Page 73 of Shadows of Eternity

“Yes!”

“Then why aren’t you wearing it?”

“I wanted you to slip it on my finger.”

Pleased, he lifted the engagement ring from the box, took her hand in his, and slid the diamond on her finger.

“It fits perfectly,” she said, turning her hand from side to side. “But it must have cost a fortune.”

“It isn’t polite to ask the price. But if you think it’s too much, I’ll take it back.”

Seeing the crestfallen expression on her face, he grinned at her. “I’m kidding, love. It’s yours.”

She kissed him then, thinking she had never been happier, or loved him more. She shivered as he ran his tongue along the side of her neck.

“A taste?” he whispered.

She didn’t answer, just brushed her hair out of the way, sighing with pleasure as he carried her to bed. His bite was sometimes tender, sometimes quick, and sometimes, like now, arousing.

They were in the middle of making love when Rohan’s cell phone rang. He ignored it and it stopped. Then it rang again. Muttering an oath, he snagged it from the bedside table. “What do you want?” He listened a moment, murmured, “I’ll meet you there,” and ended the call.

Leia watched his face, wondering who had been on the phone and why he looked so grim.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as he dropped the phone on the bed.

“Magdalena’s dead.”

Leia blinked at him. It was hard to think clearly when all she wanted was for him to finish what he had started. And then she chided herself for thinking of her own pleasure when a woman was dead. “What happened?”

“A hunter found her.”

“Do you think it was Trent?”

Rohan shrugged. “What difference does it make? She’s just as dead.” He stood and reached for his jeans. It was likely Trent, he mused. As far as he knew, Frumusanu was the only hunter in town.

“Where are you going?”

“That was Josiah on the phone. He wants my help.”

“Now?” she asked, and hated the whine in her voice.

“He’s my sire,” Rohan replied, an edge in his voice. “When he calls, I have to go.”

“What does he want you to do?”

“He didn’t say, but if I had to guess, I’d say he wants me to dispose of what’s left.”

Leia clapped her hand over her mouth. Horrific images flashed across her mind as she recalled the gruesome ways to destroy a vampire.

Rohan pulled on his boots and a shirt, bent down, and kissed her lightly. “I won’t be long,” he promised, and was gone.

Magdalena’s corpse lay face up in a shallow depression in a vacant lot, shielded from view by a six-foot hedge. A thick wooden stake had been driven deep into her heart, anchoring her to the earth. Her body had been partially burned. Dark-red blood stained the dirt around her.

Josiah stood next to the body, his expression implacable. He glanced over his shoulder as Rohan materialized beside him. “Bad way to go,” he remarked tonelessly.

Rohan snorted. “Is there a good way for our kind?”

“I guess not.”

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