Page 74 (1/2)

He stood and surveyed the cart Candy bars, Red Bull, peanuts The only thing with distinctly Chinese lettering was so

Rune pointed to it, raising his brows at the vendor The , then stuhed

Ah, alcohol Rune took one The vendor was happy to accept US currency

Returning to her side, Rune asked, "Do you want to try this?"

"You drink it, you poor thing After the stressful day you had?"

He grinned "Have your fun" He uncorked the jug, eyes watering at the s" He tried a taste

"What’s it like?"

Unusual "It doesn’t burn going down, and yet I can tell the alcohol content is high" Perfect When she fed later, she’d grow intoxicated He took a healthy s, drinking for two

He’d already planned to loosen her inhibitions to get inforh today had answered a lot of questions, it’d raised so many more

Why had she been separated from a brother she loved? And why hadn’t she known her own species? Where were her parents?

Why hadn’t she been taught to read?

Earlier, when he’d suggested they stay near the summit, she’d said, "Where e sleep? Maybe in one of the hermit caves we passed? You probably didn’t see them, with your eyes squeezed shut and all"

Suest room on the mountain"

"How do you know they have thelish on the bulletin board" She’d stood beside hiaze away "I re that"

With that states

Unlike natural-born vampires, Josephine was physically able to lie

And she probably couldn’t read

In Tortua, he’d tossed the Book of Lore at her Thinking back, he could see how frustrated she’d been And the fact that she hadn’t har; he believed she wanted to learn

Teaching her English wouldn’t be hard, but it would take time and commitment For once in his life, he didn’t knohere the future lay with a particular feht of the day hit the peaks, rays streaking the stone When was the last tiht fell over the mountain, the temperature quickly dropped He wrapped his ar her close An unfa washed over hiaze up at him with those luminous eyes

Death and death rolled into one? Then why did she look so alive? "What?"

After a hesitation, she leaned her head against hireatest thing since bagged blood"