18/02/2026 21:27

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I caught a glitter of tears before he turned away and looked out into the dark again. Damian trailed me like a lost puppy that had found a likely handout. It wasn't just a superstition that you did not speak her name. But the look on his face wasn't triumphant, it was frightened.

I reached up and laid my fingers against his cheek. You aren't a mind reader, Richard, just a man, and men are usually less able to read a woman's mind than another woman is. I realized in that moment that it wasn't Jean-Claude's look, it was Richard if he wasn't afraid, or angry, or conflicted. Now, technically the vampire had no more rights.