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Chapter 552
The psychic summons was both powerful and brief. Ricard’s words echoed in my head. Come. Now.
All vampires can sense the presence of other vampires when they are nearby, and at a somewhat greater distance when one is feeding. Not all are capable of sending thought messages, though—that particular talent took many, many years to even begin to master. Ricard had been vampire for a thousand years and had mastered many skills. That he was the vampire who had turned me only added to the strength of our psychic connection.
I wasted no time obeying his call. I hurried through the dark labyrinth of our caverns to his quarters, making my way to his outer chamber. This room was the second largest cavern in the whole place, trailing only the immense council audience chamber in size. Ricard awaited me in the middle of the room, standing motionless with his arms folded across his broad chest.
“What is it?” I asked. When we were alone, there was no nee
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Something was very wrong here, I realized instantly. Jarubu possessed hidden strength from some source beyond my ability to detect. I had little time to think about it, though. Already, his fangs were again pressing toward my throat. I pushed back with all my strength, but Jarubu’s sharp fangs inched inexorably closer. Desperate, I suddenly stopped pushing and let my body become a dead weight, dropping to the ground before Jarubu realized what was happening. The surprise maneuver broke his hold, and I quickly somersaulted away before rising to my feet.Without pausing, I vaulted forward toward Jarubu, determined to be the attacker rather than the defender this time. I aimed my fangs directly for the black vampire’s throat. Despite the speed of my attack, Jarubu was equally quick. He got his hands onto my chest and used my own momentum to heave me up and over his head. I grabbed an overhanging branch and swung myself up and around until my feet landed upon the same
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The next morning, I headed for the Weston campus. The beautiful gray clouds that had blanketed the sky the day before were breaking up, allowing the sun to peek through for increasingly long intervals. I didn’t care, though. I wore a hooded sweatshirt and gloves to protect my skin. As much as possible, I kept to the shade, but if I had to bear the burning rays of the sun for a bit I would do so. Time was of the essence—there was no time to wait for nightfall. I wanted to begin putting my crazy plan into motion as soon as possible.Most of the route between our lair and the college is sparsely populated, so I raced at vampire speed through the wooded hills. Only when I neared the southern reaches of the town did I slow to a fast, determined walk.When I arrived at Leesa’s dorm, I crossed quickly to the stairwell. Since today was Sunday, there were no classes, so I hoped Leesa would be there. By the time I reached the second floor landing, though, I kne
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The sun was beginning to sink below the western horizon when I headed back to Leesa’s dorm. The small bit of blood I had consumed had restored full control over my appetite, so I passed through the doorway and entered the stairwell without apprehension.Halfway up the stairs, I sensed her presence and knew immediately that she had returned. When I reached her doorway, her door was wide open—waiting for me, I hoped. She was sitting on her bed reading a book, but even though I made no sound, something made her look up from the pages.She closed her book, but remained sitting. “I got your message,” she said. “What’s up?”I had been hoping for a bit more of a greeting, but at least she was there, waiting. I stepped into the room, leaving the door open behind me.“That’s it?” I asked, smiling. “A vampire shows up in your room and says he wants to talk to your volkaane boyfriend, and all you have
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From far back in the shadows, I watched Rave enter Leesa’s dorm. Step one of my plan had been accomplished: Leesa had successfully gotten a message to the volkaane. For a moment, I wondered how she had managed it, but I brushed the thought aside. How she had reached him was unimportant—what counted was that she had, and that he had come.I wished I could get near enough to the dorm to hear Rave’s reaction when Leesa told him I needed to talk to him, but getting that close meant he would detect my presence. I didn’t want to risk doing anything that might spook him, not when I needed his help so badly. I needed to let him come out to me. Leesa would tell him I was waiting nearby—if Rave was willing to talk to me, he would come outside to find me.A few minutes later, he did just that. Rave and Leesa stepped out of the front entrance onto the walkway.I watched as Rave carefully scanned the night, seeking some trace of my presence with
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The following night, I waited well back in the woods with two carefully chosen comrades while my soon-to-be volkaane allies gathered at the edge of Brennan Field, where we were to meet. That Leesa had accompanied Rave did not surprise me, but there was no way I was going to allow her to come along. I hoped Rave felt the same—together, we might have a chance to stop her. I was surprised, though, to see a fifth person with them who was not a volkaane. That was not part of our agreement.For my own companions, I had selected two of the more powerful members of our coven, including Leah, who had first brought Ricard and me to the caverns so many years before. As one of the original members of the coven, Leah also had a position on the High Council.My second choice was Marcio, a nearly four hundred year old Italian vampire. For several centuries, Marcio had been content to hunt the lands of southern and central Europe. Early in the twentieth century he had decided to
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We were moving through the tree-lined hills above a large reservoir when Rave motioned our party to a halt. I crossed over to join him. The look on his face told me he was puzzled about whatever he was sensing. As I had warned, there was something strange about the renegade vampires.“They are perhaps two hundred yards ahead of us,” he told me. “Moving slowly east to west on a path that will intersect our own.”I nodded, happy to have located our quarry so soon.“Good,” I said. “As agreed, my comrades and I will move ahead, projecting as much of our power as we can without being obvious about it. Hopefully, doing so will mask your presence. I think Jarubu’s arrogance will work in our favor as well. He will be anxious to end what we started last time, and I intend to give him the chance.” I started to head back to my companions, but then stopped and turned back to Rave. “See that you remember your part,
Leesa's Advent Chapter 530
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