Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

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    more than one occasion." Natalya watched her closely to see if Colby understood.
    "I just had my first encounter a few nights ago." Colby shuddered. "It's nice to know I'm not losing my mind. I thought maybe I was making the whole thing up." Relief flooded her, an eagerness to talk to this woman who knew what she was going through, who didn't think she needed to be locked up. "How did you find out about them? Half the time I still don't believe the whole thing."
    "What does the hunter want with you?"
    Colby's fingers pressed deeper against Rafael's mark on her. It was always there, as fresh as the day he made it, never fading and always throbbing as if calling to her. What did he want from her? Sex? If only it was just great sex. She could handle that. She remembered the sound of his laughter moving through her mind. Low. Sensual. A temptation. Her lashes swept down. He ruled her sexually; it was true. She couldn't overcome her need for him. "I'm not completely sure." She tried to be truthful. To her utter surprise Colby found herself blinking hack tears. "I'm a mess, Natalya. He's bound me to him somehow and I can't stand being apart from him. I hate feeling this way."
    Natalya glanced around and kept her voice low. "I wish I could help you, Colby. Here's my cell phone number. I'm leaving soon. If you want to come with me, give me a call. I can't stay in one place too long."
    "I have a brother and a sister to protect."
    "If there's a hunter in the area, there's a vampire close by. You can't protect them from a vampire."
    "How did you know Rafael was a hunter?"
    Natalya lowered her voice even further. "I have a birth-mark on me, low, right over my ovary on my left side. It looks like a dragon breathing fire, and when a vampire is close, or a hunter, or even one of the human puppets, it burns."
    Colby inhaled sharply and touched her left side. "Where did it come from?"
    Natalya shrugged. "I was born with it. It's saved my life on many occasions."
    Colby rubbed her thigh, just below the laceration, in hopes of easing the pain. "There's a vampire in the area and Rafael says he's different than others, more powerful."
    Natalya frowned. "Can they kill him?"
    "I don't know. Rafael was injured and the vampire got away. I think Rafael hurt it, though."
    Natalya sighed. "I kind of liked it here. I didn't really want to leave yet. I haven't learned to kill a vampire yet. They keep coming back. Watching Dracula movies all the time isn't all that helpful."
    "Rafael and his brother, Nicolas, are originally from the Carpathian Mountains. You might find help there," Colby suggested. "Nicolas told me they have to be incinerated. It was pretty gross. He said they rip the heart from the chest and incinerate that as well."
    Natalya straightened up slowly. "I wish I hadn't asked."
    She looked at Colby. "Are you sure you're all right? Can you handle this? It's been hard for me and I Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    don't want you to feel as alone as I've been."
    "I honestly don't know. He talks about conversion."
    Natalya scowled. "Bringing you over? Can they do that? I know the vampires usually kill. They often keep women around for a while, enjoying their fear, but they always kill them. I've tried a couple of times to rescue them, but they're insane. They want to bite me and they try to drink blood and I've even seen them try to eat human flesh. I don't know, Colby, it sounds dangerous."
    "It feels dangerous. I'm having trouble with the sunlight, and without the Chevez brothers—they came from Brazil with Rafael—I wouldn't be able to keep up with the ranch work. I have to sleep during the day now."
    "Do you want to get away from him?" Natalya asked.
    Colby sighed, feeling close to tears. "I don't think I can. I don't honestly know what I want. I'm very afraid, but I'm so obsessed with him. If I'm away from him, he's in my mind until I think I'm going insane."
    She looked at Natalya. "I don't have a craving for any kind of food, let alone human flesh."
    "He isn't a vampire," Natalya assured her, "but these hunters are dangerous. He isn't human, Colby, and no matter how much he relates to you as a human, he is still different, with an entirely different set of rules."
    "I'm afraid," Colby admitted in a low voice, astonished at just how afraid she really was. Rafael had deliberately seduced her. He had brought