LITMIR.BIZ

      alkyrie took a taxi to St Anne’s Park, which was still covered in a fine frosting of white that the weak sun was failing to melt away. She passed over the gurgling stream, smiling at a dog that was being taken for a walk. Her breath came out in puffs of cloud, and her hands were jammed in her pockets. She moved off the well-worn trail into the trees. Dead twigs cracked under her boots.

      Caelan was standing on an embankment that dipped five metres down. He didn’t look round as she approached. Instead, he kept his gaze on an old couple below him, out for a brisk midday stroll. Valkyrie wondered, briefly, if he was hungry.

      “I need your help,” she said, and watched him turn his eyes to her. Being held in his gaze had become an electric experience that was as addictive as it was unsettling. She didn’t like this power he had over her. Being around him was like being around China, but with China she at least had the knowledge that the attraction was coerced through use of magic. With Caelan, though, the attraction was real, and so it was a lot more dangerous.

      “I’m waiting,” he said, with a slight smile, and she realised she hadn’t spoken a word for the last few seconds. She looked away, letting her hair fall over her face to hide the blush creeping through her cheeks.

      “You’re probably not going to like it,” she said, “so it’d be a huge favour I’d have to pay back. The problem is that I can’t really tell you why I need this done. You’ve just got to trust me when I say I have my reasons.”

      “What do you need?”

      Valkyrie hesitated. “I need you to taste my blood.”

      Caelan’s smile froze on his lips. “You can’t be serious.”

      “Dusk bit me,” she said. “You know how much he wanted to kill me, and he had his chance, but he didn’t take it. Haven’t you ever wondered why he let me go?”

      “Because I stopped him,” Caelan replied gruffly.

      “No. You arrived after he’d pushed me away. He told Billy-Ray Sanguine that he tasted my blood and … I don’t know. Whatever happened, whatever was in my blood, it changed his mind. He no longer wants to kill me. They both think it’s a lot crueller to let me live.”

      “You want me to tell you what’s so special about your blood?”

      “Yes.”

      “Dusk is hundreds of years older than me. He could detect a thousand different nuances in your blood that I couldn’t begin to identify. Dusk is a connoisseur. I’m not.”

      “But you can try.”

      “There’s no point.”

      “Caelan, there’s something wrong with me, do you understand? There’s something wrong with who I am and Dusk knew straight away, from one tiny bite. You might not have his experience, but I need you to try.”

      “You don’t know what you’re asking. It’s far too dangerous.”

      “I’m used to dangerous.”

      “For me, Valkyrie. It’s too dangerous for me. I don’t know how Dusk managed to deny himself, but I’m not that strong. If I bite you, I won’t stop feeding until you’re dead.”

      “Then don’t bite me. I’ll cut my finger – you can taste a drop.”

      “Would you please remember who you’re talking to? I’m a vampire! There’s a reason I’m classed as a monster! You really think that letting me taste a drop of your blood is a good idea? Really? You think that won’t drive me insane? One drop and I’d need the rest. I’d need all of it.”

      “You’ve still got a mind. You don’t lose the ability to think, do you? You’re not an animal.”

      “That’s precisely what I am. You look at me while the sun is shining, and you think this is me. This is Caelan. You think the vampire is the thing that comes out at night, then goes away in the morning and Caelan comes back. You don’t understand yet that the vampire is Caelan.

      “This face is a mask. This skin is a disguise. Beneath it is the real me, Valkyrie. I’m not a tortured soul. I’m not a brooding romantic figure. I’m a monster, and not a moment goes by when I don’t want to rip your throat out. No other vampire on the planet wants anything to do with me, and I really don’t want to be cornered by the Skeleton Detective and his vengeance-hungry friends after I’m done feeding on your corpse. I quite like immortality. You get very used to it after a while.”

      Valkyrie looked at him, but didn’t speak, and the anger slowly left him, until they were just two people, standing there in silence.

      “You know,” she said at last, “that’s the most words I’ve ever heard you speak.”

      Caelan nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

      “You feeling OK?”

      “Vocal cords are a little sore.”

      “You might want to sit down.”

      He smiled, and she smiled back.

      “I need you to do this.”

      His smile vanished. “I’m telling you, no.”

      “Listen

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