He might have been in his mid-thirties—if that. He was fit, tanned, and good- looking with semi-messy blonde hair that he probably paid a stylist a pretty penny to create. Judging by the suit, I could tell that he was pulling in the big money."Okay. Here it goes." Before I could rise Tony stopped me with a hand on my arm. "You need to do this alone. Take Mei Wah and the car. He'll make sure nothing happens to you. Just remember two things. Don't take too much blood, and he must be able to make the choice to be yours of his own free will. If it's against his beliefs, then he will lose his mind. Do you know what I mean?"I nodded though I didn't understand, but I would still do what he asked. I approached the man. He was sipping bourbon on the rocks. I glanced behind me, but Tony was already gone. I rubbed my hands down my legs and tried to convince myself that this was not the same as being a pusher.I took off my glasses and sat next to him. "Hello."He smiled and nodded at me.

I checked the time—close to three AM! I cursed. Unsure how to begin, I first started at a run, then I concentrated on Tony's smell and taste, and before I knew it, it seemed as if I could almost see him. I thought about being there, and I was moving faster than I could think. I can only describe it as teleporting though I could sense myself moving through space. Maybe I was in that limbo that Tony had tried to describe to me. He had tried to make me understand that we could do the seemingly impossible because we were no longer completely a part of this world anymore, but it was hard to understand because I had never believed I had ever left the world in the first place.I stopped the sickening motion outside of a house immediately familiar to me. It was the house that William had brought me to days before. I headed toward the house then kicked off the fancy fur slippers in irritation. I checked my watch. I'd lost fifteen minutes, and that meant it was after three AM.They'd be in the

I had to get out of there. I had a room full of angry Vampires and another dead Council Member. Before anyone had time to react, I thought about being outside and was standing in the grass in front of the mansion. I felt anything but safe, it was getting late, and I had no idea where I would sleep tonight ... today. I had no intentions of going back to Tony's, not after lying about the holy relic and killing my second Council member in so many days. Besides, Tony and I had some major trust issues. But I had an idea. It might be as much of a death sentence as anything else I'd done since dying. I was going back to Paul's.It was harder to find Paul's line. It melded with the other humans in the city. If it had been a day later I don't think I would have been able to trace the feel of him. I concentrated on Paul, and then I began traveling to where he was located. I could feel myself in a different place, that other world. There was nothing to focus on and nothing to feel, but I cou

I tilted his head the other way, exposing his unmarred skin. He brought his hands up to my waist and rested them above my hips. "Is that okay? You said before that I could."I didn't care because Paul was beginning to smell like food. My stomach had a strange empty feel to it. "Yeah," I said. My teeth dropped so quickly that it brought me back to myself a little. Careful, I thought. Don't rip the food ... I mean, Paul. I licked his neck with long strokes. I felt him shudder. With his head gripped in my hands it looked as if we were in a lovers' embrace. I closed my lips over his pulse and felt it flutter beneath my tongue. "Hmm, I groaned. He tasted so good. My teeth sank into his flesh. I felt Paul's hands tighten on my hips. His breath seemed to come out in a pleasured rush.I drew in the salty sweetness of him, but as soon as it hit my stomach, it revolted. There was a stabbing pain as if I was being impaled!I fell to my knees and screamed, and what had gone down came up i

"I'm sorry, Paul. But I need you to have my back when it's important." Paul calmed down and relaxed."I know you're pissed at me, but I need to know if you're going to feed me to the proverbial wolves when we get there."Tony looked bored. "Why ever would I be angry at you? I bring you into my home. Buy you a new wardrobe, protect your interests, alienate myself from the Council to do it, and on top of everything I tell you that I want you to be my woman and you go off and screw this human." Paul looked smug.I stared at Tony. "You're not mad about the crucifix? You're not mad about me crashing last night's initiation? You're pissed because you think I'm ... having sex with Paul?""Get this straight." Tony's finger pointed mere inches from my face. "I'm not pissed!" Tony turned on his heels. He was dressed in his usual black, .and as usual he looked absolutely delicious! Even pissed. "Let's go!" Tony growled. "It's a long drive that we have to make because of this human." We