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"I think most of our kind would leave You could certainly work froland or Scotland would have been farther But you stayed here Rather close That tells me that you didn’t want to cut ties as much as you think"

"No That’s ridiculous" Anne sat up straighter "We have completely separate lives He’s had numerous relationships I’ve had relationships We both…"

Elke leaned forward, her head propped on her hand "If you weren’t you, if you were a patient, ould you say to a woman who breaks off a very serious relationship--the most intimate an immortal can have--and yet stays within a day’s journey of the one to whom she is bound?"

Anne sat back in her seat "Well… dao Twice a year, Anne and her sister would meet at the ruins of the old stone house where both had spent their first years as an immortal Their sire had cared for Mary there, and Mary had cared for her sister It was the way of things in their small clan Should Anne’s father ever sire another, that child would be Anne’s responsibility to guide through the first few tuest Her father was not a prolific vampire

Despite both their busy schedules, Anne kneas iether Mary had few people she trusted in Belfast Unlike Patrick Murphy, who’d come into poith a cadre of trusted advisors at his side, Mary had clawed her way through the bloody wake of a va in Belfast two hundred years before She’d held on to power through intelligence, deterovernance that brooked no argument

But, as Anne often pointed out, that way led toward tyranny

So Anne met with Mary twice a year and reminded her sister that she had a conscience

She pulled into the s back to the se of the property Mary’s car was in the drive, a luxurious old roadster that she was able to navigate herself Anne pulled next to it and parked her Mini

The weather was typically daal always smelled of the sea and musk roses in su up the bay, but the night was too dark to see the water through the grove

The Georgian house that had replaced the stone cottage sat on eighteen carefully landscaped acres It was big enough to suit their independent natures, but not so big that it wasn’t easily taken care of by the groundkeeper and his wife, who lived at the lodge Over the years, it had co the faint scent of cigarette s at a bank of blue hydrangeas and sucking on one of those blasted tobacco sticks as she sat on a garden bench that bordered the walk

Mary had the delicate English beauty that made modern humans think of period films and fine manners She’d styled her dark brown hair the same since the 1920s because it suited her heart-shaped face A human would think her a damsel until they looked into her eyes Then they’d probably run screa next to her and leaning her head on Mary’s shoulder

"Hello," Mary said, reaching over to pat her sister’s cheek "How’s my kinder half?"

"Confused"