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"Yes, she is Erin cal ed ot a little confused I decided to bring her hoether She’s fine I’l drop by toht"

Sassy paused Then, hesitantly, "Are you sure? I can co to play sluht" Another lie I was planning on showing up unannounced, without Erin That ship had sailed and gone Erin would never spend another night at Sassy’s

"If you’re sureA strain in Sassy’s voice caught my attention A tension that hadn’t been there before I listened to the nuance below it She was hungry Sassy was hungry and longing to hunt I knew the feeling al too wel , but I keptwithin strict periood-bye, I wondered again: Did I have the right to put an end to Sassy’s hunting? She was beco the predator, but did that e, jury, and executioner?

True, she had asked e But would she want that now? Would she stil be wil ing to stand there, waiting for the stake? Would she walk into the sun if she realized just how far she’d crossed the line? But the fact re and torturing the innocent And that was unacceptable

"Menol y?"

I turned back to find Erin staring at ht and wronggood and evil She didn’t want to be a vaiven a choice She told me more than once that she doesn’t want to wear a black hat, as she put it She said that as much as she loved me

Here, Erin hung her head and a bloody tear streaked down her face I reached out and lifted her chin, nodding for her to go on "She told me that she doesn’t think she has much of a future left

That it’s too hard for her to control the desire to hunt"

"I’hter and Sassy had fored the their relationship--at least until Erin had spent long enough in the life to knohat she wanted

Erin shrugged "I aay and a vao I’m alone in this world and stil unsure about ot"

"No, no she isn’t" I put my hands on her shoulders She was a little tal er than I, but looked so unsure and hesitant "You have me--I’m your Blood-Mother You have Tim and Camil e and Delilah They al care about you, and Tiet it"

"Tis in the world of the living, not in our world" She bit her lip, and I realized just how disconnected she was feeling fro to her

"Tim and you were best friends," I said slowly "Unfortunately, things do change once you cross over the veil and become a vampire, but that doesn’t mean that every relationship you had has to vanish or die with your old life Tim may have married Jason, but he stil cares about you He h so that you can be friends again, no matter how the friendship has to evolve"

She considered uess I expected everything to go on the sa a vah"

"Are you sorry you askedshe wouldn’t say yes I’d sworn I’d never sire another vampire and had broken my rule only because Grandh my own fears for the sake of destiny

Whatever the future held for Erin, I had a feeling it was far more than she dreamed of

Erin er to please that she’d blurt out anything she thought s

"No, I’m not sorry I wasn’t ready to die, and this was the only choice I think, to be honest, that living with Sassy has been good forwithout her approval or she throws a fit"

It was hter, o Had she pinned al her love--both maternal and ro Erin fro, or she wouldn’t have sent her out of the roo her victi independent?

I decided to lighten the in rummy?"

I knew that Sassy and Erin played like fiends, and though the game bored me stiff, I wanted Erin to feel comfortable

She shook her head "If you don’t hing, I pitched the cards into the corner "Fair enough It’s not one of my favorites, either

What do you want to do? We have a couple hours til sunrise"

Erin let out a long sigh "I’d like to go for a ith you Get outside, walk through the woods

Sassy doesn’t take me out very often, and I h ood toher up the stairs, I decided right there and then that I’d keep a tight watch over the next hohter

We returned to the house a half hour before sunrise to find ht be Sassy again, as Erin contentedly sprawled in the armchair We’d walked for about a half hour, then did athe trunks and undergrowth through the freshly fal en snow I taught Erin how to scale a tree--Sassy had ignored a good share of Erin’s physical training, ot back, she was looking forward to sunrise and sleep I never liked the drowsy pul , but for Erin, it seemed to hold no dread

I picked up the receiver to hear a low voice, alrowl, on the other end "Please suave him away As did the power behind the accent It didn’t matter whether my Cal er ID was blocked I kneas on the other end

"Hel o, Roirl reh, and my sto, and even through the phone line he beckoned to , I forced myself to sit on the bed Roman scared the hel out of me He was an ancient vampire whoe and slapped hi he was, and cool, and perfectly at home in his skin And he wanted me to attend the midwinter Vampire’s Bal as his escort