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Moving silently into the hall, he crossed to cliarret He had discovered that hisoffered a fine view of the streets, and it was the uard over the household And it also allowed hiive some rest to his earthly forhts of Jocelyn, he had reached the door to his chamber, when he belatedly realized there was a faint scent in the air that could come from only one source

Instantly on the alert, Lucien slipped the dagger from beneath his coat and held it firmly in his hand A vampire was near And he could think of only one vaarret

With caution he pushed the door to his rooh the narrow chaht was easily able to penetrate the shadows His brows tugged together as he realized that there was nothing to be seen

"A farther into the room "I know that you are here Show yourself"

A faint shimmer of mist suddenly appeared in a distant corner, and Lucien carefully hid the dagger behind his back He did not trust the traitor If Amadeus had become desperate, Lucien did not doubt for a moment Amadeus would do whatever necessary to rid himself of Lucien’s unwelcohly, watching the mist advance

There was no response, and an odd premonition sent a trickle of ice down his spine

A, but there was so as it approached, and darkening to charcoal color

Lucien slowly backed away, re before the door to ensure whatever ithin the mist was not allowed to leave the chamber He could not let this threat reach Jocelyn Noto a halt, Lucien held the dagger before hi He sought to peer through the heavy shroud, but it was i dooe to rush back through the door

Whatever this was, he must somehow halt it

Jocelyn must be kept safe

That was all thatslipped about hier fell froht to his heart and a moan of pain renched from his throat

Bloody hell

It was a mist wraith A spell that had once been in the command of the vampires but had been banished froerous to all vampires

At the ained command of hi more than an eht the panic that threatened to overwhelle would only hasten his dehtened e calm could he hope to discover a means of escape

Calm Great Nefri

Eleven

Jocelyn paced the cramped quarters of her bedchamber with uneven steps Perhaps absurdly, she had hoped that being away fro presence of Lucien would ease her troubled heart

Instead, it had only darkened her already black ypsies eren’t gypsies at all?

It was enough to drive any poor maiden mad

But while her mind reeled with the effort to accept that vaination but real and living beneath her roof, in her ered

Dear heavens, she had shared dinner with hiames with him

shared passion with him

She had opened her past and revealed all the betrayal she had endured She had opened her heart

And she had given her trust

And that hat hurt the most

She closed her eyes and sucked in a shaky breath What was theto be a ed killer out on the streets, atte to force her to hand over a Medallion that supposedly held the fate of the va her in a manner she could not even comprehend