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A boot nudged his hip, and he shifted his head on the ceremonial pallet to look up at his childhood buddy, a wiry"Hey" Well, at least his voice still worked

Aed grinned "How’s it feel to be on your second life?"

Wincing at the stiffness in his muscles, Con sat up "Feels like I wasted the first one"

"Better make up for it with this one, ayech?" Aed’s accent was a blend of Scottish, Danish, and soibberish to Con, who, unlike his old friend, had spent enough time with humans in the modern world to cultivate an accent that didn’t sound like it caht out of Beowulf

"Yeah" Con tested his new li as he sat on the wood and deer hide pallet, but he felt ht "Luc The ho brought e He’s away" Good Man, that da had not wanted to do as Con asked Con had been forced to remind him that Luc owed him after the avalanche save, not tonot only Luc but Kar and the baby, as well Still, Luc hadn’t gone easily into it His last words had been I hate you for this, youin his sto to my birth" A vampire birth And one that was required to take place on dhahtfall, his life would have ended for good No second chances Which hat had happened to his daughter centuries ago

With a grunt of assent, Aed crouched, drew a blade across his wrist, and the effect on Con was instantaneous His fangs punched down, his rowl rose up in his chest

The blood of a dhampire was required for this part of the ritual, was crucial in i that would separate hiular vampires--an immunity to holy water and the ability to walk in the sun, which apparently hearkened back to the oldest vaends Con would still be susceptible to the other usual vampire threats--fire, decapitation, wooden stakes, but… yeah, asn’t?

Con gripped his friend’s ar tasted better than Sin

Daht now? He wished he’d been able to tell her about the dhampire’s second chance, but all he could do was try to tell Sin, in those last seconds of lucidity, that he would be back That she was his, but this tiic or chain-link collars

Now, no longer dhampire, Con would be banished forever froht like his brothers before hi, who he was supposed to have replaced on the Dhaer had to serve the dhaht had been lifted froer beat, and s Why he’d been so reckless with his life Oh, he’d wanted to have fun, do everything he could do, but fear had never been in play

Because deep down, he knew that death was only temporary If he died, he could come back, and then he’d be free of dhaoverned by the Vampire Council, his story that he was turned by a vampire, sire unknown Even the vampires didn’t know about the dharipped Con’s hair and tugged him off his wrist He licked his oound to seal it, and then helped Con up "What now?" "Now," Con said grio to kill a olf and claim my woman"

Sin felt like hell and didn’t look a whole lot better

She hadn’t wanted to leave the hospital, and God, how crazy was it that not long ago she’d done everything she could to avoid the place, and now all she wanted to do was stay? Her family was there And it was all she had left of Con Funny how losing him had made her realize that, bond or no, she was linked to hione, it sat like a useless luan with no reason to beat

Well, that wasn’t entirely true There was always revenge She didn’t kno long it would take, but she would ht ri the inky streets on the outskirts of Pittsburgh His su pain from the collar while she’d been in Eidolon’s office, where she’d spent the night She’d never been alone; her brothers had made sure that one of them had always been with her