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"Aaron, go to Europe," Lucian advised "There’s a season of tremendous debauchery on the Cote d’Azur, so I’ve heard Go-- before I forget that I must defend all that we are and , snakelike sound of fury But he was gone

And Lucian, oddly quiet, hunkered down by Meg again He reached out a hand onceHonestly Come I command that you come"

"No"

He arched a brow She wondered why she so stubbornly fought him, except that she was in such terrible pain She had been existing in a sad delusion She had told Aaron to leave; she had thought he had done so She had so foolishly believed in her oer

But Lucian was the king of their kind She could fight Aaron and win She could only hope to fight Lucian She had learned strength froer, still

"My dear "

When he touched her that time, she allowed hi about Lucian In his strength and power there was ego and a sense of absolute right, but he was not like Aaron She clung to hi sobs

Then she pulled away

Lucian could force her, take her, bring her to him at his will And she didn‘t hate Lucian He didn’t expect their kind to be er to refuse meat But, no, he was not like Aaron Carter He had the wisdom of the ancients He knew there must be rules He had known about Sean, and he had allowed her the dile a man she refused to turn into their kind, and so now, had lost No, she despised Aaron, but she didn’t hate Lucian

Still, she defied hi froive a damn Allshe wanted to do was cry And hold Sean Canady while his life’s warht have been

"Come," Lucian persisted

"No, I will not leave him now--"

"He’s dead!"

"I will not leave hiirl Mourn your weak, pathetic, human remains You‘ll come back to me" Lucian lifted her chin She stared into his eyes, and her own came alive with a stubborn fire "You’ll come back to me," he continued, "because I have the power, I aod of your world And you’ll come back to me, whether you admit it or not, because you‘re a sensual little beast, and you need ry and she jerked froin to understand love!" He arched a brow, but allowed her the freedom "You speak of love, but you play with fire," he warned "I repeat,within our world I know the rules, and I see that they are kept By right, you acted against one of our kind I should have given you to Carter

Remember our rules Break too many of them, and you will suffer the consequences"

"Because I refuse you when I want to die!" she whispered

Curiously enough, she realized that Lucian was hurt as well as angry "Maybe," he told her quietly "Careful, my love, don’t push me too far! I will damn you and dofor ainst the tree, real tears raining down her cheeks

There was another whisper in the air

Another rustle of sound

The smell of the bloody battlefield rose all around her She was alone with her dead huone He would not have her

And Lucian was gone He had defended her, but now, heone

CHAPTER 7

The third body wasn’t found until Thursday

Pierre estimated that the poor creature had been dead nearly a week, which seemed to mean that their killer had spent last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on a spree