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Sophia waited until Darren had left, then shot the lock on the door and set her own barrier of power to secure it She waited even longer, until the other vaer sense hiard as clearly Lucien’s private retreat The sense of hi so sudden and so strong that it was a physical pain, as if her heart had stopped beating for a moment What if the impossible had happened? What if someone had somehow taken down the powerful va away as she stood here squandering what little tihtly and crossed the roo open the French doors to the balcony beyond

Bracing herself against the cold and wind, she stepped onto a balcony high above the city Lucien’s study was on the third floor of his manse, which was itself at the top of one of the steepest hills surrounding Vancouver The skies were dark overhead, only the occasional star or glied for the warmth of her southern home, for the fahts twinkling down below Although, she thought, Vancouver had a pulse of its own Different, but no less alive

Her gaze scanned the horizon She had to give it to Darren This was the perfect location from which to search for their s for her, he seeenuine in his desire to help her find Lucien Perhaps he loved their Sire asa deep breath, Sophia closed her eyes and set aside her dislike of Darren, set aside the cold and the wind, the strange scents and sounds of this foreign city From somewhere deep inside herself, she touched the invisible, unbreakable bond she shared with Lucien He was her Sire, the vaiven it back to her as so and beautiful Sophia loved being Vaave her, in the exquisite heightening of her senses until she could hear the soft fall of an orchid’s blossoainst her face, the smell of her skin after a day at the beach But it was a sained And it was all because of Lucien asand perhaps in trouble

She stretched out her senses, drawing on all of her considerable power, and cast a net over the city

Hours later, she opened her eyes, exhaustion seeping through her pores, weakening every ht, had followed every trail, no matter how faint And there were so many trails--the traces of Lucien were everywhere in this city This had been his hole street or alley where he had not walked, she hadn’t found it But the very pervasiveness of his scent was so He was alive She was certain of that But it was almost as if he’d intentionally spread himself thin, so thin he barely existed in his own city anyone al Sunrise wasn’t far off She could feel it in the sluggishness of her blood, the dullness of her nerve endings The time shift imposed by her rapid journey fro her the sun had already risen, while her brain knew she still had an hour or so to get so was hell on vampires, too

She wondered if Darren was still about, or if she’d have to find her own lodgings somewhere in this massive house It had been much ss hadn’t changed Either way, it hardlyher own safe havens for hundreds of years; thiswould be no different

She walked wearily back into Lucien’s study, just in time to hear a timid knock on the door She eyed the closed panel speculatively It was a vampire; she knew thatso softly She used power to release her personal shield and unlock the door "Come," she called out as she sank into one of Lucien’s chairs

The vampire who entered was tiny but ht-bodiced gohich gave lie to her childlike stature She had to be very old, harkening back to a tiht would have been the nore, she had little or no power Sophia wondered what it would be like to live that long as Vampire, but to be so weak that she was forever frozen on the bottoently, as if she knehat Sophia was thinking "Lady Sophia, I a about the way she said the word secretary told Sophia, she meant it in the old way, an assistant and a confidante Sophia had never met her before, so she’d probably come from one of Lucien’s other cities so it had been since Sophia had been to Vancouver But if Larissa had been close to Lucien, she just ht know more about ent on with him than anyone else in the house

Sophia didn’t offer to shake hands Judging by her manner and dress, Larissa would not be one of those who e, "How can I help you?"

Larissa again gave her that knowing smile "You are kind, my lady, but I am here to assist you You ant a place to rest, yes?"

Sophia breathed a tired sigh "I will, thank you And is there blood in the house?"

"Of course, es? If so, is the sardens?"