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"You do You always have," I said I shrugged

"You're burning with dissatisfaction And we can't comfort you, can we? It's their love you want " He esture towards the city

"You co you, not for very long, anyway But you knohen I was on that stage in San Francisco" I didn't finish What was the use of saying it, if he didn't know It had been everything I'd ever wanted it to be until the great ind had descended and carried me away

"Even though they never believed you?" he asked "They thought you were merely a clever performer? An author with a hook, as they say?"

"They knew my name!" I answered "It was hts "

He nodded "And so the book, The The Queen Of The Damned," he said

No answer

"Come doith us Let us try to keep you company Talk to us about what took place "

"You sahat took place "

I felt a little confusion suddenly; a curiosity in hi at me

I thought of Gabrielle, the way she would start to ask me questions and stop Then I realized Why, I'd been a fool not to see it before They wanted to knohat powers she'd given me; they wanted to kno much her blood had affected me; and all this time I'd kept those secrets locked inside I kept thee of those dead bodies strewn throughout Azi with the memory of the ecstasy I'd felt when I'd slain every ettable ifts to help her!

And now it started again, the obsession with the end Had she seenthere so close to her? Had she known of my refusal to aid her? Or had her soul risen when the first bloas struck?

Marius looked out over the water, at the tiny boats speeding towards the harbor to the south He was thinking of how many centuries it had taken him to acquire the powers he now possessed Infusions of her blood alone had not done it Only after a thousand years had he been able to rise towards the clouds as if he were one of thes vary from one immortal to another; how no one knohat power is locked inside another; no one knows perhaps what power is locked within oneself

All very polite; but I could not confide in him or anyone just yet

"Look," I said "Let es here, and have the written words for friends Then later I'll come to you; I'll join you all Maybe I'll obey the rules So to do if I don't, by the way, and haven't I asked you this before?"