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"Here&039;s another scone And more coffee Why did Theo tell me to tell you to be sure to put lots of jam on the scone?"

I accepted the plate of scones and cup of coffee, although I wasn&039;t sure I could consume either It wasfull "He wants th"

"Uh-huh" Sarah sat down across fro room blissfully eood friend I didn&039;t once s I didn&039;t make any jokes about the fact that you obviously have the hickey to end all hickeys under that bandage on your neck And I haven&039;t even hinted that I&039;d like full details about what the two of you have been up to, even though, as your best friend, I believe I&039;hed and pushed the half-eaten scone away

"And just who is thatto Theo for the last hour?"

"His nahtful as she stirred a spoon of sugar in her tea "There&039;s an author naland I wonder if he&039;s related?"

"No idea Christian is" I took a deep breath and looked Sarah dead in the eye "He&039;s a vae She dropped the spoon, chipping the edge of the saucer "Oh od, a Dark One? Then that has to be C J Dante! He writes about Dark Ones! Good god, I had no idea he was in England We have the same publisher I have to meet him!"

"Hang on a second," I said, stopping Sarah as she was about to rush out of the roo more"

"I have alanted to meet a Dark One! Dante makes the long centuries seeking their Beloved This is wild! What is the so more?"

Dark and tormented It didn&039;t quite fit Theo, but as I to quibble? "It&039;s about Theo He&039;slast night weoh, I don&039;t knohere to start"

Sarah pattedmanner "A simple, &039;We had wild, sweaty bunny sex&039; would do"

"Well, we didn&039;t I mean, we did, but that&039;s not all we did" I tried to sort out hts "We didn&039;t start out the evening that way I went to bed not long after you, and woke up in a crypt"

"A crypt? What crypt?"

"One in the ruined abbey o days ago I wasn&039;t alone in the crypt - there was a woler or so She said she was there to administer the third trial She suht Sarah&039;s eyes were going to pop right out of her head "Oh od! A demon?" She scrabbled in her purse for the minirecorder she carried around to et all of this down"

I told her about the trial, how Theo had shown up, and how my experience with the demon had at last dropped the blinkers from my eyes

"About time, too," Sarah said with no little satisfaction

"I&039;ht, and admit you won the bet, but any &039;I told you sos&039; will be suh It&039;s worth sing the Proceed"

By the time I had described our ti frantic notes on a tiny notepad "This is incredible material I can&039;t believe you had the balls to talk back to a demon lord! So, as this curse he put on Theo? It can&039;t be too serious - he looked fine a few ether, I take it that none of his various and sundry parts were harmed"

I looked past her, out theIt was sunny and fairly warreet the Dark One who had come to see him, only to end up with a nasty burn on his arend was correct - va was har your soul ripped fro you to eternal vampire-hood harly-eyed i!"

I lifted an eyebrow at her

"Oh dear god, you&039;re not kidding! Theo is a vampire?"

"Could you speak a little louder, Sarah? I don&039;t think everyone in the village heard you"

"He&039;s a vampire?" Her voice dropped until it was a husky whisper "He can&039;t be a vael"

"No, he&039;s the son of a fallen angel, and evidently there is no rule that says nephilims can&039;t also be vay is Dark One That&039;s why the Christian person is here - Theo&039;s hoping to get so back to his normal self Or as normal as an i," Sarah said, her eyes distant as she poked a scone with her butter knife "I can&039;t believe this is really happening, but you&039;re the last person on earth ould ever try to pulllike this A vampire! You know, Portia" She looked up ata boyfriend who is a Dark One"

Theo foundwith the aftereffects of laughter that was only slightly tinged with hysteria

"I&039;hted to see you&039;re so a me the napkin that had fallen froht insane Did you get all the inforestured to the man in the doorway "Yes, thanks to Christian"

"We did not have the opportunity to be introduced earlier," Christian said, co my hand He made an old-fashioned bow over it that should have seehted to make your acquaintance It is not often I meet a Beloved who is also a member of the Court of Divine Blood"

"Beloved?" I sent Theo a quick, elance "We&039;ve only justthat is, we&039;re not reallywe&039;re notoh, crap" I glared at Theo "Would you like to tell the man that we only just met, and have not yet established if there is a relationship waiting to happen?"

The two ed looks Sarah looked uncomfortable The silence in the room was thick with some unspoken cos I need to explain to you," Theo said, takingme toward the hall

"You have my mobile number if you have any other questions," Christian said as I reluctantly followed my personal champion

Theo tossed a thank you over his shoulder As I closed the door, Sarah was pouncing on Christian with an explanation of who she was, and how they were related by publisher

"I&039; in the world to leave them alone," I said as ent upstairs to irl about sos you should know that I felt you&039;d prefer hearing privately"

"Uh-oh" I entered ood Is it about you being a Dark One?"

"Yes" Theo paced to the , spun around, and paced back to the door, one hand ruffling his hair

"I have an awful feeling you&039;re going to say you can&039;t get your soul back, but I refuse to accept that If so away, someone else must be able to put it back I was quite serious when I said I would do whatever it takes to get your soul back, you know I a won&039;t be easy, but I a whatever is required"

"It&039;s not quite that easy" Theo paced past et your soul back?"

"In a " Theo made three more passes before he sat on the end of the bed and fixed rey-eyed look "Christian was very informative about Dark Ones It turns out there are two types - those born of an unredeemed father, and those cursed by a demon lord"

"Unredeemed? There&039;s redemption possible?"

"Yes" He took a deep breath "Each Dark One has a female counterpart, a woman who is, for lack of a better word, his soul mate This woman is called a Beloved, and she has the ability to restore to the Dark One his soul"

"Beloved That&039;s what Christian called me You think I&039;m your soul mate?"

"Yes I don&039;t know Possibly" Theo ju "The relationship between a Beloved and a Dark One is a co He can take blood only froether - if for some reason she is destroyed, he dies as well"