Page 8 (1/2)

Vivian

Soht in my head I can&039;t quite place what it is, but I know so to exa to a pack of hor what it could be

The cold wraps its steely ar and yipping of the wolves recedes into the darkness behind ht think that was just peachy, but I&039;ve had enough of it lately

I think when this week ends, I&039;ll need a vacation myself Grab Rafe, head down to our island off the southern coast of Argentina the darkness won&039;t be as long, like it is in the summer e visit, but it will be a nice escape froer than two

I pass through the hot tub grotto and head into the now silent dining roo to refresh froers in the air and I&039;es in the cabin race back as I lower myself onto a leather chair near aWho could have killed Melvyn? The blood in the roo of the Were&039;s corpse means it certainly wasn&039;t one of Romeo&039;s pack

There! A black spot onon?

I stand and closeitself The bright, cheery at area fades away and I&039; a series of electrical is over one of erous pit within each of the undead

The only thing I know for certain is it can&039;t be Joanna I haven&039;t exchanged blood with her since our first time because of the extended ti too long in another va the mental connection afteras the only way I&039;ve found to give them a chance to survive with their sanity intact

The heavy feelings of despair I&039; fro back to the locked door near the kitchen&039;s walk-in refrigerator, I nod to the e away the ti rooht over the stove in the connected kitchen The e froot to be fro by the time, Asa should still be on duty

The heavy bases back easily at my touch and the scent of va down the stairs in one bound, the scent pounds through unfire as well I trigger the locking mechanism and the concrete wall in the corner slides slowly open

Before it can fully slide to allow a norh into the computer rooht of me, his face crumbles into fear

"I can explain," he says

"What the hell happened down here? Are you okay?"

His face s Blood stains, hastily cleaned, mar the concrete floor and walls His clothes look clean, but his body smells unwashed Traces of sex, cordite, silver, and blood radiate frouilt

"I shot Joanna and beheaded her"

Did I just fucking hear that right? "Excuse me?"

"Joanna was not loyal to the seethe She plotted to capture and drain you and tried to enlist h ht instantly becoer va and plastic crunching doesn&039;t slow me down I wrap my hands in his shirt and slam his head repeatedly into the console table until the creak of wood threatens to break under my wrath

The blackness within creeps up to overwhele and ht to end a life that is etwith a rat His defensive touch has an aggravating effect and my fist flies repeatedly at his face, until I feel so it covered in red I openblood over the desk and , the inner rage still unsatisfied "What have you done?" The young va to stop rab h! Get a hold of yourself!"

Rafe&039;s voice holds a twinge of real fear, triggering me to back sloay frohis body across the room where it hits the wall and slides to the floor

"You should have calledfro what had to be done"

The wounds on Asa&039;s face have already started to heal as he pulls himself into a seated position "She was crazy, Vivian I swear! She tried to drain me There was no time to call and I made a split-second decision"

"Idiot! You could have incapacitated her instead of cutting her head off"

Asa hangs his head, resting it on his pulled-up knees "She was stronger than me She couldn&039;t be trusted and was a threat to the seethe I acted on the knowledge I had" His voice coret "I didn&039;t know about her addiction If I had, I wouldn&039;t have killed her"

The betrayal burning through ainst skin-white-hot and focused

"You did not need to know about her addiction! I ahs corabsnext to the ruins of the computer table with a fistful of copper strands

"Not so fast, love What&039;s done is done Beating the poor boy won&039;t bring her back"

"It will teach hie? What did it teach you?"

Daht me to hate and prohtJoanna certainly was not

"His actions warrant punishment I will have to report this death to the Tribunal and I don&039;t need roan co as a soldier kicked in and I did what I thought was right I took out the enemy"

"She was your seethe-mate," I bark out, "and you had just fucked her"

Rafe pulls in a sharp breath "Wow, I bet that had to be interesting"

"I&039;ll soon find out" Without further ado, I push hts I to the surface to obscure most of what I need to see Within a few moments, I have an eyewitness account of all that happened here in the basement

I release hisNo need to dae him in my quest for truth I would&039;ve liked to erase sohan memories for him, but those experiences er and hurt coiling deep inside don&039;t allow iveness He shouldn&039;t have chopped her head off and that&039;s that The fact he drank her blood at the end only reinforces he truly did think of her as an eney aura will appear slightly older than he really is now because of consu most of Joanna&039;s death blood

It makes me wonder if that could be why he killed her He&039;s been learning about our culture little by little since he arrived, having practically survived for eighteen s are done Could he have wanted er?

Notor old, make numerous kills of other vampires Unless, of course, they becoust and stor baseone, the body on ice, and the equipment replaced within the hour"

I head up the stairs to the kitchen and pause a moment The sanctuary of our personal suite feels tainted by the energies of all who troet to the command center and base work on another entrance to the area I need to reclaiive us back the haven we created

The s of e Rafe come up the stairs, I autoive it to hiently takes it fro ar and so, he did not know" Rafe uses the Ger his hand up and downelse"

Pulling back and looking down, I see that not only is er vampire&039;s blood, but splatters of it also stainto coivesthe blood for a h escapes et my bloody hand on him

"I had no choice but to cut her off froet past the craving and settle in, or I have to kill them"

"Perhaps Asa saved you the trouble?"