A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

Page 105



"Yes."

"And you could do that to me?"

Watching her carefully, he nodded. He was on dangerous ground here. A wrong word now might frighten her away.

"Why haven't you?"

"Because I do not want a slave."

"Have you ever forced anyone else to do your bidding?"
"Of course.Each time I feed."

She wrapped her arms over her breasts. "So you hypnotize them and force them to give you their blood?"

"I speak to their minds to take away their fear. It is not unpleasant for them, and when it is over, I wipe all memory of it from their minds."

"That's despicable!"

"Would you rather I took them by force and drained them of life?"
"Of course not, but…"

"I am what I am, querida . I cannot change my nature, not even for you, nor would I. I have been vampire far longer than I was human. I have survived thousands of years. I have learned patience. I have learned compassion. I have learned to take what I need without taking life. It has not been easy. Vampires are predatory by nature. The need to hunt is a part of me and will not be denied. There are those who hunt in the old way, who take a life each night. No longer human themselves, they have little regard for human life. I will not tolerate their kind here."

"Is that right? Have you read the paper lately?Bryan told me that three people have been killed in the last couple of days.Drained of blood."

Dominic's eyes narrowed. "You have seen that boy again?"

Tracydismissed his question with a wave of her hand. "Did you hear what I said? Three people have been killed, Dominic.If you don't allow any of the Sea Cliff vampires to hunt in your territory, then who's doing it?"

Dominic shook his head. "I was not aware of any killings." It troubled him to realize he had been unaware that someone was hunting in his territory. His only excuse was that he had been so preoccupied withTracy he had been oblivious to everything else.

"Well,"Tracy remarked a trifle sharply, "maybe you should look into it before there's a fourth."
With a nod, he was gone.