repeated in a voice that brooked no argument.
"Sara?"
"Yes?"
"The cross in front of the house. Remove it."
"All right."
"You must also wash the door frame."
"Anything else?"
"A circle made of holy water and garlic surrounds the house. Break it."
"I will."
He nodded, resenting the fact that he'd had to ask her for anything else when he'd already taken so much. "You know I can't stay here any longer."
Of course he couldn't stay here. It was no longer safe. Why hadn't she realized that before?"
"We've got to get you out of here," she said. "I'll be back inalittle while. You rest until then."
"It's morning. I can't go out."
"I'll think of something," she said, and hurried away before he could argue further.
Outside, she took a deep breath, wishing she had thought to ask the carriage to wait. But perhaps a good long walk was just what she needed. Ordinarily, she would have been afraid to be out walking on a lonely road at dawn, but not now. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, refusing to think of what he was as she made her way back to town.
When she reached the city, she hired a closed carriage, dismissed the driver, and drove to her apartment.
Inside, she walked through the house, closing all the drapes. In her bedroom, she covered the curtains with a heavy quilt, so that no light at all filtered into the room. Then, laden with every blanket she could find, she drove back to the cottage.
Not wanting Sara to see him in his deathlike sleep, Gabriel roused himself when he sensed her approaching. Moving sluggishly, he reached for his cloak. Sewn into the lining was a fine layer of earth from Vallelunga. His native soil, necessary to his survival when he was away from his homeland.
It took all his strength, all his willpower, to meet her at the door. Had the sun been any higher in the sky, it would have been impossible.
"Come," she said, and covering him with three layers of blankets, she led him out of the cottage and into the carriage.
He huddled on the floor of the conveyance, the blankets spread over him, while she drove back to the city. He could feel the sun searching for him, feel its insufferable heat, knew that he would die in unspeakable agony if Sara betrayed him now.
It was still too early for there to be many people about. When they reached her apartment, she quickly unlocked the door, then ran down the steps to help Gabriel inside, guiding him into the bedroom.
He shook off the blankets, then sighed as the darkness closed around him.
"Do you need anything?" she asked.
"I need to be left alone," he said, and his voice was low and heavy, as if he had been drugged.
"All right."
"Promise me you won't come in here until after dark."
"Why?" she asked, and then, before he could reply, she made an impatient gesture with her hand. "I know. No questions."
"I would think you had all the answers you needed by now."
"Go to sleep, Gabriel. I promise not to disturb your rest."
He waited until she left the room, and then, after spreading his cloak on top of the counterpane, he stretched out on her bed and closed his eyes, the taste of her blood still hot on his tongue, her scent surrounding him, as he fell into darkness.
PART One Chapter Nineteen
He woke at dusk. For a long while, he stayed where he was, recalling what had happened earlier in the day. Filled with rage, his body racked with pain, the hunger slicing through him like hot knives, he had been on the very brink of madness. And then Sara had come to him, offering him the surcease he needed. And he, cursed wretch that he was, had taken it.
Even now the thought of what he had done filled him with self-loathing.
Why had she helped him? Once she knew what kind of monster he was, why had she brought him here?
"Because I love you."
He sat up at the sound of her voice. "Don't."
"You said that before, remember?" Sara remarked as she entered the room. "I said I loved you and you told me not to."
"You should have listened."
"That story you told me, about the young man who traded his soul for another chance at life, that was you, wasn't it?"
He nodded, too ashamed to speak.
She sat down on the foot of the bed and studied him through wide, guileless eyes.
"How old are you, Gabriel? You would never tell me before."
"I