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She just wished that the sound of his voice didn’t war with hers She recalled all too clearly the touch of his hands on her skin, the way his body had quivered when he rose over her, the rock-hard feel of his biceps beneath her questing fingertips

She shook the memories away Vampire Vaht Undead She had to re else

The Va shape…She had read that in one of the books For all she knew, Rane Cordova’s appearance was a shaly, hairy, and misshapen, like the pitiful creature in theuntil you open the door”

His stubbornness ht soon,” she said s—his fist, no doubt—sla to be afraid of, huh?”

“What can I say to convince you that I’”

“Fine, have it your way, but I’er, Savanah, but not fro hunters They killed your father” Having checked the ht have killed your mother, as well What makes you think you won’t be next?”

“I don’t believe you If so the hunters, it would be in one of the books”

“Books?” Rane said sharply “You mean there’s more than one?”

“Yes,” she replied absently She hadn’t finished reading the black book yet Did it hold the key to theon her heel, she hurried into the living room, plucked the black book off the end table and turned to the last few pages And there, in her father’s bold handwriting, she found a list of deceased Vampire hunters There was a period of fifteen years or so after the war ended where there were no violent deaths recorded A few hunters had passed away from natural causes, one had been killed in a car accident, one had drowned And then, starting about three years ago, there were reports of hunters being killed At first, there had been only a couple deaths a year, not enough to cause alarht hunters had been killed Five were confirmed dead from Vampire attacks, three had died under suspicious circu their deaths to the Vaht? Was she next on the list? Had he come to help her? Or was he the executioner? And hoas she to know?

Stunned by what she had read, Savanah dropped the book on the sofa, then glanced at the front door, wondering again if Rane was to be her savior or her executioner She couldn’t avoid hi before the sun went down Did she want to live as a prisoner in her own hoht? Or worse, beco what she should do, and then she heard Rane’s voice in her mind Unable to resist his command, compelled by an irresistible power she didn’t understand, she picked up both of the books, opened the front door, and crossed the threshold

Chapter Fifteen