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And even now, he wasn&039;t afraid to go on

He&039;d often said he had nothing against vah she&039;d long ago got over being ashamed of what she was, she understood

Genevieve blamed the first dead woman in his life, the one who hadn&039;t coht the offer into his rateful shake of his head told her

Tears started in her eyes

Penelope and Kate caain At least there would be no cat-fighting

Genevieve sed her resentment of the intrusion She had always had to share Charles, with duty, with memory, with others who had a better claim

She&039;d lived four centuries before Charles In that time, no one had come remotely as close to her heart, not her father-in-darkness, not those she had bled pale She ht live another four centuries, or ht spilled over the carpet, creeping toward them She should warn Penelope, as sensitive to the sun

Genevieve kissed Charles&039;s lips

She couldn&039;t blame his death on anyone, not Penelope, or Bond, or Brastov&039;s goon, or Edwin Winthrop, or Prince Dracula If they had disturbed his last days, then it was her fault for letting the able to concentrate on his own life to the exclusion of the world

She had failed to persuade him to accept the Dark Kiss But he let her know that she had not failed with hi inside her

&039;I love you forever,&039; he whispered, too soft for the others to hear

&039;Forever?&039; she prompted

&039;Forever,&039; he confir warmth By the time it becaain, arranging his blanket around his legs, putting his hands into his lap, brushing back his hair, closing his eyes It was like playing with a doll Whatever Charles Beauregard had been was gone

She stood, walked away from Charles, and snapped a slap across Penelope&039;s face, fetching the Englishwory red mark

&039;That&039;s for what you did in 1899&039;

Penelope didn&039;t protest, didn&039;t one out of her

The rooht, and hazy

One of them had to cry, so the others could coht it would be Kate, but it was her From deep inside came sobs that racked her whole body Penelope, the handprint fading fast, hesitated and stepped forward to eed and cried together, then broke apart and extended arms to Kate, asflow her own tears They huddled together on a divan, blood and water on their faces, sobbing not for as lost but for what ht that made each random dust mote a spark The dust danced around them all