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“He says you will kiss me as he does,” she said.

“I will kiss you better than he does,” I answered. I bent down and bit into her throat as she held me. I willed her to feel only pleasure in the bite, not pain, and she sighed happily.

I drank to quench my thirst, not my deep hunger, and then rolled away from her. She let out a soft little snore as I rose to my feet.

Vlad sat calmly in his chair, rubbing his bottom lip thoughtfully.

“Your mistress,” I said with a snort. “You brought me your mistress. ”

“It entertained me,” he answered with a smirk.

Flicking my hand at him, I walked into the shadows and willed myself into the next room. I slipped easily through the darkness into the room beside ours. In this room lay a man and woman sleeping. I pushed out with my power and plunged them into a deeper slumber. Without hesitation, I climbed onto the bed and bit the man’s throat. He moaned and writhed beneath me, but did not awaken. I pressed thoughts of pleasure into his mind and drank in his blood with relish.

I felt Vlad join me, sinking his fangs into the woman. I felt no compunction to cease in my feeding. These were travelers that could easily disappear on their journey. Vlad and I both completely sated ourselves then slid from the bed, leaving the two cooling corpses behind us.

r /> Since Buda, a latent anger had been within me and I felt it beginning to boil. It is terrible to realize I took it out upon those poor travelers, but I must admit I killed them out of spite.

As I slipped through the shadows back into my room, I felt Vlad follow me. He tried to reach for me, but I evaded him.

“Why do you not entertain your mistress?” I snarled at him.

“Jealous, wife?” Vlad said with bemusement.

I struggled to contain myself, but a cold anger filled me. “I demand to know if we are returning to the castle. ”

“We are. ”

I was startled at how easily he responded. “Oh. Well. Then. What do you plan to do about the sisters?”

Vlad crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me thoughtfully. “I suppose I shall feed them so they may return to their senses. ”

“So you will not kill them?”

Vlad shook his head. “No, I will not. ”

I relaxed a bit as he said this and realized I had been terrified we were returning to the castle only for him to wipe out my sisters and destroy what little happiness I had within the castle walls.

“Very well,” I said. “Then I am satisfied. ”

He shook his head, laughing softly. “I am glad for that. ”

I began to uncoil my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders in red waves. He stared at me openly as I did, so I turned my back on him. I pointedly ignored the sleeping woman on our bed as I went about preparing to sleep through the day. It was near morning.

“I will see to the people next door,” Vlad said. He hoisted the sleeping woman up into his arms and vanished from our room.

I drew on a nightgown and brushed out my hair, enjoying the sensation of warmth within my body as the blood renewed me. As I drew the brush through my red tresses, I thought of Buda, our house there and all that had occurred. It had been glorious. I wanted nothing more than to go back and reclaim my life there. But, alas, we were returning to the castle.

Vlad returned and joined me on the bed. The shutters were drawn tightly over the windows, and I knew that the guards Astir had provided would watch our room throughout the day.

I finished brushing my hair and lay the brush on the small table next to the bed. Drawing my feet up from the floor, I lay down.

“You are unhappy,” Vlad said in a low voice.

“I dread what we will find at the castle,” I answered.

“We shall only be there for a short time,” Vlad assured me.

“I meant the sisters. ”