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She nodded "Yes I’estured for her to return to the bedroo to happen?" she asked, lying on the bed as directed Her heart was racing so violently she thought she ht have a heart attack

The vampire leader sat on the bed beside her and took her hand in his He aze directly, his perfect features soft with affection Just looking at him told her what a stunner Shadoe must have been An exotic beauty whose love had enslaved Adrian forever

"I’ to drink fro as heated brandy "I’ to fill you back up with the blood froe you"

"My soul will die"

He looked for a ht lie to her Then he nodded "Mortal souls don’t survive the Change But if it’s any consolation, I think Shadoe will have absorbed soht continue to exist in that way I don’t think you’ll be coreed "You are unique"

She exhaled a shaky breath "Okay I’m ready"

Syre brushed the hair back from her forehead "You really love him I wish I understood why Every tiain"

Her eyes closed "Please Just get this over with"

She felt the huainst her wrist, then the sharp sting of his bite

Lindsay floated in an oddly waruidly, all sense of tione

Around her, waves of memories rose and crested Soh the reels of events like movies So many versions of herself, as if she were the only actress in an endless play with s, and tiistered a distant burning Around her, s the water boil until it was uncoainst her bare flesh She tried to twist away, then to dip beneath the waters, but below the surface there was no botto sensation of that abyss suckling at her toes, luring her doard

She broke the surface and returned to her horizontal position, keeping her legs away frorowing heat

"It’ll go away soon"

Turning her head in search of the speaker, Lindsay discovered a wo wo with Adrian’s dark nificence

"Shadoe"

Shadoe’s mouth curved "Hello, Lindsay"

She reached out and they linked fingers A swift rush of cooling relief raced up Lindsay’s ares of Syre and a beautiful Asian wo children through a field of tall grasses Syre had wings Great, s of azure blue that perfectly matched the color of his irises They spread and stretched in a visible h and kissed her forehead Lindsay felt the press of those lips against her own skin, felt the rush of paternal love that accompanied it as if it were for her

Syre set Shadoe down and chased his son, an adorable boy with chubby ar out a picnic She sat on the edge of the blanket and tossed se of the clearing, where the grasses began their domination of the landscape

A small rabbitlike creature appeared, soft, fluffy, and white It followed the vegetable trail to Shadoe, who stroked its trusting head with her fingertips When the creature grew bolder and reared up to set its front paws on Shadoe’s thigh, she laughed with delight and scooped it up like Syre had done to her only ainst the sweet animal’s, then buried her face in its neck

The creature’s scream startled Lindsay so violently she jerked and sank beneath the waves Thesurf near the burning shoreline, but not before Lindsay caught the ripe s into pristine white Like Adrian’s wings

She kicked her way back up to the surface, gasping with a er The scent of the creature’s blood drove her wild Her reedily the way Shadoe had

Shadoe sracefully on her back with her hands tucked behind her head Her dark hair fanned outward, as did the transparent gauzy skirts of her dress She looked like a nymph, beautiful and seductive

"You were already a vampire," Lindsay accused

"No The nephaliel halves needed the energy found in the life force of others" There was no horror or remorse in the woled toand languidness returned to her She felt like taking a nap, like sinking into the silken embrace of the memories around her

"He’s loved me forever," Shadoe said casually "Obsessively"

"I know"

New recollections lapped over her She recognized soe and scene held Adrian in moments of lust and passion Lindsay watched with a sharp, ferocious jealousy She closed her eyes but still found no relief ThePleading She was about to dive beneath the waves just to get away from the and took it all in, reliving the tender moments she’d shared with Adrian

I need you, tzel

Pain seared her at the understanding of what thatof so her no peace

Takefro he offered her

"What does that mean?" she asked Shadoe in a voice" ‘Neshama sheli’?"

"It means ‘my soul’ It’s an endearment"