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stranger was dressed all in black with red hair, cropped short,
and skin that was pale, even for their kind. He was of Irish
descent, but the vibration she got from him was old. Very old.
Older than her and Crimson. His green eyes met hers and she
was tempted to look away, but she stood her ground,
blocking the door. He bared his fangs, uttering a low growl.
The urge to fight rose in her, but Crimson put a hand on her
shoulder and reluctantly she stepped aside. Her hair bristled
when he came in and dusted off his cloak. Though she wasn't
sure if it was him, or if it was his age, for some reason he felt
like a threat to her. Her intuition sparked to life and signaled
there was something about him rubbing her the wrong way.
"Thank you for the hospitality," he muttered to Amara. "I
could swear I've met you before. Maybe in another life."
Her eyes narrowed. The stranger threw his cloak over the
railing and walked in. Crimson and Amara followed behind the
stranger to the library. The new vampire stared at everything
slowly, taking it in. His eyes scanned the open book that
Crimson had been writing in. His gaze met Crimson's and
then Amara's. A cold shudder moved through her. What was
he doing here? Finally, he sat by the fireplace. Crimson was
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busy trying to get the thing to start, but with one small push
of her mind, Amara made the fire burst to life again.
"Show off," Crimson smirked.
"You know you love it." Amara took a seat by Andrew, who
had come in also after hearing the knock at the door.
"Seamus, we expected you earlier," said Crimson.
"My thanks for the hospitality, Crimson. It's been a while
since I've been among so many children." The ancient
vampire warmed his hands.
"So what has brought you out of your slumber? What has
it been, five hundred years or so?" Crimson asked.
The red haired vampire smiled. "Less than that. Only two
hundred and I awoke over fifty years ago. I'm sorry I'm late.
I was detained. I could not resist the lovely hospitality you
offer. I do remember those wild parties. Besides, you are the
Record Keeper and I assume you know Kathryn is back
among us. I'm sure you've noticed the deaths of my brothers
and sisters along with some of the other Elders."
All the others looked at Crimson, who eyed the other
vampire. "Seamus, you are so astute. Yes, I noticed Kathryn
has returned. I even wrote it down. I can't find her or the
ones she is using. I can only speculate as to what her purpose
is. I'm sorry your brothers and sisters are dead, but maybe
it's time to make way for the new generation."
"With each kill Kathryn grows stronger. Do you know what
kind of havoc she could wreak on our society? What do you
think her reasoning is for ?"
"Seamus, I think you've said enough. We can talk about it
later."
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"As her highness wishes." He bowed. The vein in his
temple throbbed.
"Because you are one of the First Children does not mean
you can come lording in here and start controlling my house
and make us shiver in our boots. Now stop scaring the little
ones and let's talk about happy memories."
"Forgive me. That is not my intention. It's been a long
time and I'm used to getting my way. Especially with my
children." His eyes flickered toward Andrew and he met his
stare. Trevor walked in with Simon right behind him. The
tension swelled and pressed on Amara's aura. The room
lurched forward. Andrew's mind moved against hers,
concerned, but it was too much. Seamus was using his mind
to try and put pressure on Crimson, but her friend was
resisting. Trevor and Simon were monitoring the situation.
Andrew was only worried about her. She ran out of the library
and back to her room overwhelmed.
Amara closed the door behind her trying to clear her head.
Her thoughts mulled over Seamus's arrival. She had never
met the Ancient before. His mind was frying her circuits. She
sighed, frustrated, and took a moment to examine Crimson.
There her intuition was also sending off signals of ill will, but
she could understand her friend was also not too happy about
the intrusion into her life. Something felt wrong about the
whole scenario. Hadn't she been expecting him? Wasn't he
the guest who had been "delayed" weeks earlier? Before his
arrival, when Crimson had tried to kiss her. The woman she
remembered would never have tried to do that.
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Raking a hand through her hair, Amara stood in the center
of her room trying to make sense of it all. There was no
making sense of it. Her new existence was crazy at times. Old
memories merged with the new, and she was more of her old
reincarnated self than she was the new one. That insight was
what she pulled on now. This lifetime gave her a better
understanding of her psychic abilities. She could call upon
spirits to search their realm for answers which might not have
been available to her in the past. She could divine the future.
Her last lifetime gave her power and patience.
Training her eyes on the mirror, she unfocused them so
the mirror clouded over. The energy pulsating from the metal
almost pushed her back. Within the mirror, she saw the astral
world play out before her. It was a way for her to look within
the other realm without having to go into a trance when she
didn't feel it was safe to be completely unaware of her body.
Within her mind, she searched for the instant when she had
hung in between life and death, where she had felt another
presence hovering close to her. She found that moment,
latched onto the feeling and projected it forward. The mirror
cleared. A figure came into view. It wore an old-fashioned
dress and had hair that fell down almost to its feet. Amara
knew this shade. It bore the face of her friend. How could she
be in the astral realm and downstairs?
I'm not a hallucination.
Then what are you? Amara asked the spirit.
I'm the friend you went to fight Si with. The one who was
there when Andrew turned you the first time. I threw you
across the room because you hated the necklace I had made
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for you. You said it was the wrong color green. I was so
pissed.
How can you be downstairs and dead all at the same time?
That's your body down there. Your memories walking around.
Why should I believe a ghost that could be jerking my chain?
Because how else would I know that you never made a
deal with Simon about killing me? That was a lie to try and
confuse you. The journal entry you made, faked. Simon's line
about you two in the past fake. All for them to make you
believe, to pull the wool over the eyes of the community. How [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]