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Chapter 1

Claire Turner hid at the end of a long cavern tunnel, deep in the shadows Her nerves were like fire on her skin Guards moved in and out of a nearby prison cell, soear The air sh death came often to this part of the world

Her heart slae She’d been thrust into a secret cavern-based va a prisoner, a famous warrior called Lucian, from his captivity

She didn’t even knohere she was exactly Rumy, the s about Malaysia He’d dropped her off just o, told her to trust her instincts, then insisted repeatedly that she’d be fine, just fine Like hell

She took deep breaths She couldn’t believe she was doing this, risking her life by agreeing to what now seemed like a ridiculous plan What did a social worker fro covert operations?

But Lucian had beco her best friend, Zoey, who had been abducted two years ago and was now caught in so to Rumy, Lucian was the only vampire who could help find Zoey

Lucian She could feel him now and even sensed his location, and all because of the single strand of small, dark metal links she wore around her neck: blood-chains She carried achain in her pocket and once Lucian put it on, he’d have enough power to break out of the prison Or at least, that’s what Rumy said he hoped would happen

Several guards left the adjacent tunnel that led to Lucian’s cell, leaving only one behind now, but she wouldn’t be able to make her move until Lucian was finally alone

None of the valanced in her direction, which led to comprehend Despite the fact that she was a mere human, the blood-chains she wore had somehow sparked an innate ability she possessed to create souise” and which acted as an invisible shield around her

So much was at stake in this moment that her heart thuht, she’d probably be sent into sex slavery herself or even killed outright Though given a choice, she was pretty sure she’d prefer the latter

More than once while waiting, she’d thought about going in and wrapping Lucian up with the sa her However, any guard who happened to enter the prison cell and found Lucian gone would shout an alaruise to include Lucian would have to be the same time she left with him

She drew a few deep breaths trying to get caluard left and disappeared down the hall, shetunnel that led to the large cell lit by torchlight Moving off to the right, she entered a sloping pit that ended with a smooth wall

And Lucian

The sight of him stopped her cold He sat completely nad on a small patch of cement, chained to the wall His wrists and ankles were shackled, chains hanging between Another chain, locked onto the back of his left ankle, secured him to a thick black iron loop bolted into the wall behind hiement restricted his movements by about ten feet in any direction If she’d doubted the story Rumy had told her about Lucian and his brothers, and their abusive father, she didn’t anymore; only a monster would treat his son like this

She knew Lucian froraphs Rumy had shown her as well as by the new vibrations of the chain at her neck The chain recognized hi her to siphon his power, clear evidence that the chains held a ical quality Even her vision seemed to have improved in the dim, torch-lit cave