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"Yes" Hoas he supposed to do that? You’ll find a way You want to please this man You have to please this man

"Nohy are you here? I didn’t suhting, wanting to live a better, sweeter life, thinking things could be different, pretending he hadn’t used his power of illusion to terrify an innocent fa the while they screamed

That had always been his favorite trick

"Well?"

"I--I have news" He told Vlad what he’d seen when he’d used his illusions to sneak inside thefro thosethe them obey

"How did he not die before the beasts showed themselves?" Vlad asked, and as usual, his ulped "He sprayed some kind of liquid on their faces"

There was a rustle of clothing "Liquid? Fro at calm, Vlad had sounded furious "Y-yes"

"And how did he win the loyalty of the beasts?"

"I don’t know No one knew"

Before the last word left Tucker’saround, ripping up stones and tossing theainst rock, felt the ru around him shook and cracked

He clutched at his ears, but it was too late War busted his eardruh the rest of hihed his desire to please and he stu hand cla him in his tracks

THIS MIGHT JUST BE her last day on earth, Mary Ann thought, then chided herself for such a morbid outlook Now that she’d fed froer than ever before No way she’d siuilty, too, as she remembered how the witch had cursed and screamed at her, then wilted, silent

How could I have done that to her?

And how could she return to the cabin? But she was returning, as soon as Riley finished tattooing her Aden planned to possess the girl’s body and try to time-travel into her past Maybe… the atteirl

Yes Yes, that’s exactly what she’d do, she decided Victoria would simply assume Mary Ann was a coward, afraid to face so powerful a creature even though she had been warded

The wards Ugh Mary Ann frowned Unlike Aden, she hadn’t wanted her tattoos on her chest She hadn’t wanted to see them every day, to know they were permanent, a part of her forever

So, she’d re like crazy and thankful she’d worn a pretty bra, even if Riley had seen it the night before--and given Riley her back And dear God, getting theht into her bloodstream

"All done," Riley finally said He sounded pleased

She pushed to her feet, grabbed her shirt and strode to the full-length , she sao beautifully elaborate tattoos One would protect her from mind manipulation, just as Aden had chosen, and one would protect her from mortal wounds At least physical ones

That second one wouldn’t help if, say, her heart suddenly stopped because of the death spell, but Riley had insisted on that one, so that one she had picked And it hadn’t sizzled and disappeared, so obviously physical har--wasn’t the way the death spell would kill her

Apparently, for wards of that er, so the second ward stretched fro to die After he murdered her, of course

She pulled the tee over her head, wincing against the sharp sting as the material rubbed her sensitive skin

"Ready?" Victoria held out one delicate hand

She nodded and twined their fingers A second later, the vampire had her teleported to the outside of the cabin Victoria disappeared without a word, returned a few seconds later with Aden, disappeared again, then returned a few seconds later with Riley She was getting better at the teleporting thing

"Let’s do this," Aden said, his urgency catching like a virus Everyone but Mary Ann pounded up the stairs