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"If you don’t mind"

Ruth let out a tut and came into the office "Don’t be silly"

"I appreciate this so much"

"Don’t be daft, love Danny and I are happy to have the bit of extra, aren’t we?"

Ruth and her husband Dan had become the sole humans Anne drank from now that the threat of Elixir had becoh that a healthy pint a week should have kept her strong, but Ruth and Dan could only give her one pint a month between the two of thee aer household staff, but almost all supplemented with animal blood nowadays Anne was no exception

Ruth settled on the couch with Anne next to her, holding out a wrist and chattering about one of her terrier bitches that was about to have puppies She and Dan had never been able to have children, so the anis

Well, the terriers and Anne Though Anne had hired her when Ruth was in her twenties, the wo, yes, but not unwelcome Anne was over two hundred years old, but she still enjoyed a bit offrom time to time

"Ready then?"

Ruth s the huht sleep Both Ruth and Dan preferred it that way, and it htly less aard for all

Anne felt her fangs grow long and she inhaled, taking in the sweet, familiar scent of her friend’s blood at the wrist

"Thank you," she whispered a moment before she bit

Euphoria

Anne lost herself in it for the first fes There was nothing like human blood No other substance on earth carried the taste of pure life to her It was hardly surprising that newborns and ancients alike craved it Blood was substance and heat Air and water It pulsed with the pounding of the human heart Filled the arteries and tributaries of the body Ebb and flow Beat and brush…

She sank farther and drank

Her senses heightened and she could hear the lick of water as the tide swelled the bay A night heron croaked near the shore The wind raked over the eaves, and the blood slid down her throat, silken heat and lush longing She ached for e of control, Anne closed her eyes and pulled away

Taking a deep breath, she wrestled her bloodlust under control