A Whisper of Eternity

Kitanacame awake the moment the sun began its slow descent below the horizon. Instantly alert, she sat up and stretched her arms over her head. As always, she was filled with a sense of indomitable power and well-being. She had been a sickly child. While her brothers and sisters were outside playing in the sun, she spent her days indoors, staring out the window. Unable to run and play with the others, she had been confined to her bed. Any exertion wearied her. Sometimes the mere act of eating had exhausted her.

She was nineteen years old the night the stranger came to her parents' inn. She had been sitting on a chair in the common room in front of the fire, blankets swathed around her. Summer or winter, she was always cold.

The man's gaze had settled on her face for a long time. His eyes had been a blue so pale they seemed almost colorless. But, for all that, they mesmerized her with their intensity. When he looked away, she felt as though she had lost something precious.

She had risen early the next morning, hoping to see him again. She had waited in the common room all day, but he had never made an appearance. And then, just when she was beginning to think she would never see him again, he had glided into the room. She couldn't help staring. Never before had she seen a man like him. His clothing - fawn-colored breeches, a white lawn shirt, soft leather boots - was impeccable. Unlike the people of her small village, his skin was clear and smooth. His pale blond hair fell to his shoulders.

She stared at him, hoping to be noticed, and when he looked her way, a rush of warmth flooded through her, chasing away the cold that was ever a part of her.

Her eyes had widened as the stranger moved toward her.

When he reached her side, he inclined his head. "Good evening, my pretty one."

Pleasure filled her at his words. "Good evening, kind sir."

"Will you walk with me?"

She had swallowed hard. "Me? You want me to walk with you?"

He held out his hand. "Will you do me that honor?"

She hadn't known what to say. No man had ever noticed her before. She glanced around the common room, looking for her mother but, for once, there was no one else in sight.

Filled with a sudden sense of adventure, she had thrown back the quilt that covered her and placed her hand in his.

With easy strength, he had helped her to her feet. Placing her hand on his arm, he had escorted her from the inn.

Outside, night had fallen. A slice of butter-yellow moon kept company with the stars.

Kitanashivered, though she wasn't sure if it was her illness or the cool air that made her tremble. The stranger seemed to tower above her though he was only a few inches taller than she.

"How long have you been ill?" he asked.

"All my life, sir."

"Have you seen a physician?"

"Yes. None of them has been able to help."

"I can help you."

Pausing, she had peered up at him. He looked back at her, his eyes glowing like pale sapphires in the darkness. "Are you a doctor, sir?"

"No."

She shivered again, frightened now without knowing why. "I think I should go back. My mother..."

"Do not be afraid, mein kleines ."

She drew her hand from his arm and backed away. "Good night, sir."

She didn't see him move, but the next thing she knew, his fingers were digging into her forearm and he was dragging her into the trees. She struggled in his grasp, kicking and scratching. Her nails raked his face, but to no avail.

When they were well away from the inn, he came to a stop.

Kitanalooked up at him, her heart drumming in her ears. "What... what are you going to do to me?"

"I am going to give you a gift that was given to me centuries ago."

"A gift?" she asked skeptically. "What kind of gift?"

He looked past her into the distance. "I am the last of my kind."

"Your kind?"Some of her fear dissipated in the face of her curiosity.

"I am Vampyr ."

" Vampyr?'She repeated the word,then gasped. "You mean vampire? You're a vampire?"

He nodded. "All the others are gone. Those who were not destroyed by the hunters have taken their own lives."

She tugged against his hold, her gaze darting from side to side. "But I have no wish to be a vampire."

"I have never brought anyone across. My blood is pure, my powers strong." His gaze settled on her face again. "I have what you need," he said quietly. "But be warned, the gift I am about to give you carries great risk and great responsibility."

She stared up at him, the taste of fear bitter on her tongue, as he lowered his head toward her. She tried to fight him, her struggles increasing when she felt his teeth at her throat. And then, abruptly, she was filled with a sense of warmth and well-being. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, all thought of resistance swallowed up in the sense of euphoria that engulfed her.

" Kitana. Kitana, child, you must drink."

Feeling drugged, she blinked up at him.

He thrust his wrist in front of her, pushed it against her lips."Drink!"

Staring into the endless depths of his eyes, she did as she was told. And when he tried to draw his arm away, she clung to him, hungry for more. Strength flowed into her with every swallow. Energy pulsed through her with every breath. For the first time that she could remember, she felt healthy and strong, felt as though she could run and never grow weary, climb a tree, swim the river.

Muttering an oath, he wrested his arm from her grasp.

She stood on her own, looking up at him, her brow furrowed in confusion. Though it was late night, she could see clearly.The veins in the leaves on the trees.The individual threads in the stranger's coat.The thin plume of smoke rising from the inn.

She looked at him and laughed out loud; then, extending her arms out to her sides, she twirled around and around.

"Vampire!"She shouted it to the stars. "I am vampire!"

That night, the stranger, whose name was Wolfric , told her all she needed to know to survive. She listened intently, though now and then her attention was drawn away. It was difficult to concentrate on one thing when there was so much to see, to hear. Every sense was heightened, sharpened.

When, near dawn, he rose to leave her, she clung to his hand, begging him not to go.

He had smiled down at her and for the first time she noted how very weary he looked.

"Enjoy your new life, mein kleines ," he had said kindly.

Tears filled her eyes, dripped onto her hand, as red as blood.

Tenderly, he had stroked her cheek. "Remember me."

"Please do not leave me. I am afraid."

"There is nothing to fear."

"Where are you going? Will I ever see you again?"

Rising, he had drawn her up against him and kissed her cheek."Auf wiedersehen."

"Wait!"

Even before the word left her lips, he was gone in a twinkling of silver mist.

And she had known, on some deep instinctivelevel, that he had gone to meet the sun.

Rising, she bathed,then dressed with care. Like many newly made vampires, the lust for blood had been overpowering. In the beginning, the hunger had been unbearable and she had taken lives, perhaps more than necessary. Back then, she had lacked the patience to feed slowly and in her haste and hunger, she had killed indiscriminately. In time, she had learned to control the hunger, to feed at her leisure. She had learned it was not necessary to kill to survive, that she could leave her prey alive, if she chose, though she rarely did so.

There was, after all, no end of handsome young men to feast upon. Though she had bewitched many of them through the years, she had bequeathed the Dark Gift to but a few. Like Dominic. Even after all these centuries, she regretted her foolishness in letting him get away. But she had still been a young vampire then, easily amused, quickly bored.

Of the mortals she had turned, Petrina was the most like Kitana . Not every mortal could handle immortality, but Petrina had been a vampire at heart even before the change. She was a relentless hunter. She delighted in keeping her prey alive, toying with them as a cat played with a mouse, taking the blood of her victims a little at a time, all the while letting them know that death awaited them.

Ah, Petrina . She far excelled Kitana in cruelty and blood-letting. And she had set herself against Dominic. Kitana frowned. Sooner or later, her two fledglings would again seek to destroy one another. And while she was fond of Petrina , it was Dominic who had ever been her favorite. Perhaps she could find a way to arrange a peace between them before they destroyed each other. She did not wish to lose them both.

Long ago she had vowed to bring Dominic to his knees, but they had been words spoken in anger. Though she had told him she could destroy him, she was no longer certain it was true. Power radiated from him, power perhaps equal to her own. And while she would have enjoyed his company through the ages, she was no longer certain of her ability to control him. He was a proud man, arrogant in his preternatural strength,

But tonight was not a night for thinking of the past. Tonight was a night for romance.

Smiling, she ran a hand through her hair, filled with an almost girlish excitement at the prospect of seeing the boy, Bryan, again.