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Ethan had watched the reactions cross Lilith&039;s beautiful face as he&039;d revealed, bit by bit, the truth to her

First there had been confusion, followed quickly by a to tell her but thought he waspart of her being that recognized the truth when she heard it And as he went on, slowly, ruthlessly convincing her, showing her, her expression had turned to one of disbelief and then, as she gaped at the glass, to one of horror

As the mirror fell, her body sank heavily, all at once, onto the sofa She didn&039;t fall, but she didn&039;t sit down, either She just let go, landing hard on the cushions, her head hanging, eyes unfocused, gazing at nothing

"Lilith" he began, as he moved closer, knelt in front of her, wished he could have found an easier way to tell her what she was

"I knew," she whispered "I mean, part of me knew It didn&039;t even sound untrue when you said it" Then she snapped her gaze up to his, focusing at last, "How did you know? Do you know me, Ethan?"

He averted his eyes "Vampires can sense other vampires I knehat you were before I ever set eyes on you in the stable What I didn&039;t knohether you had co that Why?" she asked

He sat in the chair again and let his own head fall forward, as he rubbed the back of his neck and wrestled with his conscience Howwas, he did know her

Though they&039;d had almost no interaction at The Farm, he knew her He&039;d watched her, seen her, learned her nature Her reaction, once she remembered, was as predictable as her need for blood, her aversion to sunlight

She would go back He knew she would

"I need to know," Lilith said softly "If there are va other vampires, then don&039;t you think I need to know?"

"You&039;ll be safe as long as you stay here" His head came up then, and he plu as you aren&039;t lying tothat&039;s happened since I woke up beneath that bridge It feels to me as if were born in that moment"

He tipped his head to one side, ran a hand over his chin "I suspect you were"

"What do you mean?"

"I believe, Lilith, that you were made over into a vampire, just prior to this sleep I think it likely that you awoke to your new life tonight for the very first ti that caed "I didn&039;t And I&039;ve never exactly known any other va slightly to the left, as her eyes squeezed tight

"What? What is it?"

Brows furrowed, she pinched the bridge of her nose with thuer "A flash, maybe I don&039;t know"

"A meaze "I saw a personat least I think it was a person, though it lookedcorpse It was chained to a wall, and I felt its agony

And that was all"

He tipped his head to one side, studying her and wondering what horrors she had seen at The Farm that he had not

"Do you knohat it could mean?" she asked

He shook his head slowly "No, I don&039;t"

"What do you know about our kind?"

How could he answer that? He only knew The Chosenthe captives who, like the two of the he knew of vaht to him by The Keepers And he didn&039;t trust theht it over, he wondered If a made over, that would explain why he&039;d never heard from James in all this time

Maybe his brother didn&039;t re and education? Why teach us things we&039;re only going to forget?" he aze back to hers, aware he&039;d journeyed deeply into his ownaloud"

"Oh" She stiffened her spine "That&039;s not the only flash of memory I&039;ve had," she told him

He looked at her and tried not to show her that the revelation startled him a bit Hell, it wasn&039;t as if he honestly wished her ure things out

"I re kissed bya man" She blinked, but didn&039;t avert her eyes from his "It felt like you"

"But we&039;ve only just ot to his feet, feeling fidgety "I need to go back to the stables I was on my way to tend the horses when I found you"

She nodded, then turned her back to hi one hand on theher head so that her hair fell like as suddenly as a curtain falling across a stage It was as if she were already alone in the roo at all, she said, "I&039;ll stay, if you don&039;t ht" He started for the door, then paused, because he hadn&039;t covered half what he needed to And he wasn&039;t certain how he could, not without revealing everything, soh of her motives to do yet "Lilith, that car you encounteredthe Escalade Are you sure it didn&039;t follow you here?"

"I&039;m sure"

Tords He hoped she an

"I&039;ll open the door and shout"

No need Just shout at me with your mind I&039;ll hear you

Her head rose slowly, and she turned toward hi in surprise "You will?"

Now that she was looking at hi aloud This was a skill she needed, and one of the easiest topartner

It&039;s one of the benefits of being e are, Lilith He spoke to her clearly, without saying a word, and as she watched, her eyes sharpened with interest One ofimmortal Not at all

As he watched her closely, she closed her eyes, and then he heard her thinking, But we aren&039;t really immortal, are we?

He smiled "It depends on hoe define the word, I suppose," he said aloud "Take care around the fire"

She smiled, apparently pleased that he&039;d heard and answered her question That she could speak to hiht have a been a gli me in, Ethan"

"You&039;re very welcome," he said And heabout The Farht of her sothe Waterhouse print when he&039;d seen it Because it reminded him of her Of Lilith She&039;d been nineteen when he&039;d left, and already notorious Everyone kneho she was

She was the one they couldn&039;t break She was the one ould rather die than submit She was the voice of his conscience whenever he closed his eyes long enough to listen She was the face he couldn&039;t stop seeing in his mind, the name he heard on the wind

She was the one kiss he had never been able to forget

He hadn&039;t named her Lilith because she reht the print because it reht down to her name

She was Lilith

And so to have to o

The taxi dropped Serena off in front of a cracker box house in a neighborhood full of cracker box houses and pulled away She&039;d never felt more alone

It wasn&039;t a new sensation, of course Serena had always been alone She&039;d been orphaned at nineteen and had beentables at the Broadway Grill, living in her tiny apartment in the low rent district On her own That was how it had always been The one-night stand that had resulted in the pregnancy had been just that A one-night stand A stranger in a bar on a particularly bad night when she&039;d been too depressed to want to go to bed alone She didn&039;t even know his name

But for the last nine months, she hadn&039;t felt lonely at all She&039;d had her baby daughter growing inside her

She&039;d talked to her She&039;d laughed with her She&039;d sung to her and read her stories Then she&039;d given birth to herand someone had stolen her away

It wasn&039;t fair

She&039;d briefly considered going back to her own apartment Her own job Her own life Until she&039;d seen the one person who had tried to help her blown to bits in her own car

Now Serena was scared She was angry, and she was grieving the loss of her baby, but fear had layered itself over both those eiven her name and address, her employer and insurance information, when she&039;d checked into the hospital She wasn&039;t going back hoht not be safe

So she stood in front of the little house staring down at the key chain from the knapsack and wondered briefly if this had been Maureen Keenan&039;s home If it was, and if Maureen had been killed because she&039;d tried to help her, then wouldn&039;t those dark killers knohere she lived? Wouldn&039;t they be watching?

Serena turned, and looked around There were other houses just like this one lining both sides of the smooth, narrow, perfectly paved road There were littleboth sides There was a sidewalk unrolling in front of the houses, not a chip or a crack in it

A few cars were parked in a few driveways None along the curb None with anyone lurking inside