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"I a over his eyes, s with amusement "Lucian DeVeau"

"The devil--"

He paused before her suddenly, capturing her hands, drawing her to her feet She tried to wrench free, but could not Her bones would have snapped before his grasp would have loosened She had never felt such strength

He s her efforts His eyes burned into hers "Not the devil The king Your king

The king of your kind"

She shook her head veheht, wrong, I aain, and she felt the force of him around her The power of the air and wind, and the power of the darkness and night The power of the strange storth of his arhter that was so rich, part of the tempest that had swept her up, and cast her down

"Denial, naturally Ah, it is the sweetest, ood and innocent are so corrupted! But then, you‘re not entirely an innocent any fool hoends, that his love could save his mortal soul! Alas, but your fatherhiain, all in the name of love, eh? And so you are here One with us My subject, as it were!" he taunted

"This is a nighthtmare I won’t stay here, I ake up--"

"Oh, no, my sweet," he said, and his sht "Understand htmare, and you will live it And you will listen toAnd you need "

"Let le

"You have no strength Strength comes with time, with practice If the soul is what is stolen, the mind remains, and it is the power of the mind hich ork Payti you, and you will learn to listen You are mine, mademoiselle And you will take care, cherie Notto teach, and I do not always offer enerously, but thenyou are unique So pay heed, and learn well You will hear s, most of them myth, rumor Trust s The sun will not kill you, yet the day is not your tiht, yet your most restful sleep will come with the dawn Wine will still taste sweet, yet it will not be enough You can be hurt, but you can also heal

You can be hurt badly, and it may take years, decades more, to heal You can be killed, but only if your head is severed froh"

"This is hideous; I’ll not listen--"

"You will listen, and you will remember-- I rule And we survive because I rule wisely and well, do you understand? My word, to you, ; I will awaken--"

"Alas, you will not Now, reatest care"

"I beg your pardon--"

"Beg nothing You understand my every word With h If you wish to live in peace and avoid mortal hunters, you should choose those who live outside society Seek those ander, the hoo from ships at sea Don’t look so horrified Oh, I suppose we do have aour number-- and they choose to prey upon the prisons Indeed, ht be surprised to discover that even I have ers, rid the world more easily of those condemned already Murderers rot in prisons, take them It matters not Method matters Comprehend this Dispose of all remains Dispose of all relut of our kind and ould definitely be done in You must behead your victims, or sever the arteries, and if you don’t, you will face trial and death by your peers Yes! There is a law a us, for our survival! And our justice is swift Take care with your actions You may create just two more of our kind per century--"

"Create two !"

"You are not leaving!" he infor!"

Suddenly she felt as if she were flying once again Seized by tempest, lifted, tossed She landed upon the black satin expanse of the bed, breathless, stunned And he was above her His clothing cast aside now, his flesh as sleek as the satin, as hot as the blaze fro on to hers

She shrieked and screahout, aown Where he did not touch her, it still seemed that he could force her to his will His eyes coht, he willed her to cease, to lie back Her ed, her body was still The fire of his eyes touched her and she shook with her rage, but she lay vulnerable Naked Liry that she wanted to kill

But then

The war her li yet evocative She felt his strange, sensual heat The flickering liquid fire of tongue, his caressabout her, within her

She fought then with her heart, her soul, herbattle And later, she was horrified to realize that he did have the power to force from her what he wanted To demand, command, oh, God, to seduce And worst of all, he could draw fro, explosive response he wanted She was a sensual creature Once she had loved, and so she had wanted, ached, longed, and the result had been beautiful This was different And still