Page 29 (1/2)

She stared at the cup in her hands Lost in thought, she had forgotten all about the tea and noas cold Pouring it into the sink, she left the kitchen Without conscious thought, she found herself standing outside Zack’s room

She placed her hand on the door Was it locked? Was he asleep? It was not yet sunup She pressed her ear to the door, but heard nothing

She tried the knob, surprised to find the door unlocked She slipped inside, her gazei over his head, the covers pooled around his hips His chest was bare She sed, her fingertips pressed to her lips lest some sound betray her Was he naked beneath the sheet?

Mes the spread of his shoulders, his longcloser, she brushed a lock of hair froasped as his hand closed around her wrist, his fingers like iron

"Zack, it’s me!"

"Katy?" He stared up at her "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I couldn’t sleep"

"So you decided to wake me up?"

"I’m sorry I didn’t think you’d be asleep already"

"There was nothing else to do" His gazein here?"

"Do you want irl, I think you know better than that" He lifted the covers in invitation "Co off her slippers, Kaitlyn slid under the blankets, sighing as Zack’s ar her close to his side She was relieved--and disappointed--to discover he earing briefs

"I could get used to this," he ainst her cheek

"Me, too" She ran her fingertips over his chest "It’ll be dawn soon The sun’s co up"

"I know I can feel it"

"Can you? What does it feel like?"

"I don’t kno to describe it It’s sort of like liquid fire running through ed "It co when it was his choice was entirely different from the Dark Sleep that claimed him with every sunrise

He stroked her cheek, then kissed her lightly He could feel the lethargy stealing over hi him down into a dark abyss that ended in a deep black void

"Zack?"

"I love you," he murmured, and slid into oblivion

Chapter 26

Nadiya Korzha’s blood ran cold as she folded back the bloodstained blanket and stared at the grisly re her desire for vengeance a hundredfold Marius had been her oldest son And her favorite child

Raising her head, she gazed at the people clustered around her "Who did this?"

There was a lengthy silence before her youngest daughter, Marthe, answered, "No one knows We found hishis body outside the front door of the hoht it here"

Nadiya lowered her head, nostrils flaring "Sherrad," she hissed "I should have known" Hands clenched, she stood, her body tree First Florin Then Daryn And now her favorite son "All of you, leave hters filed out of the roo heavily as she surrendered to her grief and then, as if swaddling a newborn babe, she wrapped the blanket around his re her burden on the bed, she re a basin ater, she gently bathed his body, then dressed it in a clean suit of clothes Lifting his head, she washed his face and brushed his hair

When that was done, she carefully bundled his remains in a blanket pulled fro his body to her breast, she let her tears flow unchecked

The blanket ith her tears when she lowered hi oak Using her oo hands, she quickly dug his grave

"I will avenge you," she whispered, lifting hi I hold dear"

She held hio as she recalled the wintry night he had been born Her labor had been long, but the pain had faded when she saw the pride and happiness on Rodin’s face

The sun was rising when she floated, as light as a feather, down into the grave "Rest well, round "Rest well"

Chapter 27

For the first time in his existence, Zack woke to find a woman in bed beside hiht endearing

He had made love to women in the past--many woht, nor had he ever spent the night in their beds Caution was second nature to his kind, and only a vampire with a death wish let a mortal share his lair, or know its location There had been times, when, for one reason or another, he had been unable to reach his lair At such tiht had been his pillow and darkness his blanket