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It was late , she stretched, then sat up, wondering where Gabriel was

Rising, she took a quick shower, and then, wrapped in a fluffy white towel, she padded downstairs

"Gabriel?"

She frowned, her confusion growing as she went from room to room Except for the bedroom they had shared and the front parlor, none of the rooms were furnished There was no table in the kitchen, no chairs, though there was food in the fridge

But her curiosity was stronger than her appetite She retraced her steps, staring, perplexed, into each room He&039;d said he&039;d lived here for a few months Surely a man who drove a 70,000 sports car could afford to buy a few pieces of furniture

She couldn&039;t shake off the feeling that the only room that had ever been lived in was the parlor Nor could she shake the feeling that Gabriel was here, somewhere in the house But if that was true, why didn&039;t he answer her?

"Gabriel?" She stood in the hallway, her hands clutching the towel "Gabriel! This isn&039;t funny"

With a sigh of exasperation, she went upstairs She was about to put on the clothes she&039;d worn the day before when her gaze fell on the wardrobe

You&039;ll find clothes in the armoire, he&039;d said

She hesitated aonder There were dresses, blouses and sweaters, jeans and slacks, pumps and sandals, all obviously selected with her likes and dislikes in mind She shook her head in amazement She&039;d never owned this many clothes in her whole life

It took her twenty minutes to decide on a pair of black pants and a lavender sweater Barefoot, she went back down to the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of coffee

Where was he?

It was then she noticed the narrow door Painted the same color as the kitchen and tucked into a corner, it was al her coffee cup on the sink top, she crossed the rooht of stairs, and another door at the botto like Alice in Wonderland, shefor the doorknob

It was locked She looked around for a key, ran her hand along the top of the lintel Nothing

Sarah exhaled softly Did the door lead to the garage? A basearden?

She rested her hand on the door for a moment The wood, a dark oak, felt sh her e, of a broken , of narrow stone steps, of another door also made of oak A door that led to a damp cellar

And she heard Gabriel&039;s voice, filled arning Be gone!

With a start, she jerked her hand froined that voice It had been real Gabriel&039;s voice

Overco, she turned on her heel and ran up the stairs, slah the kitchen, down the hall, through the parlor, and didn&039;t stop running until she was outside in the driveway Only then did she ree at ho driveway to the ate Tears of frustration welled in her eyes when she realized it was locked, and then, as if byopen and she ran outside She heard the gate slam shut behind her, but she didn&039;t turn around, just kept running, driven by sheer terror

He rose at dusk, his steps heavy as he clione, and it was just as well

He repeated those words over and over again in the next few nights - nights spent staring into the fireplace, or riding Necro, until his need for her becaht to walk the lonely streets No one saw hi with preternatural speed, he moved from one end of the city to the other, his presence no er aroused the urge to hunt, to kill, but he refused to do so He fed only when absolutely necessary, taking only enough to sustain his existence but never enough to quench his thirst, punishing hier because it was easier to be tormented by the lust for blood than by his constant need for Sarah

A week passed, and his anger grew, and with it the knowledge that he could take her at any time

He was a vampire, after all He could hypnotize her so that he could make love to her whenever he pleased Then he would have only to summon her with the power of his mind, and she would be coht be, war, unable to resist

He could initiate her, and in that state she would do anything he wished Anything She would be miserable when they were apart She would find prey for him, kill for him, worship him if he so desired

Or he could force the Dark Gift upon her, and keep her by his side for eternity

But he could not e

And it was that rage, finally, that drove him to her door

Sarah sat in a corner of the couch, co an old rerun of the Dick Van Dyke show She&039;d seen this particular episode at least a half-dozen times, but for some reason she never tired of it

When it was over, she turned to the countrytoward Gabriel Always Gabriel, she thought, annoyed She hardly knew the et hiht slowly insane Surely that was the only explanation for the drea Soland, other times in France She spoke French in those dreams She danced She made love to Gabriel Only it wasn&039;t really her, but another wohthtened her, thatpleasant about those dreas and inhuht she had drea her eyes, she took a deep, cal breath They were just dreams, after all And dreams couldn&039;t hurt you

"Sarah"

His voice was low, resonant

She opened her eyes and he was there, standing in the doorway across the roohtmares, and she wondered why she wasn&039;t afraid, or at least surprised And then she knew She had been waiting for this o

"What are you doing here?"

His dark gray eyes seemed to burn into her own "I&039;ve couess?"

She clutched the blanket tighter, her eyes widening in fearful understanding Slowly, she shook her head, refusing to believe what she saw in his eyes

And then he was lifting her off the sofa, though she had no recollection of seeing hi as he carried her out of the house, blanket and all And then they wereher eyes Stores and houses and people blurred together in a mass of color

And suddenly they were at thein the chair in front of the fireplace with no recollection of how she&039;d gotten there

She saw Gabriel glance over his shoulder; there was a soft whooshing sound, and a fire appeared in the hearth

Magic, she thought It was soic

"Look at me," he said, and his voice seemed to echo off the walls of the room, of her , shebut you this past week," he said, not sounding very happy about it "Only you"

"I I&039;ve thought of you, too"

"Have you?"

Did she detect a note of hope in his voice? "Yes"

"Do you dream, Sarah?"

"Of course Everyone dreams"

"Not everyone," he ht ed with sarcasm "To listen to my dreams?"

"Tell me"

She tried to look away, but she couldn&039;t draw her gaze from his

"Tell me" It was a command

"Mostly I dreaed "About the other night"

"Is that all?"

"No Soht he was leaning toward her "Tell irl in the dreams is me I see what she sees, I hear what she hears But she&039;s nothe would assure her that she wasn&039;t going crazy "Sometimes I speak French" She lifted one hand and let it fall in a gesture of helplessness "I don&039;t kno to speak French But in my dreams I know the words, what they mean And there&039;s" - she sed, her mouth suddenly dry - "there&039;s blood and death and you, allinto her palht I dreamed that I had been buried alive And you came to save ony And he knew, kneithout doubt, that it was Sara Jayne sitting before him

"What does it allher to see the yearning, the hunger, that he knew must surely be plain on his face "Are you sure you want to know?"

"A mad?" she asked anxiously "Is that what itto offer you a choice"

"What kind of choice?"

"I was going to ask if you would beto offer you the choice of being hed His slave or his equal? Who did he think he was? And then she felt the power of his gaze, and the laughter died in her throat

"You&039;re not kidding, are you?"

"No"

"How did you start that fire?"

He lifted one black brow "An odd question at such a moment"

"How did we travel here so fast?"

"I have ician of some kind?" She shrank away froes

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Don&039;t tell me you think you&039;re Harry Houdini?"