A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

Page 50



Upstairs, she thought of all he had told her. How did it feel to live such a long life, even if it was only half a life? Did one get tired of living? Oh, but how could that be? He had seen the history of the world unfold, seen mankind evolve,been there throughout the ages. How wonderful it must have been, to have seen so much, learned so much. And yet, how lonely, to have no one his own age to reminisce with, no one to grow old with, no one who shared his past, his memories. How sad, to fall in love with someone and lose them over and over again. As he had lost her… as she had lost him.

No! Whateverher past lives had been, they were gone now. She couldn't spend this life thinking of the ones before. She would go crazy if she did. She was Tracy Warner now. Not Kiya . Not Jocelyn. Not Nysa , or Annie Williams or any of the hundreds of other women she might have been.

She moved through the house, drawing the curtains over every window, locking every door, even though she knew nothing would keep him out.

Vampire.

Undead.

She changed into her nightgown and climbed under the covers. She didn't turn out the light.

He didn't have to be with her to know what she was doing. If he opened his mind, let his senses expand, he could read her thoughts. Tempting as it was, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what she was thinking. Not now.

He stared into the fire, his preternatural sight showing him colors that mortals never saw. He saw each flame in vivid detail, each wisp of smoke, each ash that fell. The fire burned brighter, its energy fed by his rising frustration. Stubborn woman! Would she never give in? Was he fated to follow her forever, always watching her, always loving her and yet always losing her?

He was the most powerful creature on the face of the earth. He could destroy life with a thought, bend mortals to his will. He could change his appearance, control the elements,bring this house down with a wave of his hand. Had he wished, he could supplant her will with his own. But he did not want to force her to come to him. He wanted her love, freely given.

And he would have it, sooner or later.

She woke in the morning feeling foolish. No matter what she had said last night, in spite of everything Dominic had told her, in spite of her own vivid dreams, she didn't truly believe in reincarnation.One birth, one life, and one death—that was what she believed in. And she didn't believe in vampires, either. She did believe in the power of suggestion and in hypnotism and both of those possibilities made more sense than believing she had lived a hundred other lives or that Dominic was a two-thousand-year-old vampire. She knew there were people who believed they were vampires. They engaged in role-playing games online, wore nothing but black clothing, and only came out at night. Some claimed to be immortal. Some claimed to drink blood. But, no matter what they pretended to be, they were just people acting out some bizarre fantasy. And no matter what Dominic said, what he tried to make her believe, she wasn't Annie Williams. She wasn't Kiya or Nysa or Jocelyn. She had never been a queen or an exotic dancer. She