Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

over her life without a fight.
    She had a brain, she was strong, and she was determined. She had long ago learned patience.
    Fortitude. Survival skills. Right at this moment she didn't have enough information to make any decisions.
    
    "Am I like you now?"
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    His mouth quirked in the smallest of smiles; then his face was once again a cool, blank mask, his golden eyes soulless, reflecting back her own image. "Not exactly. I was born Carpathian. My people are as old as time itself. I am one of the ancients, a healer of our people, and a hunter of the vampire. I have knowledge and power from centuries of study."
    
    She held up a hand. "I'm not sure I'm ready for all this. Mostly I want to know if I'm still me."
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    "Who did you think you would become? There is no longer any lingering taint of the vampire's blood in your system, if that is what concerns you."
    
    She took a deep breath. Drew on her knowledge of vampire lore. Hunger was a clawing ache.
    "What concerns me is… whether or not I can walk in the sunshine. Whether or not I can eat like a regular person, go to a fast-food place with Joshua and eat whatever I want."
    
    He answered calmly. "Sunlight will burn your skin. Your eyes will have the worst reaction, swelling and tearing. In daylight you must wear dark glasses, made with special lenses for our people."
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    She let her breath out slowly. "That answers one question. I'm trying hard not to get hysterical here. Just say it out straight."
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    "You must have blood to survive."
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    "You could have broken it to me more gently, in stages or something," she replied wryly, her customary irreverence clearly intact even though her mind was spinning, in total chaos. It was hard to think, to breathe. This couldn't really be happening. It just couldn't. "I hope you don't expect me to sleep in a coffin." She tried to make it a joke, to help her mind accept the possibility of such a thing. More than anything, she wanted to scream.
    
    His eyes were absorbing her, drawing her to him. She could almost feel him reaching for her, an illusion so real that she felt the warmth of his arms, his soothing touch in her mind. "I do not think that will be necessary."
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    Her tongue found her suddenly dry lips. "I can't breathe."
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    He physically touched her then, his hand curling around the nape of her neck, forcing her head down. "Yes, you can," he said calmly. "This panic will pass."

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    She dragged great gulps of air into her burning lungs, fighting the sobs tearing at her throat. She could not cry aloud. She couldn't do anything but try to inhale. His fingers began a slow massage, so gentle, so light, but her body responded, an easing of the terrible tension at the calm command of his hand.
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    "Why didn't you just kill me?" The words were muffled by the quilt, by her aching throat.
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    "I have no intention of killing you. You are innocent of any wrongdoing. I am not a cold-blooded killer, Alexandria."
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    She looked up at him then, her large eyes meeting his. "Please don't lie to me. This is hard enough as it is."
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    "I am a hunter, piccola . But I do not kill the innocent. I am a sentinel of justice for our people, appointed by our Prince, the leader of our people, to guard this city."
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    "I am not your kind. I'm really not." She knew she sounded desperate despite her every intention to remain calm. "There's been some kind of mistake. You have to undo it." Her voice was trembling, her body shaking. "If you would just listen to me, you would understand. I'm really not like you."
    
    His hand closed over hers, eased her clenched fingers, his thumb lightly stroking the frantically beating pulse in her wrist. "Stay calm, Alexandria, you are doing fine. You will heal fast. I know you did not get a look at yourself last night, but you are already remarkably healed. And you will find much to love in your new life. You will be able to see in the darkness as if it was high noon.
    You will be able to hear things never before heard, see things never seen. It is a beautiful world."
    
    "You don't understand. I already have a life. And I have to take care of Joshua. Joshua can't be without me during the day. He's just a little boy. He needs me to take him to school. I have to work, too."
    
    Aidan said he was no killer, but Alexandria was not blind. He was beautiful but deadly beneath a thin veneer of civilization.