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Closing her eyes, she battled back the nausea and concentrated on anything but the rolling ground beneath her

The rent was due on Friday She didn’t have a job At least not one that paid Unless of course there was so the world from some creepy Prince Her current lover was a va up in less than a hts should easily have distracted her Unfortunately, her stomach continued to heave and rebel

She wrenched open her eyes, hoping that would help

Big mistake

A screa corpses beginning to close in

With a large bound, Dante leaped over a fallen tree and with a ether, he had her back on her feet and shoved behind him

"Dead end," he announced, his voice bleak, his hands clenched to strike

Abby struggled to s Slinking through the trees were a dozen, perhaps more, of the zombies She could only thank God that it was too dark to see h to be attacked by the living dead without knowing firsthand how they o the stand-and-fight route," she croaked

"Abby" Dante turned to regard her with an anguished regret

She could actually feel his fury and the biting guilt that raged through him He held himself responsible, she knew In his ently laid it against his cheek

"Dante," she whispered

There was the sound of a cracking branch behind her Instinctively she whirled about And just as instinctively she screah the dark directly at her head

Chapter 12

Dante kneas going to die in the woods

Vampire or not, he was no superhero Hell, not even a superhero could battle off a dozen zo the trees

But while hetheh that Abby could use her powers to battle her way to safety

It was a risky gamble

It was also the only one they possessed

He had h the first wave of attackers and was desperately plowing a path toward the edge of the woods when the wizard had abruptly appeared before hie, he had struck hi into blackness

He awoke to discover himself chained to a cold, barren stone floor

He was alive, and he was not alone He held hi

He hadn’t died, but what of Abby?

Concentrating, he searched for her presence Nothing Not even the fa of the Phoenix could be detected If he had possessed a heart, it would have stopped beating

Bloody hell

Bloody, bloody hell

With an effort, he collected his rising panic

He couldn’t allow himself to lose control Not when he was not yet certain Abby was dead If there was even the most remote chance she was still alive, he had to do whatever was necessary to rescue her

Only when he knew there was no hope left would he allow hi and everyone in his path

He hung griht as a soft, female hand ran an intimate path over his chest

Dante clenched his teeth

Once hetouch an invitation to full-blown debauchery

Hell, at one tih to stir his passions A vampire was rarely particular when it came to sex

Noever, he barely hid his shudder of distaste

There was soers And,to Abby