Embrace the Night

Page 181



Sara shook her head, frightened by the rage in the vampire woman's eyes. "Then be still, mortal, before I destroy you."

"You will not touch her," Gabriel said, his hand tightening on Nina's. "Remember yourpromise." "Gabriel, why are you going with her?"

"He's mine now," Nina said triumphantly. "He has vowed to be my slave for as long as he survives."
"No! He loves me."

"Love has nothing to do with our bargain," Nina retorted, her voice filled with disdain. "Now be gone before I destroy you."

"Is this what you want, Gabriel?" Sara asked. "Yes."

"You're lying! You love me, not her."

"Nina spoke the truth, cara. Love has nothing to do with our bargain." But that, too, was a lie. Love had everything to do with it, his love for Sara.

"Come, Giovanni," Nina said, tugging on his hand. "I grow weary of this conversation."
"Gabriel, don't leave me!"

"I'm afraid I must," he said bitterly. "My mistress calls, and I must obey."

Sara knew suddenly what he had done; he had forfeited his freedom to spare her life. Had he been a mortal man, with a normal span of years, it would have been a sacrifice of untold worth, but Gabriel was a vampire. Thousands of years stretched before him, making his sacrifice beyond comprehension. She let her mind meld with his, felt the anger surging through him because Nina had the upper hand. She felt his anguish at losing her, his revulsion at the thought of spending endless nights as Nina's slave, swallowing his pride while she bent his will to hers.

Sara watched Gabriel turn away to follow Nina, and in that instant she knew she could not let him do it. Better she should forfeit the remainder of her short span of life than allow the man she loved with all her heart and soul to spend an eternity as a slave to this heartless vampire.

"No, Gabriel," she cried, and running after him, she wrenched his hand from Nina's. "I won't let you spend the rest of your life with this horrible woman on my account."

"You cannot stop him!" Nina cried, and summoning her revenant power, she lashed out at Sara, her hand striking her across the face, hurling Sara backward so that she fell against an ancient tombstone.

"Leave her alone!" Gabriel roared.

But Nina ignored him. She stared at Sara, the hatred blazing out of her eyes, burning into Sara's like a