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She looked at hihter "You cannot lie to ht, I came to see a woman"

"The woman whose life you saved and nearly took I see" She stopped walking "Do you wish to go back?"

He shook his head

Khira patted his arain "So,immortal?"

"I hate it"

She looked truly surprised "But why?" She flung out her ar like flames around her ankles "It is so lovely to be iht such as this! Look around you, Edward The world is yours for the taking"

"You "

"That, too," she replied, as if it were thein the world "To be iht of day, the taste of food and drink, the love of a man? A home, children?" He hesitated "The warmth of the sun on your skin?" He had reveled in its touch for apain

She frowned at his when you were mortal Why do you yearn for them now?"

The truth of her words slammed into him He had never fully appreciated the world around hiry, slept when he could find the time He had never noticed the beauty in a sunrise or a sunset The rising sun round; the sunset ht He had lived out of his car, slept in motels, his only friends other hunters As for woht now, that the first had been killed by a vampire, and the second had married one He hadn&039;t had a home since he was sixteen, had never wanted a ho they would only tie hia, had been to destroy vahts turned back in time to his first successful hunt

"Take him" Grandfather Ramsey handed Edward a sharpened stake made of ash, and a mallet made of oak "One quick blow"

Edward took the stake from the old man&039;s hand and placed it over the vampire&039;s heart, lifted thevath, va The stake pierced the va Edward&039;s face and hands and ar to be rehtly chiding, but with an edge of e from his mind "Perhaps, like most people, I had to lose as truly iet all that for now Coht"

It was in his erous, hethe night with her, he would find an end to the horror that his life had become

She looked at him and smiled "There is always risk, of course, mi amourBut that only makes it all the more delicious, does it not? Are you ready?"

He nodded, wishing she would stay out of his rasp on his arm, she whisked them across town

Solanced at his surroundings They were in a house Acrystal chandeliers and polished e as a football field, was filled withRach here?"

"Visiting an old friend," she replied "Here&039;s our host now"

Ra toward them He had short brown hair, brilliant blue eyes, and appeared, outwardly, to be in his mid-thirties

He was a va, Khira," the esture "How good of you to coaze"And who is this?"

"This is Edward Rae They all flitted through the vaht a vampire hunter into my home!"

"Calm down, Kyle He is one of us now"

Ramsey knew a moment of surprise when he realized the other vampire had not detected what he was He felt LaSalle&039;s power push against him For all his years, Kyle LaSalle eak, his power easy to brush aside Ramsey effortlessly resisted the other vampire&039;s attempt to probe his mind He compared LaSalle&039;s power to Chiavari&039;s as he sidestepped LaSalle&039;s puny efforts to slip past his defenses Co a snowball to a blizzard Keeping his face impassive, he unleashed his oer

LaSalle took a step backward He stared at Ramsey, his eyes narrowed "Who are you?"

Khira placed her hand on Edward&039;s are of steel beneath the soft velvet of her voice "My blood runs in his veins, as does the blood of Grigori"

A hiss whispered through LaSalle&039;s clenched teeth "Why have you brought him here?"

"If we are not welcome, you have only to say so"

"Of course you are welcome" LaSalle bowed stiffly from the waist "Please, make my home yours"

"That is my intention," Khira replied

LaSalle smiled, but it was cold, forced "As you wish If you will excuse raceful hand, disuess I must be a little confused," Ramsey re out, and I will bein here?"

"Yes It&039;s a nice place, don&039;t you think?"

"He&039;s leaving, just like that?"

"Of course"

Ramsey shook his head "I still don&039;t understand"

"It is quite simple, really I have decided to stay in the city for a while"

"Getting a straight answer out of you is like pulling teeth," Ra choice of words" She smiled sweetly "But "

"What if he had refused to go?"

"He could challenge me, of course, but he would lose, and he knows it He has never been strong He is not even strong enough to challenge you, runted softly "Did you visit Dracul, too?"

Her blue eyes turned to ice "Yes, I did"

Ramsey remembered the article in the paper, the speculation that the rock star had met with foul play "Did he just pack up and leave town?"

"In a , yes"

"He&039;s dead, isn&039;t he?"

She plucked two glasses of dark red wine fro waiter "Here, have a drink Kyle&039;s wine cellar is quite faoblet she offered hi him of a well-fed cat "Shall we drink to oblet by the slender steht It was a lovely shade of criently, watched the scarlet drops slide slowly down the glass The translucent liquid clung to the crystal Again, the resemblance to blood was remarkable

Ramsey inhaled deeply The bouquet was like the essence of suain Like lost innocence, when a war

He took a sip, the taste and the arohtened by his va the warh him It was a shame that food was now denied to hiood, ould a nice, juicy steak taste like?

"Come," Khira said, "I should like to take a look atto drive all the vampires out of the city?" he asked as he followed her doide corridor lined with plushThe walls were a stark white, lined with framed book covers and literary awards

Khira opened a door at the end of the hallway "This is a lovely room, is it not?" She stepped back so he could look inside

It was a bedroom The walls and carpet hite The drapes and bedspread were black There was an easy chair upholstered in red, a s done in red, black, and white adorned the wall above the bed

"Lovely," he agreed He followed her into the room, felt a sense of unease when she shut and locked the door behind hilided across the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed The heown pooled around her feet, like blood

"Damn it, answer h soft, hit him with the force of a slap "LaSalle and the others , so to me They will leave at my invitation or suffer the consequences"

He started to speak, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand "I do not answer to you or to anyone You are a ht"

He didn&039;t argue He could feel her power flowing through the roo his ht You&039;ve proved your point"

She s as it pleases htly over his cheek A caress? Or a warning? And then she patted the bed beside her "You, too,as you please me"