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Hannah’s breath was taken away

She hadn’t expected a coherent answer frootten one And she did understand

Maya had devoted her life to keeping Hannah and Thierry apart Her long life Her thousands of years If

she lost at this point, that life beca else," Hannah whispered slowly, figuring it out

"Oh, enough of the press conference I kno to do lots of things-you’ll find that out I’nored the threat-and the insulting endearenuinely bewildered, as if she and Maya were discussing whether or not to go shopping together

"You’re going to kill et Thierry He’ll just hate you

more and he’ll just wait forin it

she looked up at Hannah and se slow s as if so ice water down her backbone "You

knoill Unless you kill hi idea But not quite what I had in mind I need him alive; he’s my

prize, you see When you win, you need a prize" Hannah was feeling colder and colder inside "Then

he’ll wait" "Not if you’re not coht God,to keep me alive here tied up and alive until I’ fear Hannah glanced around, trying to iine what it would be like to spend her life in this

place In this cold, dark, horrible Maya burst into laughter

"You can’t figure it out, can you? Well, letand knelt

"Look at this Look, Hannah"

She was holding up an oval hand ht on Hannah’s face

Hannah looked into the asped

It was her face but not her face For one instant she couldn’t put her finger on the difference-all she

could think was that it was Hana’s face, Hana of the Three Rivers And then she realized

Her birthone She could still see a shadow of it if she turned her head to one side But it had faded

al, Hannah thought numbly She was too dazed to feel either vain or humble Then

she realized it wasn’t just the absence of the birthmark that made her look beautiful

Even in the unnatural beaht she could tell that she was pale Her skin was creahter Her mouth seemed softer andabout her face

I look like Poppy, she thought Like Poppy, the girl with the copper hair The vampire Wordlessly, she

looked at Maya Maya’s red lips stretched in a sed blood with you when I picked

you up last night That’s why you slept so long you probably don’t realize it, but it’s afternoon out

there And you’re changing already I figure one e of blood s I can’t have you dying before you beco Her head fell back weakly to rest against the post She stared at Maya "But

why?" she whispered, ally "Why make me a vampire?"

Maya stood She walked over to the backpack and carefully tucked theso long that it was sticking out of the top of the pack She held it up

A stake A black wooden stake, like a spear, about as long as Maya’s arm It had a nice pointed end on it

"Vampires don’t co in Hannah’s ears

She sed and sed She was afraid she was going to faint or be sick

"Va bit of trivia, isn’t it? Maybe it’ll be on "Jeopardy!" someday I have to adistics-but vampires don’t reincarnate, not even if they’re Old Souls They just

die I’ve heard it suggested that it’s becausethem vampires takes their souls away, but I don’t

know Does Thierry have a soul, do you think?"

Everything hirling around Hannah now There was nothing solid, nothing to hang on to

To dieshe could face that But to die forever, to go out what if vao to some

other place, some afterlife? What if they just suddenly weren’t?

It was the ined

"I won’t let you," she whispered, hearing her own voice coed "I won’t-"

"But you can’t stop me," Maya said, amused "Those ropes are hemp-they’ll hold you when you’re a

vampire as well as when you’re hu against me"

With a look of pleasure in her own cleverness, she said, "I finally found a way to break the cycle"

She left the backpack and knelt in front of Hannah again This ti sharp teeth

Hannah fought Even knowing that it was hopeless, she did everything she could think of, lashing out at

Maya with the strength of sheer desperation But it wasn’t any good Maya was sier than she was In a matter of minutes, Hannah found herself with both hands pinned and her

head twisted to one side, her throat exposed

Now she knehy Maya had forced her to drink vampire blood before It hadn’t just been random

cruelty It was part of a plan

You can’t do this to me You can’t You can’t killit Then Hannah felt teeth

She struggled again, like a gazelle in the jaws of a lioness It had no effect She could feel the unique pain

of her blood being drawn out against her will She could feel Maya drinking deeply I don’t want this to

be happening At last the pain faded to a drowsy sort of ache Hannah’sher into a different position, tilting Hannah’s head back and pressing her wrist to

Hannah’s mouth

I won’t drink I’ll let myself drown first At least I’ll die before I’m a vampire

But she found that it wasn’t that easy to will yourself into dying from lack of air Eventually, she choked

and sed Maya’s blood She wound up coughing and sputtering, trying to clear her throat and get

air Maya sat back

"There," she said, slightly breathless She shone the flashlight into Hannah’s face again

"Yes" She looked judicial, like a wo very well

Once more should do it You’d be a vampire now, if so e"

"Thierry will kill you when he finds out," Hannah whispered

"And break his sacred proain, pottering with her

backpack "Of course, this wouldn’t be happening if he hadn’t broken his promise to me," she added,

almost matter-of-factly "He told me that you wouldn’t come between us anymore But the next time I

turn around-there you are! Shacked up in his house, no less He should have known better"

Hannah stared at her "He didn’t even knoas there Maya-don’t you realize that? He didn’t know-"

Maya cut her off with a gesture "Don’t expectyou say Not at this point" She

straightened up, looked at Hannah, then sighed She switched off the lantern and picked up the flashlight

"I’ to have to leave you for a while, now I’ll be back tonight to finish this little job

Don’t worry, I won’t be late after all, I have a deadline to meet Tomorrow’s your birthday"

"Maya " I have to keep her here talking, Hannah thought I have to make her understand that Thierry

didn’t break his pro question that ran just under her thoughts What if Thierry had been

serious about what he’d told Maya? If he really wanted to be with Maya as long as Hannah was no

longer between thehter again "I hope you won’t be too lonely By the way, I

wouldn’t rock that pole too much This is an abandoned silver mine, and that whole structure is unstable"

"Maya-"

"See you later" She picked up the backpack and walked away

She ignored Hannah’s yells And eventually, when Hannah couldn’t see the bea

She was in the dark again

And weaker Drained emotionally and drained of vitality by what Maya had done She felt sick, feverish,

and itchy as if there were bugs crawling under her skin

And she was alone

Alain But she was afraid that if she lost control this tiet it back She’d be insane by the tiot soet your head clear

and start using the time you have