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"Come," Dominic said "I will take you hoht?"

"She is no concern of yours"

"I asked her to ht I think that makes her my concern"

Hands clenched at his sides to keep fro for the boy&039;s throat, Dominic stared atBryan"What was her answer?"

"She said no, but I&039;e her ht," Dominic remarked "And it would please ht"

"She is home," Dominic said

"You haven&039;t done to her what that woman did to me, have you?"

"No Give me your hand"

Bryantook a step backward"No way"

The words had barely left his lips when Do his forearhtly dizzy,Bryan opened his eyes and found hi outside his apartment "How did you do that? How do you knohere I live?"

"It does not matter If you are wise, you will not leave your house after sunset If Petrina comes here, do not invite her in"

"It wasn&039;t Petrina "

"What?"

"It wasn&039;t Petrina who who took my blood"

"Who was it?"

"I don&039;t know I never saw her before"

"What did she look like?"

"She was beautiful, with dark red hair and the coldest, greenest eyes I&039;ve ever seen"

" Kitana"Of courseIt was Kitana he had seen in the alley She was the only ih to cloak her presence

"You know her?"

Dominic nodded "She is the oldest of our kind"

"It&039;s true, then? You&039;re a vampire, aren&039;t you? And so is she?"

Doiven you hers in return She will be able to speak to your hts and if she wishes it, you will hear hers"

"Are you going to kill her?"

"That was ht it was Petrina who had taken you"

"And now?"

"I do not know if Kitana can be destroyed Go inside now," Do as she survives"

With a hand that shook,Bryan unlocked the door and quickly stepped across the threshold "You can&039;t come in, but thank you," he said, and slarin, Doale House, andTracy &039;s side

He found her asleep in her bed, the covers drawn up to her chin She looked young and vulnerable lying there, and more beautiful than any other woman he had ever known

He had hoped to show her the wonders of vah there was ive up when one accepted the Dark Gift, there was also ht, he had walked through centuries of ti he truly lamented was his inability to father a child The undead could not create life Was it selfish of him to wantTracy to join hiive up the joys ofaway froht Selfish or not, it no longer mattered He would destroy Petrina and Kitana and if he survived, he would greet the dawn andTracy would be forever free of hi, awaited him on the other side There were those who believed that vampires had no soul If that was true, then only oblivion awaited him And if he still had a soul, would he burn in hell for all eternity?

"Dominic?"

He turned at the sound of her voice

"Did you find hioodness you found hier"

She sat up, clutching the covers to her breasts "What do you iven him her blood in return He is her creature now"

"But he&039;s not a va the rooe of the bed and drew her into his arain For a moment, he closed his eyes and drank in her nearness, the warmth of her, the sweet s her in his ar her hair "Do not worry about the boy I will not let her bring hi us I wasn&039;t sure you would"

"I will always answer your call," he replied quietly"If I am able"

She drew back a little so she could see his face "What do you ht"

"How do you know that?"

"He told me" Dominic took a deep breath "Do you care for him?"

"Yes"

"Do you love him?"

"I turned him down"

"That is not what I asked Do you love him?"

"No"

"Perhaps you should"

Tracystared at him "Do you want me to marry him?"

"I want to know you have so"Rising, he went to stand at theagain It would be dawn soon

"Do away, and I do not want you to be alone"

"Where are you going?"

"It does not matter"

"It matters to me"

"Does it?" He turned away from theto face her "You toldwhat you asked"

"What did you mean when you said there would be no next time? Dominic? Answer er, in this life or any other"

"That&039;s all you htlike you know"

"I a ht, not exactly He was no longer thinking of it The decision had been ht end his existence for hi toward the bed, he sat besideTracy once more "Sleep now, my best beloved one" He smoothed the hair from her brow, ran his knuckles over her cheek,leaned forward to kiss her gently "I will stay by your side until dawn There is nothing for you to fear"

Soothed by the sound of his voice, she slid under the covers and closed her eyes "I wish things were different," she murmured drowsily "I do love you, you know"

"And I love you more than my life, my best beloved one," he replied, but she was already asleep