his cloak, he lowered himself to the floor, his back braced against her bed.
Opening the book, he began to read. The poem was a song of unrequited love, filled with dark imagery and sensual innuendo.
His voice was deep, resonant, mellifluous. It conjured up images of moonlit nights, of faraway places and forbidden desires, of fair maidens and armored knights on white chargers, of love lost and love found.
The lamplight cast deep shadows over his profile and haloed his hair with silver.
He turned the page, and his voice filled the room, winding around her, cocooning her, until she was no longer a helpless invalid, but a fairy queen holding court on a golden cloud, a sea nymph riding the back of an enchanted porpoise, an elf dancing on the petal of a fragrant blossom.
There was magic in his voice, in the wondrous rhymes, in the very air around them.
She gazed at his profile and saw an arrogant warrior riding fearlessly into battle, a swarthy outlaw demanding justice, a proud knight in tarnished armor.
She had no idea how long she had been staring at him before she realized he had stopped reading.
She felt the color rush to her cheeks as his gaze met hers, and she felt suddenly confused, as if she had just awakened from a dream. It had all seemed so real, and as she looked deep into Gabriel's eyes, she realized that he had been the warrior, the outlaw, the knight in tarnished armor.
Gabriel stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. Her eyes, as blue as the sky he had not seen in over three hundred years, were no longer the eyes of a child, but the eyes of a girl on the brink of womanhood. In a single glance, he noticed for the first time that there was no longer any hint of girlishness in her face or form. Her lips were full and naturally pink. Her neck was slender, graceful. Her hands were soft and smooth, and he felt a sudden shaft of heat spiral through him as he imagined her arms holding him, her hands caressing him.
She took a deep breath, and he noticed that she had taken on the full, pleasantly rounded shape of a woman.
But most startling of all was the realization that she was looking at him as if he were a man.
In a single fluid motion, he rose to his feet and dropped the book into her lap.
For a long moment, he held her in the heat of his gaze and then he reached for his cloak. The dark wool swirled around him like fog on a dark night as he settled it over his shoulders, and he was gone.
"Gabriel?" She blinked several times, wondering if she had, indeed, dreamed the whole thing. She picked up the book, still warm from his touch, and laid her cheek against the cover.
She hadn't imagined it. He hadbeen there.
Closing her eyes, she prayed he would come to her again.
He melted into the rising mists of darkness, welcoming the cold of the night, embracing the chill wind that blew off the river.
He had read to her from an ancient book of poetry, and she had stolen into his heart and caught a glimpse of his soul. She must have seen the darkness there, an emptiness that was deeper and blacker than the bowels of hell.
Why hadn't she been afraid?
Others had looked into his eyes and run away in fear; those who had not run fast enough, or far enough, had died.
Why hadn't she been afraid? How could he ever face her again?
He felt the anger rise up within him, and with it the lust for blood, the urge to kill.
He tried to ignore it, but on this night the hunger would not be denied.
Like a dark wraith, he prowled the near-deserted streets until he found what he was looking for, a homeless drunkard lying in the stinking refuse of an alleyway.
Like the angel of death, he hovered over the man, his long black cloak shrouding them in darkness as silent as the grave...
Sated, yet filled with self-disgust, Gabriel stormed into the long-neglected monastery where he had made his home for the past thirteen years. It was dark and gloomy inside, and he was content to leave it so. He had other dwellings: an ancient castle inSalamanca , a spacious apartment on a secluded street inMarseilles , a cottage in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle was his favorite abode. It was even