Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

staying with Rory and Ethella Dancer in their cottage on the other side of the moors near the village.”
    Shocked by the admission, Evangeline flared with anger when she realized she had been taken in. “I should have known you could not be trusted to tell the truth, Lord Ravenscroft. You are a liar as well as a vampire.” She pushed past them both, out into the corridor. “I am leaving this very night. I will walk if I have to.” She looked back at Munk. “Did you know your master commits murder to slake his evil thirst? He lured Mr. Shipman here. Then he killed him to drink his blood.”
    “I think you are wrong, Miss,” Munk said calmly.
    “No, Munk, I am not wrong. Go to the west tower turret and see for yourself.” Evangeline crossed the Great Hall and hurried into the passage which led to the wide front doors. No lamps or candles were lit, only the light from the fireplace casting a soft glow helped her find her way. At the doors she stopped, her heart thumping. She could not reach the bolts.
    “Kindly have the goodness to unbolt the door,” she told him.

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    Fyn Alexander
    “You can’t leave, Evangeline. It is too cold and dark.”
    “Are you holding me prisoner again?” she shouted at him, angry and frightened. “This morning I thought you were a different person. I thought I had misjudged you. Now I see my original estimation was correct. You are a monster, no better than an animal.”
    “You have it all wrong,” he said wearily. “Let me explain what happened.”
    “I want nothing from you except never to see you again. You are an affront to my eyes.”
    “Go then, you stupid girl, go!” He ran at the door and began to draw back the bolts, flinging it wide. The scene outside had changed from a couple of hours ago when she had ventured out on to the turret.
    Snow lay thick on the steps, drifting up around the doors. Dim moonlight reflected on the white courtyard, under a low sky heavy with more snow. Even as she looked up it began to fall again in great, thick clouds. A late winter storm had blasted the gentle beginnings of the early spring which had looked so promising only that morning.
    She was trapped.
    “Evangeline, come back inside and let me explain what you saw tonight.”
    “I know what I saw.” She stepped outside and began to walk gingerly down the steps. In her small, high-heeled boots with smooth soles designed for walking on city streets, she slipped after only a few steps, falling ungracefully onto her rear. Furious with helplessness and humiliation, she scrambled to get up.
    Behind her Raven reached a long arm around her waist and lifted her up until her feet dangled above the ground. Holding her thus he carried her inside and slammed the door.
    “You’ll die out there.” Her feet barely touching the ground, he walked across the Great Hall to the main stairs and up to her chamber.
    Inside he took her to the fire and released her to put more wood on.
    She was shaking, partly from cold and partly from fear and anger.
    Evangeline grabbed the coal tongs to threaten him, then flung them Sanguinarian 209
    down and ran for the door. Raven went after her and brought her back to the fire.
    “Go ahead, behave stupidly, make me act like a bully so that you can call me foul names again,” he burst out.
    “You killed a man so that you could drink his blood. You are a murderer, a foul, evil murderer.” Her hands shook.
    “Your clothes are wet, the snow is melting on them,” he pointed out. “Get undressed and put on something dry before you take cold.”
    Hugging herself as the chill set in, she said, “I hope I do take cold and die before I spend another night in this castle with a deviant like you.”
    “You are trying my patience yet again.” He took a step toward her. “Get your wet things off.”
    “Don’t touch me!”
    Raven grabbed her and began forcibly removing her shawl and cloak, flinging them to the ground. When he went after the buttons of her gown she struggled away from him. “All right! All right, I’ll do it myself, just don’t touch me.”
    Raven stepped back and sat down. There were two chairs opposite each other beside the fire. He dragged one back several feet and flung himself down in it, watching her. “I’ve seen you naked before, child.
    Hurry up or I will help you.”
    She proceeded to strip down to her underwear then pulled on her nightgown to remove the remaining garments underneath it. “It is fortunate for you we did not