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The four wo Korvel seemed mesmerized by his face, as they stared only at hi his arms and shoulders One insinuated herself under his arers into the open collar of his shirt He turned to her, tipping her chin up before he put hisout of the club and back to the lobby As soon as he saw her the concierge hurried over

"Madame, if you will permit me, I will--"

"Where is the hotel boutique located?" she asked in as pleasant a voice as she could get through her teeth

"Ah, it is on the base dresses, and I will be delighted to--"

Si it down to the baseift and convenience shops to the glass storefront of the boutique Two elegantly skeletalsteel blue goith an angora wrap, the other a strapless tube of bloodred silk with a plunging neckline and side panels of scarlet lace that revealed the body froh

The shop attendant met her just inside, and only directed one arched brow at her clothing "May I be of assistance, arments" Simone pointed to one of the mannequins "And that dress"

Chapter 10

"W

e should go to ainst Korvel’s ear "I have a very large bed and a bottle of chane on ice" "I’ll join you two," Tina, the redheaded Auy like you needs all the girls he can get, right?"

"You can’t leaveher short black curls as her red lips pouted

"I want to go, too," Keisha, the dark-skinned girl, chimed in with her sultry islander accent

Bored, Korvel looked out at the dance floor The small amounts of blood he had discreetly taken froer; he had no interest in saered here too long, and needed to return to the suite to check on Si else but that

By now she is awake, he thought as he absently reached down to prevent Tina fro her hand into his trousers She will find the meal and the note I left for her Once she has eaten and bathed she will probably go to the boutique All wo of my absence Or she will think I a her

Unable to bear his own thoughts, Korvel borrowed a mobile phone fro static frustrated hih lord would know so that could break the oath Korvel had made as a human to Richard When his still-huue from the Holy Land, he had summoned Korvel to his chamber, and asked that only he tend to hi to the same sickness

Days passed in a feverish blur, but Korvel had clung to life, determined not to fail his master, until the hour when froers, their noses and s, carry away the limp body of his lord Only then did he surrender to the fever scalding his body, and go gratefully into the darkness It had been a peaceful moment, filled with one final satisfaction: He had kept his oath to the end

Only it had not been the end Some days later, he had clawed his way out of the dark, out of his own grave, strangely alive but not alive, to find Richard waiting for him His master had explained to him that they had both become the dark Kyn, immortals that would live forever

Huraveyard, and Korvel had not even hesitated to sacrifice hied away and taken to a crossroads, where the allows tree There he had dangled, too weak to release himself but unable to die, for three weeks As soon as he lost the strength to struggle, the rew bored and left hied froht to cut him down and carry hie

You I trust as no other, Korvel, his master had said as he sliced open his orist to feed him the blood he desperately needed You will be the eyes at my back, my third blade

The terror and joy of that second reprieve had preoccupied Korvel as he learned how to survive and protect himself and his master from humans who despised and hunted their kind It would be another century before he discovered that so Richard’s last days as a ue, butKorvel rather than one of the women to attend him, Richard had exposed hi so had to be in hope that his captain would also rise to walk the night