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"What’s iht" There was a catch to his voice, concern as he lifted her hair, ran fingers gently over her collarbone

"I’ht, Lucian I do have experienceand I was so certain, so sure of myself I just knew that I could protect Paul, and I couldn’t"

"Jade, it’s all right We’re going to ht," he amended "What happened? I knewI knew you were in trouble I couldn’t et into the minds of these abo tre on hi on Paul every fewfine He was restless, but he seeht It was so sad, in a way, Lucian He loves that girl sotelevision I was on the co I could find on the area i around the church and the village There was soof the Occupation Resistance fighters had been holing up thereand the ene to find the exact sites of the ruinsbut I kept co out to check Paul fell asleep A few minutes laterI felt uneasy I ca like it There was so I didn’t know the cafe girl, I’m not even certain I saw her the day we met Brent at the cafe But, of course, it was her, because Paul was going for her, and I screairlthen it was againand I don’t knoas out there I went rushing to the ith the holy water, and tripped in my haste and fearbut I sprayed the creature, whoever or whatever it wase it, but not stop it! Suddenly there was nothing but black, a huge black shadow, or a shadoing, and it swept out at ainbut it paused above me, and couldn’t come closer I have my cross, of course, and I think that I spilled half the holy water on le up, and I was knocked back down by the wing of the shadowand I knew that Paul was goneand then you were here" Lucian sat on the floor, pulling her against hihtly on top of her head

"They’re shape-shifting," he said softly "It wasn’t Yvette, the girl from the cafe It was either Louisa

or whoever it is that brought her back, who is guiding her, caring for her He has to be someone old, someone I have encountered, and soainst others ould stop him"

"It has to be the lover," Jade said

"The creature she was seeing when the king finally realized he was being mesmerized by a monster?" Lucian said

"Yes"

Lucian was silent a minute

"Do you knoho it is?"

"Supposedly he was destroyed by the Alliance, with the blessing of the Sun King"

"But perhaps he wasn’t," Jade said "You knew him, and about him, didn’t you?"

"I knewand at the timethe world was different," he said

At that time, the ancient rules had been followed, she knew And seldom, if ever, did they destroy one of their own kind Often, perhaps, they led holds of their enemies, but the destruction of one’s own kind was coht have survived," Jade repeated

"Yes, he ht have survived He was to have been killed, dis’s co her to her feet, ain, worried

"I wasn’t bitten," she assured him softly

"But you were before," he reminded her "And didn’t tell me"

"Because, if I had entered your world, it would have been fine with me I’m afraid of life, of the years that will pass, as it is," she told him

Lucian hesitated, then kissed her on the forehead The world was a strange place Life and death were stranger still He had come to a point amid the centuries himself when he knew exactly what his role would be

And yet

He didn’t know if the end would bring eternal damnation And he would not risk such a fate for so She had become more than his lover and his wife, she was his very soul

"We need to get to Chateau DeVant," he said

"Wait I have all kinds of printouts for Jacques," Jade said

Lucian waited while she collected the papers He got her coat, placed it tenderly around her shoulders, then led her toward the door, but there, when he looked worriedly at her again, she spoke with a determined confidence

"He has the answers, I know that Jacques has the answers, as soon as he is able to get through the tangle of possibilities," Jade said

He nodded, but they both knehat lay unspoken between them

Fear

Lucian was afraid for her He hadn’t doubted that his presence in the area would be known That didn’t matter He intended to ency of keeping the DeVant household safe, there would be another worry

Jade