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Savanah tried to i for prey at night, never to see the sun again, never to enjoy a turkey dinner at Christ on New Year’s Eve, never to have children and grandchildren, or do any of the other ordinary things she took for granted

With a sigh, she turned the page and felt her blood turn to ice There, in neat black handwriting, she read the napre Cordova, Raphael Cordova, Kathy Cordova

And Rane Cordova

She stared at the name It couldn’t be Not her Rane It was just a horrible coincidence that he had the same first name as a known Vampire Sure, he was a shape-shifter, but not a Vampire He couldn’t be a Vampire It had to be someone else But what if it wasn’t? What if he was one of them, a blood drinker, the saht that had killed her mother?

Even as she tried to deny it, she knew on some deep inner level that it was true Rane was a Vampire

It answered so s

It explained everything

Like a splash of cold water came the memory that she had let hi sick to her stomach, she wrapped her arms around her middle and rocked back and forth, and as she did so, she felt so that bubbled up fro fountain

And its na wo, in her late twenties, with blue-tipped blond hair and green eyes lined with black mascara Her name was Brandi, and she had been on her way to meet some friends when he waylaid her He took a deep breath, the scent of her blood arousing his hunger He savored the anticipation for athe thick coppery taste on his tongue

He took only enough to satisfy his hunger, then licked the wounds in the girl’s throat to seal theone He caressed her cheek, and then he released his hold on her mind and sent her on her way, none the wiser

He was about to get into his car and head over to Savanah’s place when he was overwhel on his heel, he came face-to-face with the most beautiful woman he had ever known

“Mara”

She stood before hi to her shapely form; her only adornold chain Thick black hair fell over her slender shoulders Her eyes were a deep, dark green and slightly slanted, like those of a cat She had been born in Egypt, had known its most famous queen, Cleopatra Some believed that the blood of pharaohs ran in Mara’s veins, but Rane knew that was only a ru to Vampire lore, she was truly ih a well-placed blade could still take her head Even the sun no longer had any power over her and she walked freely in its light It was said that whenever she greeary of her existence, she traveled to Egypt where she rested in the earth of her ho on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek “Good evening, s you here?” he asked

She linked her arodson?”

“No, I guess not” Mara was a law unto herself Like Cleopatra of old, she was queen of all she surveyed

“It’s been too long since I saw you last,” she re since you’ve seen those you love, those who love you”

“Did h they are naturally worried about you”