In the last half-hour before dawn, Gabriel carried Maurice's body into a run-down part of town and left it there, lying in an alley. The police would find him in the morning. His death would be blamed on one of the many robbers who frequented this side of town.
Returning to Sara's apartment, he cleaned up the blood, locked the door. And then, wrapped in his cloak, he crawled under her bed to wait for nightfall.
In those last moments before the deathlike sleep claimed him, he sought her thoughts, hoping to reassure her, but he found nothing. Either Nina had killed her or she was unconscious.
"Hang on, Sara," he whispered. "I'm coming."
She opened her eyes to darkness. The filthy cloth that covered her mouth tasted vile; it was hard to breathe, hard to swallow.
The endless darkness, the silence, filled her with unspeakable horror. Was this what it was like for Gabriel? But no, he had said it was like death - no thoughts, no dreams.
The earth beneath her was cold and damp. She flinched as something tiny and hairy crawled across her arm. Hours ago, she would have screamed, but her throat was raw and she had no voice left.
How long had she been in this hole? Was she going to die here?
She shuddered convulsively as she imagined herself trapped in this grave without food or water, quietly starving to death, her body growing weak, emaciated, while she went quietly mad, until the worms came to devour her flesh...
She shook the morbid thought aside, focusing all her thoughts on Gabriel. Surely he would come for her. If he could.
She remembered the creatures who had attacked them, and for the first time she wondered if Maurice was alive.
Had she caused his death, and Gabriel's, too? Would she die here, in this place?
Was it still night? She strained her ears, hoping to hear some sound that would tell her she wasn't alone. Even the company of those awful brutes who had abducted her would be welcome.
She tried to scream, to call for help, but no sound emerged from her throat.
Gabriel, please help me. Gabriel, anybody, please, please, help me.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she closed her eyes and prayed for someone to find her before it was too late.
He moved through the night like the shadow of death, his face impassive, his eyes burning with the need for vengeance. He had drained Maurice of blood and it flowed through him, warm and vibrant with the memory of life.
He drew a deep breath, sifting the thousands of scents that assailed his nostrils, homing in on the one fragrance that was hers, and hers alone.
He felt his rage stir anew as he caught a whiff of Nina's heavy perfume, and mingled with it the pungent odor of unwashed bodies.
It took him less than an hour to find where they had taken Sara. Trust Nina to choose a graveyard for their last confrontation, he mused ruefully.
And then there was no more time to think. Like hulking beasts rising out of the mist, the mindless brutes Nina had created advanced toward him, their sunken eyes dead, soulless. But he was ready for them this time, and in less than a minute all six of them lay dead at his feet.
And then Nina was there, regal in a flowing gown of black silk. Her hair fell over her shoulders and past her waist like a river of darkness. Her skin was pale, luminescent in the light of the full moon; her eyes glowed with power and hunger and an implacable need for revenge.
"I'm here," he said, and his voice echoed off the gravestones. I'm here, I'm here...
He didn't take his eyes off Nina as he let his mind probe the area for Sara's presence. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he caught her scent. He could feel her terror, smell the fear that paralyzed her.
"I am almost sorry you came, Gianni," Nina remarked. "I can't help but feel regret that I must destroy you."
"Change your mind." He let his glance slide over her, his expression insolent, provocative. "Let Sara go and I'll do whatever you wish."
"I told you before, it is too late for that."
"For our kind, it is never too late."
"How long, Gianni? How long would you stay with me?"
"As long as you wish."
"A hundred years? A thousand?"
"If you wish."
"You went on your knees before. Will you do so again?"
"Yes, bella, if that is what you want."
"I do."
Slowly, his pride rebelling, his soul filling with bitterness, Gabriel knelt at Antonina's feet.
"Speak pretty words to me, Giovanni," Nina demanded, her voice like satin over steel.
"You are the most beautiful, most desirable woman I have ever seen. There is none other like you in all the known world. Your luster outshines the sun. Your voice is like honey; your lips are like the finest wine..."
"You mock me!"
"I speak the truth."
"Liar! If your words were true, you would be here, in my arms where you belong, instead of begging me for the life of that mortal woman."
"Nina, even a vampire cannot chose whom he will love. I cannot deny my feelings for Sara, but I swear to you that I will do anything and everything you ask of me if you will only let her go."
"Will you make love to me, here, now?"
"Yes, bella, but only after you have released Sara."
"And will you return with me to Italy and swear not to return to France as long as the little ballerina is alive?"
"Yes."
Nina's eyes glowed, red and evil, and then softened as she stared at the man kneeling before her. He had not changed since she had seen him in Italy all those centuries ago. He was as young and virile and handsome as he had been then, with his dark gray eyes and smooth olive-hued skin. In a thousand years, she had not found another who stirred her blood as he did.
"Tell me the truth, Giovanni, for I will know if you lie. Do you have any true affection in your heart for me?"
"No."
She nodded, as though he had given her the answer she had expected.
"Your punishment will be long indeed, Gianni," she remarked. "For I shall demand your attention every waking minute for as long as you survive. You will be my slave. You will serve me, and hunt my prey. You will satisfy my every desire, and should you displease me while this mortal still lives, I shall return here and finish what I started." Her gaze bored into his. "Do we understand each other?"
"Yes."
"Come then, kiss me to seal our bargain."
Gabriel rose slowly to his feet, his mind replaying the distant past. He looked into Nina's eyes and wondered how he had ever found her desirable. There was no warmth in this woman, no life, no laughter.
Making love to her would be like making love to a corpse, and yet he would do it for Sara.
With an effort, he masked his distaste, took Nina in his arms, and slanted his mouth over hers. Her lips were as cold as the grave; her tongue tasted of death. He flinched imperceptibly as her arms slid possessively around his neck. Her skin felt cool and clammy.
She drew away for a moment; then, standing on tiptoe, she ran her tongue over the side of his neck. He felt the sharp prick of her fangs at his throat, shuddered with revulsion as she drew his blood into her mouth, and all the while a small voice in the back of his mind warned him that he must learn to submit without recoiling, that he must get used to the touch of her hands on his flesh, her teeth at his throat, her mouth on his.
Nina stepped back, her gaze intense, and he wondered if she could sense the depths of his revulsion.
"So, Giovanni," she remarked quietly, "we have sealed our bargain with your blood."
"And now you will keep your promise."
"Yes, as you will keep yours. She is there," Nina said, gesturing at a patch of uneven ground.
He was there in two long strides, removing the heavy block of sod, lifting Sara from the hole.
"Gabriel..." Her voice was hoarse, her face pale and haggard. "I knew you would come," she whispered, and collapsed in his arms.
Cradling her against his chest, Gabriel dropped to his knees, quickly removing the ropes that bound her, massaging her hands and feet.
"Leave her," Nina said curtly. "Leave her now and come to me."
Gabriel bit back his words of protest. Sara was not badly hurt, only frightened and exhausted; she would be all right.
Rising to his feet, he went to stand before Nina, his pride already rebelling at her imperious demands. In all the centuries since this woman had transformed him, no one had dictated what he would or would not do. But all that was changed now. He had surrendered control of his life to Nina in order to keep Sara safe.
But he would have his revenge. When Sara's life was no longer in danger, when she had passed through mortality and was beyond Nina's grasp, he would have his revenge.
"You remember your promise, Giovanni?" Nina asked archly. "You will be my slave. You will do whatever I wish, whenever I wish it."
"I remember."
She smiled benignly as she held out her hand. "Let us go, then. It is hours until dawn. We will hunt together, and then you will share my resting place."
"Yes, bella." He took Nina's hand in his. It was cold and hard where Sara's was warm and filled with life. Heartsick that he must leave her behind, he fell into step beside Nina.
"No!" Sara's voice cut across the stillness of the night. "You can't have him! He's mine."
Nina whirled around, her face contorted with rage. "You dare defy me?"
Sara shook her head, frightened by the rage in the vampire woman's eyes.
"Then be still, mortal, before I destroy you."
"You will not touch her," Gabriel said, his hand tightening on Nina's. "Remember yourpromise."
"Gabriel, why are you going with her?"
"He's mine now," Nina said triumphantly. "He has vowed to be my slave for as long as he survives."
"No! He loves me."
"Love has nothing to do with our bargain," Nina retorted, her voice filled with disdain. "Now be gone before I destroy you."
"Is this what you want, Gabriel?" Sara asked.
"Yes."
"You're lying! You love me, not her."
"Nina spoke the truth, cara. Love has nothing to do with our bargain." But that, too, was a lie. Love had everything to do with it, his love for Sara.
"Come, Giovanni," Nina said, tugging on his hand. "I grow weary of this conversation."
"Gabriel, don't leave me!"
"I'm afraid I must," he said bitterly. "My mistress calls, and I must obey."
Sara knew suddenly what he had done; he had forfeited his freedom to spare her life. Had he been a mortal man, with a normal span of years, it would have been a sacrifice of untold worth, but Gabriel was a vampire. Thousands of years stretched before him, making his sacrifice beyond comprehension. She let her mind meld with his, felt the anger surging through him because Nina had the upper hand. She felt his anguish at losing her, his revulsion at the thought of spending endless nights as Nina's slave, swallowing his pride while she bent his will to hers.
Sara watched Gabriel turn away to follow Nina, and in that instant she knew she could not let him do it. Better she should forfeit the remainder of her short span of life than allow the man she loved with all her heart and soul to spend an eternity as a slave to this heartless vampire.
"No, Gabriel," she cried, and running after him, she wrenched his hand from Nina's. "I won't let you spend the rest of your life with this horrible woman on my account."
"You cannot stop him!" Nina cried, and summoning her revenant power, she lashed out at Sara, her hand striking her across the face, hurling Sara backward so that she fell against an ancient tombstone.
"Leave her alone!" Gabriel roared.
But Nina ignored him. She stared at Sara, the hatred blazing out of her eyes, burning into Sara's like a living flame.
Sara screamed and shielded her eyes as pain lashed through her.
Gabriel stood where he was, watching Nina's fury build, until every ounce of her energy was focused on the girl writhing helplessly on the ground. And then, with Sara's cries ringing in his ears, he picked up a splintered piece of wood and walked toward Nina. The wood seared his flesh, and he realized in some dim corner of his mind that it had once been a part of a cross.
But the pain scorching his hand was insignificant. His only thought was to put an end to Sara's agony.
"Nina."
He spoke her name quietly, yet it echoed like thunder in the stillness. Face contorted with anger, she whirled around to confront him, and he drove the stake through her heart.
For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, Nina stared up at him, her mouth open in a soundless cry of surprise, and then a torrent of blood spewed from her lips and she slowly spiraled to the ground.
In the space of a heartbeat, Gabriel was at Sara's side, drawing her into his arms, whispering her name over and over again. She huddled against him, sobs racking her body from head to heel, while he rocked her back and forth, one hand stroking her hair.
After a long while, she lay still in his embrace, her eyes closed, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Only then did he glance over his shoulder. There was no sign of Nina save for a handful of ashes, and even as he watched, a gust of wind caught them up and carried them away, so that nothing at all remained.
