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It wouldn’t do to feed Blake any of her blood That would heal hi rid of the concussion he no doubt had, but it would alsohis body to limits no human should be able to sustain Elise wasn’t about to add to that

But nohat to do with Blake? She couldn’t just sling him over her shoulder and walk to the nearest pay phone; that would attract too much attention Nor was she about to leave hione If only it was a little later in theby with a cell phone and hypnotize the drew Elise’s attention to the end of the street A ho with various ite the sidewalk Elise smiled, then picked Blake up and tucked hi," she called out "Howcart?"

Chapter Four

Blake awoke to a horrible s dark, for a e du, people will notice"

It took a second for hinize who spoke It was the vah to realize it was dark because so that reeked of body odor and things he didn’t even want to name Add that to a headache worse than he’d ever experienced, and Blake thought he ht throw up

But he was still with Elise, even after the deet killed? Hurt?" Blake asked, dread spreading through hi"

At those words, Blake didn’t care about her brusqueness, his cramped position with his kneesin his head The demon had taken control of hi anyone For the first ti of hope

Whatever he was stuffed into vibrated Fro an uneven surface It was hot, too, and with the reeking darkhim, hard to breathe

Blake pulled the rancid material off his, and fro cart

"A shopping cart?" Blake said "Whose stuff is piled on top of ed to a ho," Elise said, shrugging "It was a good way to transport you without drawing notice"

"Why didn’t you just co out of the cart His bones creaked once he was freed fro "I don’t kno to drive"

Blake looked at her with more shock than he’d shohen he found out she was a vampire "You don’t kno to drive?" he repeated

Elise see"

Waking up in a ho up to the sight of dead bodies No rateful for that He still didn’t kno Elise thought she could help hi when the de Blake to meet her sire, maybe that vampire would put hi to hope for

It was ironic, Blake reflected Before becohta life insurance policy and exercising to stay healthy Now, Blake lusted after death as though it were a beautiful woain Deathfriends never had to open their doors and see a de on the other side of it, concealed in Blake’s skin Death was Blake’s only way of beating the thing inside hi else

Elise’s whistling shook Blake fro "Beautiful Dreamer" in a soft,from a flute Blake wondered how a vampire, who supposedly didn’t breathe, could whistle He wondered how Elise was out in the daylight without spontaneously co, or hoas that vaht were possible turned out to be true Vampires? They existed Demons? Real, too If aliens landed at the Capitol toht doesn’t hurt you, why do you live underground in a tunnel?"

Elise kept whistling Blake thought she’d decided to ignore hi ended, she replied

"I don’t do so well around people"

Her voice was soft, too Filled with a sort of disconnected regret, as though her lack of social skills made her sorry, but she didn’t understand why She started to whistle that saainst a tree, and closed his eyes He could al to the sweet and haunting tune

"You won’t let me hurt anyone, will you?"

Elise paused "No" She continued whistling, the sound and her answer lulling hi he hadn’t done willingly for weeks He let himself fall asleep

Elise listened as Blake’s heartbeat and breathing becah she wasn’t used to breathing this h why thatquiet will draw less attention, she told herself, knowing that was a lie They were in ArlingtonNationalCemetery There weren’t many people around to notice if Blake caused a stir, except perhaps the ghosts

It was so odd, this protective feeling Once she’d -dormant emotions awoke Elise couldn’t help but admire Blake’s concern for other people, even over his own life You won’t lettime since Elise had cared that ers

When DC’s homeless or criminal element attacked her-which happened every few months-she killed them It didn’t occur to her not to since she reasoned that by doing so, she was saving someone else from that person’s future attack Blake wasn’t responsible for what the de to die in order to prevent other people froth of character under these extreme circumstances held up a mirror to hers, and Elise didn’t like what she saw reflected there Mencheres is right, she realized I’ve let myself slip away How e the remains before apathy eats away at the rest of le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>