A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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"I don't see why not. I knew where you… where you slept at Nightingale House." "Indeed."

"Are you afraid I might… let's see, whatare the ways to destroy a vampire ?" She frowned, trying to remember how it was done in the movies. "You can cut out its heart, or chop off its head, or burn it up. Isn't that right?"

"It?" he asked with a wounded expression. "Do I look like an 'it' to you?"

He didn't kiss like an 'it'! Oh, no, he was all man in that regard. "Don't change the subject," she admonished. "Let's see, what am I forgetting? Oh, the ever popular stake through the heart."

"Shall I hide the axe and the matches?"

"No need," she said, laughing in spite of herself. "I couldn't dissect a frog in biology class. I think you're safe from me."

He laughed with her.

Warmth passed between them, bringing with it a sense of camaraderie from shared laughter.
His gaze rested on her lips again.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Before she succumbed to the look in his eyes and the yearning of her own heart, she said, "What's it like for you, during the day? What happens when the sun comes up?"

"The sun steals a vampire's strength. We are overcome with a lethargy that is, in the beginning, impossible to resist. We sleep the sleepof, you will pardon the expression, the dead."

"And if someone found you while you were asleep, what then?"

"Very young vampires are totally helpless when the sun is up. After many centuries, some vampires are able to stay up after sunrise and rise before sunset."

"Can you?"

"Yes, though my powers are weak until after dark."

"And if someone invaded your resting place, would you know? Would you be able to protect yourself?"
He nodded. "Self-preservation is as strong with us as with anyone."

"Has anyone ever tried to… to destroy you while you were at rest?" "Yes."

"What did you do to them?"