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Kelly was gone when Raht The house was empty, silent as a tomb An apt comparison, he h the dark, quiet house He paused in the third-floor turret rooone? Back to that seedy hotel? Or one like it?

Why had she really left? He couldn&039;t believe she was jealous of his feelings for Marisa The feeeks he had shared with Kelly had been the happiest of his life He smiled bitterly Or death She had banished his loneliness Her blood had soothed the ravening hunger within hieable There had been tiain And her kisses He closed his eyes, re hi hi away

He opened his eyes and stared into the darkness

He could stand here until dawn, then justones beloould render him unconscious before the sun incinerated him And perhaps not

Kelly

His heart ached for her; his body cried out for the relief that only her blood seemed able to provide

Kelly

His mind screamed her name

Turning away from the , he went downstairs It was then he saw the newspaper lying open on the living room table The headline read:

NOAH FOX, RECLUSIVE MILLIONAIRE, MISSING FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED

He read the story quickly According to his household staff, Fox had spent the previous evening in his study with his financial advisor, Bryan Knowlton Knowlton had left the house atto his staff, Fox had spent the re one to bed It was his habit to sleep during the day, and his absence hadn&039;t been noted until a little after six o&039;clock, when the butler went in to lay out Fox&039;s attire for the evening The butler reported that there was no sign of violence in the room Other members of the household staff had been questioned No one had seen Fox since the night before No one had heard anything in the night No one had come to the house after Knowlton left

Ramsey tossed the paper onto the kitchen table It was possible that Fox had decided to leave town, but it seemed doubtful If he had left on his oouldn&039;t his staff know? Wouldn&039;t his financial advisor know? Fox had lived in the city for over twenty years Certainly, he would have taken his clothes and personal effects

Unless he didn&039;t have ti had scared him so badly he had run for his life

Ra scarier than Khira He could hear her voice in his mind, as clearly as if she stood beside him I don&039;t like to share One way or another, Noah Fox was gone frorunted softly as he left the house "Three down, three to go"

That night, he hunted with a single-mindedness that would have ht, his only thought to satisfy his hunger The beast raged within hi to be fed

Only when he was bent over his victiht to the woman in his ar, that her heartbeat was faint and labored

He looked up as fahter reached his ears

"Khira"

She al, ethereal, a vision with silver hair and blue eyes that could be as warm as a summer sun or as cold as winter ice

She floated toward hiround "Finish her, Edward Accept what you are" Her voice"You will never be at peace until you do"

"Are you at peace?" he asked "How many lives have you taken to satisfy your monstrous lust for blood? Do none of them haunt you?"

"How dare you speak tothrough the air, prickling the hair on his ar the hair on his nape

She could be the answer he was looking for, he thought, if he just had the guts to push her a little harder But not tonight He glanced at the woman in his arms "How do I revive her?"

"You don&039;t Take her, Edward!" Her eyes flashed blue fire "You want to I know it And so do you"

"No"

She glared at hione

Ramsey stared at the woman in his arms He couldn&039;t let her die, dae cry, he willed hi their presence frouard at the door, he urney He laid the woman on it, covered her with a blanket, then su

The night stretched out before hi a sudden need for the cohtclub was crowded, filled with people who, for reasons of their oere ht The atmosphere was dark, the air heavy with the odor of too le couple swayed on the small dance floor, their bodies so closely entwined it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began

Ralass of red wine

"Edward? Edward Ramsey, is that you?"

Ramsey turned at the sound of his nah the croard him "Tom!"

Tom Duncan slapped him on the back "Ramsey, you old son of a vaood What are you doing in LA?"

"On the hunt, as always," Tom replied He summoned the bartender and ordered a screwdriver He punched Raether in years Remember the last one?" Ramsey nodded

He stood beside the va while Tom placed heavy silver chains across the vae silver cross on her breast, over her heart The vampire had awakened the moment the silver touched her skin The air had filled with the stink of scorched flesh The va when she discovered she could not move Her eyes had blazed red with fury and fear when Ramsey placed the stake over her heart He had lifted the heavy wooden mallet without hesitation It never failed to surprise hi wound

The vampire had screamed once

It had been Toaze moved over his old friend He looked the same as always: his dark brown hair worn short, his brown eyes wary and watchful, old beyond his years A heavy gold cross on a thick gold chain hung from his neck

"I heard there were several vamps here in the city," Toht I&039;d coive you a hand" He slapped Raot a line on any of them?"

"One or two," Ramsey said

Tom drew back a little "You okay? You look a little pale"

"No worries," Ramsey said He sipped his wine Tom was one of the best hunters in the world If he truly wanted to die, Tom was the answer