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Chapter One He’d found her.At last.Again.As if they sensed something dark and extraordinary about him, the costumed party guests separated like water around a ship, allowing Raphael to pass. He barely noticed. All his senses honed in on her evocative scent.His smile, he knew, would be faintly triumphant as he traced the unique fragrance of night-blooming flowers and hot female flesh that had led him here, to the pulsing heart of New Orleans. For once, he didn’t care about showing his fangs or unnatural pallor. The simpletons around him would assume it was only part of a Mardi Gras costume. Foolish mortals. They wouldn’t know he was the genuine article until the light in their eyes faded away.Tonight was not merely a hunt. Tonight was critical to the survival of his kind. The perfume of the woman’s blood filled his senses. Despite the hundreds of guests, Raphael separated the light throb of her particular heartbeat from the others. It pulsed, warm and rich, calling to his inner thirst l
Chapter One
Chapter Two Outside the costume party, colorful chaos reigned the night. Beads flew, music poured out of nearly every open door, and people pushed in a moving, breathing tide in the streets.But it meant nothing to Raphael. All that mattered was Eva. He kept hold of her hand, feeling each pulse beat beneath his fingers in a maddening tattoo, as he pulled her behind him through the revelers.The door to a black stretch limo opened and he helped her inside, choosing purposely to sit across from her.He had to.She was simply too much temptation for him to take the risk of sitting too close. As it was, he had to pull his gaze away from the rapid pulse at the base of her pale, slender throat. The mouthwatering sight echoed a deep bass, thumping through his chest, as if he were standing next to a large speaker at a concert. The moment the door shut, the frantic noise outside lessened. He watched Eva’s pulse slow.“Crazy crowd.” He smiled at her, hoping to ease the confusion and uncertainty he se
Chapter Two
Chapter Three “Me?” Eva laughed, hoping the nervous, strained edge of her forced humor didn’t betray her inner lack of confidence. What if this was what she was meant for? What if she were hoping it was so much, that she was fooling herself into believing anything he said? “I’m an accountant. I crunch numbers. I don’t see myself in a crimson cape saving anybody one digit at a time.”The golden color of his eyes deepened, darkened as he scanned her features. “As much as I would like to simply tell you what you are—” he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and blew it out slowly “—I suppose the only way I can make you understand fully is to show you.”She didn’t move, but Eva felt herself grow emotionally smaller in defense as tension curled and eddied invisible, but palpable, in the air between them.She knew instinctively that whatever he was about to show her would change her life. And, as much as she craved a change, she also feared it. Although throwing this sexy-as-hell guy into the mi
Chapter Three
Chapter Four Raphael let out a long breath simply to steady his inner turmoil. A strong desire to rebel and steal her away from them rose up within him. But as much as he longed to keep her for himself, he, too, would die without her sacrifice.“Before I am transformed, or die, or whatever is going to happen to me, I want to know what it’s like to be with you.”Such a simple request. Something he’d willingly give under any other circumstance. But there was no time. Especially no time to do properly what she’d asked of him. That could take…lifetimes.“All I can offer you is a shallow imitation of what could have been between us. It is hardly enough.”Eva wanted to laugh. He looked so solemn and serious. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. It’s what I want.”He nodded and held out his hand to her.Eva took it eagerly, lacing her fingers with his and gazing up at his elegant profile. Her heartbeat picked up a faster rhythm, and for an instant, she caught the quick tilt of Raphael’s
Chapter Four
Chapter Five Eva was certain she had no bones left.At least no mortal should be able to survive a bout of incredible sex like that. But somehow, she knew that there was more to what had happened to her and Raphael than utterly fantastic sex.For the first time in her life she felt whole, as if she’d finally found the missing part of herself she’d somehow always known was gone.Which made keeping her promise to Raphael to be part of this ceremony, whatever it was, even more difficult. As desperately as she wanted to cling to him, since the crash she’d believed that she had a destiny to fulfill. Her hand pulled into a ball, the lines forming deep creases within her fist. The line of her fate crossing and ending at the line of her heart. The palm reader had warned her never to fall in love. Perhaps this was why. She’d seen that one line ended where it connected with the other.She could never have anticipated that falling in love would bring her to the brink of her destiny, but now that she
Chapter Five
Chapter Six When Eva entered the vast ballroom, the first thing she did was search for Raphael’s face. But despite the hundreds of faces she saw, he wasn’t there.Somehow that hurt even deeper than she’d thought possible. Had what they’d shared meant so little to him? The stiff brocade of her over gown felt suddenly too heavy and the room too cold.The sea of faces crowded in, making her heartbeat stutter. They all seemed to press closer and Eva was afraid she might faint.A firm hand grasped her arm, supportive, but hardly kind. She glanced at the red-eyed man with long white hair whose pale face was placid, almost devoid of emotion.“I am Janus, the elder of those gathered here. This way, my lady.” He led her up the steps of the golden dais, ever closer to the mahogany casket with the strange skeleton. But when she was close enough to see inside, she noticed that the skeleton was gone.She turned to the man. “Where is Raphael?”“He is waiting for you on the other side, my lady.” He nodded
Chapter Six
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