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Grigori leaped to his feet in a fluid

"What is it?" Marisa asked They had been sitting on the sofa, watching the late ?"

"She&039;s here"

"She?"

"Khira"

"Here?" Marisa glanced around the living roo fro the curtains aside, he gazed out into the darkness

Darkness shrouded the street below, broken only by the faint yello of a streetlaht like the wind before a stor shivers of awareness down his spine

He unleashed his oer, let it flow through the sleeping city Ramsey had fed and fed well, and now he paced the dark streets, sated but restless

And Khira drew ever nearer She was a ht, cara "

He heard the intake of Marisa&039;s breath, the rustle of her silk nightgohispering against her skin as she clicked off the television, her near-silent footfalls as she moved up behind him

She slipped her arms around his waist "What do you think she wants?"

"I don&039;t know Perhaps I should go down and ask her"

Marisa peered around Grigori and looked out theAt first she saw nothing but a faint shimmer in the darkness, a sparkle that reminded her of Tinkerbell&039;s pixy dust, and then, to her a into a tall, slender woth black cloak A wealth of silver-blond hair flowed over her shoulders

"Stay here," Grigori said He pulled on his boots, then took Marisa in his arms "Remember, she cannot coo"

"I don&039;t think she means me any harm"

Marisa looked up at her husband Her handsome, virile husband Wherever they went, women turned to stare at him, their eyes hot "That&039;s not what I&039;hed softly, then brushed a kiss across her lips "Stay here"

Before she could argue, he was gone

"I aori"

He turned slowly, and she was there, tall and slender, graceful as a , her luxuriant silver-blond hair shilow

For a moment, they stared at each other in silent appraisal She was as beautiful as he re-lost lover, outlining every delectable curve Her skin was pale and flawless

"You are as lovely as ever," Grigori reer down the side of his cheek "You are still the , only continued to look at her, wondering what had brought her here

"Do you still write poetry, otten? &039;Sweetest night, hed softly "That was my one and only attempt, clumsy at best"

"But so full of passion," shepower"

"Be that as it may, I am no poet"

"Perhaps it is just as well You are far too attractive to wo poetry in your arsenal" She looked at hiori" Her voice was a soft, sultry purr

"What do you want? Why have you coiven ht they had parted rose up in his mind, as stark and vivid as if it had happened only yesterday With an effort, he fought down his revulsion He had been very young then He had learned much in the centuries that had passed

"It is not ive you," he said quietly "We are e are"

She looked up at him, her smile as radiant as the sun She took a half-step toward him, her arms outstretched

"Why have you come here, Khira?" His words, cold and abrupt, stopped her

"Why?" she repeated She lowered her arms, let her shoulders droop as she took on a look of wounded innocence "Is there soed "It&039;s been over two hundred years," he replied wryly "Why this sudden urge to see me now?" He took a deep breath, and the answer to her visit filled his nostrils "How is Ra choice for the Dark Gift Trust you,so vastly unconventional, even for one of us!&039;&039; The sound of her laugher was like fairy bells in the night "I cannot i Not the last of the Ra, but like all creatures, he wanted to live"

"I find

"I think perhaps I shall seduce hi his shoulder, down his ar vampyres th, so eager to explore every facet of their neorld Remember, mi amour ?"

He remembered all too well And so did she He could read it in her eyes She had been an ardent lover, tireless, inventive He shoved thehihts he had spent in her arms With an effort, he pushed her frootten

Khira laughed again It sounded re he found quite incongruous co from a woman as close to a thousand years old

"Did you come here to discuss your love life with me?" he asked in a fine attempt at his old bravado with her

"No" The warmth in her eyes cooled "I caht have been fear slithered down Grigori&039;s spine

"Don&039;t you want to introduce me to her?" Khira purred She raked her nails over his cheek, exerting just enough pressure to break the skin The scent of his blood filled the air Slowly, as though daring hiue over the faint line of blood "She does knohat you are, doesn&039;t she?"