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Standing in the doorway of his bedroostreet "

Bryansed past the luht There was that tiht in a riptide And the time he was in that car wreck He&039;d been shit-scared when Petrina whisked him out of The CatacombsAnd terrified when Kitana had bent hith of a pro linebacker and sank her fangs into his neck But he had never, ever, been as afraid as he was now

"One should notco without an invitation," Dominic remarked quietly

Bryantried to speak, but no words would come And even if he&039;d been able to form the words, what could he say? He could feel the vahts

"Save forplace has ever lived to tell of it"

Fear flowed throughBryan &039;s veins like ice water, horror so overpowering he was afraid he was going to disgrace hi his trousers The va bits of ice Try as he aze away, could not stop looking into those hellishly red eyes Sweat oozed from every pore, trickled down his neck, his back

Please The word forht, he could not get the word past the lu but stare into the vampire&039;s depthless eyes and pray that death would come quickly

"Did I not warn you to stay home after dark?" Dominic asked

Froth to nod

Dominic took a step forward "You would have been wise to heed my advice"

"I I"

Do," he s "So very tasty"

"No!"Bryan tried to draw his gaze from the vampire&039;s, tried to move, but his limbs refused to obey He could only stand there, helpless, while the vaht, you were only a nuisance," Dominic remarked "Now, you are a threat"

"No No, I&039;m not Iwon&039;t won&039;t tell anyone I swear"

Dohed softly "I have never known a mortal who could be trusted"

"Stop it!"

Bryan&039;s eyes widened at the sound of Kitana&039;s voice

"Shahten the boy In another moment, he et hiht snack"

Again, her voice otten that?"

"I have forgotten nothing"

"Then release him and send hi at hi outside to slake her hellish thirst, thatBryan disgraced hirimaced as the scent of urine filled the air "Take him and welcome," he muttered, and with a wave of his hand, he released his hold on the boy "Go," he said "She is waiting for you"

Bryanshook his head "No If I&039;onna kill me, then I&039;d rather it was you"

Dominic lifted one brow "Indeed? And why is that?"

Bryan&039;s cheeks turned a brighter shade of red "I don&039;t want to die at the hands of a wohter echoed off the walls "Fear not, young s than death!"Bryan shouted "Go away and leave houl!"

Do man Do you want to die, or not?" Doht think on this Kitana is a lover without equal"

"Lover?"Bryanexclai for a o"

Bryanstared at hination "Wait What did you do toTracy ? Is she ?"

"She is well"

"But I saw you"

"She is not your concern"

Bryanglanced at the doorway, and at the va a deep breath,Bryan sue he could, squared his shoulders, and walked past Doeway to lanced around the room He would either have to find a new place to spend the day, or wipe the memory of this place from the boy&039;s mind The latter would be the easiest, but probably not the safest What the boy knew, Kitana no, and while she could not cross his threshold without being invited, that would not stop her fro others to destroy him when he was at his weakest should she take the notion into her head When he had toldBryan that, save forTracy , there was no one alive who knehere he rested, he had spoken the truth

But he would worry about that later For now, he needed to look in onTracy

He willed himself outside, surprised to find that Kitana and Bryan were still there The boy&039;s eyes were slightly unfocused, evidence that he was under Kitana&039;s spell

Dominic lifted one brow "Did you want to see ible as a touch, and then she made a soft sound that could have been compassion "I am sorry for what happened with Petrina and the others"

"You knohat this means On whose side will you stand?"

A faint smile flirted with the corners of her mouth "What do you think?"

He shook his head "If I kneould not ask"

"Ah, Dominic, if I intended to destroy you, you would be dust by now As always, I stand with you" She raked her fingernails lightly over his cheek "There is none other like you,h the years, there has been no one like you" She glanced up at the house "If you had not been so deteres, we ether, you and I"

He nodded "I would have liked that," he replied, "if it were not for her"

"Keep a close watch on her Petrina is determined to destroy you She knows of your affection for your little pet The mortal woman is the chink in your armor now Take your own advice, and be careful after dark"

She kissed him then, a quick brush of her cool lips across his own and then, with a wave of her hand, she vanished fro the boy with her

He stared at the spot where she had stood, wondering if he dared trust her Still, she had spoken the truth If she had wanted him dead, he would indeed be dust by now He didn&039;t doubt for a minute that she had the power to destroy hih the backyard for a few ht around hih the air There were rieved for the daylight they had forever lost He had never been one of them He had taken to the Dark Gift like a hound to the hunt and never once looked back He reveled in his preternatural powers and if, in the beginning, he had been foolish and arrogant, he had soon outgrown it He ies for what he was As a vampire, he had killed mortals to preserve his own life when necessary He had done the same when he was human and he made no distinction between one lifestyle and the other He wondered briefly if Kitana would bring the boy across, or o Ordinarily, Dominic would have had no interest inBryan &039;s fate Whether the boy lived or not was of little importance to him save for the fact thatTracy was fond of hi full of air It would be winter soon He loved the cold ht

The sound of Tracy&039;s sigh was borne to hihts fro, and he wanted to be at her side

Tracyopened her eyes slowly, stretched and yawned A glance at the clock showed that it was still early She didn&039;t re asleep on the sofa, didn&039;t see back

"Dominic? Dominic, are you here?"

He materialized out of the shadows to kneel in front of her "Forgive me?"

"For what?"

He stroked the side of her neck with his finger-tips "I ht have killed you"

"But you didn&039;t" She smiled at him "You look much better DidBryan call? I&039;m worried about him"

"He was here"

"He was? Why didn&039;t you wakeplace"

Her eyes widened"Oh, no You didn&039;t"