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"You&039;re going to killroot high as he walked the perimeter of the dank hole he had thrust me into It was approximately the size of my bedroom back home, two of the walls carved out of stone, the other twoby the broken barrels heaped in one corner, at one time this room had probably been used as some sort of storeroom "Why would I want to kill you?"

The root had burned down almost to his hand Adrian caht could get into the rooue va his fellow va to be dinner?"

He tossed the root onto the dirt floor where it sputtered as the last few inches continued to burn "I told you I wanted you to helppeople I need"

"Yeah? That would be a whole lot s while you said it" The light froainst one of the stone walls and wrappedclosed into so

An odd sort of martyred expression ca light "I wasn&039;t licking s I&039; I can do about the the flao from blue to yellow to red as it consuear-down ht of a vah over struck en in the roo like that, yes Why are you trying to climb the wall?"

"Don&039;t you think you should build a fire before that bit of wood goes out entirely?" Behind h my jacket and settled into my bones

"A fire?" He looked at the almost dead root, then back tobonfire would be really good right about now Er That root is dying You should do so about it"

"What is your na one eye on hi root "Is it some sort of vamp rule that you have to know the name of the person you&039;re about to kill?"

I squatted next to the root and blew on it, trying to keep it burning while I found so, that&039;s what I needed, so small and thin

"It&039;s not a rule, no, but I find it&039;s always nice to knohat to put on the headstone"

I scrambled around in the dirt and found a couple of slivers of hich I tossed onto the root, blowing on it to keep the flame alive It was almost completely black in the room, so dark I couldn&039;t see Adrian anymore, but I could feel hiht of thedown into lowed red, then faded As the light died, panic, true panic, was born within h as the stone that i ely old-fashioned name for such a modern woman"

I stood up, disoriented by the dark, panicked, h air It had been sucked away, and trapped as ere in this toet more

His voice ca me "Nell, why are you afraid of the dark?"

I spun around,"I&039;m not so afraid of the dark as afraid of who I&039;m trapped with Stand still, will you?"

"You are afraid of the dark," he whispered behindso fast I can almost taste your fear"

I jumped and turned to face the direction the voice had cohter!"

"Why do you want hter? Do you intend to set me on fire?"

"That wasn&039;t on ri into the darkness for him "I want a fire, OK? It&039;s cold in here"

"If it&039;s warrowled into ht ear I shivered at the heat of his breath as it whispered alongmy throat to try to ease the hoarseness "I like fires"

"A fire would kill you" His voice came from in front of ainst so warm and hard that melted away into the blackness "There is no ventilation hole in this chamber The smoke would asphyxiate you"

"So what?" I sobbed, the panic I&039;d been struggling to contain washing over round a pathetic blob of hu to ease the pressure that bore down froht of the stone above "I&039;ll be dead once you&039;re done doing this cat-and- with me anyway Why not die where at least I can seeall the air? There&039;s no air in here! I can&039;t there&039;s not enough air to breathe!"

"Nell" Hands warht of fighting hi to do, but the instinctual need to cling to another hurunted as I threwmy arms around him He arm and solid, and somehoith my face pressed into his neck, I could breathe easier It was as if he alone kept the weight of the stone around us fronificant little pulp The panic that had washed over an to ebb "I&039;m sorry," he said "I did not know you were claustrophobic I would have found alternate shelter had I known"

"You have a heartbeat," I said against his neck, ainst his pulse point Beneath my arular pattern "You&039;re breathing I thought vampires were supposed to be the undead You don&039;t feel dead You&039;re not cold and clammy at all"

"We prefer the ter deep in his chest "It has less of the Count Dracula connotation to it"

"So you&039;re not dead?" I asked, relaxing slightly as his hands caentle embrace

"No I live as you do, but with a few differences"

"Like the fact that you&039;re iht, and garlic repels you" I had half expected his into hi a shelter in his arms that I had never in , his hands ski - but not with cold "I live until I am destroyed, yes I need blood to survive, that is true Sunlight is not especially healthy for h it will not burn arlic?" I asked, perversely enjoying the discussion Sainst him as I was, I couldn&039;t help but breathe in his scent, awoodsy and ele that started a little thrum inside me that I didn&039;t seem to be able to stop

Nor was I sure I wanted to

"Garlic doesn&039;t botherit a bit offensive when it&039;s used too heavily inpleasure out of clinging to aof betraying his own people?

What asped, trying to pretend his voice hadn&039;t brushed myabout people with garlic breath?"

"Yes, it was a joke If your panic has eased, I will get ht a fire, you understand, but if you will allow hter there so youas the fluid lasts"

I peeled myself off him with an effort, lured away froht He flicked his lighter a couple of ti a hand around the flame to protect it as he walked over to a pile of discarded barrel bits He cleared a s the level of the flaht from it didn&039;t penetrate the darkness beyond a few feet, but it was better than nothing I hurried toward it, drawn like a ht that flickered and danced in the draft

"Better?" he asked I nodded, rubbing ainst the chill of the room Odd how I hadn&039;t noticed how cold it hen I had been snuggled up to hi a path to a wall a few feet away

"Ryan," I said, watching as he sat down, his back against the wall