nails, sobbing alo!d with the b!ilding press!re. )er
greedy channel cl!ng to him, and she arched her back beneath him. )e panted,
p!mping his hips harder and harder against her, wringing eery last sensation of
ex#!isite tort!re from the moement. )er c!nt had neer felt so hot and wet and
open, her body had neer been str!ng so incredibly tightly with b!ilding pleas!re.
She wanted to scream and thrash, to p!sh him off and to p!ll him closer, and finally
she did scream, lo!d and long, her legs cr!shing him to her as she spasmed aro!nd
his cock.
)e rocked back onto his knees, p!lling her with him. )er body boneless and
heay, she cl!ng to him as he gro!nd his cock deep inside her, slipping his hand
between them to stroke her. She moaned his name, shiering !nder the sweat that
bathed her body. )ow co!ld he feel so cold when she was so hot' The contrast set
her eery nere ending on fire. )is fingers made her clit p!lse with another orgasm
and then another, !ntil she co!ldn%t hang on to him anymore and he needed his hands
to s!pport her. )e laid her back and grasped her hips, p!mping into her f!rio!sly
while he p!lled her against him, impaling her on his hard length. )e came inside her
with a feral growl that might hae frightened her if she%d had more energy to be
frightened. As it was, she co!ld only lie back and gasp for breath, her l!ngs aching
with the effort.
9iktor collapsed beside her, tho!gh he didn%t appear to be half as worn o!t as
she felt. Cassie swallowed, her throat raw from exertion and excessie ocali:ation.
*othing she%d eer done on the $ob co!ld hae prepared her for what it wo!ld feel
like when she finally slept with a g!y and had it mean something. The physical side
had been good-no, phenomenally good-b!t she%d neer gien another person s!ch
complete control oer her. *eer left herself !lnerable the way she had with him.
)e was probably a tho!sand times more dangero!s than any client she%d eer been
with, b!t she%d gien herself oer so completely to the sensations he%d aro!sed in her.
7ith a shock, she reali:ed she tr!sted him. 7orse, she%d neer reali:ed before
now she hadn%t been tr!sting anyone for a long time.
/Say something,2 9iktor begged #!ietly.
)e tho!ght she was !pset with him. >aybe he was afraid she regretted haing
sex with him. /Something.2
)e ch!ckled. /I will ass!me from yo!r literal interpretation of my #!estion that
yo! are not angry with me.2
/7hy wo!ld I be angry'2 She str!ggled to p!sh herself !p onto her elbow so
she co!ld see his face. /6o! f!cked me like yo! $!st got o!t of prison this morning.
That was !nbelieable.2
/Cr!de,2 he admonished, b!t he grinned with caeman pride.
She settled into the crook of his arm and laid her head on his sho!lder. /So,
een ampires like to hae their egos stroked.2
/Among other things.2
She smiled. /At the end of the day, yo!%re not all that different from h!man
men.2
/"h' 6o!%e been with h!man men who%e been G!nbelieable%'2
She snorted at that. /*o, definitely not. In fact82
/I see,2 he said, saing her from finishing the sentence. A silence fell between
them that was not comfortable, b!t something ery close, !ntil he said, /6o! desere
so m!ch more than the life yo!%e been gien, Cassandra.2
She closed her eyes, relishing the !nfamiliar feeling of sn!ggling beside
someone. ,en if it were $!st for a night, she wo!ld en$oy the false safe feeling. /I%m
sorry I acc!sed yo! of spying on me. And of being an ad!lterer.2
)e groaned. /"h, Anthony. )ow I look forward to the end of his mortal life.2
/So, what does he act!ally do' )e said he wo!ld kill yo! if yo! t!rned into a
>inion.2 She shiered despite the warmth of the blankets t!cked aro!nd her. /?nless
yo! pay him for that serice, b!t I don%t see why yo! wo!ld.2
/6o! saw those creat!res. I ass!re yo!, I do not pay him to babysit me. There
is an entire organi:ation, the Conclae, that has pledged itself to destroying >inions.2
)e seemed !ncomfortable as he acknowledged, /Anthony belongs to that
organi:ation, and he is stationed with me for the serice that he will eent!ally do for
them.2
She sat !p, holding the sheets to her chest. /6o! mean, when yo! eent!ally
lose yo!r h!manity and become a >inion, then Anthony will kill yo!'2
Idly stroking her back, he answered in an almost bored tone of oice. /That%s
the plan.2
T!rning toward him, she shr!gged off his hand. /)ow can yo! lie like that'
Being polite to a g!y who%s going to kill yo!'2
/)ow else sho!ld I treat him' )e%s a free assistant, the Conclae pays his
salary. (o yo! know how m!ch I wo!ld hae to pay someone to do his $ob'2 9iktor
sh!ddered dramatically. /It%s worth it $!st to let him kill me.2
/This isn%t f!nny.2 Cassie took a deep breath. /)e tried to blackmail me. )e
had newspaper clippings abo!t the accident and warned me8he tho!ght I was trying
to trick yo! into feeding off of me.2
/)e sho!ldn%t hae done,2 9iktor said, and tho!gh his tone was soft, his
expression was frighteningly hard.
So frightening that she co!ldn%t help b!t ask, /6o!%re not going to82
/*o, of co!rse not12 >ade s!ddenly aware of his reaction, he tried to disg!ise
it from her. /I%ll talk to him, and reiterate that yo! are not Conclae b!siness.2
/Thank yo!.2 She settled beside him again, her mind racing. )ad she
oerstepped her bo!nds' )ad she made a mistake' To hae a powerf!l man like
9iktor champion her ca!se against an employee8 S!rely she wo!ld owe him
something in ret!rn.
So m!ch for thinking she%d finally beg!n to tr!st someone.
Chapter Seven
Cassandra woke in the dark, alone. A second%s conf!sion was alleiated when
she saw the soft light in the hallway. She slid from the bed and picked !p the shirt
9iktor had discarded, p!lling it on and b!ttoning a few b!ttons. @eeping her eyes
peeled in case Anthony l!rked in the hallway, she tiptoed from the master bedroom to
the open door to 9iktor%s office.
She raised her hand to knock, b!t halted. 9iktor sat behind his desk, eyes
trained on the comp!ter in front of him as he worked. Shirtless, the oerhead lights
made his pale skin almost glow and accent!ated the deep lines cared aro!nd the
thick slabs of m!scle in his back and arms. Arms she had cl!ng to ho!rs before, a
back she had raked her nails down as she%d arched !nder him, mindless with passion.
/I didn%t think office st!ff co!ld be sexy,2 she said in lie! of knocking.
)e $!mped. She%d act!ally startled him.
/Aren%t ampires s!pposed to hae s!per reflexes or something'2 she asked in
response to the shocked look on his face.
)e #!ickly composed himself. /7e are s!pposed to. Apparently mine do not
work when yo!%re aro!nd.2
She co!ldn%t help b!t smile at him. There was something oddly distracting,
seeing all that pale skin stretched oer his powerf!l body, oddly incongr!o!s with the
spreadsheet he labored oer. /If I%m bothering yo!, I%ll go back to bed. I $!st woke !p
and wondered where yo! were.2
/Comparing #!arterly reports,2 he said, flicking a key and minimi:ing the
windows on the screen. /I hae people who co!ld do it for me, b!t that%s another
secret abo!t o!r kind+ we loe statistics. B!t no, yo! aren%t bothering me.2
She stepped into the office, her nat!ral c!riosity drawing her to the sleek black
sheles behind his desk. /So, this is where yo! keep the books.2
/*othing interesting. They%re $!st there to make it look like I can read.2 )e slid
his chair back and patted his lap. /Come on, do yo! want to see something really
interesting'2
She sat obediently, the black silk of the pa$ama pants he wore tickling her
thighs delicio!sly. )e t!rned them to face the comp!ter screen again and, with a flick
of his fingertip on the to!ch screen of the monitor, a map of *ew 6ork City,
>anhattan and the o!ter boro!ghs filled the screen.
/This is where we are,2 he said, indicating a ro!gh area on the map. The
pict!re :oomed in to a perfect aerial iew of the b!ilding they sat in. )e :oomed o!t
once more and tapped a key. Tho!sands of red dots obsc!red the pict!re. /And these
are >inions.2
Cassie%s stomach dropped. ,erywhere she looked, red flowed like a menacing
wae oer the city. /That%s insane8oh my 0od, look how many are in the park.
That%s right o!tside yo!r window12
/If I tried to cross the street, I wo!ld be set !pon in moments.2
/0od, what are my chances'2 she whispered, tracing the path of one of the dots
with her eyes.
/Better.2 )e p!shed her hair oer her sho!lder, smoothing it down her back.
/*ow that we%e made loe, the connection between !s sho!ld be lessened. They
likely wo!ld not pay attention to yo!. 7hy, do yo! wish to go home'2
Swallowing thickly, she shook her head. She co!ldn%t tear her ga:e from the
screen. The tho!ght of going o!t there, !nprotected, while her nightmare creat!res
swarmed the city8 /Is it always like this'2
/*o. This is an !n!s!al n!mber, een for *ew 6ork.2
/)ow is it that this isn%t all oer the news'2 Cassie t!rned to look at 9iktor%s
face, b!t his attention stayed rieted to the screen. /;eople m!st be seeing them.2
/*o. >inions are adept at hiding their n!mbers. ,en if they killed someone, it
wo!ld be highly !nlikely that their ictim wo!ld catch a glimpse of them. It was
!n!s!al that they showed themseles to yo!.2 )e tapped a key and the map closed.
/So, why hae I seen them in my dreams'2 She%d asked him before, and he
hadn%t known the answer. She didn%t think he wo!ld hae one now, b!t some silly
part of her hoped that if she asked eno!gh, the answer wo!ld present itself.
/I don%t know. If I had the answer, I co!ld protect yo! better than I can now.2
)e p!lled her against him and t!cked her head against his sho!lder.
/6o! don%t hae to worry abo!t me. I%e been dreaming abo!t those things
since the accident.2 She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against his cool skin.
Sleepily, she added, /I know it m!st be hard for yo!, beca!se of yo!r wife.2
/)ow so'2 he asked, stroking her hair from her face.
/Beca!se the >inions got her.2
9iktor%s hand stilled and his post!re stiffened.
Cassie sat !p, immediately afraid she%d said something wrong. /I%m sorry, I
didn%t mean to offend-2
/7ho told yo! that my wife was killed by >inions'2 )is wide eyes drilled
holes into her.
/6o! did,2 Cassie answered a!tomatically. Then, almost as a!tomatically,
/*o. 6o! didn%t.2
/I didn%t.2 9iktor%s Adam%s apple bobbed as he swallowed. /;erhaps Anthony
-2
/*o.2 )er heart began to do a strange, disordered beat. /Are yo! s!re yo!
didn%t-2
/*o.2 )e p!shed the chair back, almost d!mping her from his lap. 7hen she
sprang to her feet, he said, /I%m sorry. This has $!st82
/There%s a logical explanation,2 Cassie insisted. ,en if she co!ldn%t think of
one.
/The dream,2 9iktor said, to no one in partic!lar. )e stood and paced the
room, m!ttering to himself as tho!gh she wasn%t there. /It co!ldn%t be.2
/I&I $!st ass!med,2 she stammered. B!t she hadn%t. She%d known.
/6o! $!st ass!med a monster that has been tormenting yo! in nightmares and
that recently attacked yo! in the waking world killed my wife, who yo! neer heard
of before dinner tonight'2 )e shook his head. /This is not coincidental.2
/7hat do yo! mean'2 A strange, nero!s fl!tter began at the base of her throat
and traeled !p with her words. She had heard of past lies, of people haing
memories of things that had happened years before their births. A part of her wanted
him to s!ggest exactly that, the same reckless part of her that had latched so
hopelessly on to 9iktor in the first place. B!t the rest of her knew that this was too
cra:y, too far&o!t to be belieed.
+ut !oure in a room with a vampire. You let him drink !our "lood. You let him
fuk !ou. You didnt "elieve he ould e,ist, and he does. Is an!thing left thats
un"elieva"le now%
/I think8if nothing else82 )e cleared his throat, and his eyes shone with a
pink eneer that he blinked away. /I think yo! know something of her, at least.2
/6o! don%t think that%s8coincidental' That I wo!ld be the girl .!lie called to
replace her'2
)e pointed toward the desk. /)er ring is there. ;!t it on. >aybe8maybe it
will proe something.2
She shrank from the desk, as tho!gh it co!ld somehow force her to pick !p the
ring.
A look of hopelessness settled on 9iktor%s face. (id he think he had lost her'
She didn%t want to pick !p the dead woman%s ring. >aybe nothing wo!ld happen, b!t
something might. She didn%t want to take that chance.
She got to her feet and went to him, let him p!ll her into his arms. )e t!cked
her head beneath his chin and stroked her hair against her back.
/I wore that ring for decades. Beca!se it was >elina%s.2
She closed her eyes, let him accept her weight. /;retty name.2
)e made an affirmatie noise and contin!ed, /In times it seemed I wo!ld lose
myself, I wo!ld hold this ring and I wo!ld feel her presence with me. ?ntil the night
we met.2
)e released her and stepped back. /I cannot beliee there isn%t some
connection. 7e are of different times, Cassandra. I am a s!perstitio!s man. I beliee
in fate.2
)er throat went dry. It took all her compos!re to rasp o!t, /6o! think I8was
fated to meet yo!'2
?s!ally, it annoyed Cassie when people dodged her #!estions, b!t when 9iktor
did it by ha!ling her !p against his chest, her toes barely to!ching the floor, and
kissed her !ntil she co!ldn%t breathe, she didn%t complain. )e said more with one kiss
than he co!ld hae with a h!ndred words, and she opened her heart witho!t ca!tion.
)is hands slid down her back, oer the c!re of her ass, then !nder the tails of
the shirt as he let her back down. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, raising
her arms to let him p!ll the shirt oer her head. 7hen she opened them again, he
ca!ght her ga:e, held it as he c!pped her chin in his hand and traced her lower lip
with his th!mb. *eed t!rned his eyes into fathomless pools, and he lowered his lips to
hers once more, settling them there for only a moment before moing on to her ear,
her throat.
She wondered, $!st for a moment, if the passion that gripped him was really for
her, or for the woman he s!spected she had been. As his mo!th descended on the
hollow between her collar bones, she dismissed those concerns for a later time. *ow,
she needed his hands on her, his mo!th. *eeded to lose herself in his to!ch to feel
real.
)e gripped her thighs and boosted her !p, !rging her to wind her legs aro!nd
his waist. )e held her effortlessly, and she mareled at his strength. )e b!ried his
face against her breasts, nibbling and s!cking a path between the two. )is hard body
was cold against her, b!t warming from the heat trapped between them. Tr!sting in
his strength, she leaned back, arching into his kisses. )e s!cked one hard nipple into
his mo!th, his eyes closed as if he saored the most delicio!s morsel he%d eer tasted.
Sensation ricocheted off eery nere ending. She p!lled herself !p, c!ring
oer him as she deled her fingers into his hair. )is cock prodded against her ass and
she shiered in anticipation of him filling her.
It was so different this time. Tho!gh he%d lost none of the tenderness he%d
shown her before, there was a new desperation to his desire. )e deo!red her,
cons!med her with his passion and intensity. 7hen he looked into her eyes, his ga:e
co!ld hae b!rned herE when he to!ched her, he did.
/F!ck me,2 she begged, gripping his sho!lders. /.!st f!ck me.2
)e carried her the few steps to the office chair and dropped into it, and she rose
on her knees, straddling his lap. "ne cold finger slid down, parting her and circling
her clit, wringing a sh!dder from her.
/(o yo! know what it does to me, to hear how m!ch yo! want me'2 )e
p!shed a finger into her cl!tching channel, stroked her rippling walls. /To feel it'2
She moaned, !nd!lating her hips against his hand.
/Tell me,2 he prompted, another finger opening her, stretching her. /Tell me
what yo! want.2
She wanted him. So m!ch more than $!st the physical need that p!lsed thro!gh
her entire being. She wanted all of him. /<oe me,2 she begged, knowing that if he
wished, he wo!ld hear her tr!e meaning.
)e fro:e beneath her for a split second, and her stomach dropped. She%d gone
too far. *ow he wo!ld re$ect her.
B!t he didn%t. Instead, he gripped her ass, lifted her so the broad head of him
rested at her opening. All he had to do was ease her down and her swollen flesh
wo!ld part to welcome him inside.
Instead, she wriggled from his grasp, dropping to her knees in front of him. )is
expression of momentary conf!sion eaporated into a smile that she ret!rned as she
gripped his cock. Slowly, she stroked her hand !p his shaft, then leaned forward and
c!rled her tong!e aro!nd the tip. The so!nd he made, a strangled inhalation of
s!rprise, sent darts of aro!sal straight to her clit. She mareled at that. She%d neer
felt anything close to pleas!re from going down on a g!y, b!t she wanted to make
9iktor feel as incredible as he made her feel.
She worked her tong!e from the ery base of him to the head in fl!ttering
strokes, dropping to repeat the action oer and oer, !ntil his hips rose off the chair.
"nly then did she open her mo!th wide and draw him in, r!bbing the roof of her
mo!th in circles oer the tip of his cock. )is si:e made the $ob a bit tricky, b!t when
she looked !p at his face and saw his head thrown back, eyes closed, she fig!red he
wasn%t complaining. She took her time, s!cking and swirling her tong!e aro!nd him,
p!mping him in her fist as she swallowed him deep, !ntil finally he b!ried a hand in
her hair with a groan and !rged her to stop.
/(o yo! want to f!ck me'2 she asked, sliding her mo!th !p his shaft one last
time.
7ith a growl that was almost frightening, he lifted her to her feet and laid her
back on the desk. Briefly, she worried abo!t the things she had seen on the desk+ the
ring, the comp!ter, all his papers and work. )e swept them all aside and, as he didn%t
seem to care abo!t them, she co!ldn%t bring herself to, either. ,specially not when he
droe into her, oer and oer, his hands on her sho!lders to stop her sliding off the
desk with the force of his thr!sts. )e filled her so completely, b!t still she gasped for
breath and gro!nd against him, seeking more. She needed all of him, all of his cock,
all of his body, all of his so!l.
)is mo!th tight with determination, he po!nded into her in long strokes, blood&
tinged sweat standing o!t on his forehead. She panted beneath him, helpless to do
anything b!t hold on and s!rrender to the force of his long&controlled passions. She
gripped him tighter with her legs, her c!nt, strained !p to meet his p!nishing thr!sts.
The hot, tight spiral in her pelis expanded, contracted, and she came, screaming his
name.
)e groaned and b!ried his face against her neck. Thro!gh the trembling
aftermath of her orgasm, she felt his teeth gra:e her skin, then tighten. 7ith a roar of
denial, he p!lled back, thr!sting against her harder, $!st once, and she co!ldn%t hold
back her whimper as he p!lsed inside of her.
/Cassandra,2 he rasped, breathing heaily as he s!pported his weight on his
arms aboe her. /I am sorry. Are yo! okay'2
/I%m fine. I%m perfect.2 She leaned !p, and he met her lips with his, the h!ngry,
desperate need between them abated, if $!st for now.
)e withdrew from her body and lifted her to carry her to his bedroom. As they
walked, she felt the silky wetness against her thighs and gasped. /"h my 0od. 7e
didn%t !se a condom.2
/*o, we did not.2 )is expression was tight. /I apologi:e. It is !nforgiable that
I wo!ld p!t yo! at s!ch risk. I do not carry disease, if that alleiates yo!r worry. >y
body cannot s!stain a ir!s.2
/7hat abo!t emergency contraception'2 she asked. /Can ampires, yo!
know8get someone knocked !p'2
/That is a good #!estion. I don%t know.2 9iktor balanced her on one arm and
p!lled the bedding back with the other, lowering her gently to the crisp sheets. /I will
hae Anthony proc!re something for yo! in the morning.2
She settled against him when he $oined her in the bed. /(id yo! hae any
children' 7hen yo! were h!man'2
/*o,2 he answered #!ickly. /*o, >elina co!ld not8 7e conceied twice, b!t
the babies were stillborn.2
/I%m so sorry.2 )er heart ached at the tho!ght. )ad that tr!ly happened to her'
/Isn%t that the sort of thing I sho!ld remember' If, yo! know82
)e traced a line down her bare arm with one fingertip. />aybe it is something
yo! don%t wish to remember.2
Sn!ggling closer, she asked, /Tell me abo!t her. If yo! don%t mind.2
/*ot at all.2 )e la:ily stroked her back in wide circles. /I so rarely hae a
chance to reisit her memory with another person. It reminds me that she was real.
After almost a cent!ry, the past begins to seem like a dream, or a fairytale.2
/It doesn%t take that long,2 she corrected him. )er own past seemed like an
entirely different lifetime. /7hat was she like'2
/She was short,2 he said simply, indicating a spot on his chest. /She only came
to here.2
/I was thinking more, what did she act like' 7hat did yo! loe abo!t her'2 If
anyone had told Cassie a week ago that she wo!ld be grilling a client for personal
information, she wo!ld hae t!rned in her resignation right then. B!t 9iktor wasn%t
$!st a client. *ot anymore.
)e sighed. /Ah. 7ell, she was ery st!bborn. She arg!ed with me often.2
/And yo! loed her in spite of it,2 she finished for him.
/*o.2 )e kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger there. /I loed her "eause
of it.2
/I can%t imagine that. Someone loing yo! beca!se of yo!r bad #!alities.2 She
yawned, almost !nable to fight the p!ll of sleep any longer.
/Try,2 he whispered against her hair. /6o! may find yo! don%t need to
imagine.2
That was a step she co!ldn%t let herself take. *ot yet. Instead, she let his gentle
hands at her back and his soft breath against her hair l!ll her into sleep.
<ong after Cassandra had drifted off in his arms, sleeplessness forced 9iktor
from his bed. )e went to his office and set to right eerything he had swept from his
desk. )e hoped the comp!ter still worked. If not, he wo!ld send Anthony o!t for a
new one later. 7hen he came to the ring, shining placidly against the carpet, he
hesitated.
)is h!nger for blood had lessened. )is so!l had certainly benefited from
Cassandra%s presence. 7o!ld the ring still b!rn his skin' (id he dare try' 7ith
trembling fingers, he lifted it from the carpet, waiting for the inisible flames to lick
him, the excr!ciating pain to reerberate !p his arm. B!t there was nothing. *o
b!rning, b!t no gentle presence, either. )e gro!nd the cross engraed on the band
into his palm oer and oer, anticipating the sting, b!t none came.
/>r. *ootny'2 Anthony, reporting for his morning d!ties, stepped thro!gh
the door. /Anything I can do for yo! before I check in with the Conclae this
morning'2
9iktor rose and straightened. It wasn%t the first time Anthony had fo!nd him
morosely contemplating >elina%s ring in the middle of the night, b!t it was the first
time he%d seen him cro!ched on the floor amongst hastily strewn papers, clad only in
pa$ama pants. )e did not relish the h!man seeing him so !ndignified. /6es, there is.2
As Anthony came closer, 9iktor sprang at him, gripping his arm and twisting it
behind his back as he slammed the h!man%s head into the desktop. ;inning the man,
9iktor leaned oer his back, fangs extended. /If yo! eer intr!de !pon Cassandra%s
priacy again, for any reason, I will kill yo!. (o I make myself perfectly clear'2
To his credit, the h!man did not scream in terror or weep for forgieness. /I
did what was in the best interest of the Conclae. I had to know.2
7ith a flick of his wrist, 9iktor tossed Anthony from the desk. )e landed
across the room, near the door.
Tho!gh he str!ggled to appear !naffected, Anthony%s hands shook as he
straightened his $acket and tie. /6o!%re right. I oerstepped my bo!nds. I%ll leae her
alone from here on o!t.2
9iktor nodded, feeling no need to f!rther explain himself. /See that yo! do.
6o!%re dismissed.2
7hen Anthony had gone, 9iktor picked !p the ring again. )e expected that it
wo!ld scorch him, that precio!s increment of h!manity sn!ffed o!t from his ro!gh
treatment of the h!man. Instead, it rested cool against his palm, and that conf!sed
him f!rther.
)e left the ring on the desk and ret!rned to his bedroom, locking the door from
the inside. There was no need to allow Anthony the l!x!ry of intr!sion. 7hen he
reached the bedside, 9iktor stopped to ga:e down at Cassandra. She did not sleep,
tho!gh she pretended to. The commotion from the office had likely woken her. )e
ind!lged her r!se, content to watch her breasts rise and fall beneath the sheet with her
caref!lly meas!red breaths. ,en in the darkness of the room, she glowed. >aybe it
was a light only he co!ld see.
It did not make sense when he applied the cold logic that r!led eery other part
of his life. )e did not need to #!estion his feelings, as s!dden and ill&planned as they
were. )e was drawn to her with his heart and not solely his mind. At least he knew he
was still h!man eno!gh to feel that reckless imp!lse.
Sliding into the bed beside her, he kissed her, slowly, gently. <et me loe yo!,
he !rged her silently. <et me loe !ou, not some faHade yo!%e constr!cted to hide
from the world.
As if in answer, her arms encircled his neck, her fingers deled into his hair,
drawing him closer. There was none of the desperation he%d felt in her kiss before,
none of the pain or longing to forget where she was. She wanted him, with all of her
so!l. 7hether or not that so!l also belonged to >elina didn%t matter.
9iktor rose to an empty bed. )ow had he not heard her leae' )e did not look
thro!gh the apartment for her. )e knew he wo!ldn%t find her.
)e dressed himself in a T&shirt and a pair of $eans. )e felt no need to go
thro!gh the motions of p!tting on a s!it, tying a tie, fastening c!fflinks. It wo!ld not
make him feel any more h!man. "nly one thing wo!ld, and she had left.
Anthony waited for him in his office. /She left this.2
9iktor took the folded note from his assistant%s hand. /Thank yo!. 7ill yo!
exc!se me a moment'2
"nce Anthony had gone, 9iktor !nfolded the paper. The sight of her cramped
handwriting wr!ng a sad smile from him.
*iktor,
I didnt want to leave like this, "ut if I had waited for !ou to wake up, I might
not have left at all. -e "oth know what we were thinking last night. I need to find out
for sure.
Ill "e in touh.
)e refolded the paper and t!cked it into the pocket of his shirt. Then he
reached for >elina%s ring.
The intercom b!::ed. Co!ld the man not gie him a moment to mo!rn' )e hit
the b!tton and gae a terse, /6es'2
/>r. *ootny, there%s something yo! need to see on channel six.2
"f all the things Anthony wo!ld interr!pt him for1 C!rsing, he reached for the
remote to the sleek black teleision h!ng in place of a pict!re on the wall. The ideo
that appeared st!nned him.
/)ere in Brooklyn, some #!estions remain !nanswered,2 the reporter finished
!p, her image s!perimposed beside a sketch of what was !nmistakably a >inion. A
label across the bottom of the screen declared, /City =eeling After 9iolent Animal
Attack2.
7ith a shock of dread, 9iktor reali:ed where the reporter stood. "n the street,
in front of Cassandra%s b!ilding.
Chapter Eight
,en the biting cold co!ldn%t pers!ade Cassie to p!sh the b!::er at the address
she%d hastily scrawled down. The woman inside expected her, b!t that didn%t #!ell
Cassie%s desire to r!n home to her apartment and climb !nder the blankets and neer
emerge.
7hat had happened to her life' "ne day, she was a call girl. The next, she was
!nemployed, standing on the street in front of a psychic%s apartment b!ilding, ready
to go in and see if she was the reincarnation of a ampire%s dead wife.
0od, had she lost her mind' From the moment she%d looked !p /psychic2 on
9iktor%s comp!ter-she was s!rprised it had act!ally worked, after the way he%d
p!shed it off the desk the night before-she%d felt like she m!st be going cra:y. First,
she%d ent!red into the city, alone, not knowing if those >inion things wo!ld still be
after her. Then, she%d come to a stranger%s apartment after one phone cons!ltation
and #!it her $ob at 3&4&5.
There was still time to call the cl!b and act like it had all been a $oke. )a ha, I
was $!st pretending to #!it1 Fooled yo!1 ;lease take me back, I don%t know how I%m
going to pay rent. B!t she co!ldn%t do that. 3&4&5 was a good $ob for a lot of women,
b!t not for her. *ot anymore. She%d spent too m!ch time pretending to be someone
else in order to please her clients. She hadn%t had time to fig!re o!t who she was.
And now she might be someone else. She blinked back s!dden tears. )ad
9iktor known' )ad that been what he%d wanted from the beginning' 7as that why
he%d come to her resc!e'
.his is so stupid. She sho!ld swear him off completely. *o, she sho!ld go back
to him. <et him protect her from monsters she%d tho!ght had been all in her head. She
co!ld pretend to be >elina. She co!ld pretend to be anyone. She%d certainly had
eno!gh practice to p!ll it off. B!t no, she co!ldn%t do that. It was cra:y, b!t she
wanted him to know her, possibly to een loe her. She had braed a city swarming
with >inions to get her answers. To chicken o!t now wo!ld be to abandon her
progress entirely and go back to the Cassie who spent her days in the grip of anti&
psychotics and sedaties. She co!ldn%t be that person again. *ot if she wanted to be
with 9iktor, and she did. 0od help her, she did.
The only way she co!ld do that was to find o!t who she was, really, and the
gnawing feeling in her stomach seemed to s!ggest that the answer to that was ery
complicated. >aybe the woman inside wo!ld be able to help her. She $!st had to get
the co!rage to p!sh the b!::er.
The door opened before she had a chance to make that decision. A yo!ng
woman with a chic hairc!t leaned o!t into the free:ing cold. /Are yo! Cassie'2
The woman in the doorway didn%t look anything like what Cassie had
expected. 7hen they%d spoken on the phone, she%d imagined an older woman with
fri::y hair, wearing some throwback to Flower ;ower. To be confronted with a
perfectly p!lled&together and fashionable *ew 6orker threw her off s!bstantially. /I
am. Are yo! >aya'2
The woman nodded and motioned her inside. /Come on in.2
Cassie followed her into the small, modern lobby. /I%m on eight,2 >aya said as
she p!shed the b!tton to call the eleator. /6o! were haing second tho!ghts abo!t
coming, weren%t yo!'2
It probably wo!ldn%t do any good to lie to a psychic, so Cassie said, /6eah.
I%m $!st not s!re abo!t all of this.2
/All of what' 7hat%s going on'2 The eleator door slid open and >aya stood
aside so that Cassie co!ld enter first.
)er first instinct was to snap, /Sho!ldn%t yo! know that already'2 b!t Cassie
controlled herself. /I $!st hae some #!estions, is all.2
/B!estions that can only be answered by past life regression therapy'2 >aya
hit the b!tton for the eighth floor. /6o!%e come to the right place.2
They reached >aya%s floor and finally the door to her apartment. The place
was small, b!t impeccably decorated and welcoming. >aya took her coat. /)ae a
seat on the co!ch.2
/)onestly, I don%t know what I%m doing here,2 Cassie began, her fear taking
her oer once more. /I think I%e officially lost my mind.2
/I hear that a lot.2 >aya seated herself in a chair beside the co!ch and settled
in as tho!gh she spent many ho!rs in that pose.
/>aybe I%m $!st wasting my time.2 Cassie waited for the woman to agree with
her, or disagree, or say something that wo!ld make her decision for her.
/6o! owe it to him to find o!t.2 >aya%s words stopped Cassie%s desire to flee
in its tracks. Calmly, she contin!ed. /I don%t know the entire sit!ation, b!t I feel that
yo! are ery strongly conflicted. 7o!ldn%t it be better to hae a clear pict!re of
things before yo! closed the door on him foreer'2
Cassie%s hands shook. /I g!ess I didn%t really b!y that yo! were8psychic.2
/It doesn%t take a psychic to recogni:e a woman who%s haing a hard time
deciding what to do abo!t a g!y.2 >aya snorted. /I see one in the mirror almost
eery day. 6o! came here beca!se yo! tho!ght this might act!ally help yo!. I think
yo! owe it to both of yo! to see if it does.2
She made a lot of sense, and Cassie co!ldn%t arg!e with her reasoning. /7hat
do I do'2
/7ell, yo! close yo!r eyes, and I p!t yo! into a light hypnotic state.2 >aya
gest!red to the sofa. /6o! might want to lie down, !nless yo! feel yo!%re going to
fall asleep.2
There was no way Cassie wo!ld fall asleep. *ot when she was as keyed !p as
she was. 7itho!t giing do!bt any more time, Cassie arranged herself on the co!ch
and willed her body to relax according to >aya%s softly spoken instr!ctions. The
woman was tr!ly talented. She painted a pict!re with words, of a room in Cassie%s
mind. /In this room, there is a door82
Closing her eyes, she let >aya%s calm, s!re oice weae a spell aro!nd her
mind. 7eae a spell' She%d started taking this st!ff way too serio!sly. She%d met one
ampire, and now she was belieing all sorts of st!ff she wo!ld hae la!ghed at last
week. ;art of her really wanted to stand and r!n o!t again, b!t some indefinable !rge
kept her rooted to her co!ch.
/Contin!e taking slow, deep breaths,2 >aya instr!cted. /As yo! walk thro!gh
the door, concentrate on yo!r breathing. I%m going to begin to co!nt backwards from
ten. <et yo!rself go, deeper and deeper, as I co!nt. Ten82
.his isnt going to work.
/*ine82
Youre ra)!, Cassie. You should "e in !our therapists offie, not some
ps!his apartment.
/,ight8going deeper and deeper82
You should have &ust put up with !our ra)! rih vampire delusions. /t least
!oud have a plae to live.
/Seen8six8deeper and deeper, into a state of total relaxation82
You might have &ust 0uit !our &o" over some ra)! thing !ou made up. You
might "e ertifia"le.She opened her mo!th to speak, to tell >aya that, nice as she
was, all of this was hoc!s poc!s and she wasn%t going to waste any more of either of
their time when a cold draft hit her.
/6o!r eil1 It%ll get ca!ght in the door12 The oice that spoke wasn%t hers. It
wasn%t >aya%s either. 7hen had the woman stopped co!nting'
/(on%t $!st stand there, watch o!t for yo!r eil12 F!rthermore, why co!ld
Cassie !nderstand the words in her ears' They weren%t in any lang!age she%d eer
heard.
>aya%s oice broke thro!gh the fog of conf!sion. /I want yo! to go now to the
happiest day of this lifetime. See the people aro!nd yo!. (o yo! recogni:e them'2
At the word /see2, Cassie%s ision cleared, tho!gh she hadn%t reali:ed she%d
been staring into total blackness. If she had, maybe she wo!ld hae been afraid. She
didn%t feel afraid. She felt excited, happy, and8perhaps $!st a bit afraid. She looked
aro!nd her. The woman who f!ssed with the lace hanging past Cassie%s sho!lder
didn%t look like anyone she knew, b!t something abo!t her was so familiar8
/<ook at what yo!%re wearing,2 >aya%s oice !rged.
/This is a mistake,2 the woman, middle&aged and wearing a shabby b!t clean
black wool dress and a heay gold cross on a chain aro!nd her neck, frowned at her.
/6o! co!ldn%t wait !ntil after <ent' 0ie it some more time'2
/*o, >ama,2 she said, the words coming to her effortlessly, as tho!gh she read
words from a script. She looked down at her dress. A wedding dress. It didn%t look
like a wedding dress she wo!ld expect to see in the twenty&first cent!ry, b!t
something inside of her knew what it was.
/;eople will think yo!%re in a bad way,2 the woman warned her.
/I don%t care12 *eer in her life had she raised her oice to her mother, and her
own action shocked her so thoro!ghly that she immediately sh!t her mo!th. It took
only a moment of co!rage to open it again. /9iktor loes me, and I loe him. 7e
need to arrie in ;rag!e before the spring, if he is to take the $ob his co!sin has
offered him.2
/<et him go1 )e chases a fantasy, >elina1 The city is no place for yo!,2 >ama
admonished, crossing herself dramatically.
.!st the tho!ght of 9iktor leaing witho!t her bro!ght tears to her eyes and an
aching loneliness to her heart. They co!ld not be separated. They wo!ld wilt in their
despair like flowers in a dro!ght.
/I m!st go with him,2 she said, steel behind her words. /,eryone waits at the
ch!rch. 7ill yo! make this day a sorrowf!l one' This is my wedding, not a f!neral.2
The scene $!mped ahead in a di::ying r!sh. ;erhaps it was not the mental
$o!rney, b!t the oppressie heat that s!ddenly s!rro!nded her skin and inaded her
l!ngs with eery breath. Tho!gh it was winter o!tside, the atmosphere in the ch!rch
was stifling, with the candles and incense and the cr!sh of bodies pressed aro!nd
them. She told herself it was a mark of 9iktor%s pop!larity that the entire illage had
t!rned o!t to see them married, and not beca!se they had all come for the gossip.
She looked at the man standing beside her. Tho!gh his hair was dark and he
wore a s!it m!ch less refined than the ones he wore now, she wo!ld recogni:e 9iktor
anywhere. )is post!re was a bit stiffer than !s!al, his expression serio!s aboe the
starched collar of his best shirt. Ch!rch&serio!s, she had called it, eer since she had
noticed the somber cast to his feat!res one S!nday d!ring serices. )e%d c!t his hair
for the weddingE it no longer br!shed his sho!lders in a stick&straight c!rtain of
chestn!t brown. She had always tho!ght him handsome, b!t today, on their wedding
day, she felt he m!st be the most handsome man in the entire world.
As if he co!ld feel her ga:e !pon him, he lifted one eyebrow, almost
imperceptibly, and looked at her from the corner of his eye. )e winked and t!rned his
attention back to the priest before them, and she co!ld not contain her giggles. 1et
them think what the! will think. I love him, and he loves me. Soon, we will "e awa!
from here forever, and free.
The oppressie heat in the air enco!raged her to gie in to the sleepy sway of
her knees, and it took her a moment to reali:e she had closed her eyes. 7hy did
eeryone gasp' )ad something terrible happened' Something closed aro!nd her, hard
and reass!ringly stable. 9iktor%s arms, s!pporting her as she swooned.
/"pen the doors, she needs air,2 he barked, and her heart swelled at the
concern he showed for her. She did not recoer as #!ickly as she co!ld hae, too
delighted in the feeling of 9iktor holding her close and the tender words he
whispered in her ear.
The di::ying r!sh oercame her again, for a wholly different reason. The
ch!rch was long gone now, the traditional and lengthy ceremony completed. *ow,
she stood alone with 9iktor-her h!sband1-her body thr!mming with the
excitement of discoery, her cheeks fl!shed. They stood in a small attic room with a
sloped ceiling and a chimney that proided little warmth. A lamp banished the dark to
the corners, b!t still she shiered. All the long ho!rs they%d spent together, walking
by the lake or talking by the fire, keeping their oices low so that her family wo!ldn%t
oerhear, those held little indication of what he wo!ld be like now that they were
together, alone, on their wedding night.
It was not that she feared him. =ather, she feared she wo!ld disappoint him.
*othing >ama had told her had ade#!ately prepared her for what her part wo!ld be.
"h, she knew the mechanics, b!t not how to act, other than to /end!re2 as her mother
had instr!cted. ,nd!re, and 9iktor wo!ld be happy. ,nd!re, and she wo!ld hae
many children. B!t this did not feel like something that was to be end!red, standing
so close to 9iktor that the crisp hair on his chest br!shed her bare breasts.
9iktor%s fingers, long and elegant, ro!gh from the hard work he did for his
family%s farm, came to rest beneath her chin. The light in his eyes had not changed
when he looked at her now. She was his wife, yes, b!t still his pt23ek, his /little
bird2, and he looked at her with the same tenderness as he had the day he had asked
her to marry him. <ooking into his eyes, she saw he did not share her worries that
something had changed between them. )e kissed her, as gently and slowly as he had
the ery first time.
)e looped one arm !nder her knees and lifted her effortlessly to carry her to
the bed.
/(o not be afraid,2 he pleaded in that strange lang!age Cassie co!ld somehow
!nderstand. )is oice was bea!tif!l and dark with desire for her, and she reached for
him as he leaned back to look at her. /6o! are perfect.2
/I am skinny,2 she said, coering her small breasts and s!nken stomach with
her hands.
/6o! are perfect,2 he repeated, br!shing her hand aside, and leaned down to
take her nipple into his mo!th. The room was cold, b!t his mo!th was hot and wet,
and she s#!ee:ed her thighs together, the place between them becoming hot and wet,
as well. )e moed to the other breast, and for the moment she did not feel they were
so insignificant as she had before. She placed her hands on his sho!lders, mareling
at why they neer seemed so broad before. She tentatiely ran her fingers down his
back, feeling her way along the ridges of hard m!scle, free to explore him in a way
she had not been $!st ho!rs before. )ow strange, that they loed each other so
completely witho!t tr!ly knowing each other this way.
/6o!%re holding yo!r breath,2 he whispered, raising his head to look !p at her,
and he smiled that same, teasing smile she had seen so many times before.
She g!lped in breath, self&conscio!s at the so!nd, and he la!ghed before
ret!rning to place kisses on her ribs, her stomach, lower, !ntil she stopped him. )e
met her pleading look with a kiss to reass!re her and parted her thighs with his hand.
"ne finger stroked her soft petals, and she cried o!t in shock, then bit back her oice
at the fear someone wo!ld hear her.
/*o, please,2 he m!rm!red against her lips. /I want to hear yo!. I want to
know all the so!nds yo! make. I want to know if yo! like to be to!ched like this82
)e slipped that #!esting finger oer the hot, hard little b!d she%d stroked beneath the
blankets while her sisters all slept, and she sat !p in s!rprise.
/And like this,2 he contin!ed, rolling his fingertip oer and oer it, in tight
circles that bro!ght another moan to her throat.
/6es,2 she managed with a shaking oice. /6es, I like that.2
)e bent his head to her breast again, all the while worrying the little n!b with
his finger. )er body arched and tensed. She panted, her fingers cl!tching at the
bedding, his arms, anything she co!ld reach. )is mo!th moed, lower and lower,
!ntil it rested where his finger had been, and she screamed, clamping her knees to his
head as her body spasmed in $oy.
)er legs fell open, and 9iktor p!lled himself !p to lie between them. )e
f!mbled with his tro!sers, c!rsing, then settled his weight against her. )er breath
ca!ght, he p!shed forward, and her body opened aro!nd him with a stinging b!rst. )e
groaned, b!ried his head against her neck, then m!mbled, /Forgie me.2
She sh!ddered, gritting her teeth against the intr!sion of his body. She took a
deep breath and willed her body to relax, and it helped some, b!t it felt so strange. )e
moed inside of her, only for a moment, and then it was oer, so #!ickly she co!ld
barely p!t her tho!ghts and feelings together. )e withdrew from her body on another
tide of wetness, slippery and silky between her thighs, and fell to the bed beside her.
/I am sorry,2 he rasped, swallowing hard against his rapid breaths. /I wanted
to8ah, I%m a fool.2
She leaned !p on one elbow and stared down at him. /6o! are not a fool.2
/I hae neer82 )is fl!sh was isible een in the dim lamplight. /I didn%t
reali:e how it wo!ld feel.2
/)ow did it feel'2 she asked, ama:ed that he had been as inexperienced as she.
A smile slowly widened the corners of his mo!th, and she leaned down, tentatiely
br!shing her mo!th across his. Then, she la!ghed. /6o!%re mine now.2
/As yo! are mine,2 he agreed, reaching !p to p!ll her lips to his once more.
/0o forward now, to the moment of yo!r death,2 >aya%s oice intr!ded.
Cassie startled at the reali:ation that she was not >elina in the attic room 9iktor%s
parents had allowed them to moe into. She was Cassandra, on the co!ch in a
psychic%s st!dio apartment, and she was abo!t to see herself die.
;anic clawed at her, and those metaphorical claws t!rned into real ones,
gripping her skin, cl!tching at her hair. She tried to br!sh them away, b!t they were
so real, so painf!l.
/9iktor12 she screamed for him, saw him, fallen !nder the hands of those
creat!res, and tho!ght, .his is m! fault.
If she hadn%t been so angry, if she hadn%t stormed o!t of the cafI8if she hadn%t
insisted they leae the flat and ent!re into the forbidding winter night8if they had
neer come to ;rag!e at all, b!t stayed in the safety of their little illage8
)e stretched o!t his hand, seeking her to!ch een as another of the creat!res
landed on his back and tore long go!ges across his coat. The snow beneath 9iktor%s
body t!rned pink, then scarlet.
She co!ld not reach his hand. She wanted to. She prayed to, b!t no strength
came to her. )er ision darkened. "h 0od1 *ot like this1 There was so m!ch they
had not done. She cried o!t for him with the last of her ability, b!t it made no
difference, and the darkness sealed her in, tho!gh she co!ld still hear his screams.
Coering her ears, Cassie abr!ptly sat !p. The screaming was long gone, she
knew the moment she saw >aya%s s!rprised face and the interior of the small
apartment, b!t she didn%t tr!st herself eno!gh to take her hands away. )e%d been in so
m!ch pain. )ow had he s!ried' *ot $!st the attack, b!t the years, the decades that
had followed.
They had loed each other. She had loed him. Their long separation pierced
her heart now, a c!rio!s echo of a loneliness she%d always felt b!t neer #!estioned.
/>ay I get yo! some water'2 >aya asked, reaching a solicito!s hand to
Cassie%s knee.
Feeling like a fool, Cassie lowered her hands. She swiped at her eyes and
scrambled for her p!rse. /I hae to go. 6o! hae my credit card information, right'
From oer the phone'2
/;lease don%t leae. 6o!%re ery !pset. There has to be someone I can call for
yo!.2 >aya reached for her phone.
Cassie shook her head. /I $!st hae to get o!t of here.2
/7ait, please,2 >aya called behind her, b!t Cassie didn%t stop to explain. She
wo!ldn%t hae been able to. *o words wo!ld hae ade#!ately described her
experience. She p!shed her l!ngs to keep !p with her as she b!rst from the door and
onto the street. She%d forgotten her coat. There wasn%t any time or a good eno!gh
reason to go back for it. She had to find 9iktor.
That alone shook her to the ery core of her being. The old Cassie wo!ld hae
t!rned back, !sed any exc!se to keep from confronting the possibility before her.
That wasn%t an option anymore, not after what she had seen. 7hen 9iktor had looked
at >elina, it had been with the same tenderness as Cassie had seen in his face as he%d
held her. )e loed her then. )e co!ld loe her now. >aybe he already did.
As she ran, she ignored the feeling she was being watched, and wrote off the
shapes in the corners of her ision as figments of her imagination.
Chapter Nine
/7hen did they say they wo!ld call'2 9iktor tilted his head to try to catch a
glimpse of the rooftops as they passed, b!t the windows of the car limited his ision.
/7hen they had more information on the moement patterns of the >inions.2
Anthony swered, deftly aoiding a car parallel parking on the street. /I sho!ldn%t be
doing this for yo!, yo! know that, right'2
/I know.2 9iktor knew all too well that Anthony sho!ld be h!nting and
destroying >inions with the other Conclae members who had descended !pon *ew
6ork. The highest concentration of >inions in an !rban area in almost a h!ndred
years was considered a f!ll&blown emergency by Conclae standards. Tho!gh 9iktor
didn%t care for the Conclae on most days, he didn%t mind them wiping the sc!m
from the city. )e shrank from the s!nlight that pierced the clo!ds and gra:ed his skin.
/6o! sho!ld hae warned me. At the first sign that things were getting o!t of hand,
yo! sho!ld hae let me know. I co!ld hae helped yo!.2
/)elped me how'2 Anthony blared the horn and :oomed thro!gh a red light.
/,ery time yo! kill, yo! get worse. 6o!r days are n!mbered, b!ddy. <ook in a
mirror.2
9iktor didn%t need the reminder. /)ow far are we'2
/Abo!t fie min!tes.2 Anthony steered the car down a narrow alley. /*o
matter what we find, yo! need to stay in control. (on%t make yo!rself a part of the
problem.2
/.!st make s!re Cassandra is safe.2 If there was a fight, 9iktor wo!ldn%t walk
away and leae her !lnerable. )e wo!ldn%t be able to. ,en if he lost the battle for
his h!manity in the process, he wo!ld not abandon Cassandra to the same fate >elina
had s!ffered.
7hen they p!lled !p in front of the b!ilding, something seemed8odd. 9iktor
had expected to see signs of >inions eerywhere, b!t there were none.
/7e%re too late.2 )e t!rned to Anthony, whose face twisted in disbelief.
/7e%re too late.2
/>aybe not.2 Anthony p!lled his phone from his pocket and p!nched a few
keys. /I%e got some on the map. They seem to be congregating aro!nd midtown.2
Coering his head with his $acket to protect himself from any s!nlight that
might break the clo!d coer, 9iktor exited the car and leapt to the second&story ledge,
only belatedly considering the conse#!ences if someone had seen him. (amn the
Conclae%s protocol. )is only concern was for Cassandra.
/I had a key,2 Anthony called from the street. /Shall I $oin yo!'2
;eering thro!gh the dark glass, 9iktor shook his head. /*o. She%s not here. 7e
hae to find her.2
)e p!shed off from the b!ilding and connected with something in midair. The
impact shot him back, thro!gh the windows, spraying glass oer the small apartment.
)e hit the bed and t!mbled to the floor, locked in the r!bbery grip of a >inion. The
horrible thing d!g its claws into his sho!lders and its $aws snapped mere inches from
his face. )e p!shed with all of his might and dislodged it, springing to his feet only to
be str!ck down again. A second >inion perched on his back and bit into his neck. )e
roared in pain and shoed himself backward, smashing the creat!re into the wall hard
eno!gh to cr!mble plaster aro!nd them.
They fo!ght hard, h!ngry. 9iktor knew they m!st hae been waiting a long
time for Cassandra. They wo!ldn%t hae her. <et them tear him apart. They wo!ldn%t
hae her.
Cassie t!rned the corner, not r!nning, b!t walking fast eno!gh that she had to
dodge the #!ick&moing crowd. The doorman at 9iktor%s b!ilding admitted her
witho!t #!estion and indicated that instr!ctions had been left to let her into the
apartment. B!t when the eleator doors opened and she was confronted with the sleek
black foyer, no one was there to meet her.
/9iktor'2 She h!rried down the terrifying staircase, ignoring the windows that
seemed poised to swallow her whole. The horrible feeling of falling, falling
endlessly, gripped her, and she cl!ng to the railing for s!pport, breaking from the
stairs and h!rrying to the well&disg!ised door by the fireplace. She opened it to find
the hallway dark, no sign of any occ!pants.
She called 9iktor%s name as she looked into the rooms she passed. The so!nd
of a teleision, m!ffled by a closed door, drew her to 9iktor%s office. The flat&screen
teleision on the wall broadcasted a local channel, and the comp!ter on the desk
glowed with a map of >anhattan and the o!tlying boro!ghs. =ed dots flashed and
swarmed oer the streets, moing like a sinister pox oer the city.
<eaning in closer, she scanned the map. There was her street. Fo!r red dots
seemed concentrated on her block.
That was where 9iktor was. She knew it witho!t any do!bt. )e%d gone to
resc!e her. .!st like before, her imp!lsie behaior had led him into danger. .!st like
before, it wo!ld be her fa!lt if he were attacked. This time, tho!gh, he had so m!ch
more to lose.
)er ga:e fell on the little gold circle that lay on the desk. )er wedding ring.
*o, >elina%s wedding ring. She slipped it onto her finger and fled the apartment, then
the b!ilding, o!t into streets swarming with monsters. She only prayed she wasn%t too
late.
Another >inion came at him, fangs bared. 9iktor lifted himself as best he
co!ld and str!ck o!t at the creat!re. In the corner, Anthony%s body lay limp and
skewed like a child%s toy thrown d!ring a temper tantr!m. )e had done his best to
fight off the >inions, !sing the skills and weapons the Conclae had proided him. It
had been an impressie b!t !ltimately f!tile display. 7hen the Conclae members
Anthony had called for help arried, they wo!ld find their comrade dead, his charge
the same. 9iktor cried o!t pathetically as a >inion gripped his arm and p!lled, hard
eno!gh that bone and sinew separated. )e wo!ld be torn apart. S!ch an !ndignified
end.
B!t an end at last. The pieces of his kills-and the pieces of Cassandra%s
destroyed apartment-lay in piles aro!nd him. )is own skin resembled the ch!nks of
flesh lying on the floor, r!bbery and white. )is memory slipped away from him like
water thro!gh a siee, and the h!nger8he nearly sobbed with the force of it. )e
reached o!t for the >inion who%d ca!ght him. )e wo!ld p!ll the creat!re apart, feast
on its blood. )e wo!ld drink !ntil his thirst was #!enched, drink !ntil the dead heart
that beat within him b!rst from the press!re. )e was a creat!re drien totally by
h!nger.
A familiar scent wafted to him aboe the smell of his own blood. Ah,
desperation. 0!ilt. )e knew her, b!t all that registered now was the h!nger. )e
needed to cons!me her.
The door opened, and she stopped in her tracks. )er ga:e remained fixed on
the r!in and death aro!nd her.
It was time to strike.
"ne of the creat!res stood oer what Cassie tho!ght was 9iktor. B!t it
co!ldn%t be. Tho!gh the monster wore the tatters of 9iktor%s clothing, it seemed
shapeless and !nformed. The s!ggestion of a h!man body with the r!bbery skin and
shapeless feat!res of a >inion.
The creat!re that held down not&9iktor sprang toward her, and she r!shed
forward, p!rely on instinct, driing her sho!lder into the creat!re hard, setting it off
balance. In that moment, she grabbed the ob$ect nearest to her-an !mbrella leaning
behind the door-lifted it oer her head and p!mmeled the creat!re again, screaming
with eery smack of the weapon. Blood, thick and black, sprayed oer her, b!t she
didn%t stop, s#!ee:ing her eyes sh!t tight to protect them from the spray. "nly when a
hand ca!ght her ankle did she open her eyes again. The thing that sho!ld hae been
9iktor held her in his grasp.
She co!ldn%t harm him. Tears spilled from her eyes as she stared down into the
formless face. /9iktor, it%s me. ;lease12
)e p!lled her down, mo!th !n!s!ally wide, teeth at strange angles in his
horrible mo!th.
/It%s Cassandra. >elina. I loe yo!. ;lease don%t do this12 She didn%t fight him.
)e coered her body, his r!bbery white limbs so different from the st!rdy arms that
had held her the night before. She closed her eyes and sobbed. If this was how she
wo!ld die, she wo!ld. She only hoped that 9iktor%s so!l, or whateer part of him
co!ld be called a so!l, had moed on before he became this monstrosity. They had
fo!nd each other in this lifetime. She wo!ldn%t rest !ntil she fo!nd him in the next.
)is fangs sank into her neck, and she screamed, b!t she didn%t p!sh him away.
She didn%t want to str!ggle, didn%t want him to h!rt her more than he had to. There
was no chance of escape now, anyway. She cl!ng to his sho!lders, wiry and ro!nd
now from his transformation into >inion, and whispered that she loed him oer and
oer while her blood flowed from the wo!nd in her neck. 7hat he did not drink
p!ddled beneath her head, wetting her hair. Tears rolled from her eyes to $oin the
sticky wetness on the floor. It hadn%t been long ago that she%d collapsed on this floor
and 9iktor had come to her aid. She forced herself to foc!s on the short time they%d
spent together. 7hen she died, which wo!ldn%t be long now, she wanted to die
remembering what he had been, not fearing the monster he had become.
)er tho!ghts became m!ddled, and she str!ggled to hold her memories close.
The pain faded. She co!ldn%t feel her body anymore. )er mind wandered, all the way
to the little attic room where she%d spent her wedding night as >elina. <ying beside
9iktor in the dark, she had listened to the so!nd of his breathing, her heart nearly
b!rsting with the loe she%d felt for him in that lifetime.
/$ilu&i t4,2 she whispered to 9iktor, lying sleeping beside her, and to 9iktor,
transformed into a monster from her nightmares. / $ilu&i t4, 9iktor.2
Then she died.
)er blood washed thro!gh him like a tidal wae, blasting away years of pain,
decades of dying. )e had the presence of mind to release her, to roll away from her
body so that as he collapsed, he did not cr!sh her. >elina. *o, Cassandra. That was
her name now. )er so!l was nameless, tho!gh it was familiar, and it po!red into him
as a healing balm. )ow had he forgotten her'
It took him a moment to become aware of what he%d done. It took him another
moment to stop. )e drew away, his broken arm still cradling her. She%d spoken to
him, in words that had penetrated his conscio!sness, in a lang!age he had not spoken
for decades b!t still remembered with piercing clarity. She had told him she loed
him.
/$ilu&i t4,2 he repeated to her still form. )e wanted to weep, b!t he co!ld not
allow it. )e had done this. )e had m!rdered his bea!tif!l Cassandra. )is >elina. For
the second time, he had failed her.
*o, it co!ld not be this way1 7ith a roar of fr!stration, he slashed his own
wrist and let the blood well !p. )e had condemned her to death before by being too
weak to protect her. This time there was something he co!ld do abo!t it. )e pressed
his wrist to her slack mo!th and prayed that some spark of life remained within her.
;rayed that she co!ld forgie him for what he had done, what he did to her now. The
act of changing her might make him into a monster once more. )e had balanced so
precario!sly on the limit of his h!manity for so long, he no longer knew what might
tip the scales. )e silently !rged her to wake, to drink the blood that flowed into her
mo!th.
She stirred in his arms, p!shing him away, gagging. She spit the blood from
her mo!th, scr!bbed her hand across her face as she did so. )er hair, matted with her
blood, st!ck to her cheek, and she p!shed it away with a grimace of disg!st.
She sho!ld hae been !nable to moe, sei:ed by agony as the change had taken
her. It had taken him days to recoer from his transformation. (ays of feer and
!ncertainty, days of praying for a death that wo!ld neer arrie. )e didn%t wish that
horror on anyone, especially not Cassandra. The tho!ght of her h!rting, the tho!ght
of the pain he had already ca!sed, droe a spike of helpless rage into him.
Cassandra rolled away from him, choking, and he didn%t dare to to!ch her.
Finally, her co!ghing s!bsided, and she asked in a strangled whisper, /7hat
happened'2
9iktor s#!ee:ed his eyes sh!t. /Anthony and I saw on the news that >inions
had attacked near here. 7e came to protect yo!. )e did not s!rie.2
A sob escaped her, and it s!rprised him. She had neer seemed to care for
Anthony, and Anthony certainly had neer cared for her. She%d cons!med ampire
blood. At this moment, she sho!ld care only for blood, for feeding, if she had tr!ly
transformed. )e reached for her. )er skin did not b!rn the way a new ampire%s
feerish flesh sho!ld feel. She was h!man still, warm and alie. )e had not killed
her. )e had not t!rned her.
/This is all my fa!lt. If I had neer left-2
/*o.2 )e tried to p!ll her into his arms, b!t she resisted him. 7hy sho!ldn%t
she' )e%d nearly killed her, and he had certainly destroyed her life. /6o! are not
responsible for what happened here. There are >inions all oer the city. =ight now,
many Conclae members are losing their lies. 6o! are responsible for none of
them.2
/*o.2 She t!rned wide, tear&filled eyes to his. /I meant before. In ;rag!e. I
sho!ld hae neer left by myself that night. If I hadn%t, I wo!ldn%t hae died, and yo!
wo!ldn%t be-2
/(ear 0od.2 )e p!lled away from her, then c!rsed his reaction. 7hat reaction
did he expect to hae, faced with a liing ghost'
/6o! sho!ld hae let me die.2 She so!nded tired and defeated. /This time. 6o!
sho!ld hae let me die.2
)is hands trembled as he reached for her. "n her left ring finger, she wore
>elina%s wedding band. )e coered her hand with his own, and the skin&warmed
gold did not b!rn him. />elina'2
She looked !p at him and gasped. 7hat m!st he look like now, half&
transformed, halted in his transition to >inion'
/9iktor,2 she sp!ttered. /6o!r hair.2
In the fight, her little anity table had been destroyed, and pieces of mirror lay
all aro!nd them. Cassandra reached for one with trembling hands and held it o!t so
he co!ld see. In the fragile shard, a face from long ago stared back at him.
)e to!ched his hair, no longer the colorless white from before, b!t the d!ll
brown it had been in his yo!th. )is face, too, did not appear so pale or grim. )e
looked8almost h!man.
/(oes this mean82 She pa!sed and licked her lips. /(oes this mean that
yo!%re not a82
/*o.2 The h!nger remained, ta!nting him. /*o, I am still a ampire.2
/"h.2
The soft noise of disappointment pierced his heart. She wo!ld hae liked it
better if he had not been a ampire anymore. The so!nd of sirens pricked his ears.
/7e hae to go.2
7ith his help, Cassandra rose on shaky legs. /6o! can%t go o!t like that,
yo!%re practically naked,2 she said, indicating his torn clothes. /And the s!nlight12
A crack of th!nder split the air, and raindrops pelted the window. The s!nlight
wo!ld not be a problem, b!t eerything else8
7ith a growl of fr!stration, 9iktor grabbed the sheet from the bed and shook
glass off it. )e tied it aro!nd his waist and helped Cassandra downstairs, to the
waiting car. The s!n st!ng his eyes, b!t his skin didn%t ignite. Anthony had left the
keys in the car-a final faor. 9iktor peeled away from the c!rb witho!t a look back.
7hen he finally relaxed eno!gh to check on Cassandra, she was asleep, sl!mped
against the window in the passenger seat.
Safe. Coered in gore, almost dead at his hands, b!t safe. )e trembled and
t!rned his attention back to the road and the !nfamiliar mechanics of driing.
Anthony was gone. The Conclae wo!ldn%t be happy. >inions still swarmed the city.
)e had failed her.
It wasn%t $!st that he hadn%t been able to stop himself from draining her dry. It
wasn%t that he%d failed to transform her. )e re$oiced in that. *o, the thing that
bothered him most was that he had een considered condemning her to this life. In
his desperation to keep her, he%d been willing to sacrifice her so!l.
For years, he had mo!rned >elina, prayed to hae her back. The impossible
had happened. And now, he had to let her go. To protect Cassandra, he had to let her
go.
Chapter Ten
Cassandra woke to an empty room. She lay in 9iktor%s bed, and the shades
were open to the city lights stretching beyond the darkened rectangle of the park.
Standing gingerly, she winced at the soreness in her limbs. She%d neer hae tho!ght
that beating something to death with a weapon wo!ld take so m!ch physical effort.
She%d always ass!med the weapon did most of the work.
)er neck st!ng too, and she reached !p to to!ch the wo!nd from 9iktor%s bite.
A shier ran thro!gh her, all the way to her toes, and not the good kind. 9iktor had
been one of those creat!res, or nearly one of them. A monster from her nightmares.
She pa!sed. Something was wrong. She hadn%t woken screaming or sweating.
She hadn%t been tormented by hellish isions. She%d $!st8slept.
Frowning, she slid from the bed. 7hen 9iktor had carried her into the
apartment, he%d taken her straight to the master bathroom and helped her to !ndress.
She%d stayed awake $!st long eno!gh to shower away the blood before crawling
!nder the coers. At the foot of the bed, a black silk nightgown waited for her, and
she p!lled it on, gratef!l for the comforting softness. )er neck ached where he%d
bitten her, and she to!ched the edges of the wo!nd gingerly.
;adding down the hall, she fo!nd the door to the liing room open and warm
firelight in a flickering reflection against the marble. )er m!scles tensed and she shot
into motion, r!nning toward the flames and sho!ting, /9iktor12
7hen she b!rst into the liing room, she reali:ed her foolishness. The
apartment was not eng!lfed in flames. A cheerf!l fire crackled in the fireplace, and
9iktor sat on the co!ch, holding a glass of something that was not red, b!t a warm
amber. )e looked at her with concern written across eery feat!re. /Is eerything all
right'2
)er chest almost caed in !nder the weight of her relief. /6eah. ,erything is
fine. I tho!ght the apartment was b!rning down.2
)e ch!ckled. /6o!%re still in shock. 6o!%re waiting for monsters to $!mp o!t
at yo! from eery corner.2
/Can yo! really blame me'2 She sat beside him, wanting to to!ch him, to melt
against his st!rdiness and stillness, b!t she kept her arms t!cked aro!nd her waist,
p!lling her body into a shell. )e didn%t seem like the same 9iktor. Tho!gh he hadn%t
looked old before, he seemed yo!nger to Cassandra now. )e was the man she%d seen
d!ring her past life exploration, b!t she was not that woman. /7hat do we do now'2
)e lifted his glass to her. /Since my transformation has been somewhat8
reersed in its progress, I tho!ght I wo!ld see if it is possible to get dr!nk. And watch
the s!nrise, if I am able.2
/The s!nrise'2 It hadn%t been the answer she%d been looking for, and she
co!ldn%t ask him again. (espite all they%d been thro!gh, he seemed !napproachable
now. /Isn%t that a little dangero!s'2
/"nly as we lose o!r h!manity. At first, we can do nearly all of the things we
were able to do while alie.2 )e smiled sadly, b!t Cassie co!ldn%t fathom why he%d
be sad to regain his h!manity. *ot when she%d seen what he was abo!t to become.
/7ell, I meant8what now' The cops wo!ld hae fo!nd my apartment f!ll of
dead monsters. They%e got to be looking for me.2 She wished he wo!ld take her into
his arms and tell her that it wo!ld be okay. )e wo!ld hae, a day ago.
)e shook his head. /*o, they will not look for yo!. The Conclae has an
infinite reach. They%ll hae that apartment completely made oer by now. It will look
like yo! neer lied there at all.2
/B!t the cops will know I lied there. They%ll want to #!estion me and-2
/The Conclae will take care of the details. And if they do not8my wealth
will take care of what they miss.2 The silence stretched between them for some time,
!ntil he contin!ed. /I am sorry to hae complicated yo!r life so. I f!lly intend to help
yo! with whateer yo! need to reb!ild. A $ob, a new identity, an apartment. Say the
word, and it is yo!rs.2
A cold knot formed in the pit of her stomach. /?m8I don%t know what I
wo!ld need.2
/6o! need something better than a ampire, Cassandra.2 )e looked back to the
flames.
*ow that it was o!t in the open, the knot t!rned into lead and hardened
eerything inside of her. /7hat did yo! do to me' After yo! bit me.2
)e didn%t answer her.
/Tell me12 She had remembered choking on blood, spitting the fo!l, coppery
taste from her mo!th. )ad it been hers' /7hy didn%t I die after yo! drank my
blood'2
/9ampire blood is ery powerf!l.2 )e looked !p at her now, and in his ga:e
she felt the import of his words. /I gae yo! mine.2
She str!ggled to keep the fear from her oice. /7hy wo!ld yo! do that'2
/6o! had died. I fed yo! my blood, in the hopes that-2
A prickle of !nderstanding crept !p her spine. /6o! were going to t!rn me into
a ampire'2
/I tho!ght it was the only way. I co!ld not lose yo! again.2 )e closed his eyes
and t!rned back to the fire.
/6o! didn%t want to lose me, b!t yo!%re sending me away now'2 She shook
her head. )e had to reali:e how ridic!lo!s that so!nded. ;lease, 0od, let him reali:e
how ridic!lo!s it so!nded.
/I was willing to condemn yo! to this life, Cassandra. I do not know why the
>inions did not also t!rn yo! when we were attacked in ;rag!e. For many years, I
wished that they had. B!t time8it does not heal, b!t it gae me a new perspectie.
)ow co!ld I hae lied with myself if yo!, >elina, had lost yo!r h!manity and
become a monster' 7asn%t it better that we were separated, if only to protect yo!
from what I am'
/*ow that I hae yo! again, the temptation to hold on to yo! foreer is far too
great. I was willing to gie yo! my blood and snatch yo! back from (eath himself. I
was willing to sacrifice yo!r so!l $!st to keep yo!. By the grace of 0od, yo! receied
only eno!gh to restore yo!, b!t not eno!gh to t!rn yo!. @nowing that I am capable of
doing that to yo!8 I wo!ld rather be apart, than risk giing in to the temptation to
make yo! what I am.2
Tears coated her eyes, and she blinked them back. Fine, if that was how it
wo!ld be, that was how it wo!ld be. She co!ld lie with disappointment. She had
before. ,en as she tho!ght it, she knew it was a lie. After eerything that had
happened between them, he wo!ld $!st throw her away' )e%d had decades to get !sed
to his broken heart, b!t she hadn%t. She co!ldn%t adapt to the pain that fro:e her l!ngs.
B!t she co!ldn%t make him loe her, either. (esperately cl!tching the last shred of
cold detachment that lingered in her so!l, she stroe to connect with the old
Cassandra, the one who didn%t need anyone b!t herself. The persona didn%t fit as well
now, b!t she forced her oice to so!nd bored and !naffected. /I%ll need an
apartment.2
/6o! hae yo!r pick of any in >anhattan.2
She wetted her lips. /And I%ll need a $ob. A legit one. I%m not going back to the
cl!b.2
)e nodded, still ga:ing into the fire. /There are openings in my company. "r,
if yo! prefer-2
/I don%t want to work for yo!.2 She%d declared that a little too stridently. *ow
was the time to get a bit of the old Cassie back, to !se her pretend strength to get
thro!gh the next few min!tes, possibly the next few ho!rs and days. /If it%s all the
same to yo!, I think we sho!ld make this a clean break.2
/"f co!rse.2
/And !ntil I hae a place to stay, I sho!ld stay in a hotel or something.2
/I%e already had my new assistant make arrangements. 6o!%ll be staying at
the 7aldorf&Astoria. From what I !nderstand, the s!ites there are ery tastef!l,
nothing like being in a hotel room.2 )e swallowed the rest of the li#!id in his glass.
/I%ll send someone oer to show yo! apartments.2
They said nothing for a long time. Cassie had neer felt #!ite so n!mb before,
at least not witho!t sedaties and pain killers. She stared into the flames right along
with him, wishing she were anywhere else b!t st!pidly, hopelessly !nable to leae his
side.
/6o! desere better than a ampire,2 he said #!ietly. /Someday, I will lose my
h!manity. Something happened, I don%t know how or why, to gie me a second
chance. B!t I won%t p!t yo! in danger again.2
)e had a point. 7hen he%d been that monster, he hadn%t recogni:ed her. )e%d
been willing to kill her, to slowly bleed her dry. If it happened again, what wo!ld stop
him' 7hateer miracle had happened this time' She didn%t really feel like testing it
o!t.
/I went to a psychic,2 she said, not knowing why she felt she sho!ld share the
information. /I g!ess I tho!ght, since ampires are real, yo! know8anyway, I fo!nd
o!t some interesting st!ff.2
/I%m s!re yo! did.2 )e looked at her finally, sorrow etched into eery line on
his face. /6o!%re wearing yo!r wedding ring.2
/6o! noticed.2 She looked down, s!ddenly embarrassed, and twisted the gold
band off her finger. /I don%t know what any of this means-2
/It means nothing.2 )e shook his head and stood, going to the bar for another
drink. /I hae cost yo! yo!r life once, almost twice. I will not be the ca!se of yo!r
death again.2
/I%m not asking yo! to1 I $!st82 She exhaled angrily. /6o!%re so ready to tell
me what I desere. 6o! haen%t bothered to ask me what I want.2
/Beca!se I cannot gie it to yo!.2
She searched her mind for something else to say, some magic word that wo!ld
conince him of the mistake he made, that they both made, if she walked o!t of this
apartment and neer came back. B!t she knew it didn%t exist, and she had no choice
b!t to nod silently and hold o!t the ring.
/@eep it, please.2 )e stepped closer, setting his drink aside, and slid the ring
back on her finger. )is skin seemed warmer now, and that small to!ch of h!manity
mocked her. /I gae it to yo! as a symbol of the loe between !s then. I wo!ld not
wish for yo! to forget that.2
/nd the love I have for !ou now%she silently seethed. A tear finally escaped,
and a soft sob. As tho!gh they were as repellent to him as s!nlight, he stepped back.
/I%ll call yo! a car.2 )e took his drink with him as he headed to the hallway.
"n legs that felt like lead, she went to the g!est room, where the clothes that
Anthony had stolen from her apartment waited for her. She s!pposed she sho!ld be
happy she didn%t hae to replace absol!tely eerything. Just !our whole life.
After she dressed and packed the rest of her clothes, she ret!rned to the liing
room, b!t 9iktor had not come back. The door to his office was closed and within
moments the eleator opened and a smartly dressed drier appeared at the top of the
stairs. />r. *ootny called for a car'2
/6eah, that%s for me.2 She wondered if she sho!ld tell 9iktor she was leaing.
Then, anger and h!rt pride won o!t oer the st!pid, tender feelings she%d deeloped
for him. Anger had more practice, anyway.
She p!lled her bag oer her sho!lder and headed !p the stairs.
Chapter Eleven
7itho!t Cassandra, the apartment was a tomb.
9iktor stood at the windows, watching the s!n !nroll its deadly blanket oer
the park. "ne morning. )e%d had one morning after Cassandra had left. The s!n had
to!ched his skin, and he%d looked on it in wonder. )e%d gone onto the terrace and felt
the rays soak the early morning cold with warmth. Tears of $oy had leaked, crimson,
from his eyes, b!t there had been no one to share the experience with.
The next morning, the s!n had b!rned him.
)e held o!t his hand, longing to feel the to!ch of the light thro!gh the window
for $!st a moment. )is skin blistered and cracked, smoke wafting from the fiss!re that
widened !nder the golden light. )is reflection, pale white hair and skin, s#!inted
back at him like a sickly ghost. )e hit the b!tton to close the shades and t!rned.
Stephanie, his new assistant, stood silently at the bottom of the stairs. 7aiting,
like a work&h!ngry !lt!re. /Is there anything I can assist yo! with, >r. *ootny'
(o yo! need yo!r inf!sion'2
7itho!t Anthony, 9iktor had been forced to make some diffic!lt changes.
*amely, faking a disease that re#!ired him to ingest mysterio!s /inf!sions2 and
aoid s!nlight. The Conclae had yet to send him word of another watcher%s arrial,
and he did not wish to call their attention to his contin!ed existence. They wo!ld find
him, eent!ally, b!t in the meantime, he had to pretend for the benefit of his mo!sy
new assistant.
7orse, he co!ldn%t feed from anyone, and that was what he blamed for the
rapid loss of his h!manity. )e co!ld drink all the blood he wanted, b!t he wo!ld not
to!ch another h!man. )e co!ldn%t stomach the tho!ght of being with anyone b!t
Cassandra. /(id the realtor hae any l!ck finding an apartment for my friend'2
Frowning, Stephanie cons!lted her smart phone. />mm8looks like no l!ck
yet. Another week at the 7aldorf'2
)e made a noise to confirm, and she sighed lo!dly.
/It is not yo!r money I am spending, Stephanie,2 he snapped. Then, walking to
his office, he called oer his sho!lder, /See that I am not dist!rbed this morning.2
/In $!st a moment, sir,2 his assistant called, her heels clacking on the marble as
she h!rried to catch !p with him.
)e didn%t slow his steps and sl!mped in the chair behind his desk to wait for
her to catch !p. 7hen she came thro!gh the door, she smirked and said, /Catch,2
before throwing something in his direction.
7itho!t thinking, he ca!ght the ob$ect. 7hen he opened his hand, the ring,
>elina%s ring, sparkled in his palm.
/She sent it back with me when I dropped off the credit card yo! gae her.2
Stephanie nodded toward the ring. /She said she didn%t want it anymore.2
/Thank yo!.2 )e waed a hand to dismiss the woman and waited !ntil he was
alone to look at the ring again. By all acco!nts, it sho!ld hae b!rned the flesh from
his hands. As he t!rned it from palm to palm, it remained cool, b!t he fo!nd himself
imagining a bit of heat there. *ot the sco!rging fire that sho!ld hae assailed him
from the holy ob$ect, b!t the gentle warmth of Cassandra%s skin.
Christ hae mercy, what was he doing' For so many years, he%d prayed to hae
>elina back. )e%d aoided any real entanglements with h!mans and isolated himself
beca!se he co!ld not hae her. *ow she had ret!rned to him, and he re$ected her'
B!t it wasn%t >elina. Cassandra was more o!tspoken, harder and less
approachable. 7asn%t she' )e sco!red his short memory of Cassandra, and all he
fo!nd was a woman who had tr!sted him when she sho!ldn%t hae, who had
str!ggled !nder the weight of enormo!s pain, alone, b!t who had risked her life in the
hope of saing him. )e cr!shed the ring in his palm, willing it to mark his flesh, b!t it
remained as harmless as it eer had been. )armless, b!t not powerless. It was the
symbol that had bo!nd their so!ls together that day in the small illage ch!rch. Their
so!ls, and not their bodies.
)e reached for the intercom and pressed the b!tton, b!t Stephanie didn%t
answer. (amn the woman, he wo!ld fire her and replace her as soon as the downtown
office opened.
)e strode to his bedroom and hit the b!tton that controlled the shades. The
moment the s!nlight had filtered a ha:y line thro!gh the air, he thr!st his hand into it.
)is sleee ignited almost immediately and, with a sho!t of despair, he closed the
blinds.
)e co!ldn%t leae yet. B!t when he co!ld, he wo!ld go to Cassandra. )e%d
made a terrible mistake. )e co!ld only hope she felt the same way.
The knock at the door startled Cassie. The realtor wasn%t stopping by today,
and she%d already politely declined maid serice. She p!shed back the room serice
tray on the ottoman she%d rested it on and hopped to her feet, hitting the b!tton on the
remote. She didn%t need whoeer it was on the other side of the door $!dging her
trashy daytime T9 picks.
/?gh,2 she intoned !nder her breath as she checked the peephole. 9iktor%s new
assistant-his latest, female assistant-stood on the other side of the door,
preocc!pied with the phone in her hand. Cassie flipped the lock and opened the door.
/Come in.2
/This won%t take long,2 Stephanie said, stepping smoothly into the room as
tho!gh she%d been born in fo!r&inch heels. She pressed a hand to her hair to pat it into
place and holstered her phone. />r. *ootny wishes to know if the credit card he
sent oer works.2
Cassie%s cheeks flamed. /I haen%t !sed it.2
Stephanie arched an eyebrow. /It%s been two days.2
As if Cassie co!ldn%t control her gold&digging ways for two whole days1 /I
g!ess I haen%t been in a rip&off&a&rich&g!y mood.2
The fake la!gh that iss!ed from Stephanie co!ld hae sliced bread. /6o! don%t
hae to proe anything to me. It%s $!st that if I were yo!, I%d take the money and r!n.2
Cassie tilted her head. /7hat are yo! talking abo!t'2
Stephanie sat in one of the delicate B!een Anne chairs in the s!ite%s liing
area. /I do not do!bt that yo! are ac#!ainted with >r. *ootny%s8affliction'2
If she%d had anything in her mo!th, Cassie wo!ld hae choked. /,xc!se me'2
/)is ampirism.2 Stephanie reached into her $acket and p!lled o!t a card. /I%m
an agent of the Conclae. )as >r. *ootny told yo! abo!t that'2
/6es, he has.2 7as that the wrong answer' The last thing she wanted to do
was get 9iktor in tro!ble. She had no idea what those Conclae people wo!ld do to
him if they were angry. )er stomach dropped. /"h 0od, he%s not-2
/=apidly losing his h!manity once again'2 Stephanie withdrew her phone and
p!rsed her lips as she browsed the screen. /At an alarming rate, I%m afraid.2
In her anger, Cassie had ass!med that 9iktor had gone back to life as normal
for him, witho!t any tho!ght of her. /Is he feeding'2
/Blood, yes. B!t I%m s!re yo!%re aware that he has other8needs. A connection
with a h!man can s!stain a ampire%s h!manity for decades. *ow that yo!r
relationship with >r. *ootny has ended, it seems he will not seek other h!man
companionship.2
/That%s not what yo! are'2 Cassie co!ldn%t help her $ealo!s sniff.
Stephanie looked a bit taken aback by her answer. 0ood. /As a Conclae
member, it is my d!ty to monitor >r. *ootny%s decline. *othing more.2
/That%s ery comforting.2
/It wasn%t meant to be.2 Stephanie trained her ice bl!e eyes on Cassie, making
her feel the distinct need to s#!irm. /The Conclae has a partic!lar interest in >r.
*ootny. )e%s the most prominent ampire fig!re in h!man society. If he were to
become a >inion, it wo!ld raise p!blic s!spicion. 7e%e monitored him closely in
the years following his considerable financial and b!siness s!ccess and, !ntil he met
yo!, his h!manity had been in precipito!s decline.2
/B!t he%s not now,2 she corrected the woman. /After what happened at my
apartment. )e%s back to almost h!man.2
Stephanie shook her head. /)e was back to almost h!man. ?nfort!nately, his
progress has reersed. The Conclae feels it was something to do with yo!.2
/I wo!ld neer h!rt 9iktor12 The nere of this woman1 It was one thing to
imply Cassie was a gold&digger, another altogether to s!ggest she wo!ld want 9iktor
to t!rn into one of those.
/7e beliee he got better beca!se of yo!, not worse,2 Stephanie clarified
calmly. /)e met yo! and made an almost total reersal. *ow that yo!%e parted, his
condition has worsened.2
/7orsened'2 7orse than he had been when they%d first met' 7hen he%d been
$!st days away from t!rning into a >inion'
/)e has a day, two, at best.2 Stephanie didn%t attempt to s!garcoat it. Cassie
do!bted that Conclae types eer did. The way both Stephanie and Anthony had
talked abo!t 9iktor had been as tho!gh they%d described some kind of dangero!s
animal instead of a man. /7e plan to ne!trali:e him in forty&eight ho!rs, to preent
any messy p!blic spectacle.2
In two days, 9iktor wo!ld die' Cassie clenched her fists. She wanted to l!nge
at this woman and rip her hair o!t, more than she had $!st min!tes before. /6o!%re
going to m!rder him. (on%t !se a fancy word to coer it !p.2
A flicker of warning passed oer Stephanie%s face. She stood, smoothing her
skirt back into place. /I reali:e this m!st be diffic!lt for yo!, b!t I !rge yo! to accept
whateer financial help >r. *ootny has offered in the timeframe I%e gien yo!.
The Conclae will not offer any s!pport to yo! once he%s dead.2 At the door,
Stephanie pa!sed. /)ae a nice day, >s. Connely.2
)er heart po!nding, Cassandra stared at the closed door. 7hat co!ld she do'
9iktor had made it clear he didn%t want her in his life, b!t he wo!ldn%t want to die,
either. And if there was some way to stop the Conclae, he wo!ld be a >inion in $!st
a few days.
)e%d been willing to b!y her o!t of his life and neer see her again, b!t this
wasn%t right. She co!ldn%t let him do this, no matter what his wishes were where she
was concerned. )ands trembling, she lifted the phone receier from its cradle and
p!nched the n!mber for the front desk. /I need a car12
/Stephanie, call me a damned car12 9iktor released the b!tton on the intercom
so his assistant co!ld reply, b!t no reply was forthcoming. )e wasn%t s!rprised, b!t
he was angry. The woman had been o!t almost all day. *ow it was finally safe to
leae, he co!ldn%t get a car. )e s!pposed he co!ld !se the s!bway. "r $!st walk. )e
didn%t imagine the 7aldorf&Astoria was terribly far away. They were on an island,
after all.
)e closed his eyes. )e needed to calm himself. 7hen he opened his eyes, he
looked at his reflection in the mirror oer his dresser. It was missing. 7onderf!l.
Back to asking his assistant to straighten his tie and hoping all his b!ttons were done
!p correctly before strolling into p!blic. 7hat he wo!ldn%t gie for >elina%s calming
infl!ence, the gentle energy he%d relied !pon year after year as he%d pressed her ring
against his skin and let his memories soothe him. *ow that he%d fo!nd her again, her
essence deserted him.
"r had it' <ike a wae, her so!l seemed to crash oer him, and the feeling was
so achingly familiar he pressed a hand to his chest to coer the ring he had ret!rned to
the chain aro!nd his neck.
From the foyer, he heard the click of the eleator doors, and then Cassandra%s
oice, loaded with panic as she sho!ted his name.
)e h!rried from his room, worries abo!t his appearance forgotten. 7hen he
reached the liing room, she stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and red from
crying, her hair to!sled oer the sho!lders of her leather $acket. Torn between
wanting to r!n to her and wariness that she might flee him, he chose to stand where
he was, the space between them like miles. /I tho!ght yo! did not wish to see me
again.2
/I wasn%t gien m!ch of a choice.2 She h!rried down the stairs, looking aro!nd
as tho!gh something eil might spring o!t at her. /6o!r new assistant. She%s a
member of the Conclae.2
The strange feeling that perhaps he%d missed a page or two in the story crept !p
on him. /;ardon me'2
/<ook, I know yo! don%t want me here. B!t she came to see me. She told me to
spend whateer money yo! were willing to gie me, beca!se they were going to kill
yo! in two days. G*e!trali:e% was the word she !sed. Beca!se she said yo! were
going to become a >inion, beca!se I left, and I8I co!ldn%t do that to yo!12 A sob
racked her entire body, and she looked like she wo!ld cr!mple in on herself with her
tears. /Tell me to go, send me away, I don%t care, I%m not going anywhere1 I can%t let
that happen to yo!12
)e did go to her then, and she fell into his arms as easily as tho!gh they had
neer been apart. *ot for a week, not for a lifetime. /I sent yo! away beca!se I saw
the look on yo!r face when yo! reali:ed I was still a ampire. I co!ld not be so
selfish as to keep yo! when I was not what yo! wanted.2
)er arms tightened aro!nd him, and it killed him to pry her away, b!t he had
to. />y death is ineitable, as anyone%s is. If my choice is to die or become a >inion,
I choose death.2
She took a deep breath. /;lease, don%t think I%m cra:y. Beca!se it%s going to
so!nd cra:y. 9ery, ery cra:y.2
)e took her hands. They seemed almost as cold as his. /Cassandra, yo!
belieed I was a ampire. 6o! belieed abo!t >inions, and yo! so!ght o!t a psychic
to find o!t abo!t yo!r past life. I owe it to yo! to take what yo! tell me at face al!e.2
/I%m the reason yo! changed back.2 She went on in a r!sh, explaining the
Conclae belieed she had preented his transformation into >inion. /I tho!ght that
if I came here, if I got yo! to listen to me8 7e don%t hae to be what we were
before. >aybe if I $!st stayed close. I don%t want to lose yo!, 9iktor. I know yo!%e
made yo!r decision, b!t yo! said before that >elina was st!bborn. She arg!ed. 7ell,
not a lot has changed. I%m st!bborn, and I%m not going to leae here if I know yo!%re
going to die.2
/I knew it was yo!,2 he said, s#!ee:ing her hands. /For decades, it was yo!r
memory. And then when I met yo!8this yo!, I m!st hae somehow oerlooked yo!r
effect on me. B!t I saw yo!r disappointment, Cassandra, when yo! asked if I was still
a ampire. 6o! owe me nothing. 6o! do not hae to stay here.2
/"f co!rse I hae to stay. I co!ldn%t sae yo! before. And I can%t go back in
time and sae ,mily.2 She stopped, s#!ee:ing her eyes sh!t in fr!stration. /That
makes it so!nd like I%m !sing yo! to atone for something.2
/A penance no one deseres,2 he said with a h!morless la!gh.
She looked !p with tears in her eyes. /I desere yo!.2
The earnestness in her words droe away the final resistance in him. )e%d
fo!ght for her-no, they had fo!ght for each other-b!t there was no reason to
contin!e fighting, especially not s!ch a powerf!l foe as his loe for her. )e withdrew
the wedding ring from the collar of his shirt. 7ith a t!g, he snapped the chain.
/Cassandra, be my wife, for the second time.2
She la!ghed. /7e%e known each other for a few days.2
/A few days and the nine years we were married,2 he pointed o!t, his hope
t!rning to dread in his chest. 7as this too m!ch, too soon'
Chewing her lip, she kept her ga:e fixed on the ring between his th!mb and
forefinger. /6o!%re going to lie for h!ndreds of years. I%m not.2
)e reached o!t with his other hand and lifted her chin so that she faced him.
/(o yo! loe me'2
)er lips compressed as tho!gh she tried to hold back tears. *odding first, she
followed it with a whispered, /6es. I do loe yo!.2
/And I loe yo!.2 )e took her hand, and she didn%t resist him as he slipped the
ring onto her finger. /The rest we will work on.2
She la!ghed at that and let him help her to her feet. "nce they stood, he swept
her !p in his arms and kissed her, the way he%d ached to kiss her all the interminable
days they%d been apart.
She leaned back and gasped, and he looked to the mirror, where his reflection
once again appeared. )is skin was less pale, his hair the familiar chestn!t brown of
his yo!th.
/That%s going to take some getting !sed to,2 she breathed, reaching !p to to!ch
it. /So, now what'2
/*ow,2 a oice said behind them, making Cassandra $!mp in his arms, /I
report back to the Conclae and inform them o!r efforts are better spent elsewhere.2
(espite the words Stephanie had spoken, Cassandra whirled to face her and
shielded 9iktor with her body. /0et o!t12
/I will.2 Stephanie lifted her chin. /I see that >r. *ootny%s h!manity is no
longer in danger, and therefore I%m no longer needed. For now.2
/For now'2 he repeated, wrapping his arms aro!nd Cassandra%s sho!lders.
Stephanie%s smile was a warning. /7e%ll monitor yo!r sit!ation. If things
change in the f!t!re-/
/0et o!t,2 Cassandra whispered, and the woman nodded, heading to the stairs.
They watched her go. 9iktor considered going to the sec!rity cameras in
Anthony%s office to make s!re she really had exited the b!ilding. Cassandra was
shaken, tho!gh, and needed his attention. /Are yo! all right'2
/They%re going to monitor !s' (oes that mean they can $!st come back and kill
yo!, wheneer they want'2
)e pressed his lips to her temple. /They won%t need to. I loe yo!. I%m not
going to let yo! go again. ,en if my h!manity didn%t depend on yo!, I wo!ld want
yo! here, with me.2
/If yo! tr!st the Conclae, I g!ess I hae to too.2 She t!rned in his arms, still
!ncertain, it seemed, from the way she chewed her lip. /B!t yo! didn%t answer my
#!estion from before.2
)e frowned, searching his memory for some !nresoled tro!ble between them.
/7hat #!estion'2
/7hat now'2
/*ow'2 )e pretended to consider. It gae him a moment to en$oy the sight of
her, his Cassandra, his >elina, finally able to smile !p at him, free from the horrors
of the past for the first time in nearly a cent!ry. /I think now we sho!ld spend the
whole night making loe. And in the morning, I wo!ld like to watch the s!nrise with
yo!. "n the terrace.2
/I haen%t been c!red of my fear of heights, yo! know,2 she reminded him.
)e kissed her cheek, then her $aw, then nibbled her ear !ntil she la!ghed and
playf!lly p!shed him back. /I know yo! haen%t. B!t I%ll be there. If yo! fall, I%ll
catch yo!.2
/(o yo! promise'2 She looked into his eyes, searching for something in his
words that was far more than reass!rance abo!t physical height.
/Nav5d!, >elina,2 he whispered, claiming her lips once more. /Foreer,
Cassandra.2
end]