Amaliya felt the butterflies in her stomach turn into bloodsucking fiends. They started sucking

on her insides as she walked around the library. She was not only nervous but ravaged by

hunger. How she was keeping it together was beyond her. Her feet were beginning to feel

pinched in her high heels and she steadied herself by gripping the shelf of a bookcase.

Slowly turning around, she saw Cian approaching her. He was slightly shorter than her in his

bare feet and she figured it was her high heels. Drawing near her, his hazel eyes seemed to warm

slightly and he reached out to her slowly.

“Come feed,” he said softly. “It will make things clearer. You'll sleep deeply and tomorrow

night, when you rise, we will speak again. ”

"Are you seducing me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No,” he laughed. "I'm engaged."

"To a human?" This surprised her.

He gave her a quick nod of his head and beckoned to her with his hand.

Reaching out, she took it and let him draw her to him. Up close, his eyes were truly

mesmerizing. She wasn't sure if it was because he was a vampire or because they were large and

heavily fringed with dark lashes. His hand swept her hair to one side to fully reveal her face and

he looked at her with a neutral expression.

“Take what you need,” he said softly.

Feeling insanely nervous, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She could

feel his heart beating with fresh blood while her own was cold and silent in her chest. His hands

were gentle on her shoulders as he pressed her close.

"Drink."

This was far different from the other times she had fed. It felt infinitely more intimate and she

felt awkward as hell. But her teeth were sharp against her tongue as she ran it over her lips and

she knew she needed to feed soon or lose her mind. Placing her lips against his neck, she felt his

pulse under her tongue and her eyes fluttered closed. His hand pressed her firmly against him

and she pushed her teeth slowly downward.

His blood came cool and salty into her mouth. She fastened her lips tight against his skin as

she pushed her teeth harder into him. It was delicious, rich and everything she needed. She

pulled him closer, her mouth pulling hard on his skin. She heard him gasp involuntarily and his

arms slid around her.

Stumbling backward, they landed against the wall and Cian crushed her closer. Sucking

harder and harder, she drained his blood, feeling it filling her, and spreading its delicious

warming power through her limbs. Grinding her body against his, the feeding was turning into

something vastly different and she could feel him harden against her stomach. She didn't want to

stop, for his blood was everything she had ever wanted or needed.

Pulling her from him, Cian's grip was harsh. His eyes were dilated and he was gasping. The

two wounds in his strong neck were still pumping blood. She growled and strained toward him.

His expression was torn, but she was determined. Her mouth found his neck again and they

struggled with each other, neither sure of what exactly was going on. All Amaliya was aware of

was her great need to feed and the immense pleasure it sent rippling through her body.

Cian slid his hand into her hair and let her straddle his body as they slid slightly down the

wall. Giving into the eroticism of the moment, their bodies ground together.

This is almost better than sex, she thought for a moment then felt him cup her breast and rub

her hardened nipple. Okay, it’s better with sex, she amended.

And then she was lost to all other sensation as he guided her over his hard erection and

ground up against her through her skirt. Cupping her face, he pulled her back from his neck

again and kissed her deeply, his tongue licking the blood from her teeth and tongue, feeding from

her. She gave herself up to him as he feverishly consumed her mouth and her fingers gripped his

ass. His mouth traveled over her cheek to her neck where his tongue stroked along her renewed

pulse and she slid one hand up into his hair as he swung them around and pinned her to the wall.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, she gave into him completely as his teeth slid into her

throat and she shuddered as the pleasure enveloped her body fully. Her mouth found the wound

she had inflicted on his throat again and she drank once more, as he drank from her.

Still writhing against each other fully clothed, the vampires fed from each other with

overwhelming desire. Amaliya gasped as he grabbed her hands and pushed them over her head.

Best sex ever, she thought and struggled against his hard cock inside his jeans.

Or best almost-sex ever.

Her tongue slid over the wound on his neck as he rubbed against her, still feeding on her. She

felt fully alive once again and the great need was satisfied, but now she wanted him inside of her.

Before blood, sex had been her greatest drug and now she craved to be satiated.

Cian pulled his mouth from her neck and ran his tongue over the wound he had inflicted on

her.

“Please,” she whispered in his ear, and she knew he understood her question.

Instead, he kissed her deeply and kept rubbing hard against her. His hands slid under her

thighs as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

The phone rang sharply nearby and they both ignored it. The smell of blood and sex was

intoxicating. Amaliya ran her tongue in circles around Cian's, wanting more of him.

The phone rang again.

Cian pulled away from her and she buried her face in his neck to lick the last drops of blood

from the wounds.

The phone let out another peal, and then the answering machine clicked on.

“Hey, Cian! Okay, I just got off the longest phone call in the world with my brother stationed

in California. He wants to know if we can visit him. Now, I know it’s rough with the whole

sunlight thing, but he's going to miss the wedding so maybe we can talk. Okies, love you, baby!”

The voice was perky and sweet and Amaliya drew back from Cian. “Talk to you tomorrow”

There was a click and the machine turned off.

A coldness settled between them as the bloodlust faded and despite their aroused states, they

slid soundlessly from each other's embrace.

“Sorry,” Amaliya whispered, after a long embarrassing moment.

“Not your fault,” he answered, and simply walked away.

Closing her eyes, she shuddered as she felt her body still craving his touch and his blood.

Being a vampire was not going to be easy, especially around her own kind. She slowly slid down

to the floor and sat there, deep in thought.

* * *

Cian walked over to the answering machine and hesitated. He could call Samantha back, but

he felt too awkward in this moment. Instead, he deleted the message and moved to his desk with

all its computer monitors and sat down in the leather chair. He tried hard to ignore his aroused

state and the delicious smell of Amaliya in the other room. She had tasted wonderful and he

wanted to return to her, throw her down, bite her, fuck her.

Rubbing his closed eyelids, he tried to remove those thoughts from his mind. It was his fault.

He had forgotten how potent it was to feed on another vampire. He had not been among his own

kind in so long, his memory was hazy. The last time he had fed off a vampire it had been his

long-dead lover Rosalinda. It had been wild between them, but she had lived with an insanity

that had swept him along and eventually killed her. He had tried hard to forget her, and in the

process, he had forgotten how erotic it was to feel a vampire's teeth in his throat.

Leaning back in his chair, he concentrated on Samantha and her sweet smile. He tried to fill

his mind with the memory of their first kiss or the first time he had held her close throughout the

night. It almost worked, but then Amaliya entered the room behind him, he felt her darkness

pulling at him.

For a moment, he imagined her coming to him and straddling him where he sat in his chair.

He had completely screwed up in keeping her here.

“I'm sorry,” she said again.

He didn't dare turn around and see her. She was his kind. Her body, her smell, her blood

called to him. He would always want her now. He knew it. Without a doubt, he had doomed

himself to wanting her.

“It was my fault,” he answered truthfully and did not turn around.

The door opened and Roberto's soft footfalls echoed down the hall. The two vampires

remained just as they were as he entered the room and tossed the bag at Amaliya's feet.

“I will retrieve your car now. I thought you may want this to freshen up,” he said in an

annoyed tone, then his voice grew soft. “I see.”

Cian turned and looked at Roberto sharply.

Roberto looked amused and looked pointedly at Amaliya, then at Cian. “Did I return too

quickly?”

“Go get her car,” Cian said firmly.

Roberto bowed briefly, with a smirk on his face, and walked out with a much lighter step.

As the door shut, Amaliya said, “I was right. He’s a total bitch.”

Cian nodded and looked at her again. She was really pretty with her exotic features and long

dark hair. He could see with his keen eyesight that her hair was really blond and that she dyed it,

but the black hair contrasted nicely with her skin. She had taken off her shoes and stood barefoot

on the hardwood floor. She looked unsure of herself and a little afraid.

“I don't just sleep with anyone,” she said at last, but her tone wasn't exactly truthful.

“Unless they are attractive to you,” he added.

“Well, yeah.” She blushed and sat on the floor. “I got carried away. I'm sorry.” She curled her

legs under her and sat Indian style. “Do you hate me now?”

“I don't know you well enough to hate you or like you,” Cian answered honestly. His body

was slowly calming down, but he knew it would not take much to arouse him again. He looked

away from her and played idly with a framed picture of Samantha.

“You're not going to throw me out, are you?”

“No, of course not. I invited you here.”

“You kidnapped me,” she reminded him.

He smiled lightly. “Same thing. Plus, I am the one who offered you my throat. I'm responsible

for what happened.”

“I'm sure I didn't help,” she mumbled.

Glancing toward her, Cian took in her pensive expression. He said softly, “No, but again, I

invited you here.”

Those enormous eyes turned up at him and he once more thought her features were quite

intriguing. With blond hair, they may have faded to bland, but with black, they were intense and

lovely

With a sigh, he realized he had to stop thinking like this and looked over at the picture of

Samantha. She had such a cute turned up nose and glorious smile. She was everything good and

light in his life. He had to remember that.

“Are you going to tell her?” Amaliya asked after a long beat.

“No. No. She wouldn't understand. She doesn't see this side of me,” Cian admitted.

“But she knows you're a vampire.”

“Yes, she does. She found out unexpectedly one night, but it didn't faze her.” He smiled and

laughed a little. “She said, 'Oh, wow. So sunscreen doesn't help, huh?' That's Sam for you.”

Amaliya smiled at that and looked at her hand. “If only sunscreen did work...”

“Sam has a tendency to try to see everything in a positive light. I think that is why I love her.

She didn't run screaming from the room. She just stood there, staring at me, and then told me she

knew I was a good man.”

“Are you?” Amaliya asked.

He frowned slightly, then shrugged. “When I'm with Sam I believe I am.”

“But tonight I fucked that up,” she said with a sigh.

“I fucked it up,” Cian answered.

“You're trying to live a normal life with Sam. You don't me need screwing it up for you.”

“When I was turned no one helped me,” Cian said in a soft voice. “I floundered. I struggled. I

destroyed people I loved. I was mad with the hunger and I barely survived. You're doing much

better than I did, but I want to make sure you truly understand what is going on, what you are

before you do something that will get you killed by The Summoner or-” He cut off his sentence

and pondered what he was going to say.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“I want to live. I don't want to die. I did it once and it sucked. My whole life I've been trying

to find out who I was, what I was about, what I wanted to do. And now, I know who I am. I

understand what I am.”

Cian turned his attention back to the young woman sitting on his floor and took in her sincere

expression. “And what is that?”

“I want to live. I want to be what I am. What happened between us...that was amazing!

Beyond anything in my life. I never felt so alive! That was like...” She shook her head. “I can't

even define it. But I felt alive. And honestly, these last few days, though my brain has felt kinda

off and weird, I actually feel motivated to do something other than coast through life.”

Sliding from his chair, he walked over to her and squatted down. “Then you're going to live,

Amaliya. You're not a self-loathing, hateful fledgling or an insane one. You're already accepting

what is going on and that puts you far ahead of most.”

“Why do you hate it?” She tilted her head up to look at him curiously.

He reached out and ran his fingers over her soft cheek, then across her jawline. The desire to

kiss her and push her down on the floor rose. His teeth grew sharp at the thought of driving them

into her throat or more erotic places.

“You should take a bath. Freshen up. I have work to do.”

Her very still body showed that she was feeling the heat growing again. Before she could act

on it and doom them both, he stood up and returned to his computer.

“There is a master bedroom upstairs with a large bathroom.”

Awkwardly, she crawled to her bag and pulled it close to her. “Is that where you sleep?”

“No.” He shook his head and pointed to a nearby wall that looked like burnished brass. “I

sleep there. I told the contractor it was a panic room, but it's actually my sleeping chamber.

Roberto takes good care of me, but once you have been nearly turned to ashes by the sun, you do

not take any chances.”

Amaliya walked over and pressed her hand against the wall. He watched her slowly walk

along its length, feeling the cool metal under her fingers. He fancied the thought of those fingers

on him and quickly pushed it away. He had not felt this way in a long time and it disturbed him

deeply.

“So it’s a big box,” she said and disappeared around the far corner.

“Essentially. To anyone else, it looks like a walled in elevator shaft or something of the sort.

That was the idea at least.”

She walked around it and came out the other end. Her hand was still resting on the cool metal.

“So how does it open?”

“The walls retract up into the ceiling. I can open them one by one if I want.”

“Will I sleep here, too?”

Cian felt a pulse of arousal, but he knew he could not deny her safety. “Yes.”

Nodding, she walked toward the second staircase that led to the upstairs. “Thanks, Cian.

Again, I'm sorry.” Her expression was wistful but thoughtful.

“No worries,” he said with a smile.

She ascended the steps and he could not help but watch her skirt sway over her hips.

“I'm so fucked,” he whispered to himself.

* * *

The Summoner strode down 6th Street, hands tucked behind his back. The club scene was not

as wild tonight as it would be on the weekend, but there were plenty of college students and

young professionals out and about.

Now that he was no longer Professor Sumner, he had let his hair grow to its normal length and

it hung around his shoulders. It was almost white and glowed slightly in the glare of the neon

signs. He could not remember the original color of his hair anymore. It had slowly turned this

color the more magic he had performed and the darker the nature of the magic was.

He was clad in a simple black shirt and black trousers. It was a boring outfit. He had yet to

change his wardrobe, but his intense good looks were drawing plenty of attention. The goatee

was gone now, as was the glamor he had thrown up that made him look older and like a version

of his long deceased father.

“He looks like Sting,” a girl whispered as she hurried past with her girlfriend.

He smiled at that and swept his hair back from his face and gave her a rakish smile.

“Sting is old and doesn't look like that,” the friend responded with a snort.

The Summoner found that amusing. Humans were ridiculous when it came to their concept of

age. Continuing on, he strolled slowly away from the elegance of the Driscoll Hotel.

Once more he was a new man. He wasn't sure what accent to go with. The British one was

rather boring to his ears now and he pondered a German one or maybe Russian. The American

accent was terrible in his opinion. The Texan one even worse. But he rather liked Texas. It was

huge and truly a land unto itself. He marveled at its difference from the rest of the United States

and how it changed from one border to the next. He liked its diversity and he loved its people.

They were stubborn and rebellious and he thrived on that energy.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out quickly. “Rachoń ?”

“Got it done. I left the package outside of Shreveport just like you said,” a deep, husky, but

very feminine voice said.

“Excellent. ”

“They should find it within a few days. I hid it just well enough, but not that well.”

“Well done, as always. I may swing by and see you soon.”

There was bemused laughter on the other end. “You should. You owe me.” And she hung up.

Rachoń was his only progeny with which he had actually established a relationship. She was

from the bayou outside of New Orleans. He had found her as a runaway slave, making her way

to freedom. He had, of course, given her the ultimate freedom. Unlike his other fledglings, he

had made her to keep with him.

At the time he was bored and in need of a companion. He had adored her dark skin and

luminous maroon eyes. They had remained lovers for years until he had grown bored and freed

her to her own existence. She had a cruel streak to match his. Perhaps he had twisted her into

what she was, but he remembered how she had driven her stolen dagger into his gut to eviscerate

him when he had found her in the swamp and knew it had been within her all along.

He walked on, his white-blond hair floating around his shoulders, past the street musicians

and the myriad of people rushing about to the various clubs before the fateful two o'clock last

call.

Now that Rachoń had planted the real Professor Sumner's body in Shreveport, he would be

able to put that time behind him. He had only spent four months as the professor, but they had

been enjoyable. Twisting the minds of those wonderful adult students as they looked at him

anxiously for morsels of knowledge and truth had been delightful.

Of course, Amaliya had been the most wonderful one of all. Hopelessly lost and drifting, she

was unaware of her strength and her unusual beauty. At first, he thought her unremarkable, but

she was one of those people who slowly emerged from the shadows the more you learned about

them. The dimmest of all the lights had grown to blind him and he had to take her.

It was ironic that she had fled to Austin and found Cian so easily. The girl had glorious luck.

So far she had been in surprising control of her faculties and had evaded several disastrous

scenarios. When she had gone for the security tape in the motel office in Dallas, he had actually

been quite impressed. What she had not realized was that she did not even show up on the tape.

It was part of their cursed existence. But it had impressed him nonetheless.

Calmly turning down an alley, he made his way into the more dimly lit areas of downtown.

There were many homeless in Austin and it was always easy for him to find servants. He needed

at least a few of the dead to strengthen him and be his guardians during the day. With Cian

entering the stage, he would need to adjust his plans.

“That's a good girl,” he said to the young woman pressed up against the side of the building

and hidden in the darkness.

She moved toward him, with little jerky movements. Out of the entire family he had

slaughtered earlier tonight in their mansion overlooking the lake, she was the only one he had

spared a brutal death. He had slaked his thirst and need to destroy before he got to her and,

realizing he needed her as intact as possible, he had feasted off her inner thigh and left her neck

unmarred.

So far she had been a good girl, helping him move the pieces of her family down into the

laundry room where they would remain until he was done and burned the place to the ground. He

had been amused to see her struggling to carry the heads of her family in one hand and drag her

father's torso with the other. She had cried the whole time as she slowly bled to death, only kept

alive by his power. Now she hovered between life and death, more dead than alive. By morning

she would be truly dead and he would lose her valuable voice.

“She hasn't come out of the loft,” the girl whispered. She was dressed in jeans and a pink top.

Her hair was done up in a ponytail and she looked quite pretty. She shouldn't be moving or

talking in her condition, but the steady pulse of his power kept her from collapsing.

He had posted the girl outside of the loft as a precaution. It had been a wild chance that

Amaliya would find Cian, but as her luck seemed to be obscenely good, he had to be sure.

“Jenny-”

“Jeanne,” she said softly.

“Yes, Jeanne. You look like a Jeanne,” he said with amusement. “Anyway, good girl. You did

well.”

“Will you let me die now?” she whispered.

“No. Not yet. When dawn comes,” he assured her.

Her pretty pink lips trembled and he drew her close and kissed her forehead. “Come now,

darling. It's not so bad. You're serving a higher purpose.”

“My family-”

“Are dead. And soon you will join them and all will be well, correct?”

The young woman nodded, her expression stricken, yet muted. “Yes.”

“You did very well calling me and letting me know she has arrived. Very good. I am proud of

you.” He smiled at her warmly and enjoyed the little shiver that ran down her body. “Now, I

want you to go home and sit down in the laundry room and wait for dawn. Sit with your family

and keep them company until you can join them.”

Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him desperately. She would not be able to resist his

power and the terror in her eyes said it all. Swallowing hard, she turned and trudged into the

night, a pale little thing in pink, doomed and pathetic.

He laughed softly and smiled with delight.

Turning, he gazed up at the windows high above the street. It took only a few moments for

Cian and Amaliya to come into view and he shook his head with wry amusement.

She was a lucky little thing.

* * *

I have the worst luck in the world, she thought for the hundredth time.

Amaliya lay next to Cian in his sleeping chamber, trying hard not to feel his presence or go

near him. After her long bath, she had come downstairs in black leggings and a tank top to find

him working hard at his computers.

He had obviously been engrossed in whatever he was doing, so she had let him be and had

gone into the library to look through the tomes. She had found a whole assortment of vampire

novels, which she found amusing. But among them was an encyclopedia of vampire myths and

legends and since she really didn't know much beyond what was commonly known about

vampires, she had snagged it to read. Settling down in a chair, she had stayed there reading the

rest of the night.

Rolling onto her back, she tried not to panic at the absolute darkness inside the chamber. His

bed filled the entire compartment and the four walls retracted back into the ceiling when he hit a

secret switch. She thought it was rather opulent with its fine silk sheets and rich velvet comforter.

It was cold and she rather liked that fact. She pulled more of the covers over her and smelled

his cologne on them. He was very still beside her, but she knew he was still awake. Beyond the

metal walls, the sun would soon pour through all the windows in the loft. Just knowing that was

terrifying.

“It can't reach us,” he said softly out of the blackness as if he’d read her mind.

The compartment was drenched in darkness and she was safe, but it was hard to accept that

truth.

“Are you afraid of it, too?”

“The sun?”

“Yes,” she whispered, rolling over toward him.

“To the point of absolute paranoia and building this compartment,” he answered. His hand

trailed over her cheek to her neck. “You're safe.”

“Is this why the old vampires slept in coffins?”

He laughed softly and said, “Yes. Safer to sleep in utter darkness than risk someone opening a

curtain.”

Her eyes were acclimating to the darkness and she could see his features now. He had an

intense sort of face with strong cheekbones. Not really her type though. She had a bad crush on

Rob Zombie and any long-haired metalhead had a good chance with her if he seemed dangerous

enough. Cian was almost too clean cut and had a slightly feminine tinge to his lips. But still, he

had rocked her world earlier in a way no one ever had.

“It's weird,” she whispered. “You know, being so powerful and yet being so vulnerable.”

“It's the irony of being a vampire. Being immortal and being terrified of death.”

Rolling onto her stomach, she propped herself up on her elbows and her hair fell over her

shoulders to pool on the bed. “And the mirror thing is annoying.”

“I know. But when you learn how, you can see yourself through the eyes of others,” he

assured her. His hand slowly stroked her hair cascading over one shoulder. “Sleep, Amaliya.

Can't you feel the call of sleep as the sun rises higher?”

Laying down on her stomach, she tucked her pillow up under her chin. She could see his face

clearly now and wondered why his eyes glinted almost like metal in the darkness.

She was feeling more and more drowsy. Almost as if drugged. She could feel the sun, her

enemy, rising over the hills. Her hand found Cian's neck and she curled her fingers over it to

reassure herself. He could kill her so easily, but she no longer believed he would.

“Damn,” he whispered, then was on her.

Their kisses were intense and searing, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as he clutched her

tight. Blood filled their throats as their fangs sliced open their lips as they kissed fervently. His

arms swept her up close to him as he feasted on her bloodied mouth.

The sun was rising higher and they both were growing more and more drowsy.

“Damn.” She fell away from him, licking her lips. Her body felt leaden and his mouth touched

hers one last time before he fell over beside her.

“We can't anymore,” he said softly in a very drowsy voice.

“I know,” she answered, her eyes fluttering closed.

But they both knew they would. It was a matter of time.