the vampire attacked her. Using her teeth and her fingernails, Sydelle savaged Sarah's face and neck.
Fear lent strength to Sarah's limbs and she began to struggle wildly. Lifting her arm, she jabbed the stake she was still holding into the vampire's side.
With a roar, Sydelle plucked the stake from Sarah's hand and flung it aside. And then Sarah felt the woman's fangs at her throat. There was a sharp pain, and then everything went out of focus. The room and its occupants seemed to blur. As if from far away, she heard sounds of a struggle. Gabriel was fighting for his life, she thought numbly. She had to help him. But her arms and legs refused to move, and then everything went black...
She was drifting, floating on a sea of darkness, when she heard his voice. He was crying, and the sound of his heartache made her want to cry, too.
Crying, she thought, and she knew in that instant that Gabriel was crying for her, because she was dying.
The knowledge didn't frighten her as it should have. She looked around, puzzled by the darkness. Where was the tunnel and the bright light everyone talked about, she wondered.
And then she heard his voice again, sobbing for her to come back, pleading with her not to leave him again. Begging her to forgive him for what he was about to do.
She tried to speak, tried to tell him that everything would be all right, but she no longer had the power to speak.
She heard his voice grow faint as she floated farther and farther away. She tried to call his name, tried to tell him she would find him again no matter how long it took, but it was too late... too late...
She was on the very brink of oblivion when a sudden warmth filled her. It was thick and hard to swallow, but it drew her back from the edge of the abyss. She felt it course through her body, and then she heard his voice again, urgent, filled with love. And regret.
"Drink, Sarah," he said. "Drink."
Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he pressed his wrist to her lips again.
"Drink," he commanded, and she felt his hand at the back of her neck, holding her in place.
And because she feared the darkness, because she didn't want to leave him again, she did as he asked, her throat convulsing as she swallowed again and again, until, with a groan, Gabriel jerked his arm away.
"Enough, cara," he murmured.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him.
"Gabriel, what happened?"
"I'll explain later," he promised, gently brushing a lock of hair from her brow. "Sleep now."
"Don't leave me!" She couldn't bear the thought of being parted from him again. "Please don't leave me!"
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, until she felt her heart beating in time with his.
"I won't leave you, cara," he promised, his voice infinitely sad. "But you must rest now."
She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to know what had happened to Delano and Sydelle, wanted to know why she felt so strange, why the thought of being separated from him for even a moment filled her with such gut-wrenching anxiety, but a lethargy unlike anything she had ever known was creeping over her, dragging her down into oblivion once more.
PART Two Chapter Nine
She woke to the sun in her face and a raging thirst. Alarmed, she sat up. "Gabriel?"
There was no answer, and for a moment sheer panic threatened to engulf her. "Gabriel? Gabriel!"
I'm here.
Relief flooded through her, sweeter than wine.
"Where are you?"
Below. Go back to sleep, Sarah.
"What happened? I feel so strange."
I'll explain later. Go to sleep now, he said again, his voice low and soothing. I'll come to you as soon as I can.
"No! I need you now. Please."
Come to me, then.
Jumping out of bed, she ran through the house, fairly flew down the cellar stairs. She hesitated, repelled by the thought of seeing Gabriel lying in that pine box, but the thought of being separated from him quickly overcame her reluctance.
And then, of its own accord, the cellar door opened.
"Gabriel?"
I'm here. Lock the door behind you.
She did as he asked, a cold chill slithering down her spine as she locked herself in the basement. She was reaching for the light switch when she heard his voice in her mind once again.
Leave it off.
"Why don't you talk to me?" she asked as she felt her way through the darkness toward his resting place.