Page 10 (2/2)

"I remember" For a ht you otten, since you asked to see the real hed, which reen

"What&039;s funny?" She sounded pissed

Blake waved a hand, controlling hi sooddamn beautiful, but it&039;s just you No wonder Mencheres changed you into a vampire Who wouldn&039;t want to keep you around forever if they could?" Her mouth was still open, but now, it looked more like in disbelief "You think I&039;m beautiful like this?

But you&039;re huical reason he shouldn&039;t Blake sighed "Doesn&039;t mean I&039;m blind" She seemed to shrink a little in her chair, and she looked away "I&039;m a vampire I drink blood, I don&039;t breathe, and my heart doesn&039;t beat Don&039;t I scare you?"

Blake thought of all the things he&039;d seen - and done, though thankfully he didn&039;t remember those parts

- the past severalto hih "In fact, I think you&039;re the closest to an angel that I&039;ll ever get"

Sohter It wasn&039;t until a pink tear slid down her face that he realized what it was

"Oh, God, Elise, don&039;t cry," Blake said He moved the short distance across the cabin to take her in his arms, half-worried she&039;d shove him away

She didn&039;t Her arainst his cheek Elise felt cooler than he did, but not in an icy, lifeless way No, the supple, soft touch of her flesh felt as alive as his If he hadn&039;t knohat she was, Blakewas just set a little low

"I&039; of o" Blake didn&039;t want to Holding Elise felthe&039;d done in well, he couldn&039;t re "I need this, too," Blake said

Once, he&039;d have been too guarded to admit to such vulnerability to a woames seemed like a waste of time Time he didn&039;t have

She moved so he could sit on the narrow bench with her instead of balancing over her Blake pulled Elise onto his lap, resting her head under his chin, and closed his eyes In the quiet, pressed close to each other in their mutual need for solace, there was more honesty than Blake had experienced in all his other relationships She&039;s what I&039;ve beenall my life, Blake realized, but not in remorse It was in deep appreciation that he&039;d been allowed to ed in the fifties" Elise&039;s voice was barely audible over the rus of the train

"Edmond didn&039;t knohat I was I&039;d told him I couldn&039;t have children, but he said that didn&039;t ht he&039;d accept the rest of ed e with such a great deception between us So, the night before our wedding, I showed Ed Blake smoothed his hands down her back

"He was so horrified" It was a pain-filled whisper "He called me defiled, unclean, a hell-spawn He wouldn&039;t listen, no ht with a little time, his fear would ease, and he would co I woke up and Edmond was in the room with people I&039;d never seen before They all had wooden stakes, one as long as a pole, and" Elise&039;s voice broke Blake&039;s arhtened around her

"Edle, because I thought if Ed the to fear fro with Eded Becah my heart I stared into his eyes the whole ti h the pain, and at last I fought back Edmond&039;s neck snapped when he hit the wall The others were injured, but they lived They ran away, and I left my house to live below the train station in the tunnels I&039;ve mostly avoided people ever since, because if I didn&039;t care about anyone, then no one could hurt me"