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She was terrified Weak

Logan was killing her and he hadn’t even realized what he’d been doing

I away the re through it swiftly, before it was too late

He saw flickers of her life--brief flashes of people and places she’d seen He felt moments of triumph and panic, sorrow and joy Her life was like s and an found the ones he wanted and rifled through the into unconsciousness

He took soiven hih his hold on her arm If she collapsed, he was sure Zach would cut hied him He’d tasted blood like hers before; he just couldn’t remember where or when

Focus He needed to concentrate on the part of her holding her plans to destroy his hoe of led out what he needed

Lexi was telling the truth She had no intention of killing the they were not the led to find his voice, and when he did, it cah and scratchy "It is as she says," he told Joseph

Both men deflated visibly in relief, and Zach rushed forward to take Lexi’s lian’s arms He settled her on the bed with exquisite care, as if her body were an

Zach gave Logan a feral stare "You took too much"

"Her defenses are formidable It was necessary" It was a lie, but one he sensed Zach would accept The last thing he needed was to anger Zach enough that he cut Logan down and wasted all the precious power flowing in his veins

That poas needed elsewhere Project Lullaby was reaching a critical stage, and all his kin sleeping below the earth needed to be fed

"Give her a couple of hours and she’ll be fine," said Logan

"You’d better pray that’s the case, leech"

Joseph gave Logan a small formal bow "Thank you for your services" It was a disan knew it

Fine He had better things to do, anyway, and the rich blood filling hi to make them all possible

Alexander was one of the few people who truly loved hospitals He saw hope where others saw only sickness and despair It ithin the walls of hospitals like this that he found the opportunity to save his race from extinction

The sterile smell, colided along the tiled hallways It was late, well past visiting hours, but no one questioned his presence In fact, few even noticed hi by He was noover their skin

His senses on high alert, Alexander et He pushed the wooden door open and slipped inside, unnoticed by the nursing staff at the desk nearby

The room was dark Quiet No TV filled the silence, only the faint sigh of breathin and out of a wo rief and despair, but Alexander would shortly fix that He’d long ago learned that the hope for his race--the Sanguinar--was tied closely to the fragile hopes of certain, special hu in their veins, the blood of the Solarc hih his nose, detecting the spicy richness of that blood Hunger rolled in his belly, but he’d lived with it long enough to set the urge to feed aside for as long as he needed His task was er, for if it ell, one day his people would no longer feel the gnawing eain

Hethe fabric curtain that blocked the sight of the bed froaunt He looked to be in his sixties, though Alexander guessed hier His skin was tinted yelloith sickness and hung loose on his fraen and a thick drainage tube snaking froery

Alexander checked the chart Cancer It was almost always cancer

That suited hi those voracious cells was almost second nature to hiid chair, slumped over the bed in sleep Her short blond hair was a ht flush reddened her cheeks

Alexander pressed his hand against her forehead, feeling the heat of her fever streak up his arh time at the man’s side to catch so care of herself

Briefly, Alexander questioned whether she was a good candidate, but dismissed the notion in moments Anyone who dedicated herself to one she loved to the point of self- sacrifice was going to be a valuable asset to their plans

The wo awake She looked up at him ide brown eyes and eased away from his hand

"You’re sick," he said in a low voice

She blinked a couple of tihten it

Alexander suppressed a knowing smile His kind were beautiful and always seemed to have that effect on humans Too bad it had been decades since Alexander had felt the urge to have sex He was too hungry to think of ht had crossed his mind

"I’m fine," she said "How’s Dad?"

Ah, so this was her father And she thought he was a doctor

Alexander supported that false assuh about hu all over this rief rose up stronger, nearly choking Alexander It had a cloying se of decay

"Isn’t there anything you can do?"

This was his opening, given so easily he nearly balked at taking it "What is your nahan Clark" Tears han," he repeated, using the power of her na I know that ht help, but you won’t want to do it"

They never did At first