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"Think of that which you desire aze flicked to Vlad as he settled in a chair near the bed Glancing over ave Vlad a bemused s down at the girl, I willed her to look at me She smiled and reached up her hands to touch my shoulders

"He says you will kiss me as he does," she said

"I will kiss you better than he does," I answered I bent down and bit into her throat as she held me I willed her to feel only pleasure in the bite, not pain, and she sighed happily

I drank to quench er, and then rolled away from her She let out a soft little snore as I rose tohis bottohtfully

"Your ht me your mistress"

"It entertainedmy hand at him, I walked into the shadows and willed h the darkness into the roo I pushed out with ed them into a deeper slumber Without hesitation, I climbed onto the bed and bit the man’s throat He moaned and writhed beneath hts of pleasure into his mind and drank in his blood with relish

I felt Vlad join s into the wo These were travelers that could easily disappear on their journey Vlad and I both co the two cooling corpses behind us

Since Buda, a latent anger had been withinto boil It is terrible to realize I took it out upon those poor travelers, but I h the shadows back into my room, I felt Vlad follow me He tried to reach for me, but I evaded him

"Why do you not entertain your mistress?" I snarled at hiled to contain er filledto the castle"

"We are"

I was startled at how easily he responded "Oh Well Then What do you plan to do about the sisters?"

Vlad crossed his arhtfully "I suppose I shall feed them so they may return to their senses"

"So you will not kill them?"

Vlad shook his head "No, I will not"

I relaxed a bit as he said this and realized I had been terrified ere returning to the castle only for him to wipe out my sisters and destroy what little happiness I had within the castle walls

"Very well," I said "Then I alad for that"

I began to uncoilit fall around my shoulders in red waves He stared at nored the sleeping woh the day It was near

"I will see to the people next door," Vlad said He hoisted the sleeping woman up into his arown and brushed outthe sensation of warmth within h ht of Buda, our house there and all that had occurred It had been glorious I wanted nothing o back and reclai to the castle

Vlad returned and joined htly over the s, and I knew that the guards Astir had provided would watch our roo my hair and lay the brush on the s my feet up from the floor, I lay down

"You are unhappy," Vlad said in a low voice

"I dread ill find at the castle," I answered

"We shall only be there for a short time," Vlad assured me

"I meant the sisters"

"Oh, yes Well…we shall deal with them," Vlad answered, hooked his arm around my waist, and pulled me firmly to him

"But you will not kill thehed with relief and closed ht The sky was clear and beautiful The cold stars glittered above us set in the soft velvet of the night sky

Vlad looked more like the Prince of Wallachia than he had since we had departed His hair had fully grown out and his mustache was quite thick Dressed in clothes more suited for the countryside, I could see the old world warrior within hireen eyes glie hi clothes and felt nervous about returning to the castle My life in Buda had hts of dressing in flowing, skiowns, my limbs laden with heavy jewelry seemed a distant dream I wondered briefly if Vlad would demand that I once more dress as a part of his harem, but I suspected we had ãu Pass and I began to feel the pull of the sisters I could feel their waning power reaching through the blood that connected us, crying out toand I looked to Vlad to see if he also felt it

His profile seeid silence beside me If he heard them, if he felt them, he did not reveal it Yet I ary ht

Far too soon, the castle looht of bonfires around the castle I felt a sense of dread and glanced toward Vlad for reassurance<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>