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Ra the back of his neck as he stood in the doorway and surveyed the motel room She hadn&039;t made any effort to clean up this time The sheets on the bed were soaked with blood A broken la cautiously, he entered the room and stared down at the sheets So much blood Was it hers?

He went into the bathroo his handkerchief froht have touched, and then left the roo off the doorknob

Where was Grigori?

Getting into his car, he drove to Marisa&039;s apartment

He swore under his breath when he saw the brokenHad Antoinette coain as he opened the door with the key Marisa had given hihtly in his hand, he studied the brokenDirt and shards of crockery lay scattered over the carpet, but it was the cri across the floor that held his attention

Taking a deep breath, he followed the bloody path It led into Marisa&039;s bedroo inside the closet

He stood there for severallike thunder in his ears as he contemplated who, or what, waited behind the portal

He flicked on the light and then, taking a deep breath, he opened the door

At first, he didn&039;t notice anything unusual, and then he saw the blankets Not certain he wanted to see what lay beneath, he lifted the bedding with a treori lay curled up on the floor, as still as death Dried blood stained his shirt and pants, made a dark pool beneath hiarded Grigori for a longpain when he was lost in his deathlike sleep

For one fleeting h the creature&039;s black heart, to cut off his head, then burn the body, thereby assuring that this vaain

Muttering an oath, Edward shook his head Though he hated to ad to admit He had hunted vahtened him, as did Alexi Kristov

With a last look at the vampire, Edward replaced the covers, and closed the door

Needing to keep busy, he went to a luht a sheet of plywood to cover the brokenWhen that was done, he set to work scrubbing the blood out of the carpet, an iain he considered going in search of Antoinette and Alexi, but it didn&039;t seeori alone and unprotected He didn&039;t knohat had happened to Antoinette, didn&039;t know if she would strike again

When he was finished, he sat back and surveyed the results He didn&039;t think Marisa would be pleased when she saw the faint brown stains Maybe a professional carpet cleaner could get them out

At three, he called Marisa at work

"Yes, hello?"

"Marisa, this is Edward"

There was a moment of silence: then he heard her take a deep breath "What&039;s wrong?"

"Is there any chance you can leave work early? I don&039;t think we should be out after dark"

"What&039;s happened?"

"Grigori was attacked"

"Attacked! By who? Is he?"

"No He&039;s hurt pretty bad, but I don&039;t knohat to do for hiuess is it was Antoinette One of the reasons vampires make revenants is because of their ability to et away?"

"In about half an hour"

"Okay, I&039;ll pick you up"

"No I don&039;t think you should leave him alone I&039;ll take a cab I&039;ll be home about four-thirty"

"Be careful"

"You too"

Marisa hung up the receiver, and then sat staring at the phone Grigori was hurt What did that mean, exactly? She knew he could be injured She had seen the scratches inflicted by Alexi But she&039;d also seen how rapidly he healed

She turned off her coether and went to tell Mr Salazar that there was an eori, in jest, that her boss was an ogre, but it wasn&039;t entirely true Salazar ht be a tyrant where as concerned, but he was extremely lenient with his employees

"Sure, Marisa," he said, "take tomorrow off, too, if you need to Donna can fill in for you"

"Thank you, Mr Salazar"

"Sure, sure, no probleet the Wendall deposition typed up?"

"Yes, it&039;s on ood LetI can do"

"I will, thank you"

The cab aiting when she left the building She gave the driver her address, and then cli nervously as the taxi threaded its way through the heavy traffic on the freeway She watched the sky turn fro ti by the time they reached her apartment She paid the driver, then ran up the stairs, her eyes widening when she saw the plywood that covered the front

Her heart was pounding as she opened the door "Edward?"

"Yeah?" He stepped out of the kitchen "I thought I&039;d make dinner Hope you don&039;t mind"

"No, I don&039;t mind," Marisa replied "You&039;llon the sofa, , "What the hell?" when she saw the faint brown stains on the carpet "Where&039;s Grigori?"

"In the closet in your bedroo in the closet?" she asked, the answer occurring to her before she had finished asking the question

"I don&039;t know if you want to see him"

"Why not?"

"He&039;s pretty badly cut up" Edward shook his head "He looks like somebody chewed him up and spit him out"

"That&039;s how I feel, too"

Marisa looked up to see Grigori leaning against the doorjamb She had often heard people say someone looked like death warmed over In this case, it was the truth His face was beyond pale, the skin dry and brittle-looking, like scorched paper His shirt was in shreds, the cloth stained with so much blood she couldn&039;t tell what color the material was supposed to be The skin on his left cheek had been badly burned

Nausea roiled in her sto her feel faint Her first instinct was to turn and run away as fast and as far as her legs could carry her And he knew it She read the knowledge in his eyes, dark black eyes filled with anguish, burning with rage and agony that was far deeper than physical pain

"Come and sit down," Marisa said She started toward him, one hand outstretched to help him

"Stay away fro her innear the front door, his crucifix clutched in both hands

"Raet out of here"

"You said it wasn&039;t safe for us to be out at night," she reminded him

"You&039;re not safe here, either"

"What do youto stand beside her "Coo"

"Are you crazy? He needs help"

"Raet her out of here! Take her soe of clothes" He didn&039;t need a new shirt or pants, he had an extensive wardrobe at hoet theive the else to think about

With a nod, Edward reached for Marisa&039;s hand "Coo"

"No" She shook off his hand "He needs help"

"He doesn&039;t need our help," Ramsey said "He needs blood"

She didn&039;t want to believe it, but the truth was staring her in the face

"He&039;s right," Grigori said tersely He clenched his hands; the scent of their blood, her blood, fanning the hunger that was roaring through hi that he replace what had been lost so his body could heal itself

Marisa stared at hi past the wounds that crisscrossed his body, past the pain in his eyes to the hunger groithin hio to hiht appalled her even as it beckoned

"No" Grigori shook his head "Not now, Marisa"

And before she could decipher that cryptic ing tightly to his self-control, Grigori watched theo She had wanted to help him, wanted to offer him her life&039;s blood And he had wanted to take it, would have taken it save for the awful fear that, once he touched her, tasted her, he wouldn&039;t be able to stop

But there was no need for self-control now, and he shed it like a snake shedding its skin, surrendering to the pain that huer that clawed at his vitals He felt the sharp prick of his fangs against his tongue, knew his eyes burned red with the need pulsing through hi off as left of his shirt, he tossed it into the trash, then staggered into the bathroom and washed the blood from his face and chest and arms He looked at hi the ragged edges of charred skin It would be weeks before the burn healed But it would heal and there would be no scar

Shirtless, he left the house Resting had restored soth He masked his presence fro for, a healthy youngalone down a deserted street Ordinarily, he never hunted in the same city where he slept, but now need overruled caution

He blanked thewhat he needed, drinking long and deep The te within him, but he took no ue over the wounds to seal the all hosted through the city streets, taking his prey unawares How much simpler it would have been to take one mortal and drain him to the point of death, to drink not only his blood but his life as well, but he had vowed, a century ago, that he would never take a huain unless his own life was at risk

It was after ht when he returned to Marisa&039;s apartment He had expected to find Ra roo filled the silence of the room

He felt the censure in their eyes as they watched him close and lock the door When he turned around, they were both looking elsewhere It made him feel as if he didn&039;t exist

For stretched seconds, no one spoke And then Ra in the kitchen"

Grigori nodded

"I&039; to bed"

"Hold on, Ra sigh, and Marisa had the feeling that he had been waiting all night for this one question And even as he sees would have turned out differently if he had been at the

"There was a five-car pile-up on the freeway," Raori&039;s eyes for the first tiori nodded "Good night"

Edward glanced at Marisa, then left the roo his eyes, "I think I&039;ll go to bed, too"

"Marisa"

"What?" She kept her head lowered, her fingers toying with the cross dangling between her breasts

"Look at ht, she couldn&039;t face hi

"Look at me"

It was impossible to resist the power in his voice Slowly, she lifted her head andat his cheek