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"I aht me here?"

"Yes"

She was afraid to ask why Terror rose up within her She didn&039;t stop to wonder at this; she had been ready to die on the pier, had thought she had died in that last moment of consciousness when she hit the icy water that felt as hard as ce the consciousness from her But she had not died Why? So that she could die now? One thing was certain: she was closer to death now than she had been when she plunged off the pier

"Have you coel of Death?"

A soft chuckle rippled through the air "You could call ed onder "Will it hurt?"

"Only a little"

"I&039;m ready"

He looked down at her He could see the pulse beating in her throat, hear the blood thruh her veins, smell her fear Yet she lay on the bed, the blankets drawn up to her chin, her arin about to be sacrificed to sood

She is yours You have only to take her

The voice of his hunger whispered in the back of hishim to feed the demon that now lived within him, to slake his thirst, to ease the coldness of his existence by filling himself with her life force, weak as it still was His noble senti her so that she would not die, seeer She wanted to die anyway What would it be like to take it all?

"Angel?"

"I&039;m here"

"Please hurry I&039;m I&039;m so afraid"

The fear in her voice, coupled with an al his best and worst selves Moving swiftly, he knelt beside the bed and drew her into his arthened, pierced the tender skin at her neck He closed his eyes and drank and knew her

She had no one She lived alone Once, she had aspired to be an actress Once, she had drea Then that love had abandoned her for another woman Devastated, depressed, she had lost her dreams of stardos Now she was out of money, and out of hope Her choice had been prostitution or death

He drew back Though the room was dark, he saw her clearly She was thin Too thin There were hollows in her cheeks He could feel each rib beneath the blankets that covered her

And she was young, el?" shehand to her neck "Am I dead?"

"No" He searched her mind for her name "No, Kelly You are not dead"

"I&039;m cold"

He drew the bedspread over her, lifted her into his arms - bedspread, blankets, sheets, and all - and carried her to the faded overstuffed chair in the corner Sitting down, he cradled her to his chest though he doubted his body - his cold, dead body - could offer herdeep into her eyes, he whispered, "Go to sleep, Kelly There&039;s nothing to be afraid of You are warm noarm and safe"

He felt his mind connect to hers in that curious bond common between vah him as he bent her will to his

Obediently she closed her eyes "I&039;ht There&039;s nothing to be afraid of"

"No," Ramsey said as he lowered his head to her neck "There is nothing to be afraid of"

He brushed his lips over her throat, his nostrils filling with the scent of her skin, her blood The faintto her hair But her blood ar than any he had tasted The first taste chased away the coldness that gripped hier, filled him with a sense of euphoria Sweet, so sweet

He drank sloondering that her blood did not repulse hi hi He drew back a little so he could see the girl&039;s face She was, if possible, even paler than before Her lashes lay like dark fans against her cheeks Her breathing was slow and shallow He had been so pleased the other night, proud of his self-control, of his ability to subdue the raging de such trouble tonight? Why did the thought of draining her dry hold such appeal even as it sickened hiht-red criue over his fangs Long White Sharp He had only been kidding hi out in his mind He was one of them, a creature of the damned, dooht crossed his ain