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Alison held her hands together so tightly her fingers ached She forced herself to relax and let her hands ease apart "So then what exactly is a death vampire, the ones you battle?"

Kerrick’s shoulders bunched "An ascender who by anyof dying blood creates all the features you saw at theof the skin, the faint bluing of the skin, the beautifying of the face, as well as increased and quite superior physical strength"

Death va One in One out "But once I’ve passed this trial period--"

"These three days," he said

"Then I’lanced out the side , frowning Why exactly had she answered her call to ascension? "I didn’t knoas choosing war"

"You weren’t choosing war," he stated emphatically "Look at me"

She shifted her gaze to hi a better life for yourself, a better fit I knoerful you are and I also know itto always hold back, always restrain yourself When you ascend, you can be everything you were meant to be Try to relittering in the diht of the Nova "I wanted to ascend" She put a hand to the dip between her breasts "I have felt such a yearning here, in ht path for me, but I didn’t expect…" Her voice broke "And Darian was my … client I cared for hiuess"

"Well, shit," he muttered

"That about suhtened her shoulders, and took in a big solid breath She unlatched her seat belt then turned toward hiaze, the familiar and very crazy attraction she felt for hih her once more She became painfully aware that he was only inches away froe and more than filled his side of her way-too-saze away from her, cleared his throat, and this time he stared out his side

He looked uncoh she wasn’t quite certain why

"Okay," she said "So tella deep breath, turned back to her He spoke for a long ti dimensions, to which individuals received a call In her case the drea she had experienced were her calls He gestured a lot with his hands and h his hair in the direction of the leather clasp, until he undid the piece, refit all his thick wavy hair, then secured the prong through the leather She didn’t know long hair on a man could be so damn sexy

When he fell silent, she asked, "So what’s with the vaht vaht crooked curve of his lips "There’s a huge difference between fictional va worlds"

Apparently

"So you weren’t always a vampire, before you ascended?"

He shook his head He even sain "No Vaiven during the ascension ceremony, traits such as increased physical power, sharpened vision and hearing, sos, in order to both take blood and to release che tissues I know thisand receiving blood is revered on Second Earth"

She snorted "Yeah, there was a lot of reverence going down at the Blood and Bite"

At that, he chuckled, a deep low ruant bass, warot ive tremendous relief in stressful situations, like before a battle Shared between husband and wife, yeah, reverence is the right word"

She stared at him "Husband and wife?"

He seemed to fall inside himself as he said quietly, "My second wife and I shared blood It was … a very fine experience" His expression dimmed, like the memories had pulled the shades down on all the s He also spoke in the past, and given his drive toward her, she thought it a fairly good guess that his as no longer living

He drew out of hies She knew better than to hurry the process

He flicked his thu wheel and finally said, "As you already know, given events at your office complex, the blood ritual can be profoundly abused Mortals and immortals alike can be drunk to death and often are The n of this act you’ve seen already, the paling out and faint bluing of the skin"

She nodded "He was beautiful"

"Yes" He shook his head "A cruel irony"

"Why are these kinds of monsters allowed on Earth? I al and ork to contain them"

"So you, as a warrior, battle death vaht ahead "Yes Myself and six other warriors Warriors of the Blood The problem is, the Colobal in the last fifty years, and with the increase in Mortal Earth’s population, the number of death vampires he and his allies can create has increased exponentially" He shook his head back and forth "You don’t really need to know this shit" He scowled and oncewheel

Alison sat quietly, her thoughts tu dimensions An entire world adjacent to Earth Mortal Earth Mortal Earth Mortal Earth

All the vah her mind She had read Bram Stoker’s version She watched True Blood But this was real and apparently so down this road

Alison Wells Vampire She shivered suddenly

"You okay?" he asked, not looking at her His thu wheel, slower now, a dull thud in the confined space