Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

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    This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

    Copyright © 2009 by Christine Feehan.

    All rights reserved.

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    Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data ISBN: 978-1-101-13610-2
    1. Vampire Fiction. 2. Immortalism Fiction.
    I. Title.
    PS3606.E36D3895 2009
    813™.6dc22
    2009012810
    http://us.penguingroup.com
    To Christopher Walker,
    who, according to Domini,
    is not as Zen as Razvan, but I disagree.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    I have so many people to thank for their invaluable help with this book:
    Anita Toste, my sister, who writes poetry and always answers the call when I run out of rhymes and ideas for spells!
    Dr. Christopher Tong, who is incredibly intelligent and can do just about anything. Did I say just about? I meant anything .
    Thank you so much for always, always being there no matter how busy you are. You are truly a gifted man and an amazing friend.
    Cheryl Wilson, my dear friend, who came through just when I was in my darkest hour.
    Domini Stottsberry, Kathie Frizlaff and Brian Feehan, who worked so hard to make this book the best it, could be in every respect.

    For Lisset and Jack, who gave me something precious beyond measure for this book. In loving, beautiful memory.

THE MAGE
    The mage walks forth as the Hell Gate closes
    Lightning strikes with his first order
    Energy spirals from his fingertips
    A spell does form upon his lips

    Tall and dark, handsomely slender
    His silver eyes burn like lighted embers
    A power, a presence one cannot explain
    A drawing feeling that will not leave the brain A longing, a yearning that burns like fire
    To be wanted and taken with heated desire
    The mage walks forth, unfolding his arms
    His victim comes quietly, succumbed by his charms The embers of passion burst forth in flame
    As the mage draws heart blood from deep within
    Consuming all, leaving no remains
    The victim languishes in untold pain

    The mage, having taken body and soul,
    Now turns from the broken to seek one who is whole The pattern is set, the ending the same
    The mage needs heart blood to be whole and remain ANITA TOSTE
    Swirling mist veiled the mountains and crept into the deep forest, stringing layers of white through the snow-laden trees.
    Pockets of deep snow hid life beneath the cap of ice crystals and along the banks of the stream. Shrubs and fields of grass rose like statues, frozen in time. The snow gave the world a bluish cast. The forest, where icicles hung, and the stream, with its water frozen in bizarre shapes, seemed an eerie, alien world.
    Clear, crisp and cold, the night sky shone bright with stars, and a full, glowing moon spilled a silvery light over the frozen ground. Silent shadows slipped through the trees and ice-coated bushes, moving with absolute