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Dangling him in the air Damocles watched with cold distaste as the round face turned a strange shade of puce

"Don’t annoy ue I wish to savor this victory without listening to your flapping lips" He gave the troll a small shake "Do you understand?"

It took several tries before Evorhold on his throat

"I understand"

Opening his fingers Damocles allowed the troll to fall back to the floor His ss o have soh the dark tunnels to the lair of the Anasso Oh, there were vague flashes of progressively ant candelabras that offered a flickering light And overall a pervasive scent of depraved self-indulgence

His attention, however, was consu panic for the woman in his arms

He would not allow her to die

Not if itevery va Styx into a cavern that was do fire, Viper ca a pile of satin pillows

Although he was prepared for a change in the once powerful leader, Viper still experienced a flare of shock at the sight of the frail, almost corpselike reality

By the blood of the saints, he appeared ht even for a vampire

How the hell could he still possess such powers? It seelitter in the sunken eyes

The Anasso e of extinction, but he would battle to the bitter end

Reading his thoughts with ease, the Anasso offered a sh Viper’s heart

"Ah, I knew you would co Shay protectively to his chest Viper glared into the gaunt face

"You ry" The elder vah "Do you have no sympathy for your master, my son? Do you possess no loyalty to one who has sacrificed all for the race of vareat vampire who has been lost to his oeaknesses"

The frail features tightened, but the Anasso kept his voice soft and persuasive It was a voice that had once lured hundreds of vampires to battle

"Yes I have been weak And a fool Once I aain be prey to such failings I will restore lory that is our due"

Viper gave a slow shake of his head Styx and his Ravenswith a hollow lack of conviction

He had seen the humans trapped below

"You have made such promises before, master"

This tier "Do not think to judgepeace to us all," he said, his voice sending a flare of pain over Viper’s skin

Viper clenched his teeht

"We all knohat you have done for us," he gritted

The pain ripped through the air once again "How could you possibly kno could you possibly understand the cost?" The Anasso pointed a thin finger in Viper’s direction "There is not a night that I am not haunted by the faces of friends and loved ones that I was forced to kill because they would not accept change Not a night that I do not hear the cries of my kin as they died beneathto escape the ghosts that plague me?"

Viper had to concede that when it came to battle tactics the elder vampire was athreat of further pain And all with seeht have been i end of that clever strategy

"And what of the ghost of Shay’s father?" he demanded "Does he haunt you as well?"

"He was a necessary casualty"

"Just as Shay will be?"

There was not even the faintest flicker of rehtened around Shay as he allowed his oer to begin to fill the air He th of the elder vampire, but he was not helpless

"What is to occur when all the Shalott blood is gone?" He deliberately allowed the scorn to fill his voice "Who will you sacrifice then?"

The gloves were definitely off as the vampire lifted hier