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“When it comes to war, we have to stand together. Us against them, that is the only way.”

But we don’t stand a chance, I think. The vampires in the Citadel are evil and powerful. I think of what Lare told me.

“I can’t sit here, doing nothing,” I say. “I’m going to go after Chakrat.”

“What about your mother?” Costello asks.

“There are others here, she isn’t alone.”

“Chakrat is too much for you,” he says, but he sounds defeated. “I’d come with you but I think he will swat me like a fly.”

“Not a fly! A big bug maybe,” I joke feebly.

Costello promises to come by to check on my mother and I am about to go and get ready when I feel the familiar sensation. I turn around and look out over the open plains of the desert, the empty road.

Lucca is out there, I can feel it, he is coming.

I pull the jersey around me and wait.

I don’t know where he is coming from, but I can feel it.

My heart starts beating faster, there is a quickening in my pulse. When I turn to go to my room, I see him standing outside on the patio.

I go towards him and walk into his arms. Feeling his embrace on the cold night warms me, the heat between us engulfs me.

“How are you?” I ask, pulling away, concerned.

I check his face, but he looks better than when I last saw him.

“Getting there,” he smiles at me. “I’m an old man, you see, no longer young.”

“Bullshit!” I respond. “You’re a beast!”

There is a moment of silence. He pulls me closer, kisses me and for a few seconds, the world stops, I feel myself falling into him, into our world which exists outside of the one I inhabit with my family, my people here. There is no talking, no reason there, just an energy and a force field that is fed by the two of us, a current that pulses through our bodies.

His kiss is intense, fierce, I feel his arms around me, strong, pulling me in deeper and there is no pulling away now. It rises between us, this incredible desire and he pushes me against the wall of my bedroom, ripping open my clothes to get to my body. The look in his eyes is of naked desire, and it arouses me in ways I cannot even begin to understand. He peels my clothes off of me and I stand naked in the freezing air, not feeling a thing. His hands are all over me, caressing and stroking, pinching and squeezing, bringing me to life and causing sensations I have never felt before in my life.

He lifts me up and I fold my legs around his hips as his cock enters me, thrusting with an intensity that excites me. With every thrust, I am shoved against the wall, the power of his body seems to shake the room.

I can feel my body respond to him, to his power, wanting more of it. I feel myself offering my body to him and I sense the change in him, a different energy as the fangs come out and the teeth pierce my skin. It is an exquisite moment of pleasure, and it is as if more than our bodies are coming together, my blood is flowing and in some strange moment of madness, I see blood from one of his wounds, which has opened during our passion, the blood running down his chest. I lick it and the taste of his blood burns my tongue. My world explodes then. There are no words to describe the sensations coursing through my body and he collapses on top of me, the two of us sliding to the ground, spent.

I don’t tell him anything about my plans as he starts telling me about what is happening in the world, how he fears there are plots to get rid of him. He wants to act but he wants to be sure, he is unwilling to instigate the conflict.

“But you were attacked, right? Your supply trucks have been under attack for months? Shouldn’t you strike back?”

“I don’t know where to strike,” he says, his face grim.

He tells me about his meeting with the fifth councilor and sending Ragnar to the capitol.

“And Sunil? Where is he?” I ask even though I knew I shouldn’t.

He pulls away, his face closes off.

“He’s in the Capital,” he says.

“I see,” I say.

“What?” he says and I should have let it go. But this is not my character.