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He ith the coer that would not be denied The touch of the sun had left him weak, and he knew he had to feed, and soon It was the only way to ease the pain burning through him, the only way to rejuvenate his seared flesh

He cliht tores filled the air as he reed into a pair of loose-fitting breeches and a shirtevery one of his 379 years, he climbed slowly, painfully, up the cellar stairs to stand in the doorway, his head hanging

The hunger burned inside him, a relentless flareatcoat, turned up the thick fur collar, and left the cottage In his weakened state, it took him more than an hour to reach the city And all the while the ravenous wolf of his hunger clawed his insides until he was nearlypain of his seared flesh

He turned down an alley reeking with filth, and waited

The production was Sleeping Beauty, and Sara was dancing the role of Aurora

He sank back in his chair, his gaze fixed on Sara as she danced with the four princes, holding an exciting and delicate balance on one foot as she was passed from one suitor to the next

He watched with rapt attention during her solo, awed by her steps, which were light and quick, expressing her youth and joy, her hopes for the future His throat convulsed as she pricked her finger on the spindle It was only ht of her blood, red and vital, made his mouth water as she collapsed into enchanted sleep

He sat back, lost in his own thoughts, as the prince saw a vision of Aurora, but his full attention was aroused once more when the prince awakened Aurora with love&039;s first kiss

If only real life ended as happily as fairy tales, he mused ruefully If only love&039;s first kiss would restore him to the life he had lost

Hardly aware of what he was doing, he left the theater, his thoughts turned back 379 years He had been born in a siven birth to ten children, had been old before her time His father, too, had been worn out with the burden of providing for such a large fanibene back then, had been the eldest son He had hated the poverty in which they lived, hated the crowded house, the long hours in the fields, the constant struggle for survival He had yearned for a different life, a better life, and the opportunity had coentle a headstrong young stallion for one of their neighbors and he had been hard at hen a portly, gray-haired man stopped to watch him The man had been impressed with the way Gabriel handled the horse, so i in his stables For Gabriel, it was the opportunity of a lifetie villa in Vallelunga

Gabriel had readily accepted the position He had bade his parents a cheerful good-bye, pro to sendthe next sixfriends with the man&039;s son, Giuseppe

He had been sixteen when he received word that his parents were ill He had left for home immediately, but it had been too late A e, and he had watched his family die, one by one First his mother, then his sisters, his brothers, and finally his father

Only then, when all those he loved were dead, had he realized how much he had loved them Deep inside, he had felt as if their deaths had been his fault

At the urging of the village priest, Giuseppe&039;s parents had taken Gabriel into their ho the loss of his family, he had kept to himself, but as time passed, he discovered a whole neorld, a world of wealth and aristocracy, a world where people never went to bed hungry, where servants did the work, where everyone dressed in fine clothes

It was a world he had never seen before, a world he wanted for his own

Giuseppe&039;s parents had been enerous They had fed hiuise Giovanni&039;s lack of social grace Still, he had tried hard and learned quickly, and he&039;d had one thing in his favor: he was young and handso toto teach him the dances of the day, to instruct him in etiquette and proper decorum He had quickly learned the polite phrases, the art of dancing and fencing, the proper way to sit a horse, to greet royalty But always, in the back of his

He had been nine and twenty when he accohter, of parties that see It was there he had uiled him from the start, and he had quickly fallen prey to her dark beauty She had been a woman of untold wealth and power To others she had appeared coolly self-assured, aloof, but for Giovanni she had smiled, and when she sht he wanted in a woman: beautiful, desirable, mysterious The fact that she was older than he only added to herthe day, and though they had spent every evening together, she had refused to let hiht himself in love, because she had been a woman of the world, full of fire and mystery, he had seen only what he wanted to see

And then, on an afternoon in later su woman of quiet, incomparable beauty He had been smitten with her from the first, and she with him He knew then that what he had felt for Antonina was not love, but lust

He began to avoid Nina&039;s co to spend all his ti their love and devotion, even though he had feared she could never be his Rosalia came from a wealthy family, while he had no money of his own, no lands, no title

It had been inevitable that Antonina should discover that he had left her for another woman Her wrath had been terrible to see She had threatened to tell Rosalia of their affair, threatened to kill him, to kill Rosalia in front of his very eyes, but in the end she had done none of those things

"You will regret this, Gianni," she had told hiether "The tiive, and the price will be dear"

He had not believed her And then, after a wild night of carousing and drinking with Giuseppe and a few friends, he had taken sick with a fever Giuseppe&039;s parents had summoned the physicians They had bled him to exorcise the bad humors from his body They had forced vile concoctions down his throat, but to no avail Two days later, the doctors went away, shaking their heads, and he had known he was going to die

He had been trying to accept the fact that his life was over before it had begun when Antonina appeared in his rooic

"I can help you, Giovanni," she had promised in her soft, silky voice "Only say you will be ht, and all will be well I will restore your health, Gianni, and give you riches beyond your wildest drea up within him "Too late"

"Not too late, cara ivepain, because he had been terrified of dying, because he had wanted so very badly to reed to do whatever Antonina wished

As soon as he had given Antonina his vow, a change had come over her All softness seeloith a fierce and terrible light

She had sat down beside him on the bed and drawn him into her erave, and when he tried to pull away, her arhed softly, a dry sound, like old bones rattling

Fear had shot through hiled harder to escape her, but in vain His strength was as nothing compared to hers

With ease, she had held hi his as she kissed his eyelids, his cheek, hisa path to the side of his neck

He had gasped when he felt her teeth prick the skin, the sensation one of led pain and sensual pleasure And then he had felt hi in darkness and fear Her skin had groarrew cold, and he had known he was on the brink of death His heartbeat had slowed, his breathing had grown shallow and labored, and he had been sed up in darkness, sined

He had looked at her blankly, not co, as she bit her orist and pressed it to his mouth

As if from far away, he had heard her voice "Drink, Giovanni"

He had been too weak to resist when she pressed her bleeding wrist to his ain

He had obeyed because he lacked the will to do otherwise And like a river at flood tide, life had flowed back into hi with pleasure as he drank and drank and drank

When she took her wrist fro to ask forover him, her lips stained with blood, and he had known it was his blood

He had stared at her in horror "What have you done?"

She had s and sharp

"I have fulfilled iven you wealth and power You are now inibene, and with iather the wealth of the world"

Rising, she had pulled a white silk handkerchief from her pocket and delicately wiped the blood, his blood, from her lips He had shuddered with revulsion when she used that same handkerchief to wipe her blood from his hed off the last of his hu, frightening Colors had been brighter, the candlelight had hurt his eyes, the slightest sound had bruised his ears

She had told him, in a voice devoid of emotion, that he must have blood to live, that food would sicken him, but he had refused to believe her

With a a short tirapes To prove her wrong, he had eaten theh hi violently

"It&039;s al to theand back "You can sleep with ht, you will fulfill your promise, and then you must find a place to rest You must line your bed with the earth of your homeland, should you ever decide to leave Italy"

He had stared at her, uncoht now," Antonina had explained "You cannot die Exposure to the sun will kill you Holy water will burn your flesh You cannot procreate, but you will live forever" She paused, her hand on a small wooden chest "I promised you wealth, Giovanni, and here it is Use it wisely"

Two nights later, frightened and confused, he had gone to Rosalia and told her everything Looking back, he wondered why he had been so thoroughly unprepared for the stark expression of revulsion that rose in her eyes, for the terror that had sent her stu away from him He could still hear her screa staircase to land with a sickening thud on the floor below He had known even before he reached her side that she was dead He had left Italy the next night

He had thought it would be an easy thing, living by night and sleeping by day He had assuh and er, new and untale with hu, unable to help hihtly, often at the expense of some poor mortal&039;s life Only after many decades had he learned to control his beastly appetite, to take a few drops instead of a life

He had learned, to his dismay, that while he looked huain belong to the family of mankind

He had learned, over the centuries, what true loneliness was

And now he stood in the shadows of the cafe, watching Sara Dressed in a gown of palest pink, she looked as fresh and natural as a wild rose Her young aze rapt upon her face, and who could blael, fair of face and forh, and a smile more radiant than the sun

Envy rose within Gabriel, and his hands clenched into fists It took every ounce of his self-control to keep fro man&039;s neck One quick tould do it Just one

Sara, o?

She looked up then, her head turning in his direction, her gaze probing the shadows

Had she heard his thoughts? Did she knoas there? But that was i away from the table He stood in the shadowed corner, his body tre the darkness But for the terrible weakness that plagued him, he would have dissolved into mist and disappeared

"Gabriel?"

"Go away"

"Gabriel! Is it you?"

"Don&039;t come any closer, Sara"

She stopped, confused "What&039;s wrong?"

"Go away"

She licked her lips nervously, wishing she could see him o," she said, "but only if you promise to come to me later"

"I cannot"

"I&039;ve missed you, Gabriel"

"Have you?"

"Yes" She took a step forward "You&039;re in pain, aren&039;t you?"