I hoped that Anita could be revived this time. I hoped it didn't take all evening. I was cold. I was weakened. I was sore. I was miserable... And I was terrified that Vlad would rise and revisit me before Asher could arrive. I didn't think I'd survive another night of his ardeur. It would either kill me or break my mind. If he decided to bleed me, I was SURE I would die before the next dawn. I was too drained to recuperate from something like that, even with my master's strength to draw on. I dozed again, without meaning to. The exhaustion. Hands were stroking my skin. Soft caresses. Tender touches. Gentle. Silken lips brushing along my cheek, down my throat. The wetness of a tongue, seeking my pulse.... "Asher?" I mumbled, struggling up from sleep. I could feel fangs hovering just above the skin of my neck, poised to strike. Why? Surely my master knew I was too weak for that? "Nein, liebchen," came the response, bringing me fully awake. Even though I knew it was a dangerous thing to do and might goad him on to feed, I screamed. I couldn't help it. "No, no, nononononononononononono!!" I was sobbing, head tossing from side to side, trying to get away. Vlad held me pinned in an iron embrace. But at least he had pulled away from the pulse in my throat. He wouldn't feed...at least not on blood. Vlad rocked me, shushing, until I finally calmed down some. "Mein Gott, you are nearly as cold to the touch as I am at rising, liebchen. Perhaps I WAS a bit too...enthusiastic last night." He vanished suddenly, returning moments later with a blanket. I eyed him warily. Asher had told me to play along, let him think he'd broken me. It wasn't going to be much of an act. Vlad moved towards me with the blanket, and I was torn between terror and lust. That was the problem with the ardeur, at least what I understood of it...it was addictive. He must have sensed the response. He smiled as he draped the thing over me. Sitting on the bed, he made sure the blanket was wrapped around me securely, then pulled me into his lap as if I were a small child. I sighed, leaning my face into his hand as he brushed the hair back from my face, a single tear sliding down my cheek. "Why are you doing this?" I whispered. "You are of no use to me dead, liebchen," he replied. Deliberately, he began lightly tracing fingertips along the planes of my face. I tried to remain as motionless as possible, but my body betrayed me, responding to his touch as if I craved it. Much to my chagrin, that seemed to please him. "Ah, I see that already you hunger for my caresses, liebchen. By tomorrow night, you will be my willing slave." "No," it came out as a hoarse whisper, void of hope. "Oh...ja," Vlad breathed into my mouth. Against my will, I returned his kiss, allowing him to possess me. My body went completely submissive...no act. My mind was still my own...for now. I could sense Asher at the back of my mind, but he seemed withdrawn...distracted. I didn't reach out to him. I didn't want to jinx whatever was going on back at the Circus. I was starting not to really care if I was rescued or not. Vlad was there for me now. He would take care of me. All I had to do was...what DID he want me to do? "Vlad? Why do you need me? What do you want me to do for you?" Vlad looked at me a moment, as if debating what or how much to tell me. Finally, he spoke. "You are the key to holding your master's city." I gave him a puzzled frown. "But, you are my master now." He smiled, leaning down to touch noses with me. "Ja, that is right, liebchen. I am your master now. Do not forget it." "Never." I raised up just enough to kiss him, one hand worming free of the blanket to tangle in his hair. Eventually, Vlad pulled back from the kiss. He laid back on the mattress, cradling me against him. He idly played with my hair while staring at the ceiling. "However, you are still bound to Asher. He will not want to lose you. He would not survive it this time. Merely holding you hostage, however, would not be sufficient to control him. That is why I must have your loyalty, liebchen. If you give me unquestioning obedience, Asher will bow to me to keep you from abandoning him." "But why do you need Asher's city, master?" I snuggled into him a little more as I asked it. He gave a small, satisfied sounding laugh. "It sounds good to hear you call me master, liebchen...but I will never truly be a master vampire. My son, however, WILL be a true master. I need only hold the city, using you, until he comes into his power...THEN...then he can avenge me for the wrongs I have suffered." He grew gradually more agitated sounding as he continued. "Especially from my sire...the old fool. None of this would be necessary if he had only taken THIS city when he had the chance. But nein, he does not even try to challenge that pampered, foppish, fool that calls himself Master of the City. I still cannot believe he could abandon our Dark Mistress like that. He is almost as big a fool as my sire. I do have to admit that at least Jean-Claude did not follow after that damned eunuch." I was still confused. Who was Vlad's sire, who had him so riled up? And what eunuch? It didn't make any sense to me. The only thing that really began to register was that once this son of Vlad's came into his power, he wouldn't need me anymore. That was very frightening. My voice quivered with the fear that was building in me. "Master, what will you do with me when your son becomes a master? Will you throw me away?" "Shhh. Hush, liebchen," he reassured me. "I will not send you away if you do not wish to leave. I will even grant Asher his freedom if you wish. However, he will have to swear loyalty to my son if he wishes to remain within our territory." He was silent for a moment. "I do not wish to kill your Asher, liebchen. He did me a great service in destroying one of my tormentors." "Gunthor?" "Ja...Gunthor." I felt the ardeur begin to rise in him again. Oddly enough, I didn't feel frightened by it this time. Had he bespelled me? Or was I truly becoming his slave? "I wish this time to be more gentle, liebchen," he caressed me with his voice, even as his hands traveled down my form. "I shall unshackle you tonight. It will prevent further discomfort." There was some reason why I shouldn't want him to remove the shackle from my ankle...but what was it? I couldn't concentrate past Vlad's ardeur. Suddenly he was snarling up at me...angry...the ardeur gone in a flash. "You bitch!" In a flash he had me pinned to the bed, his fangs bared and eyes glowing like copper fire. I screamed. "How long has he been listening to us?" "Who?" I squeaked. "Asher...your master, bitch." I struggled futilely against his grip and the entangling blankets. "That's answer enough. He knows now. I WILL make you my slave, woman. I will not be thwarted by your treachery!" He struck, taking me where shoulder and neck met. "NO!!!!!!" Oh God, it hurt. He hadn't rolled me. He meant for it to hurt. But if he fed too long it would kill me. It was too soon after Jean-Claude's attack. I couldn't afford to lose this blood. The pain was rapidly ebbing, being replaced by a spreading numbness. The world was going fuzzy around the edges, color draining away to reduce my vision to the quality of a grainy black and white photo. >From down a long tunnel, I heard Asher's voice. "Ma rose! No!" He sounded so muffled. I wasn't even sure if I heard him with my ears or in my mind. "I'm sorry Asher," I whispered in my head. "I didn't mean to break my promise to stay. Forgive m........" I was swallowed in a cool, peaceful nothingness.