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It was late Friday night Steeped in black despair at the thought of what he had become, Edward Ramsey walked slowly down Hollywood Boulevard, unoers, the drunks, the panhandlers, the tourists, the endless parade of transvestites and whores

Occasionally, he glanced at the faces of the strangers he passed by: young people talking about the scary ed clothes looking for a place to spend the night, well-dressed couples e the play they had just seen Hah! They had no idea what scary really was, but he could show them What would they think? he wondered What would they do if they knehat he was? Would they recoil in horror and disgust, or stare at hiht, the fourth since his life had turned upside down, he had considered awaiting the dawn and stepping out into the bright California sunshine to put an end to his cursed existence As a new vaht of day The touch of the sun on newly made preternatural flesh, a quick burst of flauished like the flame of a candle in the wind

Vampire How could he be a va the undead, destroying them The Ramsey family had hunted the undead for centuries Vampires were evil, abhorrent creatures, forever doomed Forever damned

But he didn&039;t feel evil, didn&039;t feel da inside sohtened: touch, s - all werehow differently he perceived the world through his newborn va short of reat distances, detect minute details that ordinary mortals never saw Each stitch in the fabric of his coat was visible to his eye Colors were sharper, richer, alht hurt his eyes

The noise of the city now see! And soo insane How had Grigori Chiavari stood it for so many years? There had to be a way to shut out the constant barrage of speech and music and traffic sounds that bombarded him from every side, but if there was, Ramsey hadn&039;t discovered it yet

He felt physically stronger than ever before Indeed, that sense of physical poas so intoxicating that he o save for the awful craving for blood The s flowing river of criht he would go crazy He needed to feed but didn&039;t kno The hunger, the pain, had been with hi at his vitals in bitter, relentless agony He had made one clumsy atteoal was accoasp, her eyes widening when she saw his face He knew in that moment that he must look like death itself He had seen that expression of horror before, when he had looked into the depths of Grigori Chiavari&039;s hell-black eyes and seen his own death lurking there

Chiavari Of course! He would go to Chiavari The vampire had cursed him with the Dark Gift The vampire could dahts burning in the big house that Grigori Chiavari had bought shortly beforeMarisa Hard to believe only a few days had passed since he had seen Alexi Kristov destroyed in this very house It seemed centuries had passed

Marisa opened the door at his knock, a war her pale pink lips "Edward!" she said, extending her hand "Co Marisa&039;s outstretched hand, he swept past her into the hallway, his angry stride carrying hiain "Is he here?"

"What do you want, Ramsey?"

Raori Chiavari glided soundlessly into the room He exuded an air of self-confidence and invulnerability that Ramsey envied in spite of himself, and never more so than now

For a moment, the two men looked at each other

They had never been friends At best, they had been uneasy eneainst a common evil But Alexi Kristov was dead now, his body burned to ashes But for Grigori&039;s timely but uninvited interference, Ramsey would have been dead, too Hard to believe he had actually thanked thehi him, shortly after his transformation, if he would rather be dead He had replied instantly: Of course I wouldBut afterward, he had found hi in a wave of indecision Confused, dazed by all that had happened that night, he had stu to be alone The horror of that night was still fresh in hisAlexi Kristov, months that had culminated in this very house He recalled it all so clearly, being caught in the vicious web of Kristov&039;s power, helpless to resist the ancient vaed Chiavari, drained hih blood to weaken him, and bound him with heavy silver chains And then he had waited Waited for Marisa She had been surprised to see him

"Edward!" she had exclaimed as he stepped in front of her "You scaredhere? Edward?"

He had stepped behind her and closed the door "Go sit down, Marisa"

"What&039;s wrong?"

"Nothing, and everything"

"You&039;re not h" He had given her a little push and she had stuori then Chiavari lay still as death on the bed, bound by a heavy silver chain The same chain that had once bound Alexi

"What have you done to hie out of his coat pocket "I put him to sleep, and then I bled him" He had nodded at the basin on the table beside her chair It was a large bowl, filled with blood Grigori&039;s blood Enough to weaken him

"He&039;s not not dead?" Marisa had asked

"Not yet"

&039; Edward, please"

He had pushed her toward the chair in the corner "Sit down, Marisa Alexi will be here soon"

"Alexi!" She had looked at hi here?"

Edward nodded sadly "I&039; this?"

"I have no choice"

" What do you mean ? Of course you do" The words had died in her throat "He&039;s done so to you, hasn&039;t he? Oh, Lord, you&039;re like Antoinette "

"No She had no mind of her own Alexi has left me my mind, Marisa, but he has robbed , and even though I don&039;t want to, I can&039;t refuse"

"Fight hiht hi the floor "He&039;s too strong He took hts in my mind I can&039;t shut the to kill us, isn&039;t he?"

"He&039;s going to kill Grigori I&039;s in mind for you "He had dropped to his knees in front of her and putted a short piece of rope from his pocket "I&039;m sorry So sorry"

Marisa had jerked her knee up in a hard, swift ht him under the jaw His head had snapped backward and she had kicked hi to her feet, she ran for the door, but he had caught her by the ankle

"Let ainst hi her aruided her back to the chair and pushed her into it

"Marisa, I&039;htened beyond words

There had been a ripple in the air, a stirring, as Grigori began to eed sleep Edward had pulled a stake from inside his coat

"Edward, don&039;t!"

"I won&039;t," he said "Alexi wants that pleasure for himself"

"Edward, please, please don&039;t do this Please I&039;d rather be dead than becoainst Alexi&039;s hold on his mind, but to no avail

"Please, Edward He&039;ll make me like Antoinette "A soulless zombie, a creature without a ht hi I can&039;t help you" He had doubled over then, racked by pain "Stop," he begged "Please stop" He had writhed in pain, all else forgotten, as Alexi&039;s poashed over him

And then Alexi was there Darkness seeether at last Edward, it&039;s time I made the woman mine You will leave the room Wait for me in the hallway"

The va as the smell of cold blood reached his nostrils He jerked his chin toward the bowl "Get rid of that" Cold blood It was an abo like a robot, he had picked up the bowl and moved toward the door

"Edward, "Marisa cried "Don&039;t leave me! Please, help me!"

But he had been helpless He had tried to turn to face her, his whole being longing to help her, to strike Alexi down, but the va to resist He had told himself to stop, to turn, but his body refused to obey One step after another, he had moved toward the door

"Edward!"

He had heard the fear and anguish in her voice, but there was nothing he could do Nothing And then he had heard Chiavari&039;s voice inside his head "Ramsey, I&039;ve taken your blood, th You can fight hiether we can defeat him"

"I can&039;t" He had stared into the bowl, at the blood that was so dark it was alori&039;s voice echoed in his ive her Da the bowl in one hand, he had opened the door and stepped into the hallway He heard Marisa&039;s shriek of terror as he closed the door behind hih as Marisa struggled against hiain and then lifted the bowl to his lips

Grigori&039;s blood had filled hi into the room, he had hurled hi toward the va and fast, and the stake had ainst the wall and buried his fangs in his throat, not to drink, but to kill

And he would have died, had it not been for Chiavari Grigori had slain Alexi and then, at Marisa&039;s urging, forced the Dark Gift upon Edward He had a vague ing him to drink The va as a ed "Drink your fill"

And he had suckled the vampire&039;s wrist like a babe at its mother&039;s breast

He looked into Chiavari&039;s eyes and knew the other s you here, Ramsey?" Chiavari asked brusquely

Raalled hihly disliked the ori lifted one dark brow "Raori le word

Ralanced at Marisa, beautiful Marisa with her dark-brown hair and deep green eyes and warm, sweet smile Marisa He had asked her to marry hiaze was drawn to her throat, to the pulse beating there Her blood beckoned hiiven her blood to Chiavari when he needed it Ramsey licked his lips Would she share it noith him?

Ramsey took a step forward, oblivious to the other va but the woh her veins Just a sip, he thought; just one sip to ease the horrible agony burning through hiive it, then he would take it

Marisa stared at Edward He was as tall as Grigori, with the saht of Edward as a handsolaer than his forty-two years There was a dark sensuality about hi before His pale blond hair had turned a deeper, richer color that gleaold, his ice blue eyes were darker, loith a fierce need The faint scar on his cheek only added to his s SheShe knew vaht, cara Have no fear

Grigori&039;s voice whispered in her mind It was a bond they shared, the ability to read each other&039;sas you&039;re with ly oblivious to everything but her

"Raori&039;s voice cut across the room, as sharp and deadly as a blade

Ramsey came to an abrupt halt With a shake of his head, he looked around the roohtly dazed, like a sleepwalker abruptly roused froht," she replied gently "I understand"

Grigori brushed a kiss across Marisa&039;s lips "I&039;ll be back later, caraRamsey, come with me"

Wordlessly, Ramsey turned and followed the vastone ay that led to the garage

"Have you fed since I brought you across?" Chiavari asked

"No"

"Nothng in five days?"

Ramsey shook his head He had made two attempts The second had been on a kitten he had found in an alley He had held the terrified creature in his hands, but in the end, he had let the anio "I don&039;t think I have what it takes to be a vampire," he said ruefully

"Nonsense Any man who can track a vampyre to its lair and cut off its head shouldn&039;t have any trouble finding so a fact," Chiavari slid behind the wheel of a sleek black Corvette, reached over, and opened the passenger door "Get in"

"Where are we going?"