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She rested her heavy head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as that swelling war to me?"

He buried his nose in her hair and whispered low in her ear, "Shh Just let go You’re od They weren’t even coed his life The pain was gone Vanished Strength surged through his body with every beat of his heart Sure, he didn’t have as much blood as he was supposed to, but it hardly mattered Andra was in his arms, and he felt invincible, like he could beat down an entire nest of Synestryn single handedly and not break a sweat

Her body felt good against him and he didn’t want to set her down Not ever He could feel the sleek firentle swell of her breasts was so soft and yielding against his chest Her short hair tickled his nose, baby fine and feather soft And she sood

A man could lose himself in a wo

He had to stake his claiuilt made him pause, but he brushed it away as inconsequential She had no idea what she was getting into, but he couldn’t let that stop him Not anymore She’d taken his luceria of her own free will, and he wasn’t going to let that miracle pass by Not now, and probably not ever He needed her tooto hiret it

Soht process was off, but he didn’t care It was time

Paul laid her down on the couch, knelt beside her, and pulled his shirt off over his head

Andra s She ran her hands over his shoulders and down across his lifemark The branches swayed in reaction to her touch, and the single leaf he had left shivered Her fingers ar his eous woman’s caress His skin flushed hot and his dick hardened,hi there, stroking hi at him as if he were the only man on the face of the planet All he wanted to do was strip away her clothes and spread those long legs out so he could touch her, taste her, make her coood plan

But not until their ties were complete Unbreakable Not like what he’d had with Kate Once Andra was his, he’d do all of that andas always He gathered her hands and held theet cut as he drew the blade "My life for yours," he told her as he sliced a thin cut over his heart, signifying his willingness to shed his blood for her The proer, whole He’d do anything to protect her, and because she had taken his luceria, he would live long enough to fulfill that purpose

He pressed his finger against the cut and sainst the luceria It shrank to fit close to her skin, the colors once again swirling frantically Blue There was h hi hi Andra really was his lady Even seeing it, he still could hardly believe his good fortune He reached out, intending to hug her to hi with it

His eyesight failed for a er in the Gerai house in Nebraska He was in a sirlish frill A red feather boa hung over the dresser mirror, and a purple silk scarf had been tossed over the bedside la on her stoazine on the bed Her bare legs aving in the air behind her; her toenails were painted bubblegu out of the radio

The girl looked up froazine like she’d heard a noise, and Paul could see now that it was a er version of Andra She was maybe nineteen or twenty She was thinner, less rin

This was a vision of her past--so important the luceria had chosen to show hi it in

She was beautiful, but in a childish sort of way He preferred the way she looked now--confident and woive Still, he would have given nearly anything to have known her then, when he would still have had time to be patient with her and ease her into his world carefully Slowly

But that wasn’t possible now He needed her toohe could do noas learn what he could about her to helpglass filled the air A high-pitched scream followed, and then ended abruptly, as if cut off Andra jumped from her bed and raced out of the room Paul followed, unseen Three steps down the hall, she came to a dead stop in front of a doorway The door was open Fresh blood coated the bright white paint and dripped off the botto into the carpet She took a tentative step forward, and her bare foot sank into the wet carpet Blood oozed between her toes

She jerked her foot back and looked like she ht throw up

"Mom?" she whispered "Oh, God" Her hand reached out toward so on the floor just as another scream sounded from a room at the end of the hall

Andra turned and rushed toward the scream

Paul passed by the bloody door and saw the re on the floor inside the bedroom The Synestryn had left her head and taken the rest The woman’s lifeless eyes stared up at him, her mouth frozen open in a silent screaed her body out theFro from the darkness outside, Paul was certain they were still out there, feeding on her corpse

That had been Andra’s mother Probably the most important person in her life And now she was dead

Andra opened the door at the end of the short hall Anotherhad been broken here, too Only this tiath’s as not yet done One of thereen Its black forked tongue flicked out ahead of it, and it let out a feral hiss

Andra stood frozen in fear He could see the fine tre too fast and hard

"Moet back!"