Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

experimenting, but I didn't realy believe I was actualy accomplishing it. I thought I just sort of hypnotized myself. I would never have been so open with you had I thought you were real." Joie turned her face up to the sky, her head cradled on his shoulder.
    "Then I am glad you thought you made me up. I think I wil like your family very much. I have not had a family in so many years, the idea of one did not occur to me. Yet now, when I watch you with your brother and sister and feel the love you have for them, it makes me envious."
    Her heart turned over at the longing in his voice. Joie had never thought she would feel so intensely about a man. The mere tone he used could make her shiver like the caress of fingers, or wrap around her heart like a fist. "I've never wanted to give myself to anyone, not wholy," she admitted, looking up at him. "Not al of me. I didn't want anyone to see inside me. But you already do, don't you?"
    "Yes." Holding her close, protectively, he took to the air.
    They soared across a night sky so dark it was nearly purple. A blanket of stars sparkled overhead. The few remaining storm clouds drifted rather than spun. Far below them the ground dropped away—mountains and valeys, forests and lakes hiding secrets best kept hidden for al time. A mixture of old and new.
    Joie's breath caught in her throat. She was half terrified and half fascinated at the shape Traian had assumed. He had the enormous wings of a huge owl, yet human arms held her against the soft, feathered breast. The feathers tickled her skin, sent a shiver down her spine when she realized it was al too real.
    Is this not better than thinking you are crazy?
    The masculine amusement would have earned him a punch had they been on the ground. Sheer exhilaration was taking the place of fear. I'm not certain I want you running around in my brain. It was perfectly natural to think I was hearing voices.
    Even when you are able to speak to your brother and sister telepathically?
    That's entirely different. We've always been able to speak to one another, but not anyone else. We just thought it was a Sanders sort of thing. My mom and dad can do it too.
    It could be considered arrogance to think that only your family was capable of telepathic communication.
    Lights from the inn lit the ground below them. Traian dropped to earth some distance from the building, where the shadows were deep. Music spiled out of the two-story building, floating out in al directions. People mingled on the wraparound verandah and on most of the balconies, some dancing, some talking, and others pressed close to one another.
    "The festival," Joie said. �“I forgot about it. Look at me—I'm a mess."
    "You look beautiful to me," Traian objected. "Which room is yours?"
    "Second story, third balcony on the left." She grinned at him. "Are we floating?"
    "Is the window locked?"
    "That wouldn't stop me. I have second-story skils."
    His eyebrow shot up. "I am very impressed. I am a hunter and I am certain those skils could come in handy."
    She narrowed her gaze, locking her fingers behind his neck. "They come in handy for a bodyguard. I do have a business, and I'm known to be one of the best."
    "I'm sure you are." He took her into the sky fast, enjoying the way she clung to him, tightening her arms and gasping as he shot up.
    Don't you laugh at me.
    I'm not laughing.
    I can feel you laughing. You know, it isn't normal to fly through the sky.
    It is normal for me.
    The balcony floor felt solid beneath her feet. She let go of his neck immediately. "Great, I would have to do this with a hundred people around."
    "They cannot see you. I have shielded us from their eyes."
    She glanced at him over her shoulder. "We're invisible? Sheesh. Is your life easy or what? I wouldn't mind being invisible in my line of work. No wonder those things are afraid of you."
    "They fly, and they can cloak their presence as wel."
    Joie pushed open the door to her room. "How perfectly charming of them. Where do they come from?"
    Traian folowed her into the room. She heard his heavy sigh and turned around to face him. "I'm not going to like your answer."
    "Vampires are Carpathians who have chosen to give up their souls for a brief moment of power, the thril of the kil. Our males lose their emotions and the ability to see in color after the first two hundred years of existence. Some earlier, some later, but al of us eventualy lose everything we hold sacred if we do not find a life-mate. Our race has