Eternal Kiss of Darkness

"Thank you," she breathed as she placed a kiss upon it.

Such a simple gesture. The same one countless others - human, vampire, and ghoul

- had made to him over the course of thousands of years, yet it seared through Mencheres with more force than a thunderbolt. All too quickly, the brush of Kira's mouth and the soft pressure of her hand were gone, leaving him feeling colder without her touch.

By the gods, this mortal was so dangerous to him.

"We need to return now," he said, relieved that his voice didn't betray the emotion raging inside him.

Kira glanced back toward her sister's room and nodded, some of the happiness leaving her face.

"I'm ready."

Mencheres didn't speak as they took the elevator to the ground floor of the hospital.

Neither did Kira. When they were in the darkened corner of the parking lot, he opened his arms, and she stepped into them, her warmth enveloping him as he catapulted them into the sky. In moments, they were high above the hospital, then high above all the other buildings, too, invisible against the night with his black coat wrapped around them. Kira's heartbeat drummed against his chest, her body molded so closely to his, he could scarcely think of anything else. The wind rushing around them stole away her lemony scent, but he knew he'd smell it on him later. He might not wash this shirt or coat again, lest he lose all trace of her scent from them.

All too soon, he saw the outline of their destination ahead. His mouth tightened. It was time to eliminate the threat Kira posed to him. He had no choice.

Mencheres set them down on the building and let go of Kira as soon as she gained her balance. She looked around the roof with confusion stamped on her lovely features.

"Where are we? This isn't where you live."

He steeled himself, locking down his emotions behind an unreachable wall. "No, this is where you live."

Kira glanced around again, her eyes widening as she recognized the cityscape surrounding her apartment building. "Did you want me to pick up some of my things before we go back?" she asked in confusion. "I don't have my keys with me . . ."

"You aren't going back," Mencheres said in a cool, steady voice as he handed her the keys she'd left in her backpack the day they first met. Then with a mental push, the roof door gaped open. "I still cannot hear anything from your mind or control it, so it is obvious you are naturally immune to my power. I told you at the hospital that my blood came with a price. My price for healing your sister is your silence on all things you've learned in the past week. Speak of me, and them, to no one."

Her mouth opened in disbelief, those naturally red lips taunting him with their full ness.

"But you said as long as I knew, I could never leave - "

"And you said I could trust you," Mencheres interrupted softly. "So I am trusting you, Kira, and letting you go despite your knowledge."

She had no idea how difficult this was for him. When Kira offered herself willingly in exchange for healing her sister, Mencheres had almost seized on it. The chance to see her each day, learn more about her - and seduce her to his bed - had filled him with a primal, hungry purpose. He wanted to show Kira things she hadn't even imagined, take her to places she'd only heard of, and lavish on her extravagances that would shame a queen. It made no sense; he barely knew Kira, yet something in her called to him in a way that almost overpowered him. The last time he'd felt this strongly about a woman, kingdoms had fall en in his wake.

But the darkness of the underworld loomed before him, mocking him that his time was almost over. Kira had a future. He didn't. He had to free her, both to let her live out her life and to let him finish what was left of his.

She came toward him with that strong, fighter's stride that was at odds with her feminine slenderness and grabbed him in a fierce hug.

"Thank you," she whispered. This time, she kissed his throat, not his hand, and the brush of her soft, warm lips there almost broke his control.

He had to leave. Now.

Instead of returning her embrace, Mencheres reached into his coat and pulled out a bag.

"Take this," he said, thrusting it toward her. "Undead blood will not degrade with time.

Use a quarter of each tube every time your sister's condition worsens. You can either claim it's an herbal supplement and inject it into her, or slip it into a beverage strong enough for her not to taste it."

Kira opened the bag, her eyes growing shinier when she saw the dozens of vials filled with his blood. He'd mesmerized a nurse to provide the tubes while Kira had been busy with her sister. The contents of the bag should be enough to counter Tina's disease to give her a normal mortal life span. As promised.

"Does this mean . . . that I'm never going to see you again?"

Kira's voice cracked faintly as she asked, causing pain to slice through him. Did she feel something for him as well? She'd admitted to lust before, but did her emotions run deeper than that? Would she have wanted to see him again, even though with those vials, she didn't need him in order to keep her sister well?

It mattered not, that black void whispered. Whatever might have been with Kira could never be. All he had left was to make sure his death best served those he was responsible for - and thwarted Radjedef.

"Goodbye, dark lady," Mencheres murmured. Then he flung himself up into the night.

Chapter 9

"Graceling!"

Kira's head jerked around to see Frank wearing his usual scowl as he threaded through the desks separating them. Her boss had missed her while she was away, sure, but not in a lovey-dovey way.

"Are you finished with those reports?"

"Almost," Kira replied. The stack on her desk was reduced by three-quarters since she'd returned to work four days ago - and that wasn't counting the new things Frank dropped on her desk that she'd completed on a daily basis.

"Good. Clients can't be neglected just because you get sick," Frank said, dropping another inch-thick stack of papers on Kira's desk. "I need these back by the end of the day."

It's a recession economy, jobs are hard to come by, Kira mentally chanted as she forced herself to smile. If the employment market were better, she'd be tempted to tell Frank to bend over so she could get those reports back to him now.

"Will do," was what Kira said.

Frank tapped his finger on her paper stack. "If everything's caught up before the weekend, I'll put you in line for the next missing-person account we get. I know how you want one of those."

It was Thursday afternoon. Kira would have to work until after midnight tonight and tomorrow to accomplish that, but Frank was right. She did want more serious assignments than catching cheating spouses, worker's comp surveillance, or serving subpoenas. Her old mentor's motto rang in Kira's mind: Save one life. Well, Mack, Kira thought, remembering Tina's smile as she checked out of the hospital the day before yesterday, I think I did. Maybe if she were assigned a missing-person case, Kira could make it two lives.